Bonnie Raitt had been thinking about working with Grammy-winning producer Joe Henry for years. And Henry had been kicking around the idea of reaching out to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member whose voice he adores forever.
It wasn’t until mutual friend Allen Toussaint made a cosmic connection that the two finally got together, launching Raitt on the journey to “Slipstream,” her first new album in seven years. During a recording session with Aaron Neville, Toussaint coyly suggested that Henry work with Raitt in the future.
As the great New Orleans performer suspected, the chemistry between Raitt and Henry was dynamite. “It was like the pilot light was on, but he turned the gas up,” Raitt said.
They emerged from those sessions with four new cuts for the album‚ Henry compositions “God Only Knows” (perhaps the album’s standout) and “You Can’t Fail Me Now” (co-written with Loudon Wainwright III) and the Bob Dylan covers “Million Miles” and “Standing in the Doorway.”
“Slipstream,” her 19th album and her first on her own label, Redwing Records, is a mix of styles and flavors. Al Anderson, formerly of NRBQ, contributes three songs and plays on four, acting as a counterpunch to Henry’s more somber songs.
And Raitt even offers a reggae version of Gerry Rafferty’s “Right Down the Line.”
“I’m as excited about playing these songs on the road as I was in the studio,” Raitt said.
“And to have the jewels of these Dylan songs and the Joe Henry songs reignited the passion I’ve always had for music. I’m as excited about this tour as I was the time I had my first album.”