Three Bonnie beauts across six decades.

FINDING THE FORMULA

Give It Up

★★★★ (WARNER BROS., 1972)

After her downhome folk-blues debut, Raitt would solidify her musical mélange on her second, a record that twines R&B grit with canny pop nous. Raitt showcases a broad range and sharp instincts, serving up New Orleans funk (Barbara George’s I Know), smouldering blues (Chris Smither’s Love Me Like A Man) and supple balladry (the Eric Kaz/ Libby Titus weeper Love Has No Pride) on an album that would serve as a stylistic blueprint.

MUSIC FOR THE MASSES

Luck Of The Draw

★★★★

(CAPITOL, 1991)

Buoyed by the momentum of her career-making Nick Of Time, a reassured Raitt returned with an even more refined soul-pop platter, delivering irresistible grooves and hooks across a dozen tracks. Highlighted by the playful R&B of Something To Talk About and the heartrending lament I Can’t Make You Love Me, the album is somewhat coloured by its early-’90s production tics, but remains the platonic ideal of Raitt’s radio-ready roots’n’roll.

STILL GOING STRONG

Slipstream

★★★★

(REDWING, 2012)

A recent classic on which Raitt’s mature voice becomes an even more expressive instrument, offering moving renditions of Dylan’s Time Out Of Mind twosome Million Miles and Standing In The Doorway, while giving reggae flair to Gerry Rafferty’s Right Down The Line. Perhaps the most fully realised record since her ’90s chart peak – credit to co-producer Joe Henry – it brought her a Grammy for best Americana album, her tenth overall so far.