ALBUMS: Bring the Family (1987); Warming Up to the Ice Age (1985); Riding with the King (1983); All of a Sudden (1982); Two-bit Monster (1980); Slug Line (1979).
MVC Ratings: Family 4.5/$$$$; Warming 4.0/$$$ Riding 4.5/$$$; Sudden 4.0/$$$$; Monster 3.5/$$$; Slug 4.0/$$$
John Hiatt with his voice evoking the best and, sometimes, worst elements of Dylan and Elvis (Costello?) is a major example of when songcraft rules. And in Hiatt’s case it does.
And then some.
I hopped on for the ride with a cut-out, ‘Riding with the King,’ a talking boast of a song and album. On the cover Hiatt is sitting on a big bike (motorcycle).
“You May Already Be a Winner’ and ‘She Loves the Jerk’ are classic tracks here but the whole album is shot through with humor, mostly sardonic. Here’s “Winner’ about a poor sap who thinks he’s won a big contest.
I know you’re tired of the same old dress
I know the car’s been repossessed
I know this house is just a shack
But there’s this love we cant hold back
Would you like a beer with your TV dinner?
Oh, my darling, you may already be a winner
As you can see, I have six of Hiatt’s albums. That’s a lot for me to have of one artist.
As I’ve explained before, I am not a completist in my record collecting ventures, was always looking for new music. I do have on CD, ‘Slow Turning,’ which may be Hiatt’s best work. It came out in 1988 about the time CD’s were available to the masses. I have a lot of records up to about 1987 or 88, when CDs became the main vehicle. It was the Day the Music Died. Not really, I embraced digital formats and have only recently become enamored (my wife would say absorbed) with vinyl, probably because I had boxes filled with 678 records that I had put up for decades before my rekindled interest.
.In Hiatt’s discography, the 1987 ‘Bring the Family’ is still vinyl but one year later we have ‘Slow Turning.’
I think Hiatt is one of the top artists to come out of the 1980s — a decade that gets picked on a lot for rock music. But here’s lyrics from a rocker on the aforementioned ‘Bring the Family.’
Sure I like country music
I like mandolins
But right now I need a telecaster
Through a vibro-lux turned up to ten
[Chorus:]
Lets go to Memphis in the meantime baby
Memphis in the meantime girl
A little postscript: I never got to see him live. Catherine did though. She was offered tickets to a show north of Orlando in early 1990s. I had to stay home on this last minute deal because of kids, girls night out it was. Catherine said he was great live.
There was a small piece of drama that night. Seems Hiatt had a stalker, a woman if my memory serves me was arrested for stalking Hiatt. Sounds like a John Hiatt song..