Nine Lives (Bonnie Raitt album)

Nine Lives is the ninth album by Bonnie Raitt, released in 1986 (see 1986 in music). It was Raitt's most difficult release, due to the poor sales, negative reviews, and general circumstances surrounding its release.

"In 1983 there was a corporate sweep at Warner's, coming from upstairs, and they needed to trim the fat," Raitt recalled in 1990. "I just had completed an album called Tongue & Groove, which was produced by Rob Fraboni, who had also done Green Light. And I don't think they maliciously said, 'Let's let her finish her album and get the tour all lined up and print the covers and hire the people to do the video and then drop her.' You know, ha, ha, ha. But that's what they did. it was literally the day after I had finished mastering it. I had already finished the album once, and [Warner's claimed] the Jerry Williams tune would be more commercial if it didn't have quite as reggae a beat. Or something like that. So I went in and redid it. I thought if I cooperated a little more, maybe they'd promote the album more. But instead they dropped me and pulled the rug out from under my tour. I thought the way they did it was real crummy. They sent a letter. I think I suffered from not having a relationship with the A&R department there, because I had an independent production deal..."

Raitt could've purchased the master tapes and released the album elsewhere, but Warner's asking price was considered too extravagant. "They told me I can take the tapes and shop them around," said Raitt, "but they wanted about $500,000 for them, and nobody wanted to pay that much..."

The material for Tongue & Groove was shelved until two years later when "Warner's suddenly said they were going to put the record out," Raitt recalled. "I said it wasn't really fair. I think at this point they felt kind of bad. I mean, I was out there touring on my savings to keep my name up, and my ablility to draw was less and less. So they agreed to let me go in and recut half of it." The result was Nine Lives which was finally released in 1986.

Track listing

"No Way to Treat a Lady" (Bryan Adams, Jim Vallance) – 3:51
"Runnin' Back to Me" (Karla Bonoff, Ingber) – 4:14
"Who But a Fool (Thief into Paradise)" (O'Byrne, Show, Snow) – 4:26
"Crime of Passion" (Ironstone, Unobsky) – 4:20
"All Day, All Night" (Hutchinson, JOnes, Neville) – 4:03
"Stand Up to the Night" (Jennings, Kerr, Redford) – 4:43
"Excited" (Williams) – 3:12
"Freezin' (For a Little Human Love)" (Smotherman) – 4:58
"True Love Is Hard to Find" (Hibbert) – 4:34
"Angel" (Eric Kaz) – 4:00

Personnel

Bonnie Raitt - guitar, vocals, background vocals, slide guitar
Greg Adams - trumpet, flugelhorn
Rosemary Butler - vocals, background vocals
Max Carl - vocals, background vocals
Emilio Castillo - tenor saxophone
Lenny Castro - percussion
Blondie Chaplin - vocals, background vocals
Ray Chara - bass
Max Earl - background vocals
Nathan East - bass
Richard Elliot - alto saxophone, tenor saxophone
Charles Ferrin - guitar
Rob Fraboni - percussion
Ira Ingber - guitar
Eric Kaz - piano, background vocals
David Kitay - guitar, keyboard
Richard Kosinski - keyboard
Russ Kunkel - drums
Stephen "Doc" Kupka - baritone saxophone
Michael Landau - guitar
Ian McLagan - guitar, keyboard
Christine McVie - vocals, background vocals
Guy Moon - keyboard
Ivan Neville - vocals, background vocals
Ray O'Hara - bass
Dean Parks - guitar
Bill Payne - piano, keyboard, vocals
J.A.C Redford - keyboard
John "J.R." Robinson - drums
Stephen Ross - vocals, background vocals
Johnny Lee Schell - guitar, keyboard, vocals, background vocals
Todd Sharp - vocals, background vocals
Leland Sklar - bass
Earl "Chinna" Smith - guitar, vocals
Earl J. Smith, Jr. - background vocals
Neil Stubenhaus - bass
Lee Thornburg - trombone, trumpet, flugelhorn
Tower of Power - horns
Carlos Vega - drums
Ian Wallace - drums
Sippie Wallace - background vocals
David Woodford - saxophone

Production

Producers: Rob Fraboni, Russ Kunkel, George Massenburg, Bill Payne, Steve Tyrell
Engineers: Terry Becker, Rob Fraboni, David Kitay, George Massenburg, John X. Volaitis
Assistant engineers: Sharon Rice, Billy Youdelman
Mixing: George Massenburg, David Tickle
Mastering: Doug Sax
Remastering: Teresa Caffin
Series producer: Gregg Geller
Project coordinator: Jo Motta
Production coordination: Ivy Skoff
Drum programming: David Kitay
Horn arrangements: Greg Adams
Art direction: Laura LiPuma
Design: Laura LiPuma
Cover illustration: Lindsey Loch
Photography: Jim Shea

Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year	Chart	Position
1986	The Billboard 200	138

Singles - Billboard (North America)

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1986	"No Way to Treat a Lady"	Mainstream Rock Tracks	15