Bonnie Raitt: Art is not a contest, so mostly we’re just the sum of all the wonderful music and influences that we grew up with. In my case, I had a double barrel of great singing with my dad being one of the great Broadway singers. So I had a house where I was exposed with Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald and so many wonderful singers on that end. Then I fell in love with folk music with Joan Baez, but I would say that specifically my biggest influences were, and will always be, Aretha Franklin, and I loved Etta James’s records. In terms of the folkier side of what I do, Judy Collins was someone that I felt was so influential to me when I was first a teenager singing in my room and putting together who I was going to be. I didn’t have any plans to be a singer, but I just knew what I liked. So I would say Aretha and Etta and Judy Collins.
I’m a rock and roller, and I’m an R&B and a blueswoman. I don’t do fairy music, although I love Celtic music and sensitive music. There’s a balance between ballads and kick-ass songs. Leading a band and producing yourself and picking cool tunes and putting a show together takes a lot of thought, and a certain amount of courage. In my early twenties, if I wasn’t getting good enough at it, then people would not come and see me. Anybody who has lasted this long — I hope we get better with age. Some people are caricatures of themselves, and some people keep people coming back and keep themselves growing. Otherwise, the fans would get bored.Library of Congress InterviewPhoto: Marina Chavez
No comments:
Post a Comment