Bonnie Raitt - Nine Lives

Artist  :  Bonnie Raitt

Album Title  :  Nine Lives  (1986)

Genre  :  Rock

-  Tracks  -  (favorites in pink) 

01. No Way to Treat A Lady
02. Runnin' Back To Me
03. Who But A Fool (Thief Into Paradise)
04. Crime Of Passion
05. All Day, All Night
06. Stand Up To The Night
07. Excited
08. Freezin' (For A Little Human Love)
09. True Love Is Hard To Find
10. Angel

    Bonnie Raitt is a fantastic Blues guitarist/singer, with a string of successful albums beginning in 1989.  But before that, she also put out a bunch of critically-acclaimed but modestly commercially-successful LP's, during the years of 1971-1986.

    I picked this album up for $1.99 in a small record shop in Federal Way, Washington, and digitalized it last week.  The record was in pristine shape - a couple small scratches at the beginning/end of the tracks, and that was about it.  I ttok those out manually, and then didn't even have to use the de-scratch program.

    If you can get over the fact that Nine Lives doesn't contain a lick of Blues on it, you will find it to be a very enjoyable album.  Yes, it's 80's music, with horns and synthesizers and stuff.  But there are some nice guitar riffs injected into the majority of the songs, and even a way-kewl reggae tinge on a couple of them.  My two favorite tracks are No Way To Treat A Lady (a Bryan Adams cover) and Stand Up To The Night.

    Wikipedia gives some fascinating details about the making of this album.  Apparently, Bonnie was having some severe record company (Warner Bros.) problems at the time.  So Nine Lives was under-sponsored, lacked a promotional tour, and unsurprisingly, did not sell well.

    Warner Brothers and Bonnie parted ways after this album, and a couple years later she signed with Capitol Records, redefined herself as a Blues artist, put out the smashingly-successful album Nick Of Time, and never looked back.  And while it was a fantastic career move,  I was pleasantly surprised to discover that her earlier albums are pretty decent as well.

    FWIW, Nine Lives is available at Amazon for $15.96 (CD) or $9.49 (MP3).