(editor’s note – Olivia Newton-John was originally scheduled for this date, but was subsequently moved to July 31, before being canceled altogether.)
Raitt and Rankin: First rate and first rank
by Martin Moynihan, The Knickerbocker News, July 19, 1977
Two very different but complementary singers, along with guest appearances by a smiling and waving John Raitt and a sax-playing Nino Tempo, added up to a fine concert at Saratoga Performing Arts Center.
Blues, country-blues and country-rock performer Bonnie Raitt was the headliner at the Sunday concert. The show was led off by Kenny Rankin, who’s from Manhattan and proud of it and whose material is hard to categorize except that it is a smooth blend of jazz, Latin and standard music.
An audience of about 3,900 seemed to be principally interested in Ms. Raitt, whose torchy, bluesy voice and skills with an electric bottleneck slide guitar were counterpointed with a bouncy personality.
She started off with some rhythm and blues and mixed material, but really started going when she pulled out the slide guitar and sang the blues for about 25 minutes, mixing good blues vocals with up-tempo but restrained electric accompaniment.
The Los Angeles-based singer concluded her performance with a country blues and rock blend that has been more her style of late—rousing stomping music that brought her back for two encores. She also introduced her father, singer John Raitt, to the audience. (Raitt was in the audience on his way to perform in Corning.)
Lead-off singer Kenny Rankin, whose fine four-piece band included saxophonist Nino Tempo, who gained fame with his sister April Stevens, proved a dynamic vocalist versed in a variety of musical styles.
Poughkeepsie Journal, July 27, 1977
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