Bootlegs

Hear a 21-Year-Old Bonnie Raitt Cover Joni Mitchell’s ‘Woodstock’

on August 14, 2020 No comments
BY ANGIE MARTOCCIO

Rare bootleg performance was recorded at Syracuse University’s Jabberwocky Club in 1971

Since writing “Woodstock” inside a New York City hotel room, Joni Mitchell‘s counterculture anthem has been covered repeatedly throughout the last 50 years, most famously with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s electrifying version on Déjà Vu. 

Now, a folky rendition by Bonnie Raitt has been unearthed, recorded at a March 27th, 1971, performance at Syracuse University’s Jabberwocky Club. Raitt was just 21 and eight months away from dropping her self-titled debut. Unlike many covers of Mitchell’s spiritual song, Raitt’s is stripped-down and acoustic, using solely her voice to channel the muddy festival on Max Yasgur’s farm. Her register is akin to Mitchell’s, soaring through the octaves with each line: “And I dreamed I saw the bombers/Riding shotgun in the sky/And they were turning into butterflies/Above our nation.”

Talk

Bonnie Raitt

00:00
  • 1. Talk - Bonnie Raitt
  • 2. Something In The Way He Moves - Bonnie Raitt
  • 3. Talk - Bonnie Raitt
  • 4. Mighty Tight Woman - Bonnie Raitt
  • 5. Talk - Bonnie Raitt
  • 6. Bluebird - Bonnie Raitt
  • 7. Talk - Bonnie Raitt
  • 8. Rollin' And Tumblin' - Bonnie Raitt
  • 9. Talk - Bonnie Raitt
  • 10. You Can Close Your Eyes - Bonnie Raitt
  • 11. Talk - Bonnie Raitt
  • 12. Richland Woman Blues - Bonnie Raitt
  • 13. Talk - Bonnie Raitt
  • 14. Blender Blues - Bonnie Raitt
  • 15. Talk - Bonnie Raitt
  • 16. In My Reply - Bonnie Raitt
  • 17. Talk - Bonnie Raitt
  • 18. Write Me A Few Of Your Lines / Kokomo Blues - Bonnie Raitt
  • 19. Talk - Bonnie Raitt
  • 20. Your Song - Bonnie Raitt
  • 21. Set You Free This Time - Bonnie Raitt
  • 22. Special Delivery Blues - Bonnie Raitt
  • 23. Talk - Bonnie Raitt
  • 24. Woodstock - Bonnie Raitt
  • 25. Talk - Bonnie Raitt
  • 26. Big Road - Bonnie Raitt
  • 27. Talk - Bonnie Raitt
  • 28. I Ain't Blue - Bonnie Raitt
  • 29. Talk - Bonnie Raitt
  • 30. Finest Lovin' Man - Bonnie Raitt
  • 31. Talk - Bonnie Raitt
  • 32. Candy Man - Bonnie Raitt
  • 33. Talk - Bonnie Raitt
  • 34. Walking Blues - Bonnie Raitt
  • 35. Talk - Bonnie Raitt
  • 36. Can I Get A Witness - Bonnie Raitt
  • 37. Talk - Bonnie Raitt
  • 38. Country Road - Bonnie Raitt
  • 39. Talk - Bonnie Raitt
  • 40. Can't Find My Way Home - Bonnie Raitt
  • 41. Talk - Bonnie Raitt
  • 42. Since I Fell For You - Bonnie Raitt
  • 43. Talk - Bonnie Raitt
  • 44. Love In Vain - Bonnie Raitt

Prior to closing its doors in 1985, the Jabberwocky Club hosted James Brown, James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Roger McGuinn, and more. The campus’ FM radio station, WAER, would broadcast the live performances in New York. Raitt’s set has been bootlegged, but is extremely rare.

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Source: © Copyright Rolling Stone and Albums That Should Exist

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Review: Bonnie Raitt live at Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles

on November 22, 2005 No comments

by

Bonnie Raitt isn’t one to hide the years.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee appears too comfortable in her own skin and is having too good a time for that.
She presents a good many of the songs performed in her 90-minute show as bits of hard-earned wisdom, an attitude underscored by her smoky, aged-in-wood voice.

“I’ve learned how to bend,” she told the sold-out aud, “but more importantly, I learned how not to be broken.”

“Trinkets,” one of the many songs that reference New Orleans, looks back ruefully on childhood, recalling an “ol’ gal named Betty” who is “wrinkled but she’s lovely and flexible,” and asks, “Don’t you wish we were all flexible enough to dance now?”

Raitt shows off her own flexibility with a set list that covers almost all the facets of her three-decade career. She can be bawdy with a growling cover of Sippie Wallace’s “Mighty Tight Woman”; bring on the pop/soul with “Love Sneaking Up on You” (with Ivan Neville sitting in on vocals and piano); and deliver “I Can’t Make You Love Me” with torchy glamour.

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She’s helped by having strong new album “Souls Alive” (Capitol) to draw from. “Unnecessarily Mercenary” (written by her fine keyboard player, Jon Cleary) is a jaunty, New Orleans stride; “God Is in the Water” is swampy, Memphis-styled gospel; and “Crooked Crown” (co-written by opening act Maia Sharp) is a Zen shuffle around acceptance and understanding. Regardless of the style, one of the evening’s consistent pleasures was Raitt’s slide guitar work.

At one point, while reaching for a sip of water, Raitt joked,

“At my age, you’ve got to make sure you have the proper hydration.”

Whatever was in that bottle, it worked; Raitt’s show is a tutorial on how a rock musician can age gracefully.

Wiltern Theater Los Angeles, CA 11-21-2005

Bonnie Raitt

Wiltern Theater; 2,200 seats; $65 top

Production

Presented by Avalon Attractions. Reviewed Nov. 21, 2005.

Cast

Band: Bonnie Raitt, Jon Cleary, James “Hutch” Hutchinson, Ricky Fataar, George Marinelli. Guests: Ivan Neville; Maia Sharp.

Source: © Copyright Variety

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Riverfest proves plenty hot for cool 10,000 fans

on May 26, 1987 No comments
By Enedelia J. Obregon – American-Statesman Staff

Austinites looking for another excuse to party found a good one Monday at the fifth annual Riverfest, which attracted thousands of young and old alike. The credit for youngest in attendance probably goes to 7-week-old Cherie Ann Hardy of Austin. No one was willing to take credit for being the oldest. “She enjoys the music,” said mom Gail Hardy as her husband, Tony, tried to cool off the infant whose hair was plastered to her head with sweat.

Keeping cool was almost as important to the other estimated 10,000 music aficionados who gathered at Auditorium Shores to listen to the LeRoi Brothers; Bill Carter and the Blame; Nick Lowe; Bonnie Raitt; Omar and the Howlers; Gregg Allman; Robert Cray; and the headliner, the Fabulous Thunderbirds. Not all the celebrities were performing. Actress Margot Kidder and Dennis Quaid, who has been filming D.O.A. around Central Texas, were seen hanging around backsatage. The music seemed to be incidental at times as the audience kept itself entertained by tossing footballs, Frisbees and Hackey Sacks and cooled off either by eliminating a lot of clothing or by consuming large quantities of refreshments.

Angel From Montgomery

Bonnie Raitt and Sarah Brown

00:00
  • 1. Angel From Montgomery - Bonnie Raitt and Sarah Brown
  • 2. Women Be Wise - Bonnie Raitt and Sarah Brown
  • 3. Love Me Like A Man - Bonnie Raitt, Kim Wilson and Sarah Brown
  • 4. Islands In The Stream - Bonnie Raitt, Nick Lowe and Sarah Brown
  • 5. Hold On To What You've Got - Bonnie Raitt, Nick Lowe, Kim Wilson and Sarah Brown

© Bill Graham Archives and affiliates

Many seemed to opt for both. One beer distributor estimated about 3,600 cases of the brew would be consumed by the end of the day. It was kept cold by 1,200 bags of ice, each weighing about 40 pounds. Television camera crews posed themselves strategically in front of scantily clad bodies in quest of the per- Kent ‘Omar’ Dykes works up to a howl for a crowd estimated at 10,000 at Monday’s Riverfest. Staff photo by Zach Ryall fect tan and there were cameras aplenty.

Bonnie Raitt at the T-Birds Riverfest – Auditorium Shores – Austin, Texas – May 25, 1987 © Mark Bowman

Charles Comer, publicist for the Thunderbirds, said coverage was provided by MTV; Video Hits; Much Music out of Canada; Fox TV of Canada; the local ABC, NBC and CBS affiliates; and crews from Sweden and Norway. Not everyone was thrilled to be at the Riverfest. Kimber Avery of Austin: was upset at not being allowed to bring a cooler filled with food and refreshment onto the grounds after paying $13 for tickets. She and a group of friends set up camp just outside the entrance to consume their sandwiches and drinks. “The prices are ridiculous,” she said as she sat near the curb of the street.

Bonnie Raitt at the T-Birds Riverfest – Auditorium Shores – Austin, Texas – May 25, 1987 © Mark Bowman

“Can you imagine $2 for a beer?” Some didn’t even bother trying to get in. Blankets dotted the slopes around Palmer Auditorium as those who wanted to listen to music without paying set up camp. Others decided renting canoes and hanging around the banks of the river was preferable, although it meant getting a rear view of the action on stage.


Source: © Copyright Austin American-Statesman

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