Pop Music Review : Rating Raitt: Still on the Rise : Known for spirited interpretations of others’ works, the veteran artist is now evolving as an intimate songwriter.

So how is Bonnie Raitt doing five years after her career-escalating Grammy sweep?

Nicely indeed, thank you--as demonstrated in a spirited performance Sunday at the Hollywood Bowl that was all the more disarming because of some surprise father-daughter ties.

It’s no small achievement.

Sudden mass success can be as disorienting for a veteran pop artist--in Raitt’s case, coming after almost two decades of struggle--as for someone new to the game.

The danger is that the groundswell of popularity can make even the most adventurous artist start clinging to the secure and safe in a misguided attempt to hold on to the gains. Rather than move forward creatively, the temptation is to stand still or look back.

Not Raitt.

Before the 3-million-plus sales of 1989’s Grammy-winning “Nick of Time” album, Raitt was widely admired by critics and a cult audience for her ability to find quality songs from a variety of blues, folk and rock sources and interpret them with authority. She was also prized for her generosity in drawing attention to other artists, whether overlooked blues veterans or up-and-coming singer-songwriters.

She can still do all that--as she demonstrated Sunday in the way she handled with equal command songs as diverse as the Fabulous Thunderbirds’ rave-up “I Believe I’m in Love” and the Richard Thompson ballad “Dimming of the Day.” She also continues to lavish praise on writers, and by introducing her six band members early in the 90-minute show she established a quick sense of community on stage.

The breakthrough is in Raitt’s writing.

For all the intensity and heart that she brings to the outside material as both singer and guitarist, Raitt injects an extra layer of revelation in her own tunes--especially a trio of songs from this year’s “Longing in Their Hearts” album. On all three, interestingly, she switched from her trademark bottleneck guitar to keyboards.

In “Cool, Clear Water,” pop’s most famous redhead sang with intimacy and detail about the first blush of true love, and she brought a raw urgency to the tempestuous desire of “Feeling of Falling.”

Most touching, however, was “Circle Dance,” a tender reflection of a child longing for an absent parent--in Raitt’s case, her father, Broadway star John Raitt, who was frequently away on tour when she was growing up. Sample lines: I’ll be home soon, That’s what you’d say / And a little kid believes / After a while I learned that love / Must be a thing that leaves.

To the delight of the 15,033 fans, the circle was indeed complete at the end of the show when Raitt was joined by her dad for duets of the show tunes “Hey There” and “Oklahoma!”--and it was hard to tell which proud face was beaming more. Rarely has success seemed so sweet.