Luck of the Draw is the eleventh studio album by Bonnie Raitt, released in 1991.
After being nominated for Grammy awards in four different categories for the album Nick of Time, Raitt went for a creative retreat in Northern California to begin work on Luck of the Draw. "I did it on purpose to see if I could come up with anything," Raitt said in 1991. "In case I won, I wanted to make sure that I had done some writing and didn't feel that Nick of Time was a fluke. I didn't want to win just 'cause I quit drinking and spent twenty years not making any money, you know? There wasn't enough. So I basically forced myself to go to songwriting boot camp. There were three of four days when it didn't happen — but because I didn't have alcohol or unhappiness or anything to get in the way, it started to open up and I started three of the four songs of mine that are on this album. And then it didn't matter if I won or not, because I had proved to myself that it was okay."
The album surpassed Nick of Time's commercial success, having sold seven million copies in the United States alone by 2010, and was supported by a 180-date tour from 1991 to 1993. It replicated much of her U.S. success overseas as well, selling two million in France and Italy. It remains Raitt's biggest-selling recording to date.
In the liner notes, Raitt dedicated this album to blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan, who died in 1990 and had encouraged her to stop abusing alcohol, writing: "still burning bright".
Contents
Track listing
Notes
"Good Man, Good Woman" is a Grammy Award-winning duet with Delbert McClinton and also appears on his album, Never Been Rocked Enough.
Personnel
Bonnie Raitt – vocals, backing vocals (1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 10), acoustic guitar (1, 2, 5, 6, 9, 11), electric guitar (1), slide guitar (1, 2, 4, 10), horn arrangements (4), electric piano (7, 12)
Scott Thurston – keyboards (1, 11), acoustic guitar (10), electric guitar (10, 11)
Ivan Neville – Hammond B3 organ (2), keyboards (4)
Bruce Hornsby – acoustic piano (3), additional keyboards (3)
Benmont Tench – Hammond C3 organ (3, 7, 8, 11), acoustic piano (8)
Ian McLagan – Hammond B3 organ (5)
Steve Conn – accordion (9)
Stephen Bruton – acoustic guitar (1), backing vocals (9)
Randy Jacobs – electric guitar (2)
Johnny Lee Schell – electric guitar (5)
John Hiatt – guitars (6), backing vocals (6)
Mark Goldenberg – acoustic guitar (8, 10)
Richard Thompson – electric guitar (8, 11), backing vocals (11)
Billy Vera – electric guitar (9)
Robben Ford – lead guitar (10)
James "Hutch" Hutchinson – bass guitar (1–6, 8, 10, 11)
Don Was – jug bass (9)
Production
Bonnie Raitt – producer
Don Was – producer
Ed Cherney – recording, mixing
Bryant Arnett – assistant engineer
Ray Blair – assistant engineer
Dan Bosworth – assistant engineer
Charlie Paakkari – assistant engineer
Doug Sax – mastering at The Mastering Lab (Hollywood, California)
Paul Jamieson – drum catering
Marsha Burns – production coordinator
Tommy Steele – art direction
Jeffery Fey – design
Merlyn Rosenberg – photography
Margo Chase – logo, lettering
Danny Goldberg – management
Jeffrey Hersh – management
Charts
Awards
Grammy Awards