Give It Up (Bonnie Raitt album)

Give It Up was recorded in June 1972 at Bearsville Studios in New York, with producer Michael Cuscuna.{{sfn|Bego|1995|p=40}} It is an amalgamation of several music genres, including folk, blues, R&B, and soft rock. The ten tracks on the album are a mix of soft sentimental ballads and fast-paced folk rock pieces. Some of the faster tracks are accompanied by brass instrumentation, which is played in the style of a New Orleans brass band. This sound is demonstrated on the opening track "Give It Up or Let Me Go". It begins with an acoustic guitar, but then transitions into an explosive sound of a brass band, reminiscent of Dixieland music. Give It Up features many guest musicians, most of which were from the area around Woodstock, New York. Among these are future politician John Hall, multi-instrumentalist Freebo, and blues singer Paul Butterfield.{{sfn|Bego|1995|p=40}} Overall, Give It Up has a smoother, more polished sound than its predecessor Bonnie Raitt.{{sfn|Bego|1995|p=40}}

Raitt wrote three songs for the album.{{cite news|last=Alterman|first=Loraine|title=Bonnie Branches Out|newspaper=The New York Times|date=December 10, 1972|page=D32}} The other seven songs are covers of songs by musicians like Chris Smither, Jackson Browne, and Joel Zoss.{{cite web|url=https://www.nodepression.com/album-reviews/bonnie-raitt-give-it-up/|title=Bonnie Raitt – Give It Up|work=No Depression|date=May 1, 2002|access-date=November 26, 2019}}{{cite book|last=Lee|first=Peter|title=The Blues Encyclopedia|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=2004|page=805|isbn=978-1-1359-5832-9}} Lyrically, Give It Up revolves around Raitt's femininity, relationships, and being comfortable with herself. According to biographer Mark Bego, Raitt sounds more confident while singing on this album when compared to her vocal performance on Bonnie Raitt.{{sfn|Bego|1995|p=40}} Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote: "Raitt can be earthy and sexy, but she balances it with an inviting sensuality that makes the record glow". Raitt herself would later criticize the vocals, stating: "I sound like Mickey Mouse!"{{sfn|Bego|1995|p=43}}

{{Music ratings

|title = Retrospective professional reviews

|rev1 = AllMusic

|rev1score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite web|last=Erlewine|first=Stephen Thomas|author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine| url= https://www.allmusic.com/album/give-it-up-mw0000196849|title=Bonnie Raitt - Give It Up|publisher=AllMusic| date=n.d. |access-date= November 26, 2019}}

|rev3= Entertainment Weekly

|rev3score = B+{{cite magazine|last=Gordon|first=Robert|url=https://ew.com/article/1991/08/23/bonnie-raitt-record/|title=Bonnie Raitt on the record|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|date=August 23, 1991|access-date=November 26, 2019}}

|rev2 = Christgau's Record Guide

|rev2Score = A{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|year=1981|title=Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies|publisher=Ticknor & Fields|isbn=089919026X|chapter=Consumer Guide '70s: R|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=R&bk=70|access-date=March 10, 2019}}

|rev4 = MusicHound Rock

|rev4Score = 3.5/5{{cite book|last1=Graff|first1=Gary|last2=Durchholz|first2=Daniel|title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide|year=1999|publisher=Visible Ink Press|edition=2|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781578590612/page/918 918]|isbn=978-1-5785-9061-2|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781578590612}}

|rev5 = The New Rolling Stone Record Guide

|rev5Score = {{Rating|4|5}}

}}

Give It Up was released in September 1972 by Warner Bros. Records. It sold moderately well, and was Raitt's first album to reach the Billboard Top LPs & Tapes chart, where it peaked at number 138.{{sfn|Bego|1995|p=43}} It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in 1985, denoting shipments of 500,000 copies. The song "Too Long at the Fair" was released as a promotional single to radio stations, although it did not reach any music charts.{{cite web| url= https://www.rhino.com/article/happy-45th-bonnie-raitt-give-it-up|title=Happy 45th: Bonnie Raitt, Give It Up|publisher=Rhino Entertainment|date=September 25, 2017|access-date=November 26, 2019}}

Give It Up received positive reviews upon release. A critic for Billboard magazine wrote: "Bonnie Raitt is presented in her second album for the label and it should be a big one. Her unique vocal treatments and guitar style on 'Stayed [sic] Too Long at the Fair' and the title song should do a lot to sell the album."{{cite magazine |title=Album Reviews|magazine=Billboard|date=October 21, 1972|volume=84|issue=43a|page=62}} Record World described Give It Up as "an exceptional effort. The choice of material, from the self-penned numbers to a stunning Jackson Browne tune, is excellent and the musicianship and production could hardly be better."{{cite magazine|title=Hits of the Week|magazine=Record World|date=September 23, 1972|volume=27|issue=1318|page=1}} Rolling Stone critic Jon Landau also praised the album, writing that "the best thing about Bonnie Raitt is her singing, and the best thing about Give It Up is that she sings great from beginning to end; in doing so, she successfully handles a far greater range of styles and material than on her first album and has produced a more interesting and satisfying record in the process." Landau highlighted the three original songs, and called "Love Has No Pride" the perfect summation of Raitt's musical abilities.{{cite magazine|last=Landau|first=Jon|authorlink=Jon Landau| url= https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/give-it-up-201850/|title=Give It Up|magazine=Rolling Stone |date=October 26, 1972|access-date=December 5, 2019}}

Retrospective appraisals have also been positive. In The New Rolling Stone Record Guide, critic Bart Testa wrote: "Give It Up [comes] closest to perfecting her approach: she [mingles] her blues resources with a variety of contemporary and folk-oriented songs, coming up with classics in 'Been Too Long at the Fair' and Eric Kaz's 'Love Has No Pride'."{{cite book|title=The New Rolling Stone Record Guide|year=1983|publisher=Random House/Rolling Stone Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstoner00mars/page/410 410]|last=Testa|first=Bart|isbn=978-0-3947-2107-1|editor1-last= Marsh| editor1-first=Dave|editor2-last=Swenson|editor2-first=John}} Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic noted how singers like Sheryl Crow and Shelby Lynne were likely inspired by Give It Up, and ultimately described it as "one of the great Southern California records." In a review published for Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau commended Raitt's maturity and intelligence in both her style of play as well as her lyrics. Christgau later ranked Give It Up at number 31 on his decade-end list of the best albums of the 1970s.{{cite news|last=Christgau|first=Robert|date=December 17, 1979| url= https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/list/decade70.php|title=Decade Personal Best: '70s|newspaper=The Village Voice |access-date=December 6, 2019}}

In 2012, Rolling Stone ranked Give It Up at number 495 on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, calling it "gorgeous folksy blues".Wenner, Jann S., ed. (2012). Rolling Stone – Special Collectors Issue – The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. USA: Wenner Media Specials. {{ISBN|978-7-09-893419-6}}

{{track listing

|headline= Side one

|title1= Give It Up or Let Me Go

|writer1= Bonnie Raitt

|length1= 4:28

|title2= Nothing Seems to Matter

|writer2= Raitt

|length2= 4:04

|title3= I Know

|writer3= Barbara George

|length3= 3:40

|title4= If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody

|writer4= Rudy Clark

|length4= 2:54

|title5= Love Me Like a Man

|writer5= Chris Smither (lyrics adapted by Raitt)

|length5= 3:10

}}

{{track listing

|headline= Side two

|title1= Too Long at the Fair

|writer1= Joel Zoss

|length1= 2:54

|title2= Under the Falling Sky

|writer2= Jackson Browne

|length2= 3:38

|title3= You Got to Know How

|writer3= {{hlist|Sippie Wallace|Jack Viertel}}

|length3= 3:32

|title4= You Told Me Baby

|writer4= Raitt

|length4= 4:01

|title5= Love Has No Pride

|writer5= {{hlist|Eric Kaz|Libby Titus}}

|length5=3:43

|total_length = 36:04

}}

Credits adapted from the liner notes of the 1972 release. Each number denotes which track features the musician and instrument.{{cite AV media notes|title=Give It Up|type=liner notes|others=Bonnie Raitt|publisher=Warner Bros. Records|year=1972}}

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

• Bonnie Raitt {{spaced ndash}} lead vocals, steel guitar (1, 3), acoustic guitar (2, 4–8, 10), backing vocals (3, 7), 12-string guitar (6), electric rhythm guitar (9), acoustic piano (10)
• Jack Viertel {{spaced ndash}} steel guitar (1)
• T.J. Tindall {{spaced ndash}} electric guitar (3, 7)
• Kal David {{spaced ndash}} electric guitar (4)
• Lou Terriciano {{spaced ndash}} acoustic piano (1, 8)
• Mark Jordan {{spaced ndash}} acoustic piano (3), vibraphone (3), electric piano (7)
• Merl Saunders {{spaced ndash}} acoustic piano (4)
• Dave Holland {{spaced ndash}} acoustic bass (1, 2, 8)
• Chris Parker {{spaced ndash}} drums (1, 4, 8)
• Wells Kelly {{spaced ndash}} congas (2, 3, 9), drums (3, 6, 7, 9), cowbell (3, 7), backing vocals (3)
• Dennis Whitted {{spaced ndash}} drums (5)
• Eric Kaz {{spaced ndash}} vibraphone (2), acoustic piano (6), horn arrangement (9)
• Peter Ecklund {{spaced ndash}} cornet (1, 3)
• Amos Garrett {{spaced ndash}} trombone (1)
• Freebo {{spaced ndash}} tuba (1), 12-string rhythm guitar (2), fretless bass (3–7, 9, 10), backing vocals (3)
• John Payne {{spaced ndash}} tenor saxophone (2), clarinet (8), soprano saxophone (9), sax solo (9)
• Marty Grebb {{spaced ndash}} tenor saxophone (4), alto saxophone (9)
• Terry Eaton {{spaced ndash}} tenor saxophone (9)
• Gene Boris Stashuk {{spaced ndash}} cello (6)
• Paul Butterfield {{spaced ndash}} harmonica (7)
• John Hall {{spaced ndash}} backing vocals (3), electric guitar (6, 9), "steel drum" guitar (9)
• Jackie Lomax {{spaced ndash}} backing vocals (3)
• Tim Moore {{spaced ndash}} backing vocals (7)

{{col-2}}

• Producer, liner Notes {{spaced ndash}} Michael Cuscuna
• Engineer {{spaced ndash}} Kendall Pacios
• Remixing {{spaced ndash}} Nick Jameson and Kendall Pacios
• Mastering {{spaced ndash}} Lee Hulko
• Art Direction {{spaced ndash}} Ed Thrasher
• Photography {{spaced ndash}} Michael Dobo

{{col-end}}

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-2}}

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=album|title=Give It Up|artist=Bonnie Raitt|award=Gold|relyear=1972|certyear=1985|access-date=April 6, 2020|refname="RIAA"}}

{{Certification Table Bottom | nosales=true}}

{{col-end}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book|last=Bego|first=Mark|author-link=Mark Bego|title=Bonnie Raitt : Just in the Nick of Time|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=1995|isbn=978-1-5597-2315-2|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/bonnieraittjusti00bego}}

{{Bonnie Raitt}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1972 albums

Category:Albums produced by Michael Cuscuna

Category:Bonnie Raitt albums

Category:Warner Records albums