Bonnie Raitt - Nine Lives

Bonnie Raitt's ninth and final album for Warner Bros. Records was a star-crossed affair that began in 1983 in a session with producer Rob Fraboni, and was a typical Raitt mixture of different genres and songwriters, from Jerry Lynn Williams ("Excited") and Eric Kaz ("Angel") to reggae star Toots Hibbert ("True Love Is Hard to Find") in a style similar to her 1982 album Green Light. This record seems to have been rejected by Warner, but three years later Raitt returned to the studio with Bill Payne (Little Feat) and George Massenburg and cut a group of commercial-sounding songs by the likes of Bryan Adams and Tom Snow. Nine Lives splits the difference between the two sessions, with four tracks rescued from 1983, and five added from 1986, plus the theme from a forgotten Farrah Fawcett movie ("Stand Up to the Night" from Extremities). The result is predictably scattered and strained, and it was Raitt's lowest-charting album since her debut. Not surprisingly, it was also the last straw in her relationship with Warner. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

Name Credits Bill Payne Keyboards, Piano, Producer, Vocals Billy Youdelman Assistant Engineer Blondie Chaplin Vocals (Background), Vocals Bonnie Raitt Vocals (Background), Guitar, Slide Guitar, Vocals Carlos Vega Drums Charles Ferrin Guitar Christine McVie Vocals (Background), Vocals David Kitay Programming, Engineer, Drum Programming, Keyboards, Guitar David Tickle Mixing David Woodford Saxophone Dean Parks Guitar Doug Sax Mastering Earl "Chinna" Smith Vocals, Guitar Earl J. Smith, Jr. Vocals (Background) Emilio Castillo Saxophone, Sax (Tenor) Eric Kaz Vocals (Background), Piano George Massenburg Producer, Mixing, Engineer Greg Adams Trumpet, Horn Arrangements, Flugelhorn Gregg Geller Series Producer Guy Moon Keyboards Ian McLagan Guitar, Keyboards Ian McLegan Keyboards Ian Wallace Drums Ira Ingber Guitar Ira Ingher Guitar Ivan Neville Vocals (Background), Vocals Ivy Skoff Production Coordination J.A.C. Redford Keyboards Jim Shea Photography Jo Motta Project Coordinator John "J.R." Robinson Drums John X. Volaitis Engineer Johnny Lee Schell Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals (Background), Vocals Kenny Castro Percussion Laura LiPuma Art Direction, Design Lee Thornburg Trombone, Trumpet, Flugelhorn Leland Sklar Bass Lenny Castro Percussion Lindsey Loch Cover Illustration Max Carl Vocals, Vocals (Background) Max Earl Vocals (Background) Michael Landau Guitar Nathan East Bass Neil Stubenhaus Bass Ray Chara Bass Ray O'Hara Bass Richard Elliot Sax (Alto), Sax (Tenor), Saxophone Richard Kosinski Keyboards Rob Fraboni Producer, Engineer, Percussion Rosemary Butler Vocals, Vocals (Background) Russ Kunkel Drums, Producer Sharon Rice Assistant Engineer Sippie Wallace Vocals (Background) Stephen "Doc" Kupka Saxophone, Sax (Baritone) Stephen Kupka Sax (Baritone) Stephen Ross Vocals, Vocals (Background) Steve Tyrell Producer Teresa Caffin Remastering Terry Becker Engineer Todd Sharp Vocals (Background), Vocals Tower of Power Horn Tower of Power Horn Section ?