Bonnie's Pride and Joy

Fansite with ALL the news about Bonnie !

Taking the torch from Janis: Bonnie Raitt – Bonnie Raitt, 1971

on June 12, 2009 No comments

by Zach Zwagil
June 12, 2009

Following the 1970 deaths of Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix, modern blues had suffered immeasurable loss. Furthermore, with the end of Cream in 1969, popularized blues forms were severely lacking, especially amongst the females, who had mostly established themselves in pop soul, the softer side of folk rock, and early a.m. pop. So, in comes a young Bonnie Raitt to keep her beloved blues alive, and to show the white girls how it’s done.

In 1971, Bonnie Raitt released her eponymous debut album, Bonnie Raitt, ensuring her a place amongst the best of the 70s.

This was not the psychedelic electric blues of her aforementioned brethren. This was a return to roots with a hint of the smoothness of the 70s. The wailing of the electric guitar is replaced with honky tonk piano, rustic down home acoustic guitar, swampy harmonica, and sex-infused horn blasts. What you get is the feeling of a late night stroll down Bourbon Street and a chance stumbling into a blues club full of perfectly greasy sleaze and southern fried attitude.

The album begins with “Bluebird”, a song Stephen Stills wrote for his Buffalo Springfield’s Buffalo Springfield Again from 1967. The track’s unpolished blues band intro screams of the 1950s Chess era. Raitt’s vocal is first heard and immediately apparent is how well-studied she is in the blues tradition. Her inflections are appropriate, unpretentious, and deep from the pit of her gut – much unlike the average modern R&B run. At halfway, we are presented with a combo of scat singing and lustful horn drives, perfectly accenting the melody.

Tradition is renewed on the Ray Charles-style “Mighty Tight Woman”, with its 12-bar piano blues shuffle. Written in 1926 by the early feminist blues singer Sippie Wallace, the absolutely sleazy yet heartfelt lyricism of “If you’re a married man/You ain’t got no business here/Cause when you’re out with me/I might make your little wife shed a tear/Cause I’m a mighty tight woman/There ain’t nothing, nothing that I fear” is accompanied by a piano-acoustic guitar interlude later joined by deep Delta-derived harmonica. Raitt’s vocal is pure seduction, leaving little to the imagination; yet, no one’s complaining and no one should.

Hormones are relaxed for the subsequent Raitt-written “Thank You”, whose gushing sincerity and gratitude will ease the censors off of Raitt’s back and let her continue. The track drops the blues band grit for a more 70s smoothened soul, with instruments downplayed, providing a backdrop for Raitt’s vocal ability. Not to mention, a rarely heard blues element in Maurice Jacox’s flute being used as a key solo instrument – a nice change up from the standard protocol.

Southern swagger intermingles again in “Finest Lovin’ Man” and “Big Road”, separated by the singer-songwriter folky blues of “Any Day Woman”. “Finest Lovin’ Man” is the second Raitt-written track, serving as a sermon to her fellow women about the methods by which to have themselves the finest kind of lovin’ man – and with Junior Wells on harp, you’re bound to have a foot-stomping good time on your hands. Raitt reworks a Paul Siebel original from his 1970 debut album Woodsmoke and Oranges on “Any Day Woman” and the Tommy Johnson Delta blues standard “Big Road Blues” on “Big Road”. Raitt’s influences are vast but focused, further demonstrating knowledge not only of the art form but of its predominant figures and the basis for that predominance.

RELATED
Bonnie Raitt Just Keeps Getting Better

The second half of the album is further reworkings, with tracks ranging from the earliest of blues musicians to Motown standards to jazz bandleaders. “Walking Blues” is of course a cover of the 1939 Robert Johnson classic, this time with Raitt on acoustic slide guitar and again joined by Junior Wells’ blues harp prowess. She takes a cue from the 1965 Marvelettes single “Danger! Heartbreak Dead Ahead”, stripping it of its Motown sheen and dressing it in her special sauce of country-fried blues swagger; yet, with any Motown song, the arrangements are so perfect that even an original reworking can’t entirely escape the Motown touch. Bandleader Buddy Johnson’s 1945 pop jazz standard “Since I Fell For You” becomes her next project, again demonstrating her ability to rearrange even the most lauded standards in her image, faithfully bringing to life the original’s essence in her own colorful way.

Before the album’s strong feminist blues close with “Women Be Wise”, we take a folky detour with “Spider” John Koerner and Willie Murphy’s 1967’s “I Ain’t Blue” from their debut duet album Running, Jumping, Standing Still – a foray into the side of blues that might fit best with Raitt’s folk personality and upbringing. To close out the album, Sippie Wallace’s work returns with another soulful blues sermon on “Women Be Wise”. Raitt’s vocal strutting is perfectly suited for the feminine attitude that oozes from every crevice of this rustic blues beauty of a song.

Now, while Bonnie Raitt wrote only two of the tracks on this album, we see her expertise in her ability to arrange a classic in her own image. It just goes to show that songwriting is not limited to the ability to compose a lyrical work, but includes the ability to compose an instrumental work, a sometimes-overlooked art.

With her eponymous debut album, Bonnie Raitt made sure that the boys of the 70s knew that the women could swagger with the best of them.

Source: © Copyright Examiner.com

Please rate this article


/ 3

Your page rank:

Share this post:
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

0 Comments
oldest
newest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Also enjoy listening to Bonnie in these posts!

SHEROES RADIO PRESENTS: THE ROAD TO JONI September 13, 2024 READ MORE Julia Gets Wise with Bonnie Raitt April 3, 2024 READ MORE The Blues Show with Cerys Matthews - BBC Sounds June 5, 2023 READ MORE 6 Things To Know About Bonnie Raitt: Her Famous Fans, Legendary Friends & Lack Of Retirement Plan March 6, 2023 READ MORE Bonnie Raitt Talks with David Remnick February 3, 2023 READ MORE Bonnie Raitt - The Bob Lefsetz Podcast October 20, 2022 READ MORE Bonnie Raitt performs as if no one has ever seen the show before October 7, 2022 READ MORE Bonnie Raitt - Bullseye with Jesse Thorn October 4, 2022 READ MORE Bonnie joins Dave Cobb on Southern Accents Radio September 17, 2022 READ MORE Paul Ingles - Talk Music With Me - Bonnie Raitt: JUST LIKE THAT June 28, 2022 READ MORE Bonnie Raitt, Blues Sister: Her Life And Times In Eight Songs June 7, 2022 READ MORE Spotlight On: Bonnie Raitt May 28, 2022 READ MORE {{title}} {{date}} READ MORE A conversation with Bonnie Raitt May 8, 2022 READ MORE {{title}} {{date}} READ MORE Bonnie on CBC LISTEN q with Tom Power April 22, 2022 READ MORE {{title}} {{date}} READ MORE Bonnie Raitt - WTF with Marc Maron Podcast April 11, 2022 READ MORE Bonnie on The Record Store Day Podcast with Paul Myers April 5, 2022 READ MORE Bonnie talks to Bruce Headlam on Broken Record Podcast March 16, 2022 READ MORE Bonnie Raitt - Questlove Supreme March 9, 2022 READ MORE Bonnie Raitt sits in March 7, 2022 READ MORE Bonnie Raitt: favorite songs from each album August 25, 2021 READ MORE {{title}} {{date}} READ MORE Hear a 21-Year-Old Bonnie Raitt Cover Joni Mitchell’s ‘Woodstock’ August 14, 2020 READ MORE Bonnie Raitt on Angel From Montgomery while on Debatable April 14, 2020 READ MORE {{title}} {{date}} READ MORE I Am (Not) a Diva June 4, 2019 READ MORE Turning The Tables Listening Party: Women Of Roots And Americana December 1, 2017 READ MORE Little Kids Rock Honors Elvis Costello and Bonnie Raitt October 19, 2017 READ MORE Bonnie Raitt still giving them ‘Something To Talk About’ May 27, 2017 READ MORE {{title}} {{date}} READ MORE {{title}} {{date}} READ MORE Bonnie Raitt On World Cafe July 27, 2016 READ MORE Johnnie Walker meets... Bonnie Raitt on BBC Radio 2 May 29, 2016 READ MORE Bonnie Raitt on The Music Show May 22, 2016 READ MORE Bonnie Raitt: 2016 April 8, 2016 READ MORE {{title}} {{date}} READ MORE Concert review: Bonnie Raitt digs in deep at Heinz Hall March 23, 2016 READ MORE Listen to Bonnie Raitt on The Strombo Show - March 6, 2016 March 7, 2016 READ MORE Bonnie Raitt in Magnetic Form Once Again with ‘Dig In Deep’ February 29, 2016 READ MORE {{title}} {{date}} READ MORE Americana Music Association UK Produces First Awards Show February 5, 2016 READ MORE {{title}} {{date}} READ MORE Bonnie had a fantastic chat with Simon Mayo on BBC Radio 2. Have a listen! February 2, 2016 READ MORE Nick Of Time - Track by Track 25th Anniversary July 16, 2014 READ MORE The Leonard Lopate Show - Bonnie Raitt November 5, 2013 READ MORE Interview: Bonnie Raitt October 13, 2013 READ MORE Bonnie Raitt On World Cafe December 26, 2012 READ MORE 2012 Americana Music Association Honors & Awards Show September 15, 2012 READ MORE Focus On: Bonnie Raitt - 2012 Americana Music Association Keynote Interview September 15, 2012 READ MORE {{title}} {{date}} READ MORE Bonnie Raitt: A Brand-New Model For A Classic Sound June 16, 2012 READ MORE Paul Ingles - The Emergence of Bonnie Raitt May 11, 2012 READ MORE Bonnie Raitt - Words and Music - 2012 May 10, 2012 READ MORE Something To Talk About With Bonnie Raitt April 17, 2012 READ MORE {{title}} {{date}} READ MORE Bonnie Raitt Posts Live Duet with Maia Sharp for Download March 22, 2012 READ MORE Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal let the good times roll at the Greek September 12, 2009 READ MORE Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal provide perfect ending to Meijer Gardens Summer Concert Series August 24, 2009 READ MORE Bonnie Raitt and Taj Mahal Interviewed by Michael Bourne (Audio) August 10, 2009 READ MORE WNYC Soundcheck - Bonnie Raitt and Taj Mahal July 28, 2009 READ MORE Bonnie Raitt serves up variety of styles at Majestic May 12, 2009 READ MORE Mississippi Fred McDowell Blues Trail Marker May 8, 2009 READ MORE A Prairie Home Companion June 7, 2008 READ MORE A Prairie Home Companion with Bonnie October 28, 2006 READ MORE Blues and Conversation with Bonnie Raitt July 6, 2006 READ MORE Bonnie Raitt – Telluride Bluegrass Festival, CO 2006 June 18, 2006 READ MORE Review: Bonnie Raitt live at Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles November 22, 2005 READ MORE Bonnie Raitt Shakes it Up May 4, 2002 READ MORE

Popular Posts

Recommended Reading