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Singer-songwriter John Hiatt
has been an important and enduring figure in rock music. He's an artist
who twists rock and soul and blues and r&b into rhythmic shapes. His raspy,
blues-based singing has been compared with that of Bruce Springsteen.
Throughout the years John excelled in several styles of music, including
heartland rock, Philly soul, stately folk and countrified swing. He's
consistently assembled fine backup groups featuring rock maestros like Ry
Cooder and Nick Lowe. Ultimately, however, Hiatt's skill as a lyricist is
the thread that ties his music together. Born August 20,1952 John Hiatt
turned to writing songs during his traumatic childhood in Indianapolis.
Within a two-year span his father died and his older brother committed
suicide.
'I was an ugly kid. But when I put the guitar around my neck, it was like...
instant Elvis', he recalls. John grew up one of seven children in a family
where music became his only refuge. He quit high school when he was 16.
Music was all he was interested in. By the time he was 18 he sought fame
and fortune in the country music capital of Nashville, Tennessee, where he
worked his way up from a $25-a-week staff songwriting job at Tree
Publishing. At the same time he began performing his own material with a
band called White Duck, then as a solo-singer. He signed up with Epic
Records and made two albums, 'Hangin' Around The Observatory '( 1974) and
'Overcoats' (1975), which demonstrated his powerful songwriting ability
but didn't draw customers. His debut album only sold 15.000 copies. He
signed to MCA in Los Angeles in the late 70s and released 'Slug Line'(1979)
and 'Two Bit Monsters' (1980), still without gaining a commercial
following. Then came the Geffen period that produced 'All Of A Sudden'
(1982), 'Riding With The King' (1984), and 'Warming Up To The Ice Age'
(1985). All of Hiatt's early releases, though favorably received by many
critics, failed to catch the attention of the music buying public. All
that changed with the release of the chart breakthrough 'Bring The Family'
(1987). Hiatt and his collaborators Ry Cooder, Jim Keltner, Nick Lowe and
producer John Chelew had gathered in Los Angeles for a four-day marathon
of live-in-the-studio recordings.
Wordsmith Hiatt bared more of himself on 'Bring The Family' than ever
before. He permanently renounced alcohol and drugs and began the long
process of putting his life back together.
He returned to songwriting with a vengeance, enjoying his newly found
commercial success. The three recordings 'Bring The Family' (1987L 'Slow
Turning' (1988) and 'Stolen Moments' (1990) were notable for their
concentration of autobiographical material: harrowing, howling scenes of
alcoholic despair, reminiscences of Hiatt's own youth, and serene love
songs that reflected his new-found stability. John Hiatt's life has taken
him down some dark roads, the results of which have been captured in many
powerful and emotional songs. The earnest pain in a classic as 'Have A
Little Faith In Me' showed us Hiatt salving his wounds in song. Hiatt has
excelled at drawing small, intense pictures of everyday encounters: 'Icy
Blue Heart', from 'Slow Turning', sketched a sad, defensive barroom
conversation between a man and a woman. Other outstanding songs from 'Slow
Turning' were 'Georgia Rae', a warm song written for his baby daughter,
and the witty rock composition 'Thing Called Love', which was later
covered by Bonnie Raitt for her 1989 'Nick Of Time' album. 'Stolen Moments',
described by Hiatt as 'Parliament/Funkaldelic meets ZZ Top' is John Hiatt
finally coming to terms with being John Hiatt. He's filled the album with
'darn love songs' like 'Real Fine Love'. The song 'Bring Back Your Love To
Me' was awarded the BMI's 1991 Country Music Award. In 1992 Hiatt again
teamed with Cooder, Lowe, and Keltner, this time in a group called Little
Village that released a wellreceived debut album. Hiatt's eleventh solo
album 'Perfectly Good Guitar', featuring guest musicians Michael Ward and
drummer Brian McLeod, was recorded in a two-week period. It's his most raw,
kick-ass rock album, recorded with Faith No More producer Matt Wallace,
containing pretty dark subjects as sexual abuse and utter maniacs who've
lost all sense of reality. Hiatt has long specialized in fast-moving,
vivid stories that often conclude with some type of ironic twist. 'Walk On'
(1995), written during his 13-month 'Perfectly Good Guitar' tour, featured
guest appearances by Bonnie Raitt and the Jayhawks. 1996 saw the release
of 'Little Head', his most comfortable, 'fun' record, because it wasn't
stuffed with angst-ridden masterpieces. Little Head is the sound of John
Hiatt enjoying this moment in his life, cruising down the road in that
pink Cadillac. So far Hiatt has composed more than 600 songs. Many of
those songs have been covered by Rick Nelson, Dave Edmunds, the Searchers,
Three Dog Night, Conway Twitty, Maria Muldaur, Rodney Crowell, Bob Dylan,
Iggy Pop, Willie Nelson, Rosanne Cash, the Neville Brothers, and many
others. |
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