I'll Be Your Baby Tonight is an odd collection from
Bernadette Peters, one of the most popular Broadway singers of the '70s, '80s, and '90s. Instead of sticking to traditional Broadway material,
Peters branches out to sing material from pop, rock, R&B and country composers like
Bob Dylan,
John Lennon and
Paul McCartney,
Sam Cooke,
Lyle Lovett and
Billy Joel. Although
Peters is well-suited to sing
Lennon/
McCartney's pop material and the pseudo-show tune stylings of
Joel, she sounds a bit lost when she tries grittier material like the country-rock of
Dylan's title track or
Sam Cooke. Still, there are enough fine performances -- including a few cuts written by
Stephen Sondheim and Rodgers & Hammerstein -- to make the missteps tolerable for dedicated fans. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine