If you want to start over, sometimes it’s best to go back to where you started.
That’s what Bonnie Raitt has done. She went back to Minnesota this year to begin recording anew-with fellow Minnesotan Prince-after severing a 15-year relationship with Warner Bros. Records.
In 1971, Raitt recorded her debut album in folk-bluesman Dave Ray’s studio in a garage on an island in Lake Minnetonka. That LP was the California singer’s first step toward becoming one of pop music’s most enduring cult figures. She has been a folk singer, a blueswoman, an R & B stylist and a distinguished guitarist who has appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone and in the all-star video of the anti-apartheid anthem “Sun City.”
Prince, she said, “called me in November and he came to one of my shows. He told me he wanted to work with me.”
They met twice to discuss parameters of the project, then in April she went to the studio in Prince’s home and recorded three songs.
“It was interesting to see what he would come up with,” she says, “especially because I’m political and not a very shy person, and he’s not very political and he is very shy. But the fact that we both do R & B, and now that I’ve heard the songs, it makes complete sense to me. It came out really well.”
Her sessions with Prince were different from any of her previous recording experiences.
“It was nice to be working with another singer and guitarist,” she says. “There was a lot of mutual respect. There isn’t any danger of his steamrolling me into his own image. I’m strong enough personality-wise so I’m not going to be told how to sing. He was not any more demanding than I was of myself.”
Prince wrote and recorded the instrumental tracks in advance, then Raitt added vocals and lead guitar. They cut two R & B songs and one reggae tune.
Bonnie Raitt - I Need A Man (Unreleased PRINCE Song)
Bonnie Raitt - I Need A Man (Unreleased PRINCE Song)
Raitt said it was as refreshing to record in Minnesota this year as it was 16 years ago. That isn’t the only reason the veteran singer-guitarist feels as if she’s starting over. A hand injury forced her to take a lengthy vacation for the first time in years. She exercised, changed her eating habits, stopped partying and basically altered her life style.
There was hardly any partying when Raitt went to the Soviet Union in July to perform with the Doobie Brothers, Santana, James Taylor and various Soviet rock, swing and folk performers in conjunction with a U.S.-Soviet peace march. But performing in front of 25,000 Russians connected Raitt with her past in another way.
“For an old peace activist like me, I was very heartened by it,” she says. “I’m thrilled with all these big (benefit) concerts because the tradition I came out of was the Bob Dylan-Joan Baez protest song.”
Raitt, the daughter of Broadway singer John Raitt, grew up in the Los Angeles area. Having played guitar since she was 9, she gravitated to the folk and blues scenes in Boston when she attended Radcliffe College in 1967. After four years on the club circuit as a soloist, she signed with Warner Bros. Records.
Now her managers are shopping for a new contract for her. She called her 15-year relationship with Warner Bros. a marriage that went stale.
“The last few years my spirit was broken by them not promoting me,” says Raitt, who had only one album released by Warners in the last five years. “I’ve always made money for the label. (Her best seller, “Sweet Forgiveness,” has sold nearly 1 million copies.) At a certain point, you either ought to get off the label or stop complaining.”
Raitt has renewed confidence that there is a market for artists older than 25 who play blues- and R&B-oriented rock. She points optimistically to the recent success of the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Robert Cray and Steve Winwood, as well as smaller record labels.
“I decided that I’m going to be okay regardless of whether I have a hit record,” she says. “I wouldn’t like to be a household word, but I would like the records to be in the stores. I want sensible marketing techniques used at my target audience.”
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Bonnie has contributed a new recording of "Prison Bound Blues" written by Leroy Carr to a project called Better Than Jail, an extraordinary new album benefiting Free Hearts and Equal Justice USA. Better Than Jail is available everywhere today and features covers of iconic prison songs from Steve Earle, Taj Mahal,Margo Price, The War and Treaty and many more. The album seeks to raise awareness and support for the urgent need to reduce the harm of the criminal justice system. https://found.ee/BetterThanJail.
I'm so proud to have joined in with so many illustrious artists in creating this very special album in support of rural prison reform. Overlooked for far too long, this issue cuts across all cultural and political divides and deserves all our focused attention to finally bring about some swift and meaningful action. Better Than Jail is one of the most inspired and heartfelt albums I've been blessed to be a part of and I hope it sets a fire in hearts far and wide to join in our efforts." ~ Bonnie Raitt
Released on: 2024-10-04 Executive Producer: Brian Hunt Producer: Kenny Greenberg Producer: Wally Wilson Producer: Bonnie Raitt Recording Engineer: Jason Lehning at Sound Emporium Mastering Engineer: Alex McCollough at True East Mastering Production Assistant: Shannon Finnegan Mixer: Justin Niebank at Hounds Ear Music Publisher: Universal Music Corp. Composer, Lyricist: Leroy Carr ℗ Believe Entertainment Group and Wyatt Road Records
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The Fabulous Thunderbirds - Nothing in Rambling Ft. Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal, Keb' Mo' & Mick Fleetwood
In celebration of the band’s 50th Anniversary, The Fabulous Thunderbirds have just released Struck Down, their first studio album in eight years on Stony Plain Records. The ten-track album includes a wonderful cover of Memphis Minnie’s “Nothing in Rambling,” featuring longtime friends, T-Birds founding member Kim Wilson, along with Bonnie, Keb’ Mo’, Taj Mahal and Mick Fleetwood. — BRHQ
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Little Feat - Long Distance Call
“I’ve always loved Little Feat and this new incarnation of the band is bringing some serious heat, cred and new blood to their enduring legacy. Every Feat fan loves us some Sam. I’m so glad he’s now gotten a chance to step out front and center and put his spin on these wonderful blues songs. I loved singing "Long Distance Call" with him, always one of my favorites, and Scott slayed on slide. Know you’ll enjoy hanging out with us at Sam’s Place!" -- Bonnie Raitt
“Long Distance Call” was written by blues legend, Muddy Waters. It has Sam Clayton and Bonnie Raitt on vocals, Scott Sharrard on Dobro, Fred Tackett on acoustic guitar, Tony Leone on drums, and Michael “The Bull” LoBue on harmonica. The album also features Bill Payne on piano and Kenny Gradney on bass.
Little Feat have composed an album that’s their love letter to the blues entitled, ‘Sam’s Place.’ “Long Distance Call” plus many other blues classics are on this album. You can stream and order ‘Sam’s Place’ here: https://orcd.co/samsplace
Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows: Songs of John Prine, Vol. 2, the anticipated new John Prine tribute record from Oh Boy Records, is out today. Stream/purchase HERE.
Created as a celebration of Prine’s life and career, the album features new renditions of some of Prine’s most beloved songs performed by Brandi Carlile (“I Remember Everything”), Tyler Childers (“Yes I Guess They Oughta Name A Drink After You”), Iris DeMent (“One Red Rose”), Emmylou Harris (“Hello In There”), Jason Isbell (“Souvenirs”), Valerie June (“Summer’s End”), Margo Price (“Sweet Revenge”), Bonnie Raitt (“Angel From Montgomery”), Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats (“Pretty Good”), Amanda Shires (“Saddle in the Rain”), Sturgill Simpson(“Paradise”) and John Paul White (“Sam Stone”). Proceeds from the album will benefit twelve different non-profit organizations, one selected by each of the featured artists.
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Bonnie Raitt - Write Me a Few of Your Lines/Kokomo Blues
60 years anniversary celebration of Arhoolie
December 10, 2020
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Arhoolie Foundation celebrates it's 60th anniversary (1960-2020) with an online broadcast.
Bonnie Raitt - Shadow of Doubt
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival
October 3, 2020
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass celebrates it's 20th anniversary with an online broadcast titled “Let The Music Play On”.
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Bonnie Raitt & Boz Scaggs - You Don't Know Like I Know
Farm Aid 2020 On the Road
Sam & Dave classic written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter.
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Sheryl Crow & Bonnie Raitt - Everything Is Broken
[Eric Clapton’s Crossroads 2019]
Eric Clapton, one of the world’s pre-eminent blues/rock guitarists, once again summoned an all-star team of six-string heroes for his fifth Crossroads Guitar Festival in 2019. Held at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, the two-day concert event raised funds for the Crossroads Centre in Antigua, the chemical dependency treatment and education facility that Clapton founded in 1998.
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'A Tribute To Mose Allison'
Celebrates The Music Of An Exciting Jazz Master
Raitt contributed to a new album, If You're Going To The City: A Tribute To Mose Allison, which celebrates the late singer and pianist, who famously blended the rough-edged blues of the Mississippi Delta with the 1950s jazz of New York City.
NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro talks to Bonnie Raitt about her friendship with the Mose Allison. They're also joined by Amy Allison — his daughter, who executive produced the album — about selecting an unexpected list of artists to contribute songs to the album.
Recorded on tour June 3, 2017 - Centennial Hall, London - Ontario Canada