BONNIE RAITT : ROAD TEST

 

Disc One (54:01)

  1. Thing Called Love (with Bruce Hornsby)
  2. Three Time Loser
  3. Love Letter
  4. Never Make Your Move Too Soon (with Ruth Brown, Charles Brown & Kim Wilson)
  5. Something To Talk About
  6. Matters Of The Heart
  7. Shake A Little
  8. Have A Heart
  9. Love Me Like A Man
  10. The Kokomo Medley
  11. Louise
  12. Dimming Of The Day

Disc Two (49:15)

  1. Longing In Their Hearts
  2. Come To Me
  3. Love Sneakin' Up On You
  4. Burning Down The House
  5. I Can't Make You Love Me (with Bruce Hornsby)
  6. Feeling Of Falling
  7. I Believe I'm In Love With You (with Kim Wilson)
  8. Rock Steady (with Bryan Adams)
  9. My Opening Farewell (with Jackson Browne)
  10. Angel From Montgomery (with Jackson Browne, Bruce Hornsby, Bryan Adams & Kim Wilson)

Label : Capitol Records

Venue : Schnitzer Concert Hall, Portland, Oregon, USA + Paramount Theatre, Oakland, California, USA

Recording Date : July 11 - 19, 1995

Release Date : November 7, 1995

Review (AllMusic) : In a 24-year recording career, Bonnie Raitt had not previously released a live album, so this concert set was overdue. Coming off three multi-platinum studio albums, Raitt and Capitol pulled out all the stops, compiling a 22-track, double-disc package from dates recorded in July 1995 in Portland and Oakland. Raitt ranged over her career, reaching back to her early folk-blues days and forward to the pop/rock songs that finally made her a big star in the late '80s and early '90s. She also shared the spotlight with such guests as Bruce Hornsby, Ruth Brown, Charles Brown, Kim Wilson of the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Bryan Adams, and Jackson Browne. But that didn't keep an artist who has spent the bulk of her career pleasing live audiences rather than cutting hits from displaying her personal warmth along with her singing and playing skills. She also introduced half a dozen songs new to her repertoire, including a surprising cover of Talking Heads' "Burning Down the House" and a few that had potential to help promote the album as singles, including "Never Make Your Move Too Soon" and "Shake a Little." Inexplicably, Capitol (which probably wished the album had been a more reasonably priced single disc) failed to bring the record home to consumers. The company's choice for a single was the anonymous Adams rocker "Rock Steady," done as a duet with him - apparently, they were confusing Raitt with Tina Turner. As a result, the album stopped at gold, spending less than six months in the charts. Despite that commercial disappointment, it will be for many Bonnie Raitt fans an example of her at her best that effectively bridges the two parts of her career, and also a good sampler for first-time listeners.

Review (Rolling Stone Magazine) : Bonnie Raitt's marvelous vocal command is the glue that holds together the sprawling Road Tested. Culled from a recent tour, the double-disc set traces Raitt's 20-year climb from coffeehouse-blues folkie to amphitheater headliner. She salvages an unlikely cover of Talking Heads' "Burning Down the House" with her sly, sexy drawl. And her careful phrasing continues to draw fresh inspiration from John Prine's "Angel From Montgomery," a longtime concert staple. But the set shortchanges Raitt by pairing her with too many celebrity walk-ons. Although the inclusion of R&B veterans Ruth Brown and Charles Brown is a nice gesture, the presence of Bryan Adams should give any Raitt fan the arena-rock shakes. A more intimate approach to programming this material might have disappointed the paying customers, but it would have presented Raitt in a more flattering light on the home stereo. Like too many live sets, Road Tested was probably a blast to witness from the 15th row, but it doesn't quite hold up when you're sprawled on the living-room couch.

Review (Los Angeles Times) : The only complaint you could make about this two-CD live set, recorded during Raitt's 1995 summer tour, is that it's no substitute for actually seeing her perform in the flesh. Even so, the virtuosity and warmth that make Raitt one of rock's most compelling concert acts is palpable on "Road Tested." The 22 tracks range from hits such as "Something to Talk About" and "Love Sneakin' Up on You" to obscure gems from her blues-saturated repertoire. There's also a robust, jazzy version of the Talking Heads' "Burning Down the House" and a scruffily endearing duet with Bryan Adams. Like all great musicians, Raitt and her supporting players never let you hear them sweat, veering effortlessly from muscular boogie workouts to tender, shimmering ballads. Raitt's singing could teach other rock and R&B; icons volumes about true soulfulness and the power of restraint. On "Feeling of Falling," her relaxed, husky playfulness generates more heat than an entire anthology of Melissa Etheridge vamps could. And Raitt's delivery of the wistful "I Can't Make You Love Me" is devastatingly pure and sincere-not a heartbroken note is overstated. Which is precisely why Raitt always makes us love her.