A lot of political music to me can be rather pedantic and corny, and when it’s done right – like Bruce Springsteen or Jackson Browne or great satire from Randy Newman, there’s nothing better.
BONNIE RAITTThere would be no rock and roll or rhythm and blues without Leo Fenders’ contribution … the tone is everything
More Bonnie Raitt Quotes
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I’m glad I get singled out for my slide guitar-playing, which isn’t that difficult to do. I didn’t take guitar lessons, but I just love the way it sounds, almost like the human voice.
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I don’t want to discredit people’s opinions of me, but you talk about the violin or the cello or lead guitar where you have to learn tons of chords, that’s much more difficult.
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I like to think I get better with age, but maybe absence makes the heart grow fonder.
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And just the problem of young women not getting an education, not being able to have an equal position in the cultures all around the world.
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I grew up in Los Angeles in a Quaker family, and for me being Quaker was a political calling rather than a religious one.
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I just play the music that I love with musicians that I respect, and fortunately, I’m in a position where people are willing to play with me, and perhaps I can do something to help them.
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Really important issues are getting lost, so I can say I’m glad to be a citizen of the planet and do my part.
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Even if the writers don’t get paid enough most of the time, unfortunately – but there’s never been a more amazing flow of information on all of the issues. I would love to see a revival of what we had against the war in the ’60s – we could do thes
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Those of us who grew up in the ’50s and ’60s, we had the dream that this could be turned around, and the earth could be back in balance, and that we could level the playing field with men and women and pay, and you know, minority groups having equal opportunity.
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In my early twenties, if I wasn’t getting good enough at it, then people would not come and see me. Anybody who has lasted this long – I hope we get better with age.
BONNIE RAITT -
I think my fans will follow me into our combined old age. Real musicians and real fans stay together for a long, long time.
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If we are truly each other’s keepers, let’s support school lunches, food stamps, neighborhood garden projects, and so many other wonderful programs working to put an end to this cruel and needless blight once and for all.
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In 1967 I entered Harvard as a freshman, confident – in the way that only 17-year-olds are – that I could change the world.
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Whatever role we were in our family of birth, we take on this persona and in your 20s and 30s in particular, you end up thinking that’s you and that isn’t necessarily you.
BONNIE RAITT -
I’m one of those people who just doesn’t plan my personal life. I plan my professional life.
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I was already doing really well in terms of my goals, to keep my fans coming back.
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In blues, classical and jazz, you get more revered with age.
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I don’t know that I’m unique in that people relate to my music, but I would hope people would say that I’m honest and that I do the best work I can possibly do instead of coasting.
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With the new ways of getting music out, you don’t need a label if you’re a legacy artist.
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I’m honored when young people say they’ve gone to school on slide guitar with my records. But people get their influence from my live shows and records and YouTube, not me personally.
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I think my fans would be upset if I confined my shows to one city for a long period of time.
BONNIE RAITT -
I don’t know if I’m a heroine; I’m just somebody that can cheer the troops by singing to folks, and have receptions after the show, and tithe a dollar of every ticket sale for all kinds of different great charities and social action groups.
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I finally learned to accept that I can’t make radio play blues any more than I could get Reagan out of the White House.
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Distribution has really changed. You can make a record with a laptop in the morning and have it up on YouTube in the afternoon and be a star overnight.
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Pat Benatar might need a rock band, but I can just sit with a blues guitar for an hour and a half and do folk songs and great contemporary ballads, and not many people can pull that off.
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There are a lot of people that never get their stories told.
BONNIE RAITT