• WNYC Soundcheck - John Schaefer - with Bonnie Raitt - 4-17-2012

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Bonnie Raitt began her career in the 1970s as a young guitarist and singer who shared the stage with legendary bluesmen like Howlin’ Wolf and Mississippi Fred McDowell. But despite entering the record business at a time when it was almost entirely run by men, she managed to maintain complete control over her music. “The feminist movement was really part of the generation I was in,” said Raitt on Soundcheck. “Your turn at the food coop, your turn with the dishes. If a guy wanted to get laid, he’d better step up to the plate…. I would not have signed a record deal where I had to give up one bit of control over what I recorded when and with whom.” Listen to Soundcheck’s entire interview with the blues legend here.