Beautiful is the work of a singer who’s seen (and sung) it all. By the time Bonnie Bramlett gained prominence in the late 1960s as half of the rootsy duo Delaney & Bonnie, she’d already sung behind Albert King and Little Milton, not to mention a stint as an Ikette with Ike & Tina Turner. That’s why this disc fits comfortably alongside a recent release by soulful contemporary Etta James.
Beautiful reunites Bramlett with Johnny Sandlin, a prominent producer of southern-rock bands who recorded two Bramlett albums in the 1970s. The repertoire includes everything from a country shuffle (“Sure Got Away With My Heart”) to a jazzy blues ballad (“It’s Going To Rain All Night”) and a moody take on Stephen Stills’ “For What It’s Worth”. The band is composed of seasoned southern musicians, with some tracks featuring horns. The most valuable players are Bramlett’s daughter Bekka on background and harmony vocals (she and Gary Nicholson also wrote the rockiest tune, “Strongest Weakness”), and multi-instrumentalist Randall Bramblett, who contributes two songs and duets on the soulful “Witness For Love”.
Bramlett is a born-again Christian, and it’s reflected in her choice of material by Waylon Jennings (“I Do Believe”), Dan Penn (“He’ll Take Care Of You”) and Nicholson (“Bless ‘Em All”). She also performs a tune about prejudice called “Some Of My Best Friends”. But the mood is not unduly pious, as Bramlett’s vocals boast both warmth and a salty spontaneity. Beautiful doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but interpretive singers rarely do. They sing, and in the case of Bonnie Bramlett, sing beautifully.
