Little known fact: Prince and Bonnie Raitt wrote music together in the late-80’s. This song was not a product of that partnership. Raitt co-wrote it with a few others and turned it in to a top 40 hit in 1991.
I’m not sure if Prince was trying to pay tribute to an old friend or if something else motivated him to include it on 1996’s Emancipation album. Prince didn’t do a lot of covers on his albums. He would perform covers frequently in concert, but his studio albums don’t have many. In this case he took Raitt’s song, added Eric Leeds on saxophone, and gave it a 70’s soul vibe.
This is a heartbreaking ballad. One of those songs that makes you ache in your soul. It’s easy to see why he would want to put his own spin on it. Rare to hear Prince on a track that wasn’t written by him. I give it 2.5 out of 5 stars.
mookiefantana 