Give It Up (Bonnie Raitt album)

Give It Up
Studio album by Bonnie Raitt
Released	September 1972
Recorded	June 1972
Studio	Bearsville Studios, Bearsville, New York
Genre	Blues, rock, blues rock
Length	36:04
Label	Warner Bros.
Producer	Michael Cuscuna
Bonnie Raitt chronology
Bonnie Raitt (1971) Give It Up (1972) Takin' My Time (1973)

Give It Up is the second album by Bonnie Raitt, released in 1972.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[2]
Robert Christgau	A[3]
Rolling Stone	(favorable)[4]

"Give It Up [comes] closest to perfecting her approach," wrote critic Dave Marsh for early editions of The Rolling Stone Album Guide. "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". Her version of the latter remains definitive..." Robert Christgau echoed these sentiments in his Consumer Guide column and gave the album an 'A' rating. 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."^[4] It was ranked as number 496 and in 2012 at #495 in the book version of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The album was remastered and rereleased on March 5, 2002.^[5]

Track listing

1. "Give It Up or Let Me Go" (Raitt) – 4:30
2. "Nothing Seems to Matter" (Raitt) – 4:05
3. "I Know" (Barbara George) – 3:47
4. "If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody" (Rudy Clark) – 3:00
5. "Love Me Like a Man" (Chris Smither) – 3:12
6. "Too Long at the Fair" (Joel Zoss) – 2:58
7. "Under the Falling Sky" (Jackson Browne) – 3:45
8. "You Got to Know How" (Jack Viertel, Sippie Wallace) – 3:36
9. "You Told Me Baby" (Raitt) – 4:12
10. "Love Has No Pride" (Eric Kaz, Libby Titus) – 3:47

Personnel

• Bonnie Raitt – acoustic guitar, guitar, piano, electric guitar, steel guitar, vocals, background vocals, 12 string guitar, bottleneck guitar
• Paul Butterfield – harmonica
• Kal David – guitar, electric guitar
• Terry Eaton – tenor saxophone
• Peter Ecklund – cornet
• Freebo – bass guitar, tuba, vocals, background vocals, 12 string guitar, fretless bass
• Amos Garrett – guitar, trombone
• Marty Grebb – alto saxophone, tenor saxophone
• John Kingsley Hall – electric guitar, steel guitar, background vocals
• John Hall – guitar, electric guitar, background vocals
• Dave Holland – bass
• Mark Jordan – piano, keyboards, electric piano, vibraphone
• Eric Kaz – piano, background vocals, vibraphone
• Wells Kelly – conductor, conga, drums, background vocals, bells, cowbell
• Jackie Lomax – vocals, background vocals
• Tim Moore – vocals, background vocals
• Chris Parker – drums
• John Payne – clarinet, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, wind
• Merl Saunders – piano
• Gene Stashuk – cello
• Lou Terriciano – piano
• T.J. Tindall – guitar, electric guitar
• Jack Viertel – guitar, rhythm guitar, steel guitar
• Dennis Whitted – drums

Production

• Michael Cuscuna – producer, liner notes
• Kendall Pacios – engineer
• Nick Jameson – remixing
• Lee Herschberg – remastering
• Eric Kaz – horn arrangements
• Ed Thrasher – art direction
• Michael Dobo – photography
• Michael Cuscuna – liner notes

Charts

Album – Billboard (North America)

References