


By now, Raitt was already experimenting with different producers and different styles, and she began to adopt a more mainstream sound that continued through 1975’s Home Plate. Raitt was beginning to receive greater press coverage, including a 1975 cover story for Rolling Stone Magazine, but with 1974’s Streetlights, reviews for her work were becoming increasingly mixed. 1973’s Takin’ My Time was also met with critical acclaim, but these notices were not matched by the sales.

Her second album, Give It Up, was released in 1972 to universal acclaim though many critics still regard it as her best work, it did not change her commercial fortunes. Her critical stature continued to grow but record sales remained modest. While admired by those who saw her perform, and respected by her peers, Raitt gained little public acclaim for her work. The album was warmly received by the music press, many of whom praised her skills as an interpreter and as a bottleneck guitarist at the time, very few women in popular music had strong reputations as guitarists. who soon released her debut album, Bonnie Raitt, in 1971. She eventually accepted an offer with Warner Bros. Scouts from major record companies were soon attending her shows to watch her play. Raitt says it was an “opportunity that changed everything.” Career 1970–76 In the fall of 1970, while opening for Mississippi Fred McDowell at the Gaslight Cafe in New York, she was seen by a reporter from Newsweek Magazine, who began to spread word of her performance. During her second year Raitt took a semester off and moved to Philadelphia with Waterman and a number of local musicians. Raitt said her “plan was to travel to Tanzania, where President Julius Nyerere was creating a government based on democracy and socialism”.Raitt became friends with blues promoter Dick Waterman. Raitt says she played “a little at school and at camp” called Camp Regis-Applejack in New York.Īfter graduating from Oakwood Friends School in Poughkeepsie, New York, in 1967 Raitt entered Radcliffe College majoring in social relations and African Studies. Later she gained notice for her bottleneck-style guitar playing. She began playing guitar at an early age. She is the daughter of Broadway musical star John Raitt and his first wife, pianist Marjorie Haydock, and was raised in the Quaker tradition. She is listed as number 50 in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time and number 89 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.Įarly life Raitt was born in Burbank, California. The following two albums Luck of the Draw (1991) and Longing in Their Hearts (1994) were also multi-million sellers generating several hit singles, including “Something to Talk About”, “Love Sneakin’ Up on You”, and the ballad “I Can’t Make You Love Me” (with Bruce Hornsby on piano). In 1989 after several years of critical acclaim but little commercial success she had a major return to public prominence with the release of her album Nick of Time.
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Synopsis Bonnie Lynn Raitt (born November 8, 1949) is an American blues singer-songwriter, musician, and acitivist.ĭuring the 1970s, Raitt released a series of roots-influenced albums which incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk and country.
