Monday, August 8, 2016

PLAYLIST-JOHN HIATT



John Hiatt is one of those singer-songwriters that nobody knows until I play one of his songs, or one of the songs he wrote that someone else made a hit out of.

Hiatt got his start when Three Dog Night took a song he wrote (while working as a songwriter for a record label in Nashville), "Sure As I'm Sittin' Here," and made a top 40 hit out of it. That led to a recording contract and a career that includes 21 studio albums and covers of his songs by artists like Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt and Linda Ronstadt (among others).

This Spotify Playlist represents the songs I'd play for you to introduce to to Hiatt's work. As a result, I don't care what song you'd leave out or what song you'd have included. It's my list!

Hope you enjoy it and hope it makes you interested enough to go check out more of John's music.


"Perfectly Good Guitar" is one of the few songs where John's own version is the familiar one. 

This was his last album for A&M despite being his highest charting effort. 

Go figure.




"Angel Eyes" was a hit for Jeff Healey-John did not release his own version until his greatest hits album.







"Slow Turning" is the title track to his first record to crack the top half of the Billboard 200, and was Hiatt's only top ten chart single (#8 on Mainstream Rock)






"What Love Can Do" is from a string of criminally unknown records from the last decade or so. 

Like much of the good music these days-it's out there but you have to look for it.



Next up is a song that is not on any John Hiatt record. 

"Don't Think About Her When You're Trying To Drive" is from the one-off Little Village project, 

One of my favorite songs ever, it had to be on this list-just as this album has to be in your collection!





"Feels Like Rain" is also from the Slow Turning record, and was covered by Buddy Guy on his album of the same name (Feels Like Rain, not Slow Turning was the name of Buddy Guy's record).



"When New York Had Her Heart Broke" was Hiatt's 9/11 song. 

Also from a recent album that vanished without a trace.




"Blues Can't Even Find Me" is a nice acoustic blues number from Mystic Pinball.

Yep-recent masterpiece that went undiscovered by most.






Bring The Family was Hiatt's eighth record, and his first to hit the Billboard album chart.  

The record featured the musicians who would later form Little Village. 

"Have A Little Faith In Me" has been covered quite a few times-here is Hiatt's original.



"Here To Stay" was originally released on Terms Of My Surrender, but I went with this version from the Here To Stay compilation because it features a rock edge and Joe Bonamassa guesting on guitar.




Like I said, Hiatt has been covered often. 

A partial list would include Bob Dylan, The Searchers, Delbert McClinton, Willy DeVille, Ry Cooder, Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt, Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Joe Bonamassa, Willie Nelson, Three Dog Night, Joan Baez, Paula Abdul, Buddy Guy, the Desert Rose Band, Jimmy Buffett, Mandy Moore, Iggy Pop, Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell, Dave Edmunds, Nick Lowe, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Rosanne Cash, Suzy Bogguss, Jewel, Aaron Neville, Jeff Healey, Keith Urban, Joe Cocker, and Chaka Khan.

There are a few collections of Hiatt covers, such as It'll Come To You,  Love Gets Strange, and Rolling Into Memphis.









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HOBBY OR ADDICTION?

HOBBY OR ADDICTION?