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My love affair with blues and the legendary Bonnie Raitt began in 1977 when I was 13 years old. I was in my bedroom listening to a local top 40’s station when the tuner on my antiquated clock radio became stuck between channels. In tuning it I landed WMMR in Philadelphia and heard the most amazing thing. Bonnie Raitt’s “Blender Blues” was playing. It was a live recording from Philly’s Sigma Sound Studions from, I believe, 1972 or so.
Bonnie Raitt became my hero and I listened to the radio often to hear that song especially. It was a rare treat, perhaps I heard it three or four times again and that was it. A few months ago I mentioned to a few friends how 30 years later it was still one of the most amazing songs I ever heard. Bonnie received a lot of flack for that song, it was quite risque for that time and she vowed never to play it again. Indeed, she never played it any of the times I had the pleasure of seeing her perform. One of my friends sent me an mp3 version of the song he found online. I’m honored to be able to share a link to it with you today.
Friends, I give Bonnie Raitt singing the song that started it all for me, The Blender Blues.
how can I get an MP3 of this song all for my very own?? I was 15 in 1972..”mmr fan….
Christine
Thanks a lot for this! My story with Bonnie is also about a radio show: It’s 1984 and I’m drafted to this Navy minesweeper, full of thugs who make my life miserable. When one night a half-drunk Spaniard from the crew puts on his ever-changing mixtape, and it’s Bonnie singing “Love Has No Pride” and “Rollin and Tumblin”. I hadn’t known her and it knocked me out. It was an apparently DIFFERENT early 70s radio show, just her and a 2nd steel string player. Back home I bought “Give it up”, which was almost as good, but still … 3 weeks later, back on the boat, I jam the tape in to find out the guy had erased (waaaah!) the Bonnie songs to record something else. I’ve been looking for that recording of her ever since. What did he replace? Another discovery of sorts, a dance novelty named “Holiday” from someboy, we found out later, who called herself Madonna …
Cheers
Christian
bonnie raitt72 sigma sound studios recorded feb 22,1972 want this album / cd prefer cd please let me know at your earliest convenience how get it or where i can pick it up thanx
I taped a re-broadcast of that show; liner notes say it was originally broadcast live in May, 1971, on WMMR, from Sigma Sound Studios. Host was Gene Shay, ‘MMR’s long-time folkie.
The sound quality on your link is cleaner, I think, but… the tape has the entire show. It is the same performance as your link, complete with her comments about sweeping her hair on the floors of Sigma Sound to soak up the vibes. She also told a story about hitching a ride with the Penn State Basketball team, mentioning it several times.
The tape has various artifacts, very audible noise ‘pumping’, either from Dolby or compression of the broadcast audio, and plays back a little slower than the linked version. Differences in tape recorder speeds. But still, very listenable.
It’s the best Bonnie song ever. And takes me back cause I recorded that concert from WMMR (or as a slightly tipsy Bonnie says in the concert WMMMMMMR) onto a cassette. I would love to get a hold of a good recording of the whole thing. Let me know if you know where I can find one.
THANKS
This concert that you’re talking about is a true gem…lot’s great music and it’s been “traded” for the pleasure of music (e.g. not *ever* for $) and is available with the DAT / DVD trading circles. Quality is very high within those circles as the transfer is a fully digital transfer. Happy hunting.
Your story is MY story! I too was listening to ‘MMR, to that concert at Sigma Sound, when I heard Bonnie the first time and was immediately hooked. Went out the next day and bought her album. Have been her biggest fan ever since. She’s due around here in Sept. with Taj Mahal. Guess who’s already got her ticket?
Sarah, I’m the same age as you, and I also grew up in Philly. Hearing that track was amazing… exactly as I remembered it. But Gene Shay and David Dye were with WIOQ, not WMMR, and I know I was listening to ‘IOQ before I was listening to ‘MMR.
THANKS FOR SHARING IT!!!
That concert heard on the radio was great! Used to have a copy on tape, but lost it and a fabulous Steeleye Span one too, I think it was played later that year or early 1972. Would love to get copies of them!
David Dye started on WMMR, moved to WIOQ and both he and Gene Shay are now with U Penn’s WXPN.
Anyway, Those great Sigma Sound Studio concerts on WMMR were part of the King Biscuit Flour Hour, they might have some of those recordings out now. One they do not have, as far as I know, is the 12/15/71 live WMMR Sigma Sound Studio broadcast of Mike Brewer and Tom Shipley, an amazing acoustic concert with many fantastic guitar duets and vocal harmonies that thrilled me to no end. They did Bob Dylan’s All Along the Watch Tower, Blind Lemon Jefferson’s One Kind Favor, they did Circles in the Sand and a bunch of others that sounded very good, they were “on” that night. I would love to get a copy of that if any of you have heard of one available. I do have a raggedy cassette of it, but the sound quality stinks.