Reviews

Bonnie Raitt and James Hunter stage masterful double-bill in Clearwater
Raitt’s knack for tempering the flow of her performances is almost as fascinating as her musical chops.

on November 26, 2024 No comments

By Gabe Echazabal

It may have been an unseasonably chilly night outside, but any traces of wintry temps were quickly dashed inside the confines of Clearwater’s Ruth Eckerd Hall last Saturday night, thanks to the heat the performers generated all night long. In one of the better and most attractive double-bills to hit the local touring circuit, a sold-out crowd was treated to the breathtaking talents of headliner and blues/pop veteran Bonnie Raitt, accompanied by R&B/blues powerhouse, James Hunter.

Raitt’s last local performance at the hall, almost exactly two years ago to the date of this current show, found the flame-haired singer apologizing throughout the night for the constant cough and vocal issues she was experiencing. As she swigged hot beverages and popped cough drops to counter the problem, she, as a longtime touring warrior and genuine professional, never missed a note or nuance in either her trademark strong, commanding vocal delivery or in her warm and slinky slide guitar playing.

This time, without a trace of any vocal ailments, Raitt and her exquisite five-piece band, on the penultimate stop of their current tour, were about as on the mark and tight as any one of the sometimes loud and raucous audience members in the seats could have asked for. Delivering a steady, two-hour dose of the type of melding of blues and pop music styles Raitt has perfected since her debut album’s release, nearly half a century ago, the longtime professional injected her brand of humor, optimism, and feel-good vibes into the program, thanks to the music she performed and her between-song addresses to the crowd.

Making the fondness she holds for the local music hall known, Raitt made mention of her gratefulness for the way the performance venue was built: “I love how this hall is banked so steep! I can hear you, see you, and feel you!” the singer proclaimed, for which she was met with enthusiastic applause. Raitt has played this venue on multiple occasions in the past and has sold it out to its capacity on every visit. Based on what she gives to her audiences while performing, both in musical prowess and human and relatable interaction, it’s easy to see why audiences keep coming back.

Kicking things off in high gear, Raitt opened her set with “I Sho Do,” a soul song co-written by Teenie Hodges, the late songwriter and former lead guitarist for R&B legend Al Green. Raitt recorded the song as part of her 1994 album, Longing in Their Hearts, and it served as a perfect vehicle to quickly show off that her, husky voice and to give any unknowing patrons a sampling of her sharp and slick slide-playing. Shifting gears, as she so eloquently and tastefully has done for the better part of her career, Raitt then eased her way into the swampy, loping blues of “God Was in the Water,” from her 2005 release, Souls Alike, which perfectly displayed one of the many reasons her fiercely loyal audience has followed her for so long; Raitt is an artist who thrives on stretching out musically, and paying her respects to the wide palette of styles and genres she admires and feels a kinship with.

Wisely surrounding herself with musicians who share her sheer professionalism and musicianship. Raitt benefits from having folks like esteemed session guitarist Duke Levine by her side, and former Beach Boys drummer (and member of The Rutles, the mock band modeled after The Beatles), Ricky Fataar, keeping the beat. However, the longest-standing member of her band is dynamic bassist Hutch Hutchinson, who has been in Raitt’s band for over 40 years. Each musician stood out in their own right and supplemented the warm, cozy sounds Raitt poured out all night, which made for a night of great sounds and fine displays of raw talent.

Raitt’s knack for wisely and expertly tempering the flow of her performances is almost as fascinating as what she’s able to naturally exude through her musical chops. The mixing of deeper album cuts, or covers, with her more well-known pop hits (many of which came after her late-’80s resurgence, following her blockbuster album Nick of Time), is somewhat brilliant in how it keeps all audience members, from the diehards to the more casual fans, rapt and anxious to see where she’ll go next. As soon as the opening chords of “Thing Called Love,” the bawdy John-Hiatt penned romp that served as the lead single for the Nick of Time album, were cranked, a huge wave of applause and vocal approval came from the audience. Playing the song with every ounce of enthusiasm and sass as she has since the song helped catapult her to newfound fame and (long-deserved) mainstream attention, Raitt seemed downright joyous to provide the crowd with a distraction from the ills of the world for a while.

“Let’s get some civility in the world, and some peace” the singer pleaded during one of her more solemn and hopeful between-song messages of the night, a statement that was met with wide approval. Lamenting on lives lost and absent friends, Raitt remembered some of her musical collaborators and cohorts who are no longer among us. She made her admiration for, and the sorrow she still feels following the 2020 death of folk/country troubadour John Prine—who kept a house in nearby Gulfport—known throughout the night. Prine, a renowned and revered singer and songwriter, is responsible for writing one of the first songs for which Raitt earned her earliest acclaim, “Angel From Montgomery,” after she recorded her version of it in 1974.

Further displaying her love of music of all styles, Raitt also called out the losses of reggae legend Toots Hibbert (from Toots and the Maytals fame), and Oliver Mtukudzi, an afro-jazz musician and activist from Zimbabwe with whom she’d collaborated in the past. Performing his composition “Hear Me Lord,” Raitt introduced it as a gospel song and asked for audience participation, which she easily wrangled, for the song’s memorable chorus.

Joking about her age, and the fact that she’s still out on the road, Raitt, who celebrated her 75th birthday a few weeks ago, referred to performing as being in her blood and her genes. “My dad stayed on the road ‘til he was 85. The only reason why he stopped was because his audience passed away,” she joked while remembering her father, performer and star of stage and screen, John Raitt.

For her encore, Raitt provided what was probably the ultimate highlight of the program. Sitting on a stool at the center of the stage, and without her trusty Fender Stratocaster guitar in hand, she delivered her most soaring vocal performance of the night when she dug deep and squeezed every bit of emotion she could muster for a show-stopping reading of “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” the tender ballad from her 1991 platinum-selling album, Luck of the Draw. It’s easy to presume that, if anyone in the venue might have still been unsure of Raitt’s charisma and appeal, this was undoubtedly the moment in which any of those notions were easily dispelled.

Wrapping up the night with “Never Make a Move Too Soon,” a bold blues rocker most-closely associated with late blues legend B.B. King, Raitt gave each of her stupendous band members an opportunity to shine individually by allowing them to take smart, tasteful solos which punctuated the rollocking number. She also asked the night’s opener, James Hunter, to join the band onstage for her closing number, to inject some rousing harmonica work into the night’s final song.

Hunter was met with his own well-earned ovation, thanks to the 45-minute set he warmed the crowd with, prior to the headliner taking the stage. Known for his steeped-in-tradition approach to soul, R&B, blues, and doo-wop, Hunter is every bit the musical chameleon his touring mate is. The British-born singer/songwriter/guitarist seems to have been plucked from another era, based on his musical style and perspective. Once a touring member of Van Morrison’s band, Hunter broke out on his own with his first U.S. released solo album, People Gonna Talk, in 2006, and has been touring and releasing stellar albums ever since.

Widely unknown to this audience, based on chatter heard around the seats prior to his taking the stage, it didn’t take long for Hunter and his no-nonsense band, The James Hunter Six, to make fans of the unknowing patrons. Boasting two sax players, a stand-up bassist, organist and drummer, Hunter’s nattily dressed band looked almost as cool as they sounded. Cramming in 13 songs for his set, Hunter easily navigated through a multitude of genres thanks to a set list that consisted of album tracks from his lengthy repertoire, some covers, and some as-of-yet unreleased songs that are due to appear on his next studio album.

Looking more like a pool hall hustler than a killer R&B musician, Hunter, clad in gray suit, and black shirt, truly looks and sounds like he stepped out of another era. His pure, unadulterated soulful croon on “I Can Change Your Mind” from his 2020 album Nick of Time (a title he mentioned as one he coincidentally shares with the night’s headliner) is reason enough to believe that Hunter is the real deal. Not so much a revivalist, as a bona fide admirer and lover of good, traditional soul music, Hunter is a gift to the cause, and a welcomed bearer of the torch for keeping one of the greatest genres of music alive and well.

His true moment of awe came when he tackled “Baby Don’t Do It,” the 1953 tune originally recorded by American R&B group, The “5” Royales. Crediting the group for inventing soul music, Hunter delivered a scintillating version of the classic, thanks to his towering vocals, which brought to mind the stylings of some of his musical forefathers, Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson, while adding his own tasty blues guitar licks throughout. Pretty staggering stuff, which was happily welcomed by the somewhat unexpecting audience. Adding covers by other luminaries like blues legend Clarence Gatemouth Brown and smooth R&B crooner Percy Mayfield, Hunter, like Raitt, did a fine job of mixing his own material with selections from the songbooks of other artists, and did so in fine style.

One of his as-of-yet-released selections entitled “Off the Fence” somehow managed to smartly mix gritty soul music with a samba beat, and the result was quite sumptuous, making his next release something to look forward to.

Based on the warm and hearty reaction Hunter and his band received, it’s safe to say that this audience will not only be awaiting his next recorded work but will more than likely be in attendance the next time he graces a local stage with his charismatic presence.

About The Author

Gabe Echazabal

I was born on a Sunday Morning. I soon received The Gift of loving music. Through music, I Found A Reason for living. It was when I discovered rock and roll that I Was Beginning To See The Light.
Because through music, I’m Set Free. It’s always helped me keep my Head Held High.
When I started dancing to that fine, fine music, my life was saved by Rock And Roll.
I’ll love it until the day I Ride Into The Sun….and That’s The Story Of My Life…

Source: © Copyright Creative Loafing Tampa Bay

But wait, there's more!

Bonnie Raitt’s favourite John Prine song
“It’s a masterpiece.”

on November 23, 2024 No comments

“I am an old woman named after my mother”—this wasn’t the kind of opening line you heard very often from a male vocalist in the 1970s or any other period in pop music. Taking the perspective of another gender was rare enough, but choosing to do so through the eyes of a character who was also past their prime and embittered took the guts and imagination of one of the great songwriters of his era.

That man was John Prine, and the song was ‘Angel From Montgomery’, a country-folk classic from Prine’s self-titled debut album in 1971. He was just 24 years old when he recorded it and still reliant on his day job as a postal worker in Chicago, but Prine’s heartfelt portrayal of a frustrated woman in a dead-end marriage made a lasting impression on a new audience.

Within a few years of its release, several artists, including Carly Simon and John Denver, had already covered’ Angel From Montgomery’. The song found its ideal pairing, however, in 1974, when Bonnie Raitt recorded her fourth studio album, Streetlights.

“As a young feminist,” Raitt later told Uncut, “The idea that this young man [Prine] could inhabit the world of a middle-aged woman in a thankless marriage really resonated with me.”

Raitt, like Prine, was just 24 when she first sang ‘Angel From Montgomery’, but her voice always carried a maturity and world-weariness well beyond its years. Though the song’s opening line identifies the speaker as an “old woman,” Prine explained that this was more of a commentary on how the woman—someone more likely in her 40s or 50s—had come to see herself.

“I had this really vivid picture of this woman standing over the dishwater with soap in her hands and just walking away from it all,” Prine said, as quoted in the book More Songwriters On Songwriting. “I just kept that whole idea image in mind when I was writing the song, and I just let it pour out of that character’s heart.”

There’s flies in the kitchen, I can hear ’em there buzzing
And I ain’t done nothing since I woke up today
How the hell can a person go to work in the morning
And come home in the evening and have nothing to say?

As decades passed, ‘Angel’ remained a regular part of the performing repertoire for both Prine and Raitt. And even though Raitt enjoyed an unlikely breakthrough into mainstream pop stardom in the late ‘80s, she had also grown into the age of the character in the song, making it all the more meaningful to perform for her now expanding fan base.

“‘Angel From Montgomery’ has probably meant more to me and my fans than any song I’ve ever done,” Raitt said before inducting Prine into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2019. “It’s a masterpiece. And I’ve dedicated it to you, as you have to me, and to so many women working to try and get lives that have more choices than the woman in that song. As we get older, the grey areas are what come to the fore, and that’s what you write about, the complexities, in such a beautiful, simple way.”

John Prine died less than a year after that induction ceremony in April of 2020, one of the early victims of the Covid pandemic. He was 73.

Bonnie Raitt in Studio Concert – The Wonderland Tape – Aug 5, 1977

About The Author

Andrew Clayman

Andrew Clayman is an ageing music writer, amateur shortstop, and semi-pro historian who left his sweet home Chicago to chase the dream in Leeds. Quite conceivably the only person to have interviewed Henry Rollins and Zooey Deschanel on the same day (not together), his other interests include birdwatching, car boot sales, and asking people if they’ve ever listened to the band Close Lobsters.

But wait, there's more!

Bonnie Raitt at the Saenger Theatre, Friday, November 8, 2024

on November 10, 2024 No comments

by: Brett Milano

Friday night at the Saenger wasn’t just another show for Bonnie Raitt. It was the night of her 75th birthday—which proved an occasion to rock a little, greet a couple old friends, and have some reflective moments. And of course, to hear the audience sing “Happy Birthday” a couple of times.

But as milestone celebrations go, this one had a somber undertone. Blame that partly on the election; she noted a few times that she was still shell shocked. But it’s also down to the kind of songs that she prefers nowadays. Her latest album “Just Like That” is informed by loss; it’s title track (Friday’s centerpiece) is a rather heart-wrenching story song despite its uplifting twist. She paid tributes throughout the set to absent friends including Allen Toussaint, Lowell George and one especially close to her heart, John Prine. Also from the new album was a rocker, “Living for the Ones” (as in “Living for the ones who didn’t make it”), which is either the happiest bummer song we’ve heard this month or vice versa. (It was down to her earlier albums to provide the rockier and sexier crowd pleasers, like “Something to Talk About” and John Hiatt’s “Thing Called Love”).

As usual, she had a world-class band to do it all with. Her current guitarist is a Boston guy, Duke Levine, one of the most admired in that town (he’s played with Peter Wolf, Mary Chapin Carpenter and a host of indie acts). In this band he handles the elegant leads as a counterpoint to the grittier stuff Raitt plays on slide. Bassist Hutch Hutchinson and drummer Ricky Fataar have both been with her for decades; the latter was a full-fledged Beach Boy in the ’70s. Glenn Patscha of Olabelle took over the keyboard slot after Jon Cleary chose to stay in New Orleans full time, and provided tasty Hammond solos in a more band-like style.

The first guest to appear was Rickie Lee Jones, who was also celebrating a landmark birthday (her 70th) on the same night. They traded verses and harmonized on Prine’s “Angel From Montgomery” and though their singing styles are wildly different, their obvious affection for each other carried it. Then Cleary (who was across the street playing the Tulane benefit show at the Orpheum) made an appearance for the final encore and immediately kicked the tempo up a notch with “Unnecessarily Mercenary,” his song that Raitt recorded. Not having another song planned, Raitt then called for “I Believe I’m in Love With You,” the Fabulous Thunderbirds rocker that she’s played many times over the years, but not so much lately, It was a throwback to younger and rowdier days, as all birthday parties should be.

James Hunter’s set was an absolute kick, especially for those of us who hadn’t previously discovered this UK soul/swing artist. His vocalizing brought memories of Georgie Fame and Van Morrison (both of whom he’s worked with); there’s a bit of Bobby Darin in his hip swagger as well. He seized the post-election mood well with “Brother or Other,” a plea for understanding. But unlike Morrison, he’s exuberant and good-humored onstage: When he took the stage and saw that just half the crowd was in its seats, he greeted them with “Still at the bar, are ya? Come on back, you drunken gits!” I left with two of his Daptone LPs under my arm.

About The Author

Brett Milano

Milano is a veteran music critic whose 2007 book, The Sound of Our Town: A History of Boston Rock and Roll, “should be required reading for anyone interested in understanding Boston’s unique contribution to rock ‘n’ roll.”
Milano entered the Boston music scene in the 1980s as a music journalist. He was a long-time columnist for the Boston Phoenix, as well as the Boston Globe and Sound & Vision magazine. Milano has also written for publications such as Billboard, Pulse, and the College Media Journal. In 2013, he became the editor of OffBeat, where he has written about music since 2005.