Barry Manilow and subsequently as a producer on both her debut and sophomore record albums "The Divine Miss M" (1972) and "Bette Midler" (1973). as well as act as her musical director on the eventual tour mounted for the former. In 1973, Manilow was nominated for the Album Of The Year Grammy Award for his production role on 'The Divine Miss M'. Manilow worked with Midler from 1971 to 1975. After the Featherbed singles failed to impact on the music charts, in July 1973, Bell Records released the album, "Barry Manilow", which offered an eclectic mix of piano-driven pop and guitar-driven rock
Delta Dawn sang backup on Harvey's recording, and performed "Delta Dawn" in her live act. After hearing Tracy Nelson sing the song at the Bottom Line in New York City, Bette Midler added the song to her repertoire. During the time Tanya Tucker’s and Helen Reddy’s recordings of the song were being produced (see below), Bette Midler recorded "Delta Dawn" for her "The Divine Miss M" debut album, for which her bluesy version was planned as the lead single. Reddy's single was released June 1973, two days before Midler's. The preemption required a marketing change to Midler's single, so the original B-side