Thanks for the report on Bonnie Raitt's show in Chi-town, Susan. I've enjoyed her music and slide guitar style for the longest time. I heard and fell in love with Raitt's cover of "That Song About the Midway" before I heard Joni's own version. About the same time I became enamored with Raitt's haunting rendition of Joel Zoss' song "Too Long at the Fair." I very much appreciate her reverence for the blues, too, and she just strikes me as a sweetheart of a woman. As if that's not enough, she also has the cutest dimples since Shirley Temple, imho. :-,)
Bonnie has a house in Mill Valley here in Marin county, so I see her from time to time in bookstores and such. In fact, Bonnie Hayes, another Marinite and a great musician in her own right, who I've become friends with over the years, wrote "Love Letter" and "Have a Heart" for Raitt. (What good is a discussion list if one can't drop a few names every now and then, eh? I'm reminded of a line Stockard Channing spoke in one of my favorite movies, "Six Degrees of Separation". "Let's not be star-fuckers," she said. Sage advice. But I digress. :-) There's an article about Raitt in the entertainment section of today's San Francisco Chronicle, incidentally. Apparently, her latest CD "Silver Lining" is due to be released this coming Tuesday. It's said to be a rocker. A New Orleans funkster named John Cleary plays piano and sings on the disc and wrote some of the songs. (You know him, Paz?) Sitting here, I'm remembering how much Bonnie Raitt's music really sends me and I'm thinking that I should make myself a Bonnie Raitt compilation disc to travel with. I'll put the aforementioned songs on it in addition to "Love Me Like a Man," "You've Been In Love Too Long," "Woman Be Wise," one of my all-time favs "What Is Success?" then there's "Angel From Montgomery" and her re-working of Del Shannon's 60's classic "Runaway" and "Since I Fell For You" from her first album, and the Karla Bonoff penned "Home." Yes, they're mostly covers, but Bonnie makes them all her own, I think. She did write at least one of the songs on the new CD, according to the Chronicle article. Thanks again for the report, Susan, and thank God for Bonnie Raitt. -Julius > Now grant it Bonnie may not be in my top 5 singers, more like top 10. But I really respect and > enjoy her work, both muscially and politically. She really seems to have it all together. All in > all a memorable night, as Bonnie Raitt is truly one of the great women in rock and roll. > > Peace, > Susan
