Iowa: Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne Rock Out For Edwards

[ozone_man]

by John Deeth
Posted November 20, 2007 | 01:10 PM (EST)

(snip)

"We had a choice who to throw our guitars behind," said Raitt from the stage at City High in Iowa City, "and he's the strongests most effective advocate for the issues we believe are so important, especially on the progressive end -- health care and the Iraq war. He's got the backbone and the, ahem, stuff (laughter) to follow through."

The show opened with Jackson Browne's "World in Motion" and its introductory line "Sun going down on the USA" (a trend Edwards would presumably reverse) with Raitt on harmony and her famous bottleneck slide guitar. They're both on acoustic guitars, with just an electric bass and no drums. This version improved on the synth-heavy 1989 original, which had a dated sound but apparently not dated lyrics.

The rest of the songs were written by others, but are signature songs for Raitt and Browne, whose versions are considered definitive. Local musicians Bo Ramsey, Greg Brown and others come up to sing backup and Bonnie dedicates John Prine's "Angel From Montgomery" to the forgotten, invisible women (edging a little close to some Hillary Clinton campaign themes).

Jackson Browne offers Steve Van Zandt's "I Am A Patriot." With Edwards in the house, he changes one line in the climactic verse:

And I ain't no communist, and I ain't no capitalist And I ain't no socialist and I sure ain't no imperialist And I ain't no Democrat And I ain't no Republican either And I only know one party and its name is freedom

Browne sings "Maybe I'm a Democrat," and "I ain't no Republican" draws loud cheers.

(more)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-deeth/iowa-bonnie-raitt-jacks_b_73524.html

I love Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne.

Also, they performed in NH last night. NPR audio link:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17441644

[saltpoint]

1. At that one point, it sounds like a whole stage of good musicians.

And a really good event overall.

Thanks for the links.

Recommended.