Bonnie Raitt (album)
Encyclopedia
Bonnie Raitt is the self-titled debut album
by Bonnie Raitt
, released in 1971 (see 1971 in music
). A straight-blues affair, it was recorded at an empty summer camp on Enchanted Island, about 30 miles west of Minneapolis on Lake Minnetonka
. "We recorded live on four tracks because we wanted a more spontaneous and natural feeling in the music," Raitt wrote in the album's liner notes, "a feeling often sacrificed when the musicians know they can overdub their part on a separate track until it's perfect."
Though album sales were modest, Bonnie Raitt was warmly received by rock critics. "[A]n unusual collection of songs performed by an unusual assortment of musicians", wrote Rolling Stone
. "Raitt is a folkie by history but not by aesthetic," wrote Robert Christgau
in his Consumer Guide column. "She includes songs from Steve Stills
, the Marvelettes
, and a classic feminist blues singer named Sippie Wallace
because she knows the world doesn't end with acoustic song-poems and Fred McDowell
. An adult repertoire that rocks with a steady roll, and she's all of twenty-one years old."
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Lynn Raitt is an American blues singer-songwriter and a renowned slide guitar player. During the 1970s, Raitt released a series of acclaimed roots-influenced albums which incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk and country, but she is perhaps best known for her more commercially...
, released in 1971 (see 1971 in music
1971 in music
-Events:*February 1 – after months of feuding in the press, Ginger Baker and Elvin Jones hold a "drum battle" at The Lyceum.*February 8 – Bob Dylan's hour-long documentary film, Eat the Document, is premièred at New York's Academy of Music...
). A straight-blues affair, it was recorded at an empty summer camp on Enchanted Island, about 30 miles west of Minneapolis on Lake Minnetonka
Lake Minnetonka
Lake Minnetonka is a lake in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Throughout its recorded history, the lake has been a resort destination. It is located west-southwest of Minneapolis-St. Paul. The lake is an irregular shape with numerous bays and islands which make up about of shoreline...
. "We recorded live on four tracks because we wanted a more spontaneous and natural feeling in the music," Raitt wrote in the album's liner notes, "a feeling often sacrificed when the musicians know they can overdub their part on a separate track until it's perfect."
Though album sales were modest, Bonnie Raitt was warmly received by rock critics. "[A]n unusual collection of songs performed by an unusual assortment of musicians", wrote Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
. "Raitt is a folkie by history but not by aesthetic," wrote Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
in his Consumer Guide column. "She includes songs from Steve Stills
Stephen Stills
Stephen Arthur Stills is an American guitarist and singer/songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash . He has performed on a professional level in several other bands as well as maintaining a solo career at the same time...
, the Marvelettes
The Marvelettes
The Marvelettes were an American singing girl group on the Tamla label. Motown's first successful female vocal group, the Marvelettes are most notable for recording the company's first #1 Pop hit, "Please Mr...
, and a classic feminist blues singer named Sippie Wallace
Sippie Wallace
Sippie Wallace was an American singer-songwriter. Her early career in local tent shows gained her the billing "The Texas Nightingale". Between 1923 and 1927, she recorded over 40 songs for Okeh Records, many written by herself or her brothers, George and Hersal Thomas...
because she knows the world doesn't end with acoustic song-poems and Fred McDowell
Fred McDowell
Fred McDowell known by his stage name; Mississippi Fred McDowell, was an American Hill country blues singer and guitar player.-Career:...
. An adult repertoire that rocks with a steady roll, and she's all of twenty-one years old."
Track listing
- "Bluebird" (Stephen StillsStephen StillsStephen Arthur Stills is an American guitarist and singer/songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash . He has performed on a professional level in several other bands as well as maintaining a solo career at the same time...
) – 3:29 - "Mighty Tight Woman" (Sippie WallaceSippie WallaceSippie Wallace was an American singer-songwriter. Her early career in local tent shows gained her the billing "The Texas Nightingale". Between 1923 and 1927, she recorded over 40 songs for Okeh Records, many written by herself or her brothers, George and Hersal Thomas...
) – 4:20 - "Thank You" (Raitt) – 2:50
- "Finest Lovin' Man" (Raitt) – 4:42
- "Any Day Woman" (Paul SiebelPaul SiebelPaul Siebel is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, born on September 19, 1937 in Buffalo, NY. He is best known for other artist's cover versions of his songs, most notably "Louise"...
) – 2:23 - "Big Road" (Tommy Johnson) – 3:31
- "Walking Blues" (Robert Johnson) – 2:40
- "Danger Heartbreak Dead Ahead" (Ivy Hunter, Clarence PaulClarence PaulClarence Otto Pauling , better known as Clarence Paul, was a songwriter and record producer for Detroit's Motown Records....
, William "Mickey" Stevenson) – 2:53 - "Since I Fell for YouSince I Fell for You"Since I Fell for You" is a jazz and pop standard. The blues ballad was composed by Buddy Johnson in 1945 and was first popularized by his sister, Ella Johnson, with Buddy Johnson and His Orchestra. The biggest hit version was recorded by Lenny Welch in 1963, reaching number four on the U.S...
" (Buddy JohnsonBuddy JohnsonNot to be confused with Budd Johnson.Buddy Johnson was an American jazz and New York blues pianist and bandleader, active from the 1930s through the 1960s...
) – 3:06 - "I Ain't Blue" (John Koerner, Willie Murphy) – 3:36
- "Women Be Wise" (John Beach, Sippie Wallace) – 4:09
Personnel
- Bonnie Raitt - acoustic guitar, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, electric guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
, steel guitarSteel guitarSteel guitar is a type of guitar or the method of playing the instrument. Developed in Hawaii in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a steel guitar is usually positioned horizontally; strings are plucked with one hand, while the other hand changes the pitch of one or more strings with the use...
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, background vocals, slide guitarSlide guitarSlide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles... - John Beach - piano
- Peter Bell - acoustic guitar, guitar, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, electric bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, electric guitar, background vocals - Stephen Bradley - drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
- FreeboFreeboFreebo is a bass and tuba player, guitarist, singer, songwriter, and producer noted primarily for his work with Bonnie Raitt. He is also a respected session musician who has recorded and performed with Ringo Starr, John Mayall, John Hall, Aaron Neville, Dr...
- bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, tubaTubaThe tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
, vocals, background vocals, fretless bass - Russell Hagen - guitar, electric guitar
- Voyle Harris - trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
- Eugene Hoffman - tenor saxophoneTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
, cowbell - Maurice Jacox - fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, baritone saxophoneBaritone saxophoneThe baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece...
, wind - Reeve Little - background vocals
- Willie MurphyWillie Murphy (musician)Willie Murphy is an American pianist, singer, producer, and songwriter. He is best known as a singer and pianist for the blues band Willie and the Bees and his work with Bonnie Raitt and John Koerner.-Biography:...
- guitar, percussion, piano, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, vocals, background vocals - Paul PenaPaul PenaPaul Pena was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist of Cape Verdean descent.His music from the first half of his career touched on Delta blues, jazz, morna, flamenco, folk and rock and roll...
- bass, background vocals - Steve Raitt - percussion, sound effects, background vocals
- A.C. ReedA.C. ReedAaron Corthen, better known as A.C. Reed was an American blues saxophonist, closely associated with the Chicago blues scene from the 1940s into the 2000s.- Biography :...
- tenor saxophone - Chris Rhodes - background vocals
- Douglas Spurgeon - tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
- Junior WellsJunior WellsJunior Wells , born Amos Wells Blakemore Jr., was an American Chicago blues vocalist, harmonica player, and recording artist...
- harmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
Production
- Producer: Willie Murphy
- Engineers: Dave Ray, Sylvia Ray
- Remixing: Kendall Pacios
- Series producer: Gregg Geller
- Project coordinator: Jo Motta
- Arrangers: Bonnie Raitt, John Beach
- Liner Notes: Bonnie Raitt
- Winner of 9 Grammy Awards
External links
- Bonnie Raitt at MySpace (streamed copy where licensed)