For The Boys (soundtrack)

For The Boys (soundtrack)

For the Boys is the soundtrack to the feature film of the same name starring Bette Midler and James Caan, released on the Atlantic Records label in 1991.

In the movie Midler and Caan play the USO entertainers Dixie Leonard and Eddie Sparks who travel and perform together through World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War and the soundtrack mainly consists of period music from the songbooks of Hoagy Carmichael, Ray Evans, Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen and Frank Loesser, including jazz standards and evergreens like "P.S. I Love You", "Stuff Like That There", "Come Rain or Come Shine" and Leonard and Sparks' signature tune "I Remember You". A few of the tracks performed by Midler and Caan were however originals composed especially for the movie; "Dixie's Dream" was written by Midler's longtime collaborator Marc Shaiman and "Dreamland" by Alan and Marilyn Bergman and co-producer Dave Grusin, and Grusin also wrote the Golden Globe nominated original score.

For The Boys was promoted by the Diane Warren-penned ballad "Every Road Leads Back To You" which became a Top 20 hit on the US adult contemporary chart, peaking at #15. The second single was Midler's interpretation of The Beatles "In My Life", in the movie performed by Dixie Leonard as she entertains the US troops during the Vietnam war. "In My Life" also reached #20 on the adult contemporary chart and later made its way onto Midler's greatest hits collection Experience the Divine.

The For the Boys album reached #22 on the US charts, and was later certified Gold by the RIAA, and #75 in the UK.