Bonnie Raitt is having one heck of a late career surge. At 72, she has done it again, making the kind of blues/pop/rock/folk that she has always produced, and doing it as well as ever. With her last two releases, the 2012 career highlight Slipstream, and 2016's Dig In Deep, we now have the trifecta that eludes so many artists, three great ones in a row. Given the quality of her work over the years, it should not come as any surprise, and yet it is no less an impressive string of exceptional work.
All the elements are here. Bonnie is first a singer of great depth, one of those who inhabits a lyric. If you don't choke up when she sings a sad one, there's something wrong with you. Then there is her gifted way with slide guitar. Never flashy, and always perfect for the song. She also has an ear for great songs, and always finds some classics from a wide array of writers, plus she writes several strong ones herself. And she is once again using her touring band, and they are a very talented group. Ricky Fataar drums, Hutch Hutchinson bass, Kenny Greenberg guitar (long-time guitarist George Marinelli on two tracks), and new keyboardist Glenn Patsche. It is a well-oiled machine. Recorded and mixed by Ryan Freeland, who did similarly fine work on the two before this one.
The record kicks off with the upbeat Made Up Mind, which starts things off in fine style. Al Anderson's Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart has a laid back tempo and some tasty slide from Bonnie. Livin' For The Ones is a Stones-y rocker from Marinelli and Bonnie that rocks more than most and features hot guitars. Bonnie's own Just Like That is a tender acoustic ballad that tells an intense story of love and loss. When We Say Goodnight starts slow, then picks things up, and ends with a hot guitar/keyboards jam.
Your Jones is always just around the corner is the message of Waiting For You To Blow, a funky workout featuring Patsche on the Hammond B3 and electric piano. Slow burner Blame It On Me has one of those killer close-miked Bonnie Raitt vocals, plus more fine slide guitar and B3. Love So Strong is a Toots Hibbert reggae tune that lets the band stretch a bit. More funky electric piano and slide light up Here Comes Love, and Bonnie's pen closes the record with the sweetly moving Down The Hall, a story of a prison hospice, played on acoustic guitar and organ, with another touching vocal.
If you've liked her recent work, this won't disappoint. If you haven't heard Bonnie since 1989's Grammy-winning Nick Of Time, you've been missing out.
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