Happy Birthday Bonnie Raitt: Performing At Bridge School Benefit Concert In 1993

Born on this date in 1949, today Bonnie Raitt celebrates her 67th birthday. The veteran rock performer issued her debut self-titled LP in 1971 and this year released her 17th studio record Dig In Deep. Sliding through blues, country, R&B and rock as effortlessly as her signature soulful slide guitar playing, Raitt’s career has been both an artistic and commercial success and shows little sign of slowing down.

Starting with the release of Bonnie Raitt and continuing for decades to come, Bonnie has worked with a remarkably talented roster of fellow musicians. She counts among her collaborators Jackson Browne, Bruce Hornsby, Taj Mahal, Emmylou Harris, James Taylor, Junior Wells, David Grisman, Tom Waits, Levon Helm, Paul Butterfield, Paul Pena, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Herbie Hancock, Merl Saunders, Paul Barrere, Bill Payne, Lowell George, Fred Tackett, John Hall, Van Dyke Parks, Jim Keltner and scores of others.

Two days before her 44th birthday, Raitt appeared at Neil Young’s annual Bridge School Benefit Concert at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California in 1993. The November 6th performance was in the typical Bridge School acoustic setup featuring Raitt on guitar joined by Johnny Lee Shell on bass.

“It’s about time we have this many powerful ovaries on one bill,” Raitt proclaimed before opening with her “The Road’s My Middle Name,” which she dedicated to fellow performers Melissa Etheridge and Heart’s Ann and Nancy Wilson. Raitt then covered “Nobody’s Girl” before playing one of her signature songs, John Prine’s poignant “Angel From Montgomery.” Bonnie’s slide skills were then on display while utilizing a resonator guitar on the subsequent rendition of J.B. Lenoir’s “Mississippi Blues.”

She then played electric slide on a medley made up of Mississippi Fred McDowell’s “Write Me a Few of Your Lines”/”Kokomo Blues” and Robert Johnson’s “Walkin’ Blues.” Next was a cover of John Hiatt “Thing Called Love” before Graham Nash emerged to help sing an encore rendition of “Love Has No Pride.” The full performance is available to watch below via the Music Vault:

Setlist/Timings

• 0:00:00 – The Road’s My Middle Name
• 0:04:20 – Nobody’s Girl
• 0:08:09 – Angel From Montgomery
• 0:13:14 – Mississippi Road
• 0:17:31 – Write Me A Few of Your Lines / Kokomo Blues / Walkin’ Blues
• 0:22:42 – Thing Called Love
• 0:26:41 – Love Has No Pride