Bonnie
Raitt
by Tony Engelhart
(w/ Jon Cleary & the Absolute Gentlemen) - 6/14 (SOLD OUT)
@ Arlene Schnitzer Hall, Portland, OR; 6/15 (SOLD OUT) @ Chateau
Ste. Michelle Winery, Woodinville; 6/16 @ Orpheum Theatre, Vancouver,
BC, 7:30pm.
Long time critic's darling, Bonnie
Raitt, has been recording for 31 years and has yet to show any
signs of slowing down. While Raitt's music has always been rooted
in blues, the singer/guitar player has a knack for combining
many genres to create a unique sound that is distinctly her
own.
Born in 1949 to Broadway star John
Raitt, Bonnie grew up within an artistic and affluent environment
in Burbank, CA. After picking up a guitar at age 12, Raitt felt
an almost immediate connection to blues music, and despite her
two-year stint at Radcliffe College, the budding performer would
soon begin playing the Boston blues and folk club circuit. Signing
with blues agent Dick Waterman, Bonnie soon found herself playing
alongside some of her idols, such as Howlin' Wolf, Sippie Wallace,
and Mississippi Fred McDowell. Gaining a reputation not only
as a soulful vocalist, but also as a talented bottleneck player,
she signed to Warner Bros. and released her debut entitled simply,
Raitt. While critics praised every recording she released, commercially,
Bonnie Raitt was overlooked-she was still trying to find her
audience. In 1977, her cover of the Del Shannon classic "Runaway"
brought the artist her first significant airplay.
Throughout her career, Bonnie
Raitt has remained an activist, playing hundreds of benefit
shows beginning with a massive all-star anti-nuclear concert
at Madison Square Garden mounted by MUSE (Musicians United for
Safe Energy), an organization she co-founded. However, the '80s
were unkind to Raitt. Her 1982 release, Green Light, failed
to capture the widespread audience that record executives had
been waiting for since the early '70s. During the recording
of her follow-up, Bonnie was abruptly dropped from Warner Bros.
To make matters worse, the singer had now fallen victim to drug
and alcohol abuse. In 1986, she managed to release a hodgepodge
of work entitled Nine Lives. This album not only garnered poor
reviews but was also the worst selling record of her career.
While many dismissed Bonnie Raitt,
she entered the studio with Don Was to record an album appropriately
named Nick Of Time. Having worked with the B-52s and the punk
band "Was (Not Was)", Don seemed an unlikely choice
as Raitt's producer for her first release with Capitol; however,
the two turned out to make a winning combination. Nick of Time
is a fusion of all Bonnie's passions, including blues, rock,
and folk, and showcases her impressive songwriting. The album
is also a product of its talented producer, who updated Bonnie's
sound, making it more contemporary and radio-friendly. As a
result, Nick of Time took home a handful of Grammys, including
Album of the Year. Suddenly the fiery redhead with the Fender
Stratacastor was elevated to superstardom and gained more acclaim
than in the 2 previous decades combined. The release of Luck
Of The Draw would only cement her as a viable and bankable addition
to Capitol's roster. She continued to release highly praised
recordings throughout the 1990s and, along the way, helped bring
her heroes-such as the late John Lee Hooker-to a new and younger
audience.
For Bonnie Raitt, it has been a long journey to the top but,
at the age of 53, Raitt is only breathing in her second wind.
The 2002 release of Silver Lining marks her 15th recording.
This record will no doubt gain her new fans, as did 1989's Luck
Of The Draw, and will enchant the fans who have been with her
from the beginning.
Bonnie Raitt: Silver Lining - Capitol Records
By Mark Hoffman
If there is a better performer in America today than Bonnie
Raitt, I can't think of one. Her newest album, Silver Lining,
shows off not only her astounding prowess on slide guitar and
vocals, but also shows that there's almost no one in popular
music as versatile as she is. First, this is a slide-guitarist's
dream CD. No surprise there, since Bonnie has been playing slide
since the late '60s and is one of the few people alive who learned
slide from masters such as Son House and Mississippi Fred McDowell.
Her slide work on this album is simply spectacular. On "Walking
Through the Valley of Pain," "No Getting' Over You,"
and the funky, funny "Gnawin' on It" (accompanied
by another great slide player, Roy Rogers), she proves that
that she's the reigning queen of voice-like slide microtone
control-and that the best blues doesn't stray far from the human
voice. Bonnie's also one hell of an R&B singer. "Can't
Help You Now" could be classic Stax: soulful enough to
make Al green with envy. "Time of Our Lives" sounds
like an early '70s Staples Singers cut, full of subtle drumming,
slinky guitar, honey-sweet choruses, and Bonnie's incandescent
voice. Pops would be proud. "Fool's Game," with its
nursery rhyme/jump-rope opening, syncopated piano, and powerhouse
drumming, might as well be an old field holler updated with
modern instrumentation. Bonnie has spent time in Africa in the
last few years, and it shows. The ecstatic "Hear Me Lord,"
co-written with Zimbabwean artist Oliver Mtukudzi, is full of
infectious talking drums, moaning fretless bass, and hyper-rhythmic
single-string guitar runs. "Back Around," which she
co-wrote with Malian guitarist Habib Koité, sounds like
it just got off a plane from West Africa. Then Bonnie can turn
around and do powerful, heartfelt ballads such as the piano-drenched
"No Getting Over You," "Wherever You May Be,"
"Wounded Heart," and the title tune, "Silver
Lining." It's amazing what this woman can do with her voice
on a slow tune. This album demonstrates something that people
often forget, since Bonnie's such a knockout performer herself:
her band. And this band-consisting of guitarist George Marinelli,
bassist James "Hutch" Hutchinson, drummer Ricky Fataar,
and new keyboard guy Jon Cleary-is HOT. These guys can seemingly
play anything. The title track says it all: Bonnie and her band
just get better with age. I wouldn't be surprised to see Silver
Lining winning a lot of Grammies next year. Get it or regret
it.
2002