Streetlights (Bonnie Raitt album)

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Streetlights
Bonnie Raitt - Streetlights.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedSeptember 1974
RecordedMid-1974
Studio The Hit Factory, New York City
Genre Pop, R&B
Length37:05
Label Warner Bros.
Producer Jerry Ragovoy
Bonnie Raitt chronology
Takin' My Time
(1973)
Streetlights
(1974)
Home Plate
(1975)

Streetlights is the fourth album by Bonnie Raitt, released in 1974.

Contents

Recording and music

Bonnie Raitt was allotted $10,000 by Warner Bros. Records to record Streetlights, which was the least amount of money she had received to record an album. [1] Warner Bros. was unhappy with the lengthy production surrounding her previous album, Takin' My Time , and the company limited her expenses. The two parties eventually agreed on an advance of more money, on the condition Raitt would choose a producer with a history of commercial success. [1] Raitt chose Jerry Ragovoy, who had worked with musicians such as Janis Joplin and Dionne Warwick. [1] Ragovoy felt Raitt's music was bogged down by blues music, and wanted to produce an album with a more slick and polished pop sound. [2] Raitt did not like Ragovoy's decision, but acquiesced, and Streetlights was recorded during mid-1974. [2]

Critics have described Streetlights as Raitt's first attempt to record music for a mainstream audience. [3] [4] In contrast to the eclectic and laid-back sound of her first three albums, Streetlights features simpler arrangements with more string instrumentation, influenced by pop and R&B music. [2] [4] It is Raitt's only album in which she does not play the slide guitar. [2] Session musician Freebo said Raitt was negatively affected by the more professional production of Streetlights. "The environment changed her singing. She was in a professional world with Streetlights, and had to act like one" said Freebo. [2] Nine of the ten tracks on the album are covers of songs by musicians such as Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, and John Prine. [5] [6] The one original track, "Ain't Nobody Home", was written by Ragovoy. [7]

Release and reception

Retrospective professional reviews
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [4]
Christgau's Record Guide B [8]
Entertainment Weekly B [9]
MusicHound Rock 2/5 [10]
The New Rolling Stone Record Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [11]

Streetlights was released in September 1974, by Warner Bros. [12] Streetlights reached number eighty on the Billboard Top LPs & Tapes chart and number 129 on the Cashbox Top 100 Albums chart. [13] [14] To support the album, Raitt went on a North American tour with Jackson Browne, from September 13 to November 24. [15] On two stops in Boston and Washington, D.C., Raitt was accompanied by blues musicians Roosevelt Sykes and Sippie Wallace. [16]

Track listing

Side one

  1. "That Song About the Midway" (Joni Mitchell) – 4:44
  2. "Rainy Day Man" (James Taylor, Zach Wiesner) – 3:41
  3. "Angel from Montgomery" (John Prine) – 3:59
  4. "I Got Plenty" (Joey Levine, Jim Carroll) – 3:09
  5. "Streetlights" (Bill Payne) – 5:05

Side two

  1. "What Is Success" (Allen Toussaint) – 3:32
  2. "Ain't Nobody Home" (Jerry Ragovoy) – 3:04
  3. "Everything That Touches You" (Michael Kamen) – 3:28
  4. "Got You on My Mind" (David Lasley, Allee Willis) – 3:50
  5. "You Got to Be Ready for Love (If You Wanna Be Mine)" (Lou Courtney) – 3:08

Personnel

Credits adapted from Bonnie Raitt's official website. [5]

Production

  • Jerry Ragovoy – producer
  • Blaise Castellano – engineer
  • Harry Maslin – engineer, remixing
  • Bruce Tergesen – engineer
  • Lee Herschberg – remastering
  • Gregg Geller – series producer
  • Jo Motta – project coordinator
  • Ron Stone – management

Charts

Chart (1974)Peak
position
US Billboard 200 [13] 80
US Cashbox 100 [14] 129

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References

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  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Bego 1995, p. 50.
  3. Lee, Peter (2004). The Blues Encyclopedia. Taylor & Francis. p. 805. ISBN   978-1-1359-5832-9.
  4. 1 2 3 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (n.d.). "Bonnie Raitt - Streetlights". AllMusic . Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  5. 1 2 "Liner Notes - Streetlights". Bonnie Raitt Official Website. n.d. Archived from the original on May 7, 2021. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  6. Bego 1995, p. 51.
  7. Bego 1995, p. 52.
  8. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: R". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies . Ticknor & Fields. ISBN   089919026X . Retrieved March 10, 2019.
  9. Gordon, Robert (August 23, 1991). "Bonnie Raitt on the record". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  10. Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide (2 ed.). Visible Ink Press. p.  919. ISBN   978-1-5785-9061-2.
  11. Testa, Bart (1983). Marsh, Dave; Swenson, John (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Record Guide . Random House/Rolling Stone Press. p.  410. ISBN   978-0-3947-2107-1.
  12. Bego 1995, p. 53.
  13. 1 2 "Bonnie Raitt Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  14. 1 2 "Cashbox Top 100 Albums Chart" (PDF). Cashbox . Vol. XXXVI, no. 28. December 7, 1974. p. 55.
  15. "Bonnie Raitt Has Arrived" (PDF). Cashbox . Vol. XXXVI, no. 20. September 28, 1974. p. 27.
  16. "Raitt Features Blues Greats" (PDF). Cashbox . Vol. XXXVI, no. 23. November 2, 1974. p. 31.

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