Bonnie Raitt “Nick of Time” charted

Nick of Time Bonnie Raitt

Writer(s): Bonnie Raitt (see lyrics here) Released: May 19, 1990 First Charted: September 16, 1989 Peak: 92 US, 10 AC, 82 UK, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 2.2 video, 15.28 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Bonnie Raitt was nearly two decades into her recording career before breaking through with Nick of Time. After being dropped by her previous record label, she got clean and sober and got a new deal with Capitol Records. It resulted in one of rock history’s greatest career resurgances. Even then, it wasn’t a hit out of the gate. The album was released in March 1989 and had three songs chart that year, but it wasn’t until a year later that it took off – thanks to the Grammys. In February 1990, Nick of Time won the Grammy for Album of the Year. It soared up the charts, hitting #1, and would go on to sell five million copies. While the title cut had already charted back in September, it was now officially released as a single. While it barely scraped the Billboard Hot 100, it was a top-10 hit on the adult contemporary charts. The song won a Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Raitt wrote “Nick of Time” while on retreat at a cabin in Mendocino, California, offering her observations on aging. She talked about a friend who was middle-aged and wanted a baby and sang about her own parents getting older. As she said, I “could really feel what it was like for a body to age. This whole idea of time and it being more precious as you age, I realized this would be what I’d write about.” WK When recording the demo for the song, she had to get creative. Her keyboard was balanced on a chair, she hung a microphone from a lamp, and she used an old compact drum machine. When it came time to record the actual track, Raitt wanted a beat like the heartbeat pulse on Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard It Through the Grapevine.” Because there were not hand drums in the studio, drummer Ricky Fataar miked a burlap sandbag used to hold down the mike stands and played the heartbeat of the song with his hands. SF Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Bonnie Raitt SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 9/4/2022; last updated 12/27/2022.