Bonnie Raitt - Takin' My Time (1973)

Bonnie Raitt is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.

Takin' My Time was Bonnie Raitt's third album is as many years. It offered up a good serving of mellow singer-songwriter fare spiced up with rootsy blues, pop, dixieland and even calypso. It was notable for being her first album which featured no original songs. Instead it was made up entirely of well-chosen covers and songs by other songwriters, the eclectic selection of songs coming from Martha & The Vandellas, Mose Allison, Eric Kaz, Jackson Browne, The Sensations, Randy Newman, Calypso Rose, Chris Smither, Mississippi Fred McDowell and Joel Zoss. Musicians appearing on the album included Jim Keltner, Taj Mahal, Van Dyke Parks, and several members of Little Feat (Lowell George was the producer initially, but apparently his close relationship with Raitt led her to switch to John Hall as producer).

It was a great album, and like its predecessors it was critically praised but wasn't a huge seller (though unlike the others it did manage to get into album chart, charting at #87).

Give It Up (1972) <|>Streetlights (1974)
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Bonnie Raitt - Give It Up (1972)

Bonnie Raitt is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.

Bonnie Raitt's recording career had begun in 1971 - her splendid debut album was a hit with the critics, but only resulted in modest sales and little public acclaim. Her second album, Give It Up, came out the next year, and again was not much of a commercial success, but earned even higher praise than her debut, as it saw her hone her unique style to perfection. It was more earthy roots-rock seeped with blues, but also with touches of folk, soul and New Orleans brass, highlighted by her excellent singing and slide guitar work.

It featured three original songs alongside a host of interesting covers, including numbers by 1920s blues artist Sippie Wallace, R&B singer Barbara George, songwriter Rudy Clark, and her contemporaries Jackson Browne, Chris Smither and Eric Kaz.

Bonnie Raitt (1971) <|> Takin' My Time (1973)
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Bonnie Raitt - Bonnie Raitt (1971)

Bonnie Raitt is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.

The daughter of Broadway star John Raitt, Bonnie Raitt took up guitar at an early age. In 1967 she went to Harvard, which is where she met and befriended promoter Dick Waterman, a major figure of the 60s blues revival. She became part of the community of musicians which surrounded Waterman, and by the late 60s was regularly peforming at folk and blues clubs in the Boston area, and had the chance to meet and perform alongside blues legends such as Howlin' Wolf and Mississippi Fred McDowell.
By 1970 she had attracted the attention of several major record companies, and eventually she signed to Warner Bros. Her debut album came out in 1971, showcasing her laid-back and bluesy roots-rock style. Produced by pianist Willie Murphy, it was recorded live straight to tape at an empty summer camp, giving it a natural and spontaneous feel. It was almost entirely made up of covers, mostly songs by blues artists including Robert Johnson and Sippie Wallace, but also with a great reworking of Stephen Stills' old Buffalo Springfield tune "Bluebird", and a number by Motown girl group The Marvelettes ("Danger Heartache Dead Ahead").
It sold modestly, but the critics were quick to recognise her talent, not just as a singer and song enterpreter but also as a bottleneck slide guitarist. At the time there were very few women in popular music with reputations as guitarists. As the album was recorded when she was just twenty one years old, it was most definately a strong and promising start to her career.

|> Give It Up (1972)
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