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.
Bonnie Raitt - Wiltern Theater - Los Angeles - CA - 2005-11-21
Bonnie Raitt - Mighty Tight Woman - Wiltern Theater - Los Angeles - CA - 2005-11-21
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.
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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
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