Luck of the Draw (CD - 1991)

Personnel: Bonnie Raitt (vocals, slide guitar, acoustic & electric guitars, electric piano); Stephen Bruton (acoustic guitar, background vocals); Mark Goldenberg (acoustic guitar); Randy Jacobs, Robben Ford (electric guitar); Scott Thurston (acoustic & electric guitars, keyboards); Billy Vera (electric guitar); Ivan Neville, Ian McLagan (Hammond B-3 organ); Benmont Tench (Hammond C-3, piano); Steve Conn (accordion); James "Hutch" Hutchinson (bass); Don Was (jug bass); Ricky Fataar, Curt Bisquera, Tony Braunagel, Jeff Porcaro (drums); Debra Dobkin, Paulinho DaCosta (percussion); Sweet Pea Atkinson, Sir Harry Bowens, David Lasley, Arnold McCuller, Kris Kristofferson, Paul Brady, Danny Timms, Glen Clark (background vocals).

Recorded at Ocean Way Recording and Capitol Studios, Los Angeles.

An extremely strong follow-up to the superb NICK OF TIME, LUCK OF THE DRAW continues where that Grammy winner left off--and in a way, surpasses it. Co-produced by Raitt and Don Was, LUCK OF THE DRAW again plays on the singer's rich blues roots and potent slide guitar, with a fair share of the softer, lovelorn ballads that distinguished NICK OF TIME. A gutsy woman who revels in her sexuality, Raitt shapes "Something to Talk About" and the reggae-tinged "Come To Me" into brilliant come-ons, then counters the seduction hauntingly with songs like the heartbreaking "I Can't Make You Love Me," featuring Bruce Hornsby on piano.

The complicated emotional reverie of "One Part Be My Lover" emerged from a poem that Raitt's husband Michael O'Keefe left on her pillow after the couple had argued one night. "Not the Only One" is a beautiful, buoyant love song with Raitt's sand-and-smoke vocals riding Paul Brady's lyrics with reverent, hopeful abandon. Further establishing the fiery redhead as the grand blues mama (not to mention one of the most formidable slide guitarists) of the contemporary rock scene, LUCK OF THE DRAW is Raitt at her raunchy and romantic best. minimize