Ending this "Bonnie Raitt, pioneer" thread
Dick Waterman
maybe somebody has learned something and maybe not . . .
I have known her for 40 years (next winter) and there is a lot of wrong
information floating around about her but it's not my job to be her biographer.
I would, however, like to make a point that is so basic and obvious that it
gets overlooked. There is a huge difference between being "a blues singer" and
"a singer of blues songs."
Bonnie is not a blues singer and has never laid claim to that definition.
Early in her career, she did her own version of blues material that she loved
(and hoped to popularize to higher visibility). The person who wrote that she has
done no blues for the past 25 years is essentially correct. She did do a J.
B. Lenoir song on a recent CD and she did a truly poignant version of a Skip
James song in the Scorsese PBS "Blues" series.
But she is like Clapton in considering herself a doorway to pass through to
get to the real deal artists. His "From the Cradle" was saying - my
paraphrasing here - "If you would know me, you must know where I came from. If you would
know my music, you must know my roots and influences."
From her earliest folk music beginning, she wanted to attain enough power to
control who would be the opening act and bring on local blues artists. We did
it in Texas (Mance Lipscomb), Louisiana (Roosevelt Sykes, Robert Pete
Williams), Georgia (Rev. Pearly Brown), Washington (Big Boy Crudup), Ann Arbor (Sippie
Wallace) and on and on.
Virtually every artist begins a career with good intentions of honoring their
mentors and paying back to the musicians were influenced them. However,
success brings baggage and even the best people stray in keeping their promises.
But Bonnie has stayed focused and remains current in what is happening in the
blues world. She has the new Ruthie Foster and Phillip Walker and "Duck"
Holmes. Newspaper reviews from last weekend's Jazz Fest said that she gave over
much of her stage time to playing rhythm guitar behind local artists that she
loves and respects.
She has never abandoned her fight to bring recognition and financial gain to
those her influenced her and that is a greater truth than whether or not she
fits the "pioneer" definition.
Dick Waterman
Oxford, MS
www.dickwaterman.com
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Brat .
Dick has the most amazing picture of Bonnie in his book. She looks like
she's just a kid!
Brat
>>In a message dated 5/2/2007 12:55:59 P.M. Central Standard Time,
Blue Stew
wangn', dangn', doodlin' and waddling around like a blind duck,
missbehavin', sucking on the corners of your Little Golden Books (lucky
books), firing Legos like weapons of mass destruction from your playpen
and setting the ground work for the blues rebel you'll eventually grow
up to be!
What are you rebelling against Bratgirl? "What have ya got?"
Hey...there's a topic...Marlon Brando quotes! No, I mean...why do babies
dance around and get happy when they hear blues music? Every time
someone brings a baby into my gigs, their peepers get wider that Betty
Boop on meth and they dance around like a bug in a frying pan.
I guess they do that to all kinds of music. Is that proof that music is
necessary for human growth and health, like water, food, social
interaction, PBS, Peanut M&Ms and YouTube?
mike
"you're tea-r-ing ME A-PART!!"-Jim Stark (James Dean) Rebel Without A Cause
Brat .
*Shoves a twinkie in her mouth* ........"I coulda been a contendah!"
Brat Brando
>>In a message dated 5/4/2007 4:17:30 A.M. Central Standard Time,
ma...@bluestew.com writes:
40 yrs ago, she (Bonnie) 'was' a kid, and you was a little Bratbaby,
wangn', dangn', doodlin' and waddling around like a blind duck,
missbehavin', sucking on the corners of your Little Golden Books (lucky
books), firing Legos like weapons of mass destruction from your playpen
and setting the ground work for the blues rebel you'll eventually grow
up to be!
What are you rebelling against Bratgirl? "What have ya got?"
Hey...there's a topic...Marlon Brando quotes! No, I mean...why do babies
dance around and get happy when they hear blues music? Every time
someone brings a baby into my gigs, their peepers get wider that Betty
Boop on meth and they dance around like a bug in a frying pan.
I guess they do that to all kinds of music. Is that proof that music is
necessary for human growth and health, like water, food, social
interaction, PBS, Peanut M&Ms and YouTube?
mike
"you're tea-r-ing ME A-PART!!"-Jim Stark (James Dean) Rebel Without A Cause
Brat . wrote:
>
>
> Dick has the most amazing picture of Bonnie in his book. She looks like
> she's just a kid!
>
> Brat