Foster Auditorium

November 1, 1974

The singer-songwriters both played a major role in pop music during the 1970s but for different reasons. Pairing the two for a tour was a smart idea with excellent timing. In the case of Browne, he had produced a string of albums over the past few years, including his self-titled debut, “For Everyman,” and a couple of months before the Tuscaloosa show, “Late For the Sky.” He cut his teeth on folk music performing with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, then collaborating with Glenn Frey of the Eagles, J.D. Souther, and many others, churning out song after song. When the Eagles opened for Yes at Memorial Coliseum in the fall of 1972, they credited Browne with writing their new radio hit, “Take It Easy.” Raitt was a different case. She came from a musical family and at 25 years old, she was already an integral part of the Southern California folk scene. Raitt was a terrific musician, adept in Delta-infused, bottleneck blues, which in those years was unique for a woman. She could play both sides of the street from growling blues to softer, Joni Mitchell-styled ballads. For the tour with Browne, she was playing music from her handful of albums, and a new offering, “Streetlights,” that was released two months earlier. It had gotten fair reviews, and the audience in Foster didn't seem enthused. About a third of the way through her set, she stopped to inform the audience that a living legend was in their midst. “And I bet you have never even heard of him,” she said to the crowd in the old basketball arena. With that, John Ned “Johnnie” Shines strode onstage. She was probably right; the singer-guitarist had been a traveling companion of the great Robert Johnson in the 1930s, and later with Willie Dixon and Walter Horton working the blues clubs in Chicago. Raitt handed him her guitar, and the 60-year-old musician proceeded to finish her set. Shines had performed on campus before at Barnwell Hall at a University coffee house called Down Under, solo and with friends such as Mississippi Fred McDowell. Joe Miller had worked security on plenty of UPC shows, but for this concert, he was just another member of the audience.  From his vantage point, he could see performers emerge from their dressing rooms as they went on stage. After Raitt brought Shines onstage, he says, she stepped off and stopped behind those stacked speakers to watch him perform.  “Midway through his first number, I glanced at her and never took my eyes off her again, he says.“At one point, her hands were clasped together, index fingers extended and pressing into the front of her chin. The way she looked at Johnny Shines as he played … her eyes, her entire expression, was of someone enraptured,” says Miller. “The kindness and genuine affection on her face made it clear that she wasn't dabbling with a blues sound (just) because it was currently popular. She truly loved Delta Blues.” Browne’s band was a machine, driven by multi-instrumentalist David Lindley who played everything from lap steel to fiddle, all with beautiful results. The other musicians had just recorded “Late For the Sky” and were on tour playing much of the new music.