Streetlights (Bonnie Raitt album)

Streetlights is the fourth album by Bonnie Raitt, released in 1974.

Streetlights
Studio album by Bonnie Raitt
Released	September 1974
Studio	The Hit Factory, New York City
Genre	Rock, folk
Length	37:05
Label	Warner Bros.
Producer	Jerry Ragovoy
Bonnie Raitt chronology
Takin' My Time (1973) Streetlights (1974) Home Plate (1975)

Retrospective professional reviews

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Christgau's Record Guide	B[2]
Entertainment Weekly	B[3]
MusicHound Rock	2/5[4]
The New Rolling Stone Record Guide	[5]

Recording

Bonnie Raitt was allotted $10,000 by Warner Bros. Records to record Streetlights, which was the least amount of money she had received to record an album.[6] Warner Bros. was unhappy with the lengthy production surrounding her previous album, Takin' My Time, and the company limited her expenses. The two parties agreed on an advance of more money, on the condition Raitt chooses a producer with a history of commercial success.[6] Raitt choose Jerry Ragovoy, who had worked with musicians such as Janis Joplin and Dionne Warwick.[6] Ragovoy felt Raitt's music was bogged down by blues music, and wanted to produce a more slick and polished pop sound.[7] Raitt did not like Ragovoy's decision, but acquiesced, and Streetlights was recorded during the summer of 1974.[7]

Track listing

1. "That Song About the Midway" (Joni Mitchell) – 4:44
2. "Rainy Day Man" (James Taylor, Zach Wiesner) – 3:41
3. "Angel from Montgomery" (John Prine) – 3:59
4. "I Got Plenty" (Joey Levine, Jim Carroll) – 3:09
5. "Streetlights" (Bill Payne) – 5:05
6. "What Is Success" (Allen Toussaint) – 3:32
7. "Ain't Nobody Home" (Jerry Ragovoy) – 3:04
8. "Everything That Touches You" (Michael Kamen) – 3:28
9. "Got You on My Mind" (David Lasley, Allee Willis) – 3:50
10. "You Got to Be Ready for Love (If You Wanna Be Mine)" (Lou Courtney) – 3:08

Personnel

• Bonnie Raitt – guitar, vocals
• Bob Babbitt – bass
• Charlie Brown – guitar
• Lou Courtney – vocals, background vocals
• Richard Davis – bass
• Freebo – bass
• Jerry Friedman – guitar
• Steve Gadd – drums
• Paul Griffin – keyboards
• Don Grolnick – keyboards
• Carl Hall – vocals, background vocals
• John Hall – guitar
• Arthur Jenkins – percussion
• David Lasley – background vocals
• Ralph MacDonald – percussion
• Bob Mann – guitar
• Dave Matthews – strings, horns
• Jon Mayer – keyboard
• Jeff Mironov – guitar
• Leon Pendarvis – keyboard
• Sharon Redd – background vocals
• David Spinozza – guitar
• Tasha Thomas – background vocals
• John Tropea – guitar
• Natalie Venable – vocals, background vocals
• Larry Wilcox – strings, horn

Technical

• Blaise Castellano, Bruce Tergesen, Harry Maslin – engineers

[8]

Production

• Producer: Jerry Ragovoy
• Engineers: Blaise Castellano, Harry Maslin, Bruce Tergesen
• Remixing: Harry Maslin
• Remastering: Lee Herschberg
• Series producer: Gregg Geller
• Project coordinator: Jo Motta
• Arranger: Jerry Ragovoy
• Horn arrangements: Larry Wilcox
• String arrangements: Larry Wilcox

Charts

Chart (1974)	Peak position
scope="row"	US Billboard 200[9]	80

References

1. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (n.d.). "Bonnie Raitt - Streetlights". AllMusic. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
2. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: R". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 10, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
3. Gordon, Robert (August 23, 1991). "Bonnie Raitt on the record". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
4. Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide (2 ed.). Visible Ink Press. p. 919. ISBN 978-1-5785-9061-2.
5. Testa, Bart (1983). Marsh, Dave; Swenson, John (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Record Guide. Random House/Rolling Stone Press. p. 410. ISBN 978-0-3947-2107-1.
6. Bego 1995, p. 49.
7. Bego 1995, p. 50.
8. http://www.bonnieraitt.com/discography/liner-notes-streetlights
9. "Bonnie Raitt Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 6, 2020.

Book sources

• Bego, Mark (1995). Bonnie Raitt : Just in the Nick of Time. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-5597-2315-2.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)