Who? That's the kind of response you get when you mention John Hiatt, onetime alcoholic and America's answer to Britain's stupidly named Elvis Costello. In his early career the comparison was well made, but as Hiatt matured his sound became his own. He came to my attention with a single called 'Riding with the King' that was a minor hit in various parts of the world, and with a song of his that he contributed to the movie White Knights called 'Snake Charmer'.
Riding with the King was the last of his mediocre albums as far a I was concerned and from then on he has been forging a trail of glory, if not commercial success. First out of the stable was Warming up to the Ice Age that uncharacteristically features a harder rock edge than his other recordings. There is some superb bass playing throughout that underpins some fine songs that feature Hiatt's sharp lyrics. But Hiatt hired a new bunch of musicians and went on to record Bring the Family, Slow Turning and Stolen Moments which I would regard as the best moments of his career. If you like Dylan, then these albums surely deserve you shaking the loose change from your pocket. Here we find the man having found his 'natural voice', at ease with himself and writing some great perceptive songs. Sadly, he then joined the short-lived Little Village that took the momentum out of his career and when he did go solo again the albums Walk On and Perfectly Good Guitar were weak. The latter featured good songs but the young backing band featured a perfectly awful guitarist, and I mean awful. The guy should go shine shoes or something. To the delight of fans like me then next outing, Little Head was a return to form. Again Hiatt is found working with sympathetic musicians and keeping things open and simple. Let's hope it continues like this.
Hiatt's songs have often been covered by other artistes with much higher public profiles. He is to some extent a songwriter's songwriter, highly regarded for his craft, and it's just a shame that his own recorded output that is often just as good has not brought the wide public recognition it deserves. But then rock'n'roll was never a fair game.
Suggested Listening:
Slow Turning
Bring the Family
Warming Up to the Ice Age