With its character-driven narrative and fingerpicking guitar, “Just Like That” taps into Raitt’s love of the folk ballads of her songwriting contemporaries.
Though Bonnie Raitt is best known as an interpreter, putting her indelible stamp on songs like John Prine’s “Angel from Montgomery,” John Hiatt’s “Thing Called Love,” and Chris Smither’s “Love Me Like a Man,” she’s written some great songs along the way, too. Her writing came back into the spotlight last year with the release of Just Like That, which features (along with a few other originals) two stunning acoustic story-songs: the title track and “Down the Hall.”
The deeply moving “Just Like That” won big at the Grammy awards in February, taking home both Song of the Year and Best American Roots Song. With its character-driven narrative and fingerpicking guitar, “Just Like That” taps into Raitt’s love of the folk ballads of contemporaries like Prine, Bob Dylan, and Paul Brady.
For the album, Raitt wanted to explore writing about other people’s experiences, and in a TV news report she came across a remarkable story about the recipient of a heart transplant meeting the mother of the donor, who’d died in an accident years before. Speaking in the voice of the mother, Raitt delivers this poignant tale as if it were her own.
To play “Just Like That,” tune to dropped D. As you can see in the intro example, Raitt uses alternating-bass picking but doesn’t stick to a strict pattern the whole time. At its core this is a three-chord song—just D, G, and A—but Raitt uses subtle variations throughout, with suspensions, slash chords, and a few riff embellishments, as shown in the tab.
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Through much of the song she stays off the first string, using the second string D as the highest note on D5, G/B, and A7sus4. On the G/B chords, note that sometimes the bassist plays the G root rather than the B Raitt is using. If you play the song solo, you might use a root-based voicing for G (with the bass note on string 6, fret 5) to create a similar harmony.
The key to playing this song is to keep the guitar sparse and supportive, and let the powerful story sink in.
Acoustic Guitar Magazine #340 May-June 2023
Due to copyright restrictions, we are unable to post notation or tablature for this musical work. If you have a digital or physical copy of the May/June 2023 issue of Acoustic Guitar magazine, you will find the music on page 52.
Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers, founding editor of Acoustic Guitar, is a grand prize winner of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest and author of The Complete Singer-Songwriter, Beyond Strumming, and other books and videos for musicians.
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The Blues Show with Cerys Matthews - BBC Sounds
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Bonnie Raitt's Lake Minnetonka Beginning
July 24, 2019
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I Am (Not) a Diva
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Turning The Tables Listening Party: Women Of Roots And Americana
December 1, 2017
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Little Kids Rock Honors Elvis Costello and Bonnie Raitt
October 19, 2017
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May 27, 2017
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May 25, 2017
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Touring Hawaii, Bonnie Raitt Shares Roots in Activism and Philanthropy on HPR's ATC
March 23, 2017
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Bonnie Raitt On World Cafe
July 27, 2016
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Bonnie Raitt on The Music Show
May 22, 2016
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Bonnie Raitt: 2016
April 8, 2016
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At 66, Bonnie Raitt still lives for those 'ecstatic moments' that happen on stage.
April 5, 2016
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Concert review: Bonnie Raitt digs in deep at Heinz Hall
March 23, 2016
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Listen to Bonnie Raitt on The Strombo Show - March 6, 2016
March 7, 2016
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Bonnie Raitt in Magnetic Form Once Again with ‘Dig In Deep’
February 29, 2016
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First Listen: Bonnie Raitt, 'Dig In Deep'
February 18, 2016
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Americana Music Association UK Produces First Awards Show
February 5, 2016
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Bonnie visits Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4
February 5, 2016
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Bonnie had a fantastic chat with Simon Mayo on BBC Radio 2. Have a listen!
February 2, 2016
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Nick Of Time - Track by Track 25th Anniversary
July 16, 2014
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The Leonard Lopate Show - Bonnie Raitt
November 5, 2013
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Interview: Bonnie Raitt
October 13, 2013
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Bonnie Raitt On World Cafe
December 26, 2012
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2012 Americana Music Association Honors & Awards Show
September 15, 2012
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September 15, 2012
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Bonnie on Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! - NPR Quiz
September 8, 2012
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June 16, 2012
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May 11, 2012
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May 10, 2012
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April 17, 2012
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April 9, 2012
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March 22, 2012
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September 12, 2009
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August 24, 2009
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August 10, 2009
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July 28, 2009
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May 12, 2009
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May 8, 2009
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A Prairie Home Companion
June 7, 2008
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A Prairie Home Companion with Bonnie
October 28, 2006
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July 6, 2006
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June 18, 2006
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Review: Bonnie Raitt live at Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles
November 22, 2005
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Bonnie Raitt Shakes it Up
May 4, 2002
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February 1, 2001
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September 17, 1999
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Live Report: No Nukes Benefit
September 26, 1997
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February 26, 1996
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January 10, 1991
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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
Arhoolie Foundation celebrates it's 60th anniversary (1960-2020) with an online broadcast.
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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