John Hiatt
Encyclopedia
John Hiatt is an American
rock
guitarist
, pianist
, singer, and songwriter
. He has played a variety of musical styles on his albums, including New Wave
, blues
and country
. Hiatt has been nominated for several Grammy Awards - although he has never won- and has been awarded a variety of other distinctions in the music industry. He remains one of the most respected and influential American singer-songwriters.
Hiatt was working as a songwriter for Tree International, a record label
in Nashville when his song "Sure As I'm Sittin' Here" was covered by Three Dog Night
. The song became a Top 40 hit
, earning Hiatt a recording contract
with Epic Records
. Since then he has released eighteen studio album
s and two live album
s. His songs have been covered by a variety of artists in multiple genres, including Bob Dylan
, Willy DeVille
, Ry Cooder
, Linda Ronstadt
, Bonnie Raitt
, Eric Clapton
, B.B. King, 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
, Chaka Khan
and many others. Also the Dutch singer/songwriter Ilse DeLange
recorded the album Dear John with nine of his songs.
. Only two years later, his father died after a long sickness. To escape from the stress of his early life, Hiatt watched IndyCar
racing and listened to Elvis Presley
, Bob Dylan
, and the blues
. In his youth, Hiatt reports that he and several others stole a Ford Thunderbird
, a crime for which he was caught by the owners but got away with, posing as a hitchhiker. He learned to play the guitar when he was eleven, and began his musical career in Indianapolis
, Indiana
as a teenager. He played in a variety of local clubs, most notably the Hummingbird. Hiatt played with a variety of bands, including The Four-Fifths and John Lynch & the Hangmen.
Hiatt moved to Nashville
, Tennessee
when he was eighteen years old and got a job as a songwriter for the Tree-Music Publishing Company for twenty-five dollars a week. Hiatt, who was unable to read or write scores, had to record all 250 songs he wrote for the company. He also began playing with the band White Duck, as one of three singer-songwriter
s within the group. White Duck had already recorded one album before Hiatt joined. He appeared on their second album, In Season (1972). Hiatt performed live in many clubs around Nashville with White Duck, and as a solo act.
of Epic Records
in 1973, and received a record deal, releasing his first single, "We Make Spirit," later that year with Ellis on drums and Michael Bell, a young but powerhouse guitar player from Hampton, Virginia on second lead guitar. That same year Hiatt wrote the song "Sure As I'm Sitting Here," which was recorded by Three Dog Night
, and went to number 16 on the Billboard
chart
in 1974. Bell, a student of Ferguson High School in Newport News, Virginia went on to play lead guitar after graduation until 1980 where he went lead for Carl Ellis and Juke Box Heros while drummer Ellis remained.
In 1974 he released Hangin' Around the Observatory, which was a critical success and a commercial failure. A year later, Overcoats was released, and when it also failed to sell, Epic
released Hiatt from his contract. For the next four years he was without a recording contract. During this time his style evolved from country-rock to New Wave
influenced rock in the style of Elvis Costello
, Nick Lowe
and Graham Parker
.
label in 1979. He released two albums for the label in 1979 and 1980, neither of which met with commercial success. He received a few good reviews for these albums by critics in the Netherlands
. He performed at the Paradiso
in Amsterdam for the first time in 1979 (opening for Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes
) and came back often and built a solid fan base. Hiatt was signed to Geffen
(which would later absorb MCA) in 1982, where he recorded three diverse albums from 1982-85. The first, All of a Sudden was produced
by Tony Visconti
, and featured use of keyboards and synthesisers; his future albums combined country
and soul
influences. Riding With the King
appeared in 1983, produced by Scott Mathews
, Ron Nagle
and Nick Lowe
. Hiatt began making 'critics choice' lists and building a large European following. The title track (taken from an odd dream Scott Mathews
had) was re-recorded two decades later by Eric Clapton
and B.B. King and went double platinum.
During this period, Rosanne Cash
covered several Hiatt compositions, taking "It Hasn't Happened Yet" to the Top 20 on the country charts. In 1983, Cash would duet with Hiatt on his "The Way We Make a Broken Heart
" produced by Mathews and Nagle. When Geffen failed to release the single, Cash re-recorded it in 1987 and it went to #1 on the US country charts. Rick Nelson also covered "It Hasn't Happened Yet" on his 1981 album Playing to Win.
Hiatt recorded a duet
with Elvis Costello
, a cover version
of the Spinners' song, "Living A Little, Laughing A Little," which appeared on Warming Up to the Ice Age. Shortly after its release, Bob Dylan
covered Hiatt's song "The Usual," which had appeared on the soundtrack
to the film
, Hearts of Fire
. However, Geffen dropped Hiatt from the label after Ice Age failed to chart.
. For the album, Hiatt had a backing band consisting of Ry Cooder
, Nick Lowe
, and Jim Keltner
. One of the cuts from the album, "Have a Little Faith in Me
," would be covered by a number of artists, including Joe Cocker
, Delbert McClinton
, Jewel (singer)
, Bill Frisell, Mandy Moore
and Bon Jovi
. "Thank You Girl" was a moderate radio hit, but nothing that would garner Hiatt national attention. But most notably, Bonnie Raitt
would bring "Thing Called Love" to #11 on the U.S. charts with her 1989 release, Nick of Time
.
Following Bring the Family, Hiatt had a string of nine straight studio albums hit the Billboard 200
.
In 1988, he returned to the studio to record Slow Turning
, which would be his first album to hit the upper half of the Billboard 200. It also featured his only top ten chart single, the title track, which hit #8 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks
chart. As well, "Tennessee Plates", would later appear in the Ridley Scott
directed and Academy Award winning film, Thelma and Louise
in 1991. In 1989, The Jeff Healey Band covered the Hiatt-penned song "Angel Eyes", and took it to the Top 5 of the Billboard Hot 100
.
, a reference to a Sonny Boy Williamson II
project. Expectations for the Little Village
album were high, but the album failed to even chart as high as Hiatt's last solo album, and the group disbanded after an only moderately successful tour.
In 1993, Hiatt recorded Perfectly Good Guitar
with members of alternative rock groups School of Fish
and Wire Train
. Hiatt recorded the album with producer Matt Wallace who had worked most prominently with Faith No More
, a band that Hiatt's 15-year-old son Rob had recommended for him. It was Hiatt's highest peaking album at #47, but again was still not the true commercial breakthrough A&M expected. The next year, Hiatt released Hiatt Comes Alive at Budokan?
, his first live album and his last album with A&M Records
.
Hiatt received his first Grammy nomination in 1995 for his album Walk On. Hiatt's next few albums never gained any momentum on the charts, and he saw little change in his fanbase in the late 1990s, indicating a dedicated following. In 2000, Hiatt released his first independent album on Vanguard Records
, Crossing Muddy Waters
, which saw a heavy influence of bluegrass
in his music. Later that year, he was named songwriter/artist of the year at the Nashville Music Awards. In 2001, Crossing Muddy Waters was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album, with Davey Faragher
and David Immerglück
as his only accompanists.
In 2002, Hiatt performed several songs for the soundtrack to Disney's Country Bears movie, representing the voice of the lead singer.
It'll Come To You...The Songs of John Hiatt, a compilation album
of covers of Hiatt's songs was also released on Vanguard. A CD and DVD of John Hiatt's performance on Austin City Limits
was released in 2005.
Hiatt's album, Master of Disaster
, was released on June 21, 2005. The album was produced by Jim Dickinson
, and Hiatt was backed up by the bassist David Hood
and several members of the North Mississippi Allstars
. The album achieved modest sales, becoming a top ten independent album, but eluded significant commercial success in the same manner that his previous albums did.
On February 12, 2008, during a concert with Lyle Lovett
at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa
, Canada
, Hiatt said that his new album would be titled Same Old Man. It was released on May 27, 2008.
On July 18, 2008 Hiatt performed at Ravinia Park
in Highland Park, Illinois with his daughter, Lilly.
In March 2010, Hiatt released The Open Road.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
rock
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
, pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
, singer, and songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
. He has played a variety of musical styles on his albums, including New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
, blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
and country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
. Hiatt has been nominated for several Grammy Awards - although he has never won- and has been awarded a variety of other distinctions in the music industry. He remains one of the most respected and influential American singer-songwriters.
Hiatt was working as a songwriter for Tree International, a record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
in Nashville when his song "Sure As I'm Sittin' Here" was covered by Three Dog Night
Three Dog Night
Three Dog Night is an American rock band best known for their music from 1968 to 1975. During that time the band charted 21 Billboard top 40 hits in America, three of which reached Number One...
. The song became a Top 40 hit
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
, earning Hiatt a recording contract
Recording contract
A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...
with Epic Records
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
. Since then he has released eighteen studio album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
s and two live album
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
s. His songs have been covered by a variety of artists in multiple genres, including Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, Willy DeVille
Willy DeVille
Willy DeVille was an American singer and songwriter. During his thirty-five year career, first with his band Mink DeVille and later on his own, Deville created original songs rooted in traditional American musical styles. He worked with collaborators from across the spectrum of contemporary...
, Ry Cooder
Ry Cooder
Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder is an American guitarist, singer and composer. He is known for his slide guitar work, his interest in roots music from the United States, and, more recently, his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries.His solo work has been eclectic, encompassing...
, Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...
, Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Lynn Raitt is an American blues singer-songwriter and a renowned slide guitar player. During the 1970s, Raitt released a series of acclaimed roots-influenced albums which incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk and country, but she is perhaps best known for her more commercially...
, Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
, B.B. King, Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
, Three Dog Night
Three Dog Night
Three Dog Night is an American rock band best known for their music from 1968 to 1975. During that time the band charted 21 Billboard top 40 hits in America, three of which reached Number One...
, Joan Baez
Joan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....
, Paula Abdul
Paula Abdul
Paula Julie Abdul is an American singer-songwriter, dancer, choreographer, actress and television personality.In the 1980s, Abdul rose from cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers to highly sought-after choreographer at the height of the music video era before scoring a string of pop music-R&B hits...
, Buddy Guy
Buddy Guy
George "Buddy" Guy is an American blues and jazz guitarist and singer. He is a critically acclaimed artist who has established himself as a pioneer of the Chicago blues sound, and has served as an influence to some of the most notable musicians of his generation...
, the Desert Rose Band
Desert Rose Band
The Desert Rose Band is a US country music band from California founded by Chris Hillman along with Herb Pedersen and John Jorgenson in 1985. Rounding out the original lineup were Bill Bryson on bass guitar, Jay Dee Maness on pedal steel guitar, and Steve Duncan on drums...
, Jimmy Buffett
Jimmy Buffett
James William "Jimmy" Buffett is a singer-songwriter, author, entrepreneur, and film producer. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffett's musical hits include "Margaritaville" , and "Come Monday"...
, Mandy Moore
Mandy Moore
Amanda Leigh "Mandy" Moore is an American singer-songwriter, actress and fashion designer. Moore became famous as a teenager in the late 1990s, after the release of her teen pop albums So Real, I Wanna Be with You, and Mandy Moore. In 2007, she took an adult pop-folk direction with the release of...
, Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...
, Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris is an American singer-songwriter and musician. In addition to her work as a solo artist and bandleader, both as an interpreter of other composers' works and as a singer-songwriter, she is a sought-after backing vocalist and duet partner, working with numerous other artists including...
, Rodney Crowell
Rodney Crowell
Rodney Crowell is a Grammy Award-winning musician, known primarily for his work as a singer and songwriter in country music....
, Dave Edmunds
Dave Edmunds
David 'Dave' Edmunds is a Welsh singer, guitarist and record producer. Although he is primarily associated with Pub rock and New Wave, and had numerous hits in the 1970s and early 1980s, his natural leaning has always been towards 1950s style rock and roll.-Early bands:As a teenager Edmunds first...
, Nick Lowe
Nick Lowe
Nicholas Drain "Nick" Lowe , is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer.A pivotal figure in UK pub rock, punk rock and new wave, Lowe has recorded a string of well-reviewed solo albums. Along with vocals, Lowe plays guitar, bass guitar, piano and harmonica...
, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Rosanne Cash
Rosanne Cash
Rosanne Cash is an American singer-songwriter and author. She is the eldest daughter of the late country music singer Johnny Cash and his first wife, Vivian Liberto Cash Distin....
, Suzy Bogguss
Suzy Bogguss
Susan Kay "Suzy" Bogguss is an American country music singer. In the 1980s and 90s she released one platinum and three gold albums and charted six top ten singles, winning the Academy of Country Music's award for Top New Female Vocalist and the Country Music Association's Horizon Award.After...
, Jewel
Jewel (singer)
Jewel Kilcher , professionally known as Jewel, is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, actress and poet...
, Aaron Neville
Aaron Neville
Aaron Neville is an American soul and R&B singer and musician. He has had four top-20 hits in the United States along with four platinum-certified albums...
, Jeff Healey
Jeff Healey
Norman Jeffrey "Jeff" Healey was a blind Canadian jazz and blues-rock vocalist and guitarist who attained musical and personal popularity, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s.-Early life:...
, Keith Urban
Keith Urban
Keith Lionel Urban is a New Zealand-born Australian, country music singer, songwriter and guitarist whose commercial success has been mainly in the United States and Australia. Urban was born in New Zealand and began his career in Australia at an early age...
, Joe Cocker
Joe Cocker
John Robert "Joe" Cocker, OBE is an English rock and blues musician, composer and actor, who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is most known for his gritty voice, his idiosyncratic arm movements while performing, and his cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of The Beatles...
, Chaka Khan
Chaka Khan
Chaka Khan , frequently known as the Queen of Funk, is a 10-time Grammy Award winning American singer-songwriter who gained fame in the 1970s as the frontwoman and focal point of the funk band Rufus. While still a member of the group in 1978, Khan embarked on a successful solo career...
and many others. Also the Dutch singer/songwriter Ilse DeLange
Ilse DeLange
Ilse Annoeska de Lange is a Dutch country and pop singer, better known as Ilse DeLange .-Biography:...
recorded the album Dear John with nine of his songs.
Early life and career
John Hiatt was born in 1952 to Ruth and Robert Hiatt. When Hiatt was nine years old, his 21-year-old brother Michael committed suicideSuicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
. Only two years later, his father died after a long sickness. To escape from the stress of his early life, Hiatt watched IndyCar
IndyCar
IndyCar is the trade name of an American-based open-wheel auto racing sanctioning body. IndyCar sanctions three racing series, the premier IZOD IndyCar Series with its centerpiece Indianapolis 500, and developmental series Firestone Indy Lights and the U.S...
racing and listened to Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
, Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, and the blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
. In his youth, Hiatt reports that he and several others stole a Ford Thunderbird
Ford Thunderbird
The Thunderbird , is an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company in the United States over eleven model generations from 1955 through 2005...
, a crime for which he was caught by the owners but got away with, posing as a hitchhiker. He learned to play the guitar when he was eleven, and began his musical career in Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
as a teenager. He played in a variety of local clubs, most notably the Hummingbird. Hiatt played with a variety of bands, including The Four-Fifths and John Lynch & the Hangmen.
Hiatt moved to Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
when he was eighteen years old and got a job as a songwriter for the Tree-Music Publishing Company for twenty-five dollars a week. Hiatt, who was unable to read or write scores, had to record all 250 songs he wrote for the company. He also began playing with the band White Duck, as one of three singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
s within the group. White Duck had already recorded one album before Hiatt joined. He appeared on their second album, In Season (1972). Hiatt performed live in many clubs around Nashville with White Duck, and as a solo act.
Early solo career (1974-78)
Hiatt met Don EllisDon Ellis
Don Ellis was an American jazz trumpeter, drummer, composer and bandleader. He is best known for his extensive musical experimentation, particularly in the area of unusual time signatures...
of Epic Records
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
in 1973, and received a record deal, releasing his first single, "We Make Spirit," later that year with Ellis on drums and Michael Bell, a young but powerhouse guitar player from Hampton, Virginia on second lead guitar. That same year Hiatt wrote the song "Sure As I'm Sitting Here," which was recorded by Three Dog Night
Three Dog Night
Three Dog Night is an American rock band best known for their music from 1968 to 1975. During that time the band charted 21 Billboard top 40 hits in America, three of which reached Number One...
, and went to number 16 on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
in 1974. Bell, a student of Ferguson High School in Newport News, Virginia went on to play lead guitar after graduation until 1980 where he went lead for Carl Ellis and Juke Box Heros while drummer Ellis remained.
In 1974 he released Hangin' Around the Observatory, which was a critical success and a commercial failure. A year later, Overcoats was released, and when it also failed to sell, Epic
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
released Hiatt from his contract. For the next four years he was without a recording contract. During this time his style evolved from country-rock to New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
influenced rock in the style of Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
, Nick Lowe
Nick Lowe
Nicholas Drain "Nick" Lowe , is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer.A pivotal figure in UK pub rock, punk rock and new wave, Lowe has recorded a string of well-reviewed solo albums. Along with vocals, Lowe plays guitar, bass guitar, piano and harmonica...
and Graham Parker
Graham Parker
Graham Parker is a British rock singer and songwriter, who is best known as the lead singer of the popular British band Graham Parker & the Rumour.-Early career :...
.
The MCA/Geffen Years (1979-1986)
Hiatt was picked up by the MCAMCA Records
MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...
label in 1979. He released two albums for the label in 1979 and 1980, neither of which met with commercial success. He received a few good reviews for these albums by critics in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. He performed at the Paradiso
Paradiso (Amsterdam)
Paradiso is an iconic rock music venue and cultural center in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.-History:It is housed in a converted former church building that dates from the nineteenth century and that was used until 1965 as the meeting hall for a liberal Dutch religious group known as the "Vrije...
in Amsterdam for the first time in 1979 (opening for Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes
Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes
Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes are a Jersey Shore musical group led by Southside Johnny. They have been recording albums since 1976 and are closely associated with Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band. They have recorded and/or performed several Springsteen songs, including "The Fever" and...
) and came back often and built a solid fan base. Hiatt was signed to Geffen
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...
(which would later absorb MCA) in 1982, where he recorded three diverse albums from 1982-85. The first, All of a Sudden was produced
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
by Tony Visconti
Tony Visconti
Anthony Edward Visconti is an American record producer and sometimes a musician or singer.Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers; his lengthiest involvement with any artist is with David Bowie: intermittently from Bowie's 1969 album Space Oddity to 2003's Reality, Visconti...
, and featured use of keyboards and synthesisers; his future albums combined country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
and soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
influences. Riding With the King
Riding with the King
Riding with the King was singer-songwriter John Hiatt's sixth album, released in 1983. It was his second of three albums with Geffen Records. Ron Nagle and Scott Mathews produced side one of the album at The Pen in San Francisco, with Mathews himself playing all instruments and all the...
appeared in 1983, produced by Scott Mathews
Scott Mathews
.Scott Mathews is a multi-platinum selling music producer, composer, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and entrepreneur.-Early Days:...
, Ron Nagle
Ron Nagle
Ron Nagle is an American ceramic sculptor, musician and songwriter.-History:Ron Nagle grew up in San Francisco’s Mission District...
and Nick Lowe
Nick Lowe
Nicholas Drain "Nick" Lowe , is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer.A pivotal figure in UK pub rock, punk rock and new wave, Lowe has recorded a string of well-reviewed solo albums. Along with vocals, Lowe plays guitar, bass guitar, piano and harmonica...
. Hiatt began making 'critics choice' lists and building a large European following. The title track (taken from an odd dream Scott Mathews
Scott Mathews
.Scott Mathews is a multi-platinum selling music producer, composer, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and entrepreneur.-Early Days:...
had) was re-recorded two decades later by Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
and B.B. King and went double platinum.
During this period, Rosanne Cash
Rosanne Cash
Rosanne Cash is an American singer-songwriter and author. She is the eldest daughter of the late country music singer Johnny Cash and his first wife, Vivian Liberto Cash Distin....
covered several Hiatt compositions, taking "It Hasn't Happened Yet" to the Top 20 on the country charts. In 1983, Cash would duet with Hiatt on his "The Way We Make a Broken Heart
The Way We Make a Broken Heart
"The Way We Make a Broken Heart" is a song written by John Hiatt. It was recorded by Ry Cooder in 1980 on his album Borderline. "The Way We Make a Broken Heart" was covered by both John Hiatt and Rosanne Cash in 1983 as a duet. The single was produced by Scott Mathews and Ron Nagle, however,...
" produced by Mathews and Nagle. When Geffen failed to release the single, Cash re-recorded it in 1987 and it went to #1 on the US country charts. Rick Nelson also covered "It Hasn't Happened Yet" on his 1981 album Playing to Win.
Hiatt recorded a duet
Duet (music)
A duet is a musical composition for two performers. In classical music, the term is most often used for a composition for two singers or pianists; with other instruments, the word duo is also often used. A piece performed by two pianists performing together on the same piano is referred to as...
with Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
, a cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of the Spinners' song, "Living A Little, Laughing A Little," which appeared on Warming Up to the Ice Age. Shortly after its release, Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
covered Hiatt's song "The Usual," which had appeared on the soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
to the film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, Hearts of Fire
Hearts of Fire
Hearts of Fire is a 1987 American musical drama film starring Bob Dylan, Fiona Flanagan and Rupert Everett. The film was essentially a vehicle for Dylan based on his success as a rock musician...
. However, Geffen dropped Hiatt from the label after Ice Age failed to chart.
Success at last (1987-1989)
Hiatt finally came into success in 1987, when he released his first big hit, Bring the FamilyBring the Family
Bring the Family is John Hiatt's eighth album. It was his first album to chart on the Billboard 200, and featured his first single entry on the mainstream rock chart with "Thank You Girl". It features Ry Cooder on guitar, Nick Lowe on bass guitar and Jim Keltner on drums. The four would later...
. For the album, Hiatt had a backing band consisting of Ry Cooder
Ry Cooder
Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder is an American guitarist, singer and composer. He is known for his slide guitar work, his interest in roots music from the United States, and, more recently, his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries.His solo work has been eclectic, encompassing...
, Nick Lowe
Nick Lowe
Nicholas Drain "Nick" Lowe , is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer.A pivotal figure in UK pub rock, punk rock and new wave, Lowe has recorded a string of well-reviewed solo albums. Along with vocals, Lowe plays guitar, bass guitar, piano and harmonica...
, and Jim Keltner
Jim Keltner
James Lee "Jim" Keltner is an American drummer known primarily for his session work. He has contributed to the work of many well-known artists...
. One of the cuts from the album, "Have a Little Faith in Me
Have a Little Faith in Me
"Have a Little Faith in Me" is a song written and performed by John Hiatt that appears on his 1987 album Bring the Family.The song has been covered separately by Michael English, Joe Cocker, Delbert McClinton, Chaka Kahn, Bob Malone, Mandy Moore, Patty Larkin, Bill Frisell , Jo-El Sonnier, and Ilse...
," would be covered by a number of artists, including Joe Cocker
Joe Cocker
John Robert "Joe" Cocker, OBE is an English rock and blues musician, composer and actor, who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is most known for his gritty voice, his idiosyncratic arm movements while performing, and his cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of The Beatles...
, Delbert McClinton
Delbert McClinton
Delbert McClinton is an American blues rock and electric blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, harmonica player, and pianist....
, Jewel (singer)
Jewel (singer)
Jewel Kilcher , professionally known as Jewel, is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, actress and poet...
, Bill Frisell, Mandy Moore
Mandy Moore
Amanda Leigh "Mandy" Moore is an American singer-songwriter, actress and fashion designer. Moore became famous as a teenager in the late 1990s, after the release of her teen pop albums So Real, I Wanna Be with You, and Mandy Moore. In 2007, she took an adult pop-folk direction with the release of...
and Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi is an American rock band from Sayreville, New Jersey. Formed in 1983, Bon Jovi consists of lead singer and namesake Jon Bon Jovi , guitarist Richie Sambora, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, as well as current bassist Hugh McDonald...
. "Thank You Girl" was a moderate radio hit, but nothing that would garner Hiatt national attention. But most notably, Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Lynn Raitt is an American blues singer-songwriter and a renowned slide guitar player. During the 1970s, Raitt released a series of acclaimed roots-influenced albums which incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk and country, but she is perhaps best known for her more commercially...
would bring "Thing Called Love" to #11 on the U.S. charts with her 1989 release, Nick of Time
Nick of Time (album)
Or the American 1995 thriller film by the same name, Nick of TimeNick of Time is the tenth blues rock album by Bonnie Raitt, released on March 21, 1989....
.
Following Bring the Family, Hiatt had a string of nine straight studio albums hit the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
.
In 1988, he returned to the studio to record Slow Turning
Slow Turning
Slow Turning was singer-songwriter John Hiatt's ninth album, released in 1988. It provided Hiatt's only significant radio hit with the title track, which features the memorable line "I'm yelling at the kids in the back, 'cause they're banging like Charlie Watts"...
, which would be his first album to hit the upper half of the Billboard 200. It also featured his only top ten chart single, the title track, which hit #8 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks
Mainstream Rock Tracks
Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music. Modern rock tracks are counted in the Alternative Songs chart.This chart began with the March 21, 1981, issue...
chart. As well, "Tennessee Plates", would later appear in the Ridley Scott
Ridley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott is an English film director and producer. His most famous films include The Duellists , Alien , Blade Runner , Legend , Thelma & Louise , G. I...
directed and Academy Award winning film, Thelma and Louise
Thelma and Louise
Thelma & Louise is a 1991 film co-produced and directed by Ridley Scott and written by Callie Khouri, the film's plot revolves around Thelma and Louise's escape from their troubled and caged lives. It stars Geena Davis as Thelma and Susan Sarandon as Louise, and co-stars Harvey Keitel as a...
in 1991. In 1989, The Jeff Healey Band covered the Hiatt-penned song "Angel Eyes", and took it to the Top 5 of the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
.
The 1990s and beyond
In 1992, Cooder, Keltner, and Lowe again backed up Hiatt, but this time they gave themselves a band name, Little VillageLittle Village
Little Village was an American/British rock band, formed in 1992 by Ry Cooder , John Hiatt , Nick Lowe and Jim Keltner...
, a reference to a Sonny Boy Williamson II
Sonny Boy Williamson II
Willie "Sonny Boy" Williamson was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, from Mississippi. He is acknowledged as one of the most charismatic and influential blues musicians, with considerable prowess on the harmonica and highly creative songwriting skills...
project. Expectations for the Little Village
Little Village (album)
Little Village is an album by the supergroup of the same name, consisting of Ry Cooder, John Hiatt, Nick Lowe and Jim Keltner. They had performed as a group recording the John Hiatt solo album Bring the Family in 1987....
album were high, but the album failed to even chart as high as Hiatt's last solo album, and the group disbanded after an only moderately successful tour.
In 1993, Hiatt recorded Perfectly Good Guitar
Perfectly Good Guitar
Perfectly Good Guitar was singer-songwriter John Hiatt's eleventh album, released in 1993. It was his last studio album with A&M Records. It was Hiatt's highest charting album ever, peaking in the top 50 of the Billboard 200...
with members of alternative rock groups School of Fish
School of Fish
School of Fish was an alternative rock band which formed in 1989 and disbanded in 1994. The core members were Josh Clayton-Felt and Michael Ward who would play club dates in Los Angeles, California as a duo accompanied by programmed drums and bass. The band signed with Capitol Records in 1990, and...
and Wire Train
Wire Train
Wire Train was a United States based group who produced six albums in the 1980s and early 1990s. The band was originally formed as the Renegades in April 1983 in San Francisco...
. Hiatt recorded the album with producer Matt Wallace who had worked most prominently with Faith No More
Faith No More
Faith No More is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed originally as Faith No Man in 1981 by bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist Wade Worthington, vocalist Michael Morris and drummer Mike Bordin. A year later when Worthington was replaced by keyboardist Roddy Bottum, and Mike...
, a band that Hiatt's 15-year-old son Rob had recommended for him. It was Hiatt's highest peaking album at #47, but again was still not the true commercial breakthrough A&M expected. The next year, Hiatt released Hiatt Comes Alive at Budokan?
Hiatt Comes Alive at Budokan?
Hiatt Comes Alive at Budokan? was singer-songwriter John Hiatt's twelfth album and first live album, released in 1994. The album was actually recorded at venues in North America; the title parodies both Peter Frampton's Frampton Comes Alive! and the At Budokan albums released by numerous...
, his first live album and his last album with A&M Records
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
.
Hiatt received his first Grammy nomination in 1995 for his album Walk On. Hiatt's next few albums never gained any momentum on the charts, and he saw little change in his fanbase in the late 1990s, indicating a dedicated following. In 2000, Hiatt released his first independent album on Vanguard Records
Vanguard Records
Vanguard Records is a record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York. It started as a classical label, but is perhaps best known for its catalogue of recordings by a number of pivotal folk and blues artists from the 1960s; the Bach Guild was a subsidiary...
, Crossing Muddy Waters
Crossing Muddy Waters
Crossing Muddy Waters was singer-songwriter John Hiatt's fifteenth album, released in 2000. A raw album recorded with no drummer, it was a purely acoustic album that brought elements of bluegrass music into his Americana sound. The title of the album is an intentional double entendre, referencing...
, which saw a heavy influence of bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
in his music. Later that year, he was named songwriter/artist of the year at the Nashville Music Awards. In 2001, Crossing Muddy Waters was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album, with Davey Faragher
Davey Faragher
Davey Faragher is an American bass guitarist from Redlands, California. Faragher's career took off and received critical notice as a founding member of the nineties band, Cracker, and his following work with The Imposters, the backing band for Elvis Costello since 2001.Faragher is an accomplished...
and David Immerglück
David Immerglück
David Immerglück is an American multi-instrumentalist who is best known as a guitarist in the alternative rock bands Counting Crows, Camper Van Beethoven and the Monks of Doom...
as his only accompanists.
In 2002, Hiatt performed several songs for the soundtrack to Disney's Country Bears movie, representing the voice of the lead singer.
It'll Come To You...The Songs of John Hiatt, a compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
of covers of Hiatt's songs was also released on Vanguard. A CD and DVD of John Hiatt's performance on Austin City Limits
Austin City Limits
Austin City Limits is an American public television music program recorded live in Austin, Texas by Public Broadcasting Service Public television member station KLRU, and broadcast on many PBS stations around the United States...
was released in 2005.
Hiatt's album, Master of Disaster
Master of Disaster
Master of Disaster is singer-songwriter John Hiatt's eighteenth album, released in 2005. The North Mississippi All-Stars back up Hiatt on this album.-Track listing:All tracks written by John Hiatt#"Master of Disaster" – 5:26...
, was released on June 21, 2005. The album was produced by Jim Dickinson
Jim Dickinson
James Luther "Jim" Dickinson was an American record producer, pianist, and singer who fronted, among others, the Memphis based band, Mudboy & The Neutrons.- Biography :...
, and Hiatt was backed up by the bassist David Hood
David Hood
David Hood , is a bassist from Muscle Shoals, Alabama. He also plays the trombone and is a member of the Alabama Music Hall of Fame....
and several members of the North Mississippi Allstars
North Mississippi Allstars
North Mississippi Allstars is a Southern rock/blues jam band from Hernando, Mississippi, founded in 1996. The band is composed of brothers Luther Dickinson and Cody Dickinson , and Chris Chew...
. The album achieved modest sales, becoming a top ten independent album, but eluded significant commercial success in the same manner that his previous albums did.
On February 12, 2008, during a concert with Lyle Lovett
Lyle Lovett
Lyle Pearce Lovett is an American singer-songwriter and actor. Active since 1980, he has recorded thirteen albums and released 21 singles to date, including his highest entry, the number 10 chart hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, "Cowboy Man"...
at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Hiatt said that his new album would be titled Same Old Man. It was released on May 27, 2008.
On July 18, 2008 Hiatt performed at Ravinia Park
Ravinia Park
Ravinia Festival is the oldest outdoor music festival in the United States, with a series of outdoor concerts and performances held every summer from June to September. It has been the summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra since 1936...
in Highland Park, Illinois with his daughter, Lilly.
In March 2010, Hiatt released The Open Road.
TV and movie appearances
- Performed on "Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
" as the week's featured musical guest in 1989. - Host of "Sessions at West 54th" during the series' third and final season.
- Performed on "Austin City LimitsAustin City LimitsAustin City Limits is an American public television music program recorded live in Austin, Texas by Public Broadcasting Service Public television member station KLRU, and broadcast on many PBS stations around the United States...
", originally taped December 14, 1993. - Wrote and performed "Alone in the Dark" in "True LiesTrue LiesTrue Lies is a 1994 American action-comedy film directed by James Cameron and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, Bill Paxton, Tia Carrere, Charlton Heston, and Art Malik. Eliza Dushku also appears in the film in one of her first major film roles...
", 1994 ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111503/ ). - Performed on "Hard Rock Live", 1997.
- Performed on "Where Music Meets Film: Live from Sundance", 1999.
- Contributed the singing voice to Ted Bedderhead in the animated Disney film The Country BearsThe Country BearsThe Country Bears is a 2002 American live-action comedy film, produced by Walt Disney Pictures, based on the Disney attraction Country Bear Jamboree, and released July 26, 2002...
, 2002. - Appeared as himself on an episode of "Yes Dear", originally aired May 3, 2004.
- Performed as himself on an episode of "Treme" originally aired May 29, 2011
Studio albums
- Hangin' Around the ObservatoryHangin' Around the ObservatoryHangin Around The Observatory was singer-songwriter John Hiatt's debut album, released in 1974. The song "Sure As I'm Sittin' Here" was covered that same year by Three Dog Night on their album Hard Labor, and was a top 20 hit.-Track listing:...
, Epic RecordsEpic RecordsEpic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
(1974) - OvercoatsOvercoatsOvercoats was singer-songwriter John Hiatt's second album, released in 1975. It was his second and last album for Epic Records.-Track listing:All tracks written by John Hiatt# "One More Time" – 3:40# "Smiling in the Rain" – 4:19...
, Epic Records (1975) - Slug LineSlug LineSlug Line was singer-songwriter John Hiatt's third album, released in 1979, after four years without a record deal. It was his first of two albums with MCA Records.-Track listing:All tracks written by John Hiatt, except where noted...
, MCA RecordsMCA RecordsMCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...
(1979) - Two Bit MonstersTwo Bit MonstersTwo Bit Monsters was singer-songwriter John Hiatt's fourth album, released in 1980. It was his second of two albums with MCA Records. It failed to chart, and MCA dropped Hiatt. "It Hasn't Happened Yet" would later be a minor country hit for Rosanne Cash off her album Somewhere in the Stars...
, MCA Records (1980) - All of a SuddenAll of a SuddenAll of a Sudden was singer-songwriter John Hiatt's fifth album, released in 1982. It was his first of three albums with Geffen Records.-Track listing:All tracks written by John Hiatt, except where noted#"I Look for Love" – 3:34...
, Geffen RecordsGeffen RecordsGeffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...
(1982) - Riding with the KingRiding with the KingRiding with the King was singer-songwriter John Hiatt's sixth album, released in 1983. It was his second of three albums with Geffen Records. Ron Nagle and Scott Mathews produced side one of the album at The Pen in San Francisco, with Mathews himself playing all instruments and all the...
, Geffen Records (1983) - Warming Up to the Ice AgeWarming Up to the Ice AgeWarming Up to the Ice Age was singer-songwriter John Hiatt's seventh album, released in 1985. It was his last album with Geffen Records, who dropped Hiatt after the album failed to chart. It was the last Hiatt studio album to miss the Billboard 200. "The Usual" would later be covered by Bob Dylan...
, Geffen Records (1985) - Bring the FamilyBring the FamilyBring the Family is John Hiatt's eighth album. It was his first album to chart on the Billboard 200, and featured his first single entry on the mainstream rock chart with "Thank You Girl". It features Ry Cooder on guitar, Nick Lowe on bass guitar and Jim Keltner on drums. The four would later...
, A&M RecordsA&M RecordsA&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
(1987) - Slow TurningSlow TurningSlow Turning was singer-songwriter John Hiatt's ninth album, released in 1988. It provided Hiatt's only significant radio hit with the title track, which features the memorable line "I'm yelling at the kids in the back, 'cause they're banging like Charlie Watts"...
, A&M Records (1988) - Stolen MomentsStolen Moments (John Hiatt album)Stolen Moments was singer-songwriter John Hiatt's tenth album, released in 1990. It was his highest charting solo album upon its release, peaking at #61. Joan Baez later covered "Through Your Hands" on her 1992 album Play Me Backwards, and David Crosby covered it on his 1993 record Thousand Roads...
, A&M Records (1990) - Perfectly Good GuitarPerfectly Good GuitarPerfectly Good Guitar was singer-songwriter John Hiatt's eleventh album, released in 1993. It was his last studio album with A&M Records. It was Hiatt's highest charting album ever, peaking in the top 50 of the Billboard 200...
, A&M Records (1993) - Walk OnWalk On (John Hiatt album)Walk On was singer-songwriter John Hiatt's thirteenth album, released in 1995. It was his first album with Capitol Records.-Track listing:All tracks written by John Hiatt#"Cry Love" – 4:20#"You Must Go" – 5:01#"Walk On" – 5:11...
, Capitol RecordsCapitol RecordsCapitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
(1995) - Little HeadLittle HeadLittle Head was singer-songwriter John Hiatt's fourteenth album, released in 1997. It was considered a big flop commercially as well as musically despite the fact that Hiatt and his band produced the album...
, Capitol Records (1997) - Crossing Muddy WatersCrossing Muddy WatersCrossing Muddy Waters was singer-songwriter John Hiatt's fifteenth album, released in 2000. A raw album recorded with no drummer, it was a purely acoustic album that brought elements of bluegrass music into his Americana sound. The title of the album is an intentional double entendre, referencing...
, Vanguard RecordsVanguard RecordsVanguard Records is a record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York. It started as a classical label, but is perhaps best known for its catalogue of recordings by a number of pivotal folk and blues artists from the 1960s; the Bach Guild was a subsidiary...
(2000) - The Tiki Bar is OpenThe Tiki Bar is OpenThe Tiki Bar is Open was singer-songwriter John Hiatt's sixteenth album, released in 2001. It was his last album with Vanguard Records. It was coincidentally released on September 11, 2001.-Track listing:All tracks written by John Hiatt...
, Vanguard Records (2001) - Beneath This Gruff ExteriorBeneath This Gruff ExteriorBeneath This Gruff Exterior was singer-songwriter John Hiatt's seventeenth album, released in 2003. It was his first album with New West Records, and it was also the only album on which backing band The Goners received front cover credit along with Hiatt .-Track...
, New West RecordsNew West RecordsNew West Records is a record label based in Los Angeles, California, Austin, Texas, and Athens, Georgia. It was established in 1998, and has been home to several indie rock and alternative country bands as well as representing the PBS show Austin City Limits...
(2003) - Master of DisasterMaster of DisasterMaster of Disaster is singer-songwriter John Hiatt's eighteenth album, released in 2005. The North Mississippi All-Stars back up Hiatt on this album.-Track listing:All tracks written by John Hiatt#"Master of Disaster" – 5:26...
, New West Records (2005) - Same Old ManSame Old ManSame Old Man is a 2008 album by John Hiatt. It was released May 27, 2008.-Tracklisting:# "Old Days"# "Love You Again"# "On With You"# "Hurt My Baby"# "What Love Can Do"# "Ride My Pony"# "Cherry Red"# "Our Time"# "Two Hearts"# "Same Old Man"...
, New West Records (2008) - The Open RoadThe Open Road (album)The Open Road is an album by John Hiatt, released in 2010 through the record label New West.-Track listing:# "The Open Road" – 4:34# "Haulin'" – 4:07# "Go Down Swingin'" – 3:40# "Like a Freight Train" – 6:00# "My Baby" – 4:12# "Homeland" – 4:47...
, New West Records (2010) - Dirty Jeans and Mudslide HymnsDirty Jeans and Mudslide HymnsDirty Jeans and Mudslide Hymns is an album by John Hiatt, released in August 2011 through the record label New West.-Track listing:# "Damn This Town" – 4:52# "'til I Get My Lovin' Back" – 3:27# "I Love That Girl" – 4:19# "All the Way Under" – 3:49...
, New West Records (2011)
Awards
- 2000 Nashville Music Awards: Songwriter/Artist of the Year
- 2008 Americana Music Association: Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting