music friday: 1991

R.E.M., "Losing My Religion".

Michael Jackson, "Black or White".

Bonnie Raitt, "I Can't Make You Love Me". In 1989, at the age of 39, Bonnie Raitt finally hit it big, after a couple of decades of fine music. The album, Nick of Time, won a Grammy for Album of the Year, with Raitt winning two other Grammys for her performance. I've been a fan of Bonnie since the beginning, and I'm here to say that she made at least half-a-dozen albums before 1989 that were better than Nick of Time, which had a handful of good tracks but was otherwise nothing special. No, it was the follow-up to Nick of Time, 1991's Luck of the Draw, that was the classic album. One song from that album, "I Can't Make You Love Me", has become perhaps Raitt's signature tune, an especially remarkable achievement considering it came 20+ years into her career.

Bonus: The KLF with Tammy Wynette, "Justified & Ancient (Stand by the JAMs)". The KLF were one of the more out-there artists in the popular music of their day. They were the top-selling singles act in the world in 1991 ... in 1992 they announced they were quitting the music business, deleting their entire back catalogue. I'll let the All Music Guide pick up the story:

In August 1994, the artists formerly known as KLF managed to outdo themselves yet again. After physically nailing £1,000,000 to a board -- an act which necessitated the largest cash withdrawal in U.K. history -- Cauty and Drummond showed the money around England as a work of art entitled "Nailed to the Wall." Then, on the island of Jura, in the presence of one journalist and one cameraman, they burned the entire sum as yet another bizarre commentary on the art world.

When there is an unexpected pairing of artists, I often wonder about the initial conversation where the two parties decide to work together. In any event, in late 1991, The KLF issued a remake of "Justified & Ancient", which had been on an album earlier in the year. They chose Tammy Wynette to perform on the new version. She later said, "Mu Mu Land looks a lot more interesting than Tennessee.... But I wouldn't want to live there."