Since I've Been With You Babe, duet with Geoff Mulduar

Geoff Muldaur, Motion, 1976

Here's the first duet in Bonnie Raitt's long guest discography, an honor that went to Maria Muldaur's brother Geoff. It's a real period piece, a song that just screams 1976, as does the album cover.

Since I've Been With You Babe is a Sonny and Cher sort of song, not at all typical of Bonnie's work. I don't recommend it, but Amazon sells the track for just 69 cents. And if you're a really hardcore collector like me, download Motion too: Bonnie has a backing vocal.    
              
Tracks with Bonnie Raitt

• Since I've Been With You Babe (duet)
• Motion (background vocals)   

I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues, duet with Tony Bennett

Tony Bennett, Playin' with My Friends, 2001

Maybe I'm getting old, but I have to say, I like this track. It's close to making my top 10 duets list. Yes, it's easy-listening lounge Bonnie, but her phrasing and guitar are spot on. Like the songs recorded with her father, John Raitt, this one brings out a side one doesn't often get to hear.  

I couldn't find a legit MP3 anywhere, but it's so good, you won't mind springing for the CD.   
          
Tracks with Bonnie Raitt

• I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues  

Separation Blues, duet with Maria Muldaur

Maria Muldaur, Naughty Bawdy & Blue, 2007

Separation Blues is Mama's Gone, Goodbye by another name. Both Maria Muldaur and Bonnie Raitt sang this song with Sippie Wallace; this duet is a tribute to that. It's a rather loose rendition that is interesting in the way it binds the three artists together.

Amazon doesn't sell an MP3 version, but iTunes does. 
          
Tracks with Bonnie Raitt

• Separation Blues  

Love Letters, duet with Elton John

Elton John, Duets, 1993

There's a big difference between Love Letter, and Love Letters, this collaboration between Elton John and Bonnie Raitt. It's another silly love song, not that there's anything wrong with that, but you wouldn't find it on any of Raitt's albums. Her guitar solo livens it up and gives it some bite.

Neither iTunes nor Amazon sells an MP3 version, but the CD is easy to find used. 
   
       
Tracks with Bonnie Raitt

• Love Letters  

Walking The Dog, duet with Weepin' Willie Robinson

Various Artists, Give Us Your Poor: Help End Homelessness, 2007

Walking The Dog is a fun, rollicking duet with Weepin' Willie Robinson, an at the time 80 year old homeless WWII vet and Boston blues legend. It's an original recording to benefit the Give Us Your Poor Campaign to End Homelessness. Details here. 

No longer homeless, he died a year later, in 2008. The Boston Globe has the story.
 
 
       
Tracks with Bonnie Raitt

• Walking The Dog  

Angel from Montgomery, duet with John Prine

Various Artists, Tribute to Steve Goodman, 1985

In a live performance, Bonnie Raitt sings her trademark Angel From Montgomery with the song's writer, John Prine. This duet shows up on a number of releases including The Bonnie Raitt Collection, but the Goodman tribute concert is the source. The latest release is on Coal Country Music in 2009. 


Prine writes about the song in the notes for his Great Days anthology, where the duet also shows up. His buddy, Eddie, he says, " always used to tell people that I was writing about the Montgomery Ward building in Chicago, which has an angel on top that sticks out on a flagpole. I didn't know that, but that's where Eddie thought I got the idea." So there's a little trivia for Bonnie Raitt fans in Chicago.
       
Tracks with Bonnie Raitt

• Angel From Montgomery  

Fats Domino Medley with Jon Cleary

Various Artists, Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino, 2007

Bonnie Raitt pairs up with Jon Cleary on a pair of Fats Domino hits from the '50s.Yet another sound!
       
Tracks with Bonnie Raitt

• I'm In Love Again / All By Myself  

Crepuscular Solidao, duet with Cesaria Evora

Cesaria Evora, Sao Vicente di Longe, 2001

How's this for different (and obscure), a duet in Portuguese with Cesaria Evora, the Barefoot Diva of Cape Verde? It's outside of Bonnie Raitt's wide-ranging repertoire, but she pulls it off.
       
Sadly, Cesaria Evora passed away in São Vicente in December, 2011.

Tracks with Bonnie Raitt

• Crepuscular Solidao (Twilight Loneliness, duet)  

Getting Over You, duet with Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson, Across the Borderline, 1993

Bonnie Raitt has collaborated with Willie Nelson three times over the years: in 1993 on this duet, in 1979 playing guitar on Trouble In Mind, and in 2001 harmonizing on You Remain. Unfortunately, Getting Over You is not an original Willie Nelson song, but it's a quieter song with exceptionally clear vocals. If you've got a thing for their voices, it's a song for you.    

Tracks with Bonnie Raitt

• Getting Over You (duet with Willie Nelson)  

Kisses Sweeter Than Wine, duet with Jackson Browne

Various Artists, Where Have All the Flowers Gone: The Songs of Peter Seeger, 1998

If you like your Bonnie sweet with a hint of reggae, you'll love this Pete Seeger ballad that she and Jackson Browne perform together. If you don't want to invest in the double-CD Pete Seeger tribute, you can get just this song from your favorite digital music source.  

Tracks with Bonnie Raitt

• Kisses Sweeter Than Wine (duet with Jackson Browne)