BONNIE RAITT
Name: Bonnie Raitt
Born: 8 November 1949 Burbank, California, U.S.
Bonnie Lynn Raitt (born November 8, 1949) is a nine-time Grammy award-winning
American blues singer-songwriter who was born in Burbank, California, the
daughter of Broadway musical star John Raitt.
Raitt began playing guitar at an early age, something not a lot of her high
school girlfriends did. Later she would become famous for her bottleneck-style
guitar playing. "I had played a little at school and at camp," she later
recalled in a July 2002 interview.
My parents would drag me out to perform for my family, like all parents do, but
it was a hobby nothing more... I think people must wonder how a white girl like
me became a blues guitarist. The truth is, I never intended to do this for a
living. I grew up... in a Quaker family, and for me being Quaker was a political
calling rather than a religious one.
In 1967, Raitt entered Harvard's Radcliffe College as a freshman, majoring in
African Studies. "My plan was to travel to Tanzania, where President Julius
Nyerere was creating a government based on democracy and socialism," Raitt
recalled. "I wanted to help undo the damage that Western colonialism had done to
native cultures around the world. Cambridge was a hotbed of this kind of
thinking, and I was thrilled."
One day, Raitt was notified by a friend that blues promoter Dick Waterman was
giving an interview at WHRB, Harvard's college radio station. An important
figure in the blues revival of the 1960s, Waterman was also a resident of
Cambridge. Raitt went to see Waterman, and the two soon became friends, "much to
the chagrin of my parents, who didn't expect their freshman daughter to be
running around with 65-year-old bluesmen," recalled Raitt. "I was amazed by his
passion for the music and the integrity with which he managed the musicians."
During Raitt's sophomore year, Waterman relocated to Philadelphia, and a number
of local musicians he counted among his friends went with him. Raitt had become
a strong part of that community, recalling that "these people had become my
friends, my mentors, and though I had every intention of graduating, I decided
to take the semester off and move to Philadelphia...It was an opportunity that
young white girls just don't get, and as it turns out, an opportunity that
changed everything."
By now, Raitt was also playing folk and rhythm and blues clubs in the Boston
area, performing alongside established blues legends like Howlin' Wolf, Sippie
Wallace, and Mississippi Fred McDowell, all of whom she met through Waterman.
In the fall of 1970, while opening for Fred McDowell at the Gaslight Cafe in New
York, a reporter from Newsweek Magazine saw her and began to spread word of her
performance. Scouts from major record companies were soon attending her shows to
watch her play. She eventually accepted an offer with Warner Bros. who soon
released her eponymous debut album, Bonnie Raitt, in 1971. The album was warmly
received by the music press, many of whom praised her skills as an interpreter
and as a bottleneck guitarist; at the time, very few women in popular music had
strong reputations as guitarists.
While admired by those who saw her perform, and respected by her peers, Raitt
gained little public acclaim for her work. Her critical stature continued to
grow but record sales remained modest. Her second album, Give It Up, was
released in 1972 to universal acclaim, and though many critics still regard it
as her best work, it did not change her commercial fortunes. 1973's Takin' My
Time was also met with critical acclaim, but these notices were not matched by
the sales.
Raitt was beginning to receive greater press coverage, including a 1975 cover
story for Rolling Stone Magazine, but with 1974's Streetlights, reviews for her
work were becoming increasingly mixed. By now, Raitt was already experimenting
with different producers and different styles, and she began to adopt a more
mainstream sound that continued through 1975's Home Plate.
In 1976, Raitt made an appearance on Warren Zevon's self-titled album with
Warren Zevon's friend Jackson Browne and Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham and
Stevie Nicks.
Name: Bonnie Raitt
Born: 8 November 1949 Burbank, California, U.S.
Bonnie Lynn Raitt (born November 8, 1949) is a nine-time Grammy award-winning
American blues singer-songwriter who was born in Burbank, California, the
daughter of Broadway musical star John Raitt.
Raitt began playing guitar at an early age, something not a lot of her high
school girlfriends did. Later she would become famous for her bottleneck-style
guitar playing. "I had played a little at school and at camp," she later
recalled in a July 2002 interview.
My parents would drag me out to perform for my family, like all parents do, but
it was a hobby nothing more... I think people must wonder how a white girl like
me became a blues guitarist. The truth is, I never intended to do this for a
living. I grew up... in a Quaker family, and for me being Quaker was a political
calling rather than a religious one.
In 1967, Raitt entered Harvard's Radcliffe College as a freshman, majoring in
African Studies. "My plan was to travel to Tanzania, where President Julius
Nyerere was creating a government based on democracy and socialism," Raitt
recalled. "I wanted to help undo the damage that Western colonialism had done to
native cultures around the world. Cambridge was a hotbed of this kind of
thinking, and I was thrilled."
One day, Raitt was notified by a friend that blues promoter Dick Waterman was
giving an interview at WHRB, Harvard's college radio station. An important
figure in the blues revival of the 1960s, Waterman was also a resident of
Cambridge. Raitt went to see Waterman, and the two soon became friends, "much to
the chagrin of my parents, who didn't expect their freshman daughter to be
running around with 65-year-old bluesmen," recalled Raitt. "I was amazed by his
passion for the music and the integrity with which he managed the musicians."
During Raitt's sophomore year, Waterman relocated to Philadelphia, and a number
of local musicians he counted among his friends went with him. Raitt had become
a strong part of that community, recalling that "these people had become my
friends, my mentors, and though I had every intention of graduating, I decided
to take the semester off and move to Philadelphia...It was an opportunity that
young white girls just don't get, and as it turns out, an opportunity that
changed everything."
By now, Raitt was also playing folk and rhythm and blues clubs in the Boston
area, performing alongside established blues legends like Howlin' Wolf, Sippie
Wallace, and Mississippi Fred McDowell, all of whom she met through Waterman.
In the fall of 1970, while opening for Fred McDowell at the Gaslight Cafe in New
York, a reporter from Newsweek Magazine saw her and began to spread word of her
performance. Scouts from major record companies were soon attending her shows to
watch her play. She eventually accepted an offer with Warner Bros. who soon
released her eponymous debut album, Bonnie Raitt, in 1971. The album was warmly
received by the music press, many of whom praised her skills as an interpreter
and as a bottleneck guitarist; at the time, very few women in popular music had
strong reputations as guitarists.
While admired by those who saw her perform, and respected by her peers, Raitt
gained little public acclaim for her work. Her critical stature continued to
grow but record sales remained modest. Her second album, Give It Up, was
released in 1972 to universal acclaim, and though many critics still regard it
as her best work, it did not change her commercial fortunes. 1973's Takin' My
Time was also met with critical acclaim, but these notices were not matched by
the sales.
Raitt was beginning to receive greater press coverage, including a 1975 cover
story for Rolling Stone Magazine, but with 1974's Streetlights, reviews for her
work were becoming increasingly mixed. By now, Raitt was already experimenting
with different producers and different styles, and she began to adopt a more
mainstream sound that continued through 1975's Home Plate.
In 1976, Raitt made an appearance on Warren Zevon's self-titled album with
Warren Zevon's friend Jackson Browne and Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham and
Stevie Nicks.