Nick of Time (album)
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''Nick of Time'' is the tenth studio album by the American singer
Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American blues singer and guitarist. In 1971, Raitt released her self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed roots-influenced albums that incorporated ...
, released on March 21, 1989. It was Raitt's first album to be released by
Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of not ...
. A commercial breakthrough after years of personal and professional struggles, ''Nick of Time'' topped the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, selling five million copies, and won three Grammy Awards, including
Album of the Year Album of the Year, often abbreviated to AOTY, may refer to: Awards * ARIA Award for Album of the Year, Australia * Brit Award for British Album of the Year, UK * Grammy Award for Album of the Year, US * Juno Award for Album of the Year, CA * Lati ...
, which was presented to Raitt and producer
Don Was Don Edward Fagenson (born September 13, 1952), known professionally as Don Was, is an American musician, record producer and record executive. Primarily a bass player, Was co-founded the funk-rock band Was (Not Was). In later years he produced so ...
. In 2003, the album was ranked number 229 on ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, then was re-ranked at number 230 on the 2012 list. As of September 2020, it is ranked at number 492. The album was also included in the book ''
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' is a musical reference book first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Part of the ''1001 Before You Die'' series, it compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music critics ...
''. In 2022, the album was selected by the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...
for preservation in the United States
National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservat ...
for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".


Background

In 1983, Bonnie Raitt was dropped from Warner Bros. Records for not selling enough copies of her two previous albums, '' The Glow'' (1979) and '' Green Light'' (1982). This decision came just one day after she had finished recording her upcoming album, titled ''Tongue in Groove''. Two years later, Raitt's affair with producer
Rob Fraboni Robert Alan Fraboni (born 23 April 1951) is an American, California-born record producer and audio engineer, well known for his work with Bob Dylan, The Band, Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, Tim Hardin, The Beach Boys, Joe Cocker, and Bonnie R ...
came to an end, and she was forced to dissolve her
backing band A backup band or backing band is a musical ensemble that typically accompanies a single artist who is the featured performer. The situation may be a live performance or in a recording session, and the group may or may not have its own name, such ...
as she could no longer afford to pay them. In addition to these personal problems, Warner Bros. announced they would release ''Tongue in Groove'' in 1986, now titled '' Nine Lives''. This upset Raitt, as she now had to promote an album that she no longer had full control over. Raitt began to suffer from depression, and tried to distract herself with excessive eating, drinking, and partying. When asked about this period in her life, Raitt said: "I wasn't kicking and screaming into dementia, but I did have a complete emotional, physical, and spiritual breakdown." After the release of ''Nine Lives'', Raitt went on a concert tour. Pop star
Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. ...
was a fan of Raitt, and attended her performance at the Beverly Theater in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
. He later offered her a recording contract on his own label
Paisley Park Records Paisley Park Records was an American record label founded by musician Prince in 1985, which was distributed by and funded in part by Warner Bros. Records. It was started in 1985, following the success of the film and album '' Purple Rain''. ...
. Raitt agreed, and traveled to
Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origin ...
. Before she recorded any material however, she suffered a skiing accident and was hospitalized for two months. The injury gave her time to reflect on recent life choices. "It seemed that some changes needed to be made. I looked at myself and just felt I wasn't being the best version of me as I could. I wasn't going to blame anyone other than myself." Raitt attended
Alcoholics Anonymous Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an international mutual aid fellowship of alcoholics dedicated to abstinence-based recovery from alcoholism through its spiritually-inclined Twelve Step program. Following its Twelve Traditions, AA is non-professi ...
meetings, which she credits with giving her a new outlook on life. Despite her newfound sobriety, Raitt was still in financial trouble. She left Paisley Park Records after the planned collaboration between her and Prince fell through. Without enough money to afford a backing band, Raitt played a series of acoustic gigs to simply keep afloat. It was during this period that Raitt met musician
Don Was Don Edward Fagenson (born September 13, 1952), known professionally as Don Was, is an American musician, record producer and record executive. Primarily a bass player, Was co-founded the funk-rock band Was (Not Was). In later years he produced so ...
of the band
Was (Not Was) Was (Not Was) is an American pop rock group founded in 1979 in Detroit, Michigan, by David Weiss and Don Fagenson, who adopted the stage names David Was and Don Was. Their song catalog features an eclectic mix of pop and rock styles, often fe ...
. They collaborated on the song " Baby Mine" for the 1988 album '' Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films'', which featured contemporary interpretations of songs from
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
films. Raitt enjoyed working with Was, and he agreed to produce her upcoming album. The search for a record label proved more difficult, as many labels felt Raitt no longer had commercial viability. Co-manager Danny Golberg said at least fourteen executives passed on Raitt before
Tim Devine Tim Devine is an American music executive and entrepreneur. The founder of Webcastr, Devine is best known for his work as an a&r executive. Early life and education Devine spent his childhood in Chicago, Kansas City, New York and New Jersey a ...
of
Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of not ...
took an interest. In 1988, Raitt signed a recording contract with Capitol Records for $150,000.


Composition

''Nick of Time'' features a smooth and understated rock sound.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, oc ...
of
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...
wrote: " aittnever rocks too hard, but there is grit to her singing and playing, even when the surfaces are clean and inviting." There are many genres explored in ''Nick of Time'', including
blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre that combines elements of blues and rock music. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock (electric guitar, electric bass guitar, and drums, sometimes w ...
,
country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whi ...
, R&B, and
pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' ( ...
. When Was was announced as the producer, some listeners wondered if he would instill a
funk rock Funk rock is a fusion genre that mixes elements of funk and rock. James Brown and others declared that Little Richard and his mid-1950s road band, The Upsetters, were the first to put the funk in the rock and roll beat, with a biographer stat ...
sound into the album, given his reputation with Was (Not Was). Was decided to instead maintain the laid-back blues sound Raitt had developed earlier in her career. According to Raitt: "There's less production, less slickness. Basically, it's a return to my roots." Before Raitt signed with Capitol Records, she and Was had recorded some early
demos Demos may refer to: Computing * DEMOS, a Soviet Unix-like operating system * DEMOS (ISP), the first internet service provider in the USSR * Demos Commander, an Orthodox File Manager for Unix-like systems * plural for Demo (computer programming) ...
at Was's home studio. These early demos focused on music that was stripped down, similar to Raitt's acoustic gigs. Was wanted to showcase her musical talents by choosing songs that worked without a backing band. These demos were then properly recorded over the course of a week at
Ocean Way Recording Ocean Way Recording was a series of recording studios established by recording engineer and producer Allen Sides with locations in Los Angeles, California, Nashville, Tennessee, and Saint Barthélemy. Ocean Way Recording no longer operates re ...
in Los Angeles on preparation for the album's release. Because they had already worked on the songs, recording sessions were fairly quick. About two tracks were recorded a day. Engineer
Ed Cherney Edward Cherney (1950 – October 22, 2019) was an American recording engineer and record producer, based in Los Angeles, California, United States. Over his career, he earned four Grammy awards, one Emmy Award, and five TEC Awards. Cherney was a ...
noted how most of the music was recorded live in studio as opposed to recording each instrument individually. This was because Raitt was comfortable jamming with other musicians. Many of the songs deal with personal issues Raitt was struggling with at the time. For example, Raitt was almost forty years old when ''Nick of Time'' was released, and the album's title track is about coming to terms with
middle age In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
. According to biographer Mark Bego, Raitt sought to make an album for the
baby boomer Baby boomers, often shortened to boomers, are the Western demographic cohort following the Silent Generation and preceding Generation X. The generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964, during the mid-20th century baby boom. ...
generation. "Unlike her past releases, there were no 'you've done me wrong' songs or tearful laments about love lost. The songs were much more personal" said Bego. ''Nick of Time'' features two original songs and nine
cover songs In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
.


Release

''Nick of Time'' was released on March 21, 1989. Devine was unable to convince Capitol Records' marketing team to promote Raitt, and instead had to ask the president of the company to put full page ads in music magazines. Despite the limited promotion, ''Nick of Time'' sold very well for the first few months, and quickly became the best selling album of Raitt's career. It debuted at number 105 on the ''Billboard'' 200, and slowly climbed the chart until peaking at number 1 on April 6, 1990. The seventeen and a half year stretch between Raitt's first album to chart on the ''Billboard'' 200–'' Give It Up'' in 1972–and ''Nick of Time'' broke the record for the longest period of time it took an artist to have a number 1 album. By 2019, ''Nick of Time'' had sold over five million copies, and helped revitalize Raitt's career. When asked why ''Nick of Time'' sold as well as it did, publicist Joan Myers said: "Bonnie's personality and sincerity just won people's hearts, in addition to her music. There was nothing ever pretentious about her." Bego identifies the
music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...
for "Thing Called Love" as an important factor to the commercial success of ''Nick of Time''. With the rise of
MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
and VH1 in the 1980s, the music video helped expose Raitt to a younger generation of listeners. In the video, Raitt performs in a bar, and acts flirtateous with a man played by
Dennis Quaid Dennis William Quaid (born April 9, 1954) is an American actor known for a wide variety of dramatic and comedic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the late 1970s, some of his notable credits include '' Breaking Away'' (1979), '' The ...
. "Thing Called Love" was one of three singles from ''Nick of Time''; the other two were "Love Letter" and "Have a Heart," the latter of which reached number 49 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.


Reception

In 2003, ''Nick of Time'' was ranked number 229 on ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. It was ranked number 230 on the 2012 edition of the list, and number 492 on the 2020 edition. The record was voted number 615 in the third edition of
Colin Larkin Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British writer and entrepreneur. He founded, and was the editor-in-chief of, the '' Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', described by '' The Times'' as "the standard against which all others must be judged". Along w ...
's ''
All Time Top 1000 Albums ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'' is a book by Colin Larkin, creator and editor of the '' Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. The book was first published by Guinness Publishing in 1994. The list presented is the result of over 200,000 votes cast by t ...
'' (2000), and was also included in the book ''
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' is a musical reference book first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Part of the ''1001 Before You Die'' series, it compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music critics ...
''. In 2022, the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...
selected ''Nick of Time'' for preservation in the United States
National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservat ...
as a "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" work.


Track listing


Personnel

* Bonnie Raitt – lead vocals, electric piano (1, 9),
slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos t ...
(2, 3, 4), guitar (5, 6, 11), backing vocals (5) *
Scott Thurston Scott Troy Thurston (born January 10, 1952) is an American guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter, and session musician. He was a member of the Stooges, and of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, in which he sang harmony vocals and played guitar, bass, ...
– keyboards (3, 7) * Michael Ruff – keyboards (4) *
Jerry Lynn Williams Jerry Lynn Williams (1948–2005) was an American rock music singer and composer. He wrote such hits as "Forever Man", " See What Love Can Do", " Something's Happening", " Running on Faith" and " Pretending" for Eric Clapton. He contributed tw ...
– acoustic piano (5) *
Don Was Don Edward Fagenson (born September 13, 1952), known professionally as Don Was, is an American musician, record producer and record executive. Primarily a bass player, Was co-founded the funk-rock band Was (Not Was). In later years he produced so ...
– keyboards (8) *
Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he hel ...
– acoustic piano (10) *
Michael Landau Michael Christopher Landau (born June 1, 1958) is an American musician, audio engineer, and record producer. He is a session musician and guitarist who has played on many albums since the early 1980s with Boz Scaggs, Minoru Niihara, Joni Mit ...
– guitar (1, 3) *
Johnny Lee Schell Johnny Lee Schell is an American guitarist and songwriter. In the late 1960s, he first recorded with producer Norman Petty in Group Axis. In the 1970s, he joined Amarillo TX southern rock band, Baby. Since his professional debut, he has played wi ...
– acoustic guitar (2), backing vocals (2), guitar (3, 9) * Arthur Adams – guitar (3) *
John Jorgenson John Richard Jorgenson (born July 6, 1956) is an American musician. Although best known for his guitar work with bands such as the Desert Rose Band and The Hellecasters, he is also proficient on the mandolin, mandocello, Dobro, pedal steel gu ...
– guitar (8) * Jay Dee Maness –
pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all steel guitars, it can ...
(8) * James "Hutch" Hutchinson – bass (1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9) *
Chuck Domanico Charles Louis Domanico (January 20, 1944 – October 17, 2002), better known as Chuck Domanico, was an American jazz bassist who played double bass and bass guitar on the West Coast jazz scene. Domanico was born in Chicago. He settled i ...
– acoustic bass (4, 6) * Preston Hubbard – bass (11) * Ricky Fataar – drums (1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9), percussion (1) * Fran Christina – drums (11) * Paulinho da Costa
conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest) ...
s (1), percussion (4, 7) *
Tony Braunagel Tony Braunagel is an American drummer, producer, and songwriter from Houston, Texas, United States, who is based in Los Angeles, California. Braunagel has played on many film scores and television shows as well as numerous albums as a musician, ...
– percussion (2, 5),
timbales Timbales () or pailas are shallow single-headed drums with metal casing. They are shallower than single-headed tom-toms and usually tuned much higher, especially for their size.Orovio, Helio 1981. ''Diccionario de la música cubana: biográfico ...
(2), drums (4) * Marty Grebb – tenor saxophone (3, 9) * Heart Attack Horns – horns (3, 9) ** Bill Bergman – saxophone ** Greg Smith – saxophone ** John Berry, Jr. – trumpet ** Dennis Farias – trumpet *
Kim Wilson Kim Wilson (born January 6, 1951) is an American blues singer and harmonica player. He is best known as the lead vocalist and frontman for the Fabulous Thunderbirds on two hit songs of the 1980s, " Tuff Enuff" (which was the group's only Top 40 ...
harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica in ...
(5, 11) * Sir Harry Bowens – backing vocals (1, 3, 8, 9, 11) *
Arnold McCuller Arnold McCuller (born August 26, 1950) is an American vocalist, songwriter, and record producer, born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. He was active as a solo artist and session musician, but is perhaps best known for his work as a touring back- ...
– backing vocals (1, 7, 8, 11) *
Sweet Pea Atkinson Hillard "Sweet Pea" Atkinson (September 20, 1945 – May 5, 2020) was an American R&B singer known as one of the vocalists for the band Was (Not Was). Biography Atkinson was born in Oberlin, Ohio, and moved to Detroit as a child. He worke ...
– backing vocals (3, 8, 9, 11) *
David Crosby David Van Cortlandt Crosby (born August 14, 1941) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, he was a founding member of both the Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash. Crosby joined the Byrds in 1964. They got ...
– backing vocals (4) *
Graham Nash Graham William Nash (born 2 February 1942) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, photographer, and activist. He is known for his light tenor voice and for his contributions as a member of the Hollies and the supergroups Crosby, Stills ...
– backing vocals (4) * Larry John McNally – backing vocals (5) *
David Lasley David Eldon Lasley (August 20, 1947 – December 9, 2021) was an American recording artist, singer, musician and songwriter. He was best known as a touring background singer for James Taylor, as a session singer on recordings by artists including ...
– backing vocals (7) *
Greg Fulginiti Gregory Fulginiti (born February 13, 1951 in Cape May Court House section of Middle Township, New Jersey) is an American recording and mastering engineer. Fulginiti grew up in Wildwood, New Jersey and graduated from Wildwood High School in 1969 ...
– mastering


Charts and certifications


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


Awards

Grammy Awards of 1990 The 32nd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 21, 1990, and hosted by Garry Shandling. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Performers * Bette Midler - Wind Beneath My Wings * Gloria Estefan - Don't Wanna ...


References


Sources

* {{Authority control 1989 albums Albums produced by Don Was Bonnie Raitt albums Capitol Records albums Grammy Award for Album of the Year Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance United States National Recording Registry recordings United States National Recording Registry albums