The 500 - #495 - Bonnie Raitt - Give it Up

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

So, here's my plan. 

• 2 records per week & at least 2 complete listens.
• A quick blog post for each, highlighting the important details and a quick background story.
• No rating scale - just an effort to expand my appreciation.

Album # 495

Album Title: Give it Up
Artist: Bonnie Raitt
Released: June, 1972
My age at release: 6
How familiar am I with it: Never heard it 
Song I am putting on my Spotify Mix: Love me Like a Man
Great Lyric:
"I've never seen such losers
Don't think I haven't tried
Find a man to take me home
Instead of always for a ride."

What a terrific album. So glad that this journey helped me discover it. I'll admit, Bonnie Raitt didn't show up on my radar until about 1989. I was in university and delivering pizzas for Fluffy's Pizzeria - Home of the Pizza Monster (I can tell you from experience, that costume stunk.) Other than great friendships and plenty of funny memories - I have very few pictures from this time. Here's what I've got.

Fluffy's Matches, Me making after hours pizza with Dave, sporting the height of 80's fashion.

The album Nick of Time was her commercial breakthrough and, without the benefit of the internet, I assumed her debut. The song Thing called Love was on my radio during many deliveries.

Here's the weird thing -and I am not sure if you have experienced this. I can distinctly remember a specific moment when this song was playing. I mean, location, weather, mood, everything.

I was delivering a pizza to a house on Beachwood Avenue, just south of Commissioners Road (which probably means nothing to you, except that it is not a particularly memorable location for any reason). It's strange how random, innocuous moments take up permanent real-estate in our memories.

While researching this, I discovered that the album Nick of Time would make an appearance at #230 on this list - so enough about that.

I would have pigeon holed Bonnie Raitt as a country artist, but Give it Up is more blues and R&B ... it even has a soft rock Eagles' feel to it at time. I picked Love Me Like a Man because of its raw, honest intensity.

I have a new respect for this sound and I am going to explore more. Obviously, later - I've already got my work cut out for me. We'll see if I got around to it when we get to pick #230.

Things I learned

• Bonnie was nearly 40 before she had real commercial success - LESSON: Keep plugging away!
• Her father was a Broadway Musical Star from California.
• 'This is a important quote for young performers: "I thought I had to live that partying lifestyle in order to be authentic, but in fact you keep it up too long, all you're going to be is sloppy or dead."