The album was recorded at an empty summer camp on Enchanted Island, about 15 miles west of Minneapolis on Lake Minnetonka in August 1971.

This location was chosen because of Raitt's close friendship with John Koerner and Dave Ray, two musicians from Minneapolis who were playing on the East Coast folk circuit.

Though album sales were modest, Bonnie Raitt was warmly received by rock critics.

[7] "Raitt is a folkie by history but not by aesthetic", wrote Robert Christgau[6] in his Consumer Guide column.

"She includes songs from Steve Stills, the Marvelettes, and a classic feminist blues singer named Sippie Wallace because she knows the world doesn't end with acoustic song-poems and Fred McDowell.