Bonnie Raitt - Bonnie Raitt CDs • Vinyl Records • LPs • Music Albums

Bell. The sessions were done in a two-car garage and the product is good: a different album, a representative portrait of this artist.

Bonnie accompanies her folk-blues on a Mississippi National steel guitar. Her slide work is uncommonly good, equal to her straight acoustic stuff–in fact, it is simply among the best. Unfortunately, her ability is not fully captured on this album, because Bonnie's guitar is not amply showcased –a major fault of the production.

There are two obvious idioms on the album–rock-soul and folk-blues. A third genre consists of three estranged numbers that are joined by the mood of their rendition. In their melancholy tone, these songs are the most consistently pleasing–Paul Seibel's countrified quickie of an incredible lyric, "Any Day Woman," "Spider" John Koerner's rainy-day special, "I Ain't Blue," and Bonnie's simple, personal piano ballad, "Thank You." On these tunes, Bonnie's thin, folk-founded voice is properly suited with a minimal amount of backing. Her ability to communicate emotion and involvement is most effective here.

Comparatively, the rock-soul treatments, reminiscent of Rod Stewart's reworking of "I'm Losing You," are heavily produced. Bonnie capitalizes on the soulful potential of Steve Stills' "Bluebird" and the existent groove of a former Marvelettes single, "Danger Heartbreak Dead Ahead." On these songs, the shift in emphasis goes from mood to delivery, and Bonnie succeeds best vocally on "Danger." There's an inkling of her electric slide talent there, too, as she weaves around the song, using the slide as an additive agent, not a gimmick. And this is an arrangement where you'd least expect to hear bottleneck. On "Bluebird," Bonnie's ability to use musical cliches tastefully is exemplified by the "bum-do-wadda" chorus that is carried in a joyful, respectful vein without the cynicism that so often undercuts such maneuvers.

In keeping with Bonnie's image and preferences, there are five blues numbers. The selections are rare (Sippie Wallace's "Women Be Wise," "Mighty Tight Woman," and Tommy Johnson's "Big Road") traditional (Robert Johnson's "Walkin' Blues") and contemporary (Bonnie's "Finest Lovin' Man"). Arrangements are consistently good, the music solid. Yet co

Bonnie Raitt's 1971 debut opens with the thrumming blues/folk-rock gem "Bluebird" --between her beautifully soulful singing, textured voice and the song's perfect arrangement, she announced herself as a new and impressive talent. Thankfully (for some) this is miles away from the more mainstream pop music she hit with in the '80s.