Home Plate by Bonnie Raitt (Vinyl record album review)

Album name: Home Plate

Artist name: Bonnie Raitt

Year: 1975

Number of discs: one

Label: Warner Bros.

Collection: Selman

Distinguishing characteristics:

Sticker on front of album: PROMOTIONAL COPY / NOT FOR SALE

Buy it on Amazon: $9.89

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I don’t know a whole lot about Bonnie Raitt’s work, but I’ve previously listened to her self-titled debut record, which I thought was pretty good, and earlier to Takin My Time, which was so-so.

What I expected

Songs about America’s pastime?

What it was actually like

Ok, I want to be diplomatic about this, but this record was terrible.

While there wasn’t a dominant style, much of it was in what I would call the “easy listening” genre, employing some elements of rock, but also a great deal of backing vocals, jazz flourishes, funk beats and horn sections.

Several songs had prominent saxophone parts, such as Walk Out the Front Door and Pleasin’ Each Other.

Good Enough was pretty weird, a kind of Oompa Loompa lite, almost a ska beat with horns, but some country style vocals.

The overwhelming majority of the record was extremely boring, though the final song, Your Sweet and Shiny Eyes, a country song that didn’t sound much like the others, was the least bad.

Grade

2/5: bad, but I was able to listen to the whole thing