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)  

It's a Blessing, duet with Maria Muldaur

Maria Muldaur, Richland Woman Blues, 2001

Here's a different sound: Bonnie Raitt, Maria Muldaur, a guitar and a Delta Blues spiritual. The song came to Maria, as she tells the story, from an old recording of Bonnie Raitt's mentor, Mississippi Fred McDowell singing it with his wife, Annie Mae. It's such a gem that it appears on 3 other recordings: Where We Live (2003), 30 Years of Maria Muldaur: I'm a Woman (2004), and Blues Guitar Women (2005).  

Tracks with Bonnie Raitt

• It's A Blessing (duet)  

Do I Ever Cross Your Mind, duet with Ray Charles

Ray Charles, Genius Loves Company, 2004

Here's another great Bonnie Raitt duet, this time with Ray Charles on his last album before his death. Great track.  

Tracks with Bonnie Raitt

• Do I Ever Cross Your Mind (duet)  

Merry Christmas Baby, duet with Charles Brown

Various Artists, A Very Special Christmas 2, 1992

For Bonnie Raitt fans, Christmas music doesn't get any than this duet with Charles Brown. It'll warm you up faster than eggnog and chestnuts roasting on an open fire.

Between Merry Christmas Baby and Someone to Love, Raitt's other duet with Charles Brown, this one is more engaging. Clip below, full song over on YouTube.

Tracks with Bonnie Raitt

• Merry Christmas Baby (duet with Charles Brown)  

Someone to Love, duet with Charles Brown

Charles Brown, Someone to Love, 1992

Here's a gem. Bonnie Raitt joins jazz/blues pianist Charles Brown in a duet on the title track of Someone to Love. Just Charles, Bonnie, and a piano. It's not listed on the her official guest discography, but on the same album, Bonnie adds her unmistakable slide guitar sound to Every Little Bit Hurts. Take a listen.

The collaborate again for a version of Merry Christmas Baby, but I'll leave that for next time.

Tracks with Bonnie Raitt

• Someone to Love (duet)
  
• Every Little Bit Hurts (guitar)  

Baby I Love You, duet with B.B. King

B.B. King, Deuces Wild, 1997

Baby I Love You is a pretty lightweight song with none of the punch of, say, The Thrill is Gone, but, hey, it's B.B. King and Bonnie Raitt showing off their distinct guitar styles. Who cares about the lyrics? The first minute is all Bonnie--on the sweeter side--before B.B. joins in. BTW, if you're a B.B. King fan too, you'll love the whole album.   

Tracks with Bonnie Raitt

• Baby I Love You (duet)

You Make Me Feel (Like A Natural Woman), trio with Aretha Franklin and Gloria Estafan

Aretha Franklin, Greatest Hits (1980-1994), 1994

How many musicians have what it takes to play guitar next to Buddy Guy, B.B. King, and Eric Clapton one day, and then belt out a big song with the likes of Aretha Franklin? Precious few. No guitar on this one, but soaring vocals from 3 greats.

The recording comes from a 1993 TV special. If you want to add it to your collection, you can pick up the track at Amazon.

Tracks with Bonnie Raitt

• You Make Me Feel (Like a Natural Woman)

I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town, duet with Ruth Brown

Ruth Brown, R+B=Ruth Brown (1997), and
Ruth Brown, Ms. B's Blues: Essential Recordings (2011)

This is a fun bluesy duet with R&B legend Ruth Brown. Great humor. The original 1997 release appears again on Rounder's 2011 compilation. Brown has a MySpace page where you can hear the whole track.

The '97 album was nominated for a Grammy.

Tracks with Bonnie Raitt

• I'm Gonna My to the Outskirts of Town (duet)

I'm in the Mood, duet with John Lee Hooker

John Lee Hooker, The Healer, 1989

In in the Mood appears on too many albums to keep track of them all, but the first time was in 1989 when Bonnie Raitt and John Lee Hooker recorded it for The Healer.  It's one her best five duets.

There are several versions on YouTube, for example this one. Amazon doesn't sell the 1989 version singly as an MP3. If that's what you're looking for, iTunes sells the same track from Hooker's Best of Friends.

Some albums with I'm in the Mood

• The Healer (1989): studio version
• John Lee Hooker, The Ultimate Collection (1992, Rhino): Live version recorded in February, 1990, from A Tribute to Roy Orbison: A Concert to Benefit the Homeless.
• Best of Friends (1998): Re-release from The Healer
• Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues (2003, Hip-0): This is a big anthology that comes in various releases and media. The 1989 version is included in the 5 CD box set, as is a live version of Round and Round. 
• Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Vol. 1: 1986-1991 (Live): Yet another live version.

Women Be Wise and more with Sippie Wallace

Sippie Wallace, Sippie, 1982

A gem of a recording from 1982 and since re-released. Bonnie & Sippie perform 2 duets and Bonnie plays guitar on a third track. The CD liner notes tell the heartwarming story of Sippie and Bonnie's friendship and there's a marvelous picture of the two of them.

For another version of Mama's Gone, Goodbye, check out Separation Blues with Maria Muldaur and Bonnie Raitt. Maria sang this song with Sippie Wallace too.

Tracks with Bonnie Raitt

• Women Be Wise (duet)
• Suitcase Blues (guitar)
• Mama's Gone, Goodbye (duet)

Three duets with her father, John Raitt

John Raitt, Broadway Legend, 1995

Bonnie sings three show tunes with father, John Raitt, on this 1995 reprise of his Broadway career. The songs bring out a side of Bonnie's voice that you don't otherwise hear. She also writes a touching tribute to him in the liner notes. It's all very charming. So is this brief appearance on Dave Letterman.

All three songs are excellent, but Anything You Can Do is the warmest and most fun, so it get's a spot on my 10 best duets list.

Neither Amazon nor iTunes has the album available for MP3 download, but used copies of the CD are easy to come by. 

Tracks with Bonnie Raitt

• Anything You Can Do (duet)
• They Say It's Wonderful (duet)
• Hey There (duet)