Takin' My Time

Takin' My Time is the third album by Bonnie Raitt, released in 1973. Widely considered one of her strongest works, it was praised by critic Robert Christgau for "conveying songs from Calypso Rose and Martha Reeves Vandella into the women's music of the '70s."

In an interview given in 1982, Raitt would reveal that "Takin' My Time is one of my favorite records to listen to, although I started out with Lowell George producing it, and he and I got too close to be able to have any objectivity about it. That's the problem when you're a woman and you get involved with the people you work with - and I just don't just mean romantically. It becomes too emotional. It's hard to have a strong woman telling the man her ideas when, in fact, the man wants to take over the situation. So that album had a lot of heartache in it. At the time it was a difficult one to make, but now I like it."

The cover photo was taken in Union Station in Los Angeles.

Track listing
Side One
 * 1) "You've Been in Love Too Long" (Ivy Hunter, Clarence Paul, William Stevenson) – 3:43
 * 2) "I Gave My Love a Candle" (Joel Zoss) – 4:20
 * 3) "Let Me In" (Yvonne Baker, Alphonso Howell, George Minor) – 3:38
 * 4) "Everybody's Cryin' Mercy" (Mose Allison) – 3:29
 * 5) "Cry Like a Rainstorm" (Eric Kaz) – 3:55

Side Two
 * 1) "Wah She Go Do" (Calypso Rose) – 3:12
 * 2) "I Feel the Same" (Chris Smither) – 4:40
 * 3) "I Thought I Was a Child" (Jackson Browne) – 3:49
 * 4) "Write Me a Few of Your Lines/Kokomo Blues" (Mississippi Fred McDowell) – 3:36
 * 5) "Guilty" (Randy Newman) – 2:58

Personnel

 * Bonnie Raitt - acoustic guitar, electric guitar, vocals, background vocals, handclapping, bottleneck guitar


 * Paul Barrere - electric guitar
 * George Bohanon - trombone
 * Sam Clayton - congas
 * Carol Farhat - handclapping
 * Glenn Ferris - horn
 * Freebo - fretless bass, tuba, background vocals
 * Lowell George - slide guitar
 * John Hall - electric guitar, background vocals, handclapping, mellotron
 * Bob Hardaway - horn
 * Robert Hardaway - saxophone
 * Milt Holland - tabla, tambourine, timbales, claves, shaker
 * Carl Huston - handclapping
 * Kirby Johnson - conductor
 * Jim Keltner - drums
 * Marty Krystall - saxophone
 * Taj Mahal - harmonica, vocals, background vocals, acoustic bass
 * Earl Palmer - drums
 * Van Dyke Parks - piano, keyboard, vocals, background vocals
 * Bill Payne - organ, piano, electric piano, vocals, background vocals
 * Joel Peskin - saxophone
 * Nat Seligman - handclapping
 * Tony Terran - trumpet
 * Oscar Brashear - trumpet
 * Bud Brisbois - trumpet
 * Ernie Watts - soprano saxophone

Production

 * John Hall - producer
 * John Haeny - engineer
 * Richard Heenan - mixing
 * Arnie Acosta - mastering
 * Doug Sax - mastering
 * Ed Cherney - remastering supervisor
 * Lee Herschberg - remastering
 * Jo Motta - project coordinator
 * H George Bohanon - horn arrangements
 * Kirby Johnson - horn arrangements
 * Tom Gamache - art direction, design
 * Sandy Kroopf - art direction, design, photography, back cover
 * Michael Dobo - photography, cover photo

Charts
Album - Billboard (North America)