Published on Aug 5, 1998
Vulnerability is a great asset to artists. For most confessional
singers, it’s their muse. And Bonnie Raitt, while not classified as
a confessional singer, is one who put her vulnerability to great
use in what was one of the greatest comebacks in music history in
her album,
Nick Of Time.
Sure, some of the album has an overt VH-1 feel to it. Some songs
are a bit too country for listeners but she professes a true love
for the blues and judging by the guest list on the album and the
pain she pours out throughout the album, she truely can play the
blues and sing them.
The album was born out of a decade of hard drinking and drug use
by Raitt. Dropped from her former label, it was by sheer grace she
was signed to Capitol. The music on
Nick Of Time comes from an artist who truely knows how not
only drugs, but sobriety can change your life. From the opening
title track (one of only two songs on the album that Raitt wrote
herself) you get an album that is easy to listen to, but is
heart-wrenching at times.
With sobriety, you leave some of your closest friends. Some of
them may be lovers. With sobriety, you are forced to deal with the
myth, “You think you’re having a good time now, you would be having
a lot better time if you were fucked up.” Or “You write and sing
your best stuff when you’re twisted.” And kudos for Raitt to admit
that those myths may have some truth to them.
Leaving that hard living lifestyle leaves a void. A void much
like losing a boyfriend or girlfriend. A void almost like
denouncing your religion. And in the heatbreaking ballad, “Too Soon
To Tell”, you hear Raitt sing with grittiness, “You want to hear/I
won’t drown in my tears/but baby all that I can say is/That it’s
too soon to tell.”
Not all of
Nick Of Time is whine material. Far from it. On “Love
Letter”, Raitt delivers a confident tale of longing, but from a
character who has no problems going at it on her own. In the
bitterly brilliant “I Will Not Be Denied,” she plays a character
who is fed up with being left to hang one too many times. Grammar
fans will cringe when Raitt sings, “Yes you know you always was
deadly…”. But she uses the improper grammar to get you to notice
her struggle. In the final chorus, all tenses are right, bringing
the point home with a vengeance, “Yes you knew you always
were…deadly”. When she finally sings, “I will not be denied”,
it’s not only a declaration, it’s a testamonial to her own strength
to go at it alone.
Other highlights on the album include they honkey-tonk shuffle
of, “Real Man”, another great song that deals with a woman who will
not settle for men who either are too flashy or are too mushy to
handle a woman like Raitt. In the great shufflin’ beat of “Thing
Called Love,” Raitt declares, “We can live in fear/but I’ve got a
home.” Well, she didn’t say it, John Hiatt actually wrote it, but
she makes the line sound like it came from the very depths of her
pained soul.
The more I look at
Nick Of Time, the fewer flaws I seen it it. Even the VH-1
targeted songs like, “Have A Heart” and “Cry On My Shoulder” have
enough sorrow or great musicianship in them to make them feel
legit.
Like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Raitt turned her life around in the
late ’80s and early ’90s. Unfortunately, only one of those voices
can still be heard making new material. With
Nick Of Time, Raitt got the most critical and commercial
success in her life. She would continue to reap rewards with
Luck Of The Draw, her next album. And unlike many artists
who preach the benefits of going at it clean, Raitt is one of those
few artists who acknowledge the pain that comes from watching your
friends have a great time at the bars while you try to compensate
for that loss. Luckily,she has a great talent for playing the blues
and writing great songs to document the loss.
Raitt’s sweep of the Grammies was one of the greatest moments in
Grammy history. For the first time in a long time, an artist who
produced the work won. Blues prudes may complain that the album is
too flashy in some parts, but it only enhances the quality of the
material on
Nick Of Time. On top of that,
Nick Of Time stands as one of the best album to have while
you’re having Jack and cokes on your front porch. Ahh…savor the
irony. Or don’t. Just pick up the album.