Conference napalm::guitar

    Mark,

    Stolen Moments is the follow up to Slow Turning. I'd rate it somewhere
    between Bring the Family and Slow Turning. I think the Goners really
    held Slow Turning together, especially behind the exquisite slide work
    by Landreth. They gave the album a consistancy and they were perfect
    for the material.

    If you're a fan, I'd say you should have Stolen Moments. The most played
    track is (She's a Child of the) Wild Blue Yonder. But it has a few
    tracks that are down-right chilling. Ten Little Indians is about his
    father and siblings.

    Hiatt also plays plenty of electric guitar tracks. Plays solos in a few
    songs (can't thin of which). He's the only electric guitar on one of the
    tracks on Bonnie Raitt's Luck of the Draw LP. He can hold his own on a
    Tele.

    I like his new one but the lead work gets on my nerves after a while.
    It's good on some of the tracks but not all. I just picked it up and
    need to listen through it a few more times. But I can tell you that
    Buffalo River Home gave me goose bumps both times I've played it.
    
    Hiatt is more than just prolific, he's a lyrical genius. I think that
    right now he's about the best songwriter in America. His music should
    somday have a place in the Smithsonean.

    The opening to Icy Blue Heart:

      She came onto him like a slow moving cold front
      His beer was warmer than the look in her eye
      She sat on a stool, he said "What do you want?"
      She said "Give me a love that don't freeze up inside."

    --Ron (Hiatt fan, DUH!)

    Hiatt has actually been recording since about 1975 when he did two LPs
    for Epic in Nashville.
    
    After bombing in the C&W market (though Epic has reissued these on CD
    after many years out of print), he went "new wave" with MCA.  I have
    one of the two LPs ("Slug Line"),  where he has Jon Paris on second
    guitar (Jon had played bass and harp for Johnny Winter).  This stuff is
    heavily in the style of early Elvis Costello or Joe Jackson.
    
    Then it was off to Geffen for a few records, including "Riding With The
    King" where on one side he is backed up by Rockpile, "Welcome To The
    Ice Age" where Costello provides some backing vox and "All Of A Sudden"
    which has loads of synths and sounds like a Cars album with a hangover.
    
    I *think* some of the MCA and Geffen stuff has been reissued on CD.
    
    The one constant is the excellent songwriting.  His output since "Bring
    The Family" is not nearly as frantic in the playing and production, I
    would guess because that was when he kicked the obligatory drug and
    alcohol problem.
    
    							Brian

Like Willie Nelson, Hiatt was well-known (in the industry, not to the public)
as a songwriter long before he had any appreciable success as a performer.
*Lot's* of people have done John Hiatt songs over the years.  Of course,
being the space cadet that I am, I can't think of hardly any of them right
at the moment, other than the Bonnie Raitt one mentioned earlier and
Emmylou Harris doing "Icy Blue Heart".

-Hal

    
    If you like him (as do I), try to catch the Austin City Limits
    show he did.....*excellent* work! They replay it from time to
    time and its worth watching out for.
    
    DAP
    

I'm a fan, too. I like Stolen Moments and think the work holds up rather well. As 
cited in an earlier response, Ten Little Indians is a stunning piece - quite 
chilling in the tale. Hiatt can do that.

I like a lot of the new album, but it hasn't floored me - yet. Maybe it'll grow.

Hiatt has been around quite a while and has been recorded by a large group of 
folks. I have a great album called Western Beat by Kevin Welch, another 
singer/song writer from Nashville. He includes an old (1978?) Hiatt tune called 
The Train to Birmingham that is a dynamite folk ballad.

I agree with the earlier assessment of Little Village. I think it misses because 
the album was done NOT as a John Hiatt effort, but as a team effort. Too much 
democracy. Which, IMO, does not help make good art.

Finally, there is a local radio station here in the Denver area - KBCO - that 
invites artists in to their Studio C when they are in town for interviews and live 
acoustic sets. John was on about 5-6 weeks ago and did 6 tunes, including debuting  
5 tunes from the new album. Way cool to hear him in that setting. KBCO has put out 
3 albums of work from artists who have been to Studio C. The CDs are in limited 
distribution (only in their listening area) and are terrific. The artists include 
Hiatt, James Taylor, Shawn Colvin, Fish, Crash Test Dummies, etc. all doing 
acoustic numbers. Very exiciting stuff.

Paul

re: .0

> Ravi Oli on electric sitar

Didn't he play with the calypso band La Zagna?

    I thought he was in a world music / polka fusion
    ensemble, led by accordionist Al Dente

    Al Dente! Ho ho! Good one, rick!

    Regarding early Hiatt recordings that Brian mentioned back in .2:

    I recently picked up a Hiatt CD called "Y'all Caught?" issued by Geffen
    containing a compilation of tracks from his Epic/MCA days. This is
    definitely a CD that should be considered only by hard core Hiatt fan's.
    I like it simply because it gives me a reference point as to how far
    he's come.

    --Ron

    I caught Little Village when they were on tour in the UK,and being a
    fan of each member (Ry Cooder,Hiatt,Nick Lowe and Jim Keltner) was
    expecting a real big event.....very disappointing.
    	There was no synergy,the whole was not greater than the sum of the
    parts,and the best parts were when each member did one of their own
    songs and the rest played backup.
    	Still wear the T shirt,tho',cuz I bought it on the way IN to the
    show ! 
    		Jim.
    

    There is cut on the CD. I think its called Big Love, or something.
    Its got some real slooooww cool slide on it. Its got a lot of
    tension to it. I really liked it after a couple of plays.
    
    jim

Big Love is a great tune.

I mentioned Ten Little Indians back a few. It's should be Seven.

Yeah, right. I got the number of little indians wrong. Still a great song.

I think the observation on the concert is interesting. Many people anticipated 
really great things from Little Village and came away disappointed - just as you 
did from the concert. That sums up my take on the album. Certainly there was more 
to that group of players when Hiatt fronted them on Bring the Family. Goes to show 
what happens in a musical democracy may not be for the best. Too bad.

I continue to listen to Perfectly Good Guitar and like the song and the album. I 
also agree that some of the guitar work seems a bit too strident, but the writing 
and the songs are great. After listening a lot to the title cut, I feel that it 
has a lot of Neil Young in it - stright ahead guitar work, simple but good story 
line. I like it a lot.

Paul

    I also noticed the similarity of Perfectly Good Guitar with Neil Young's
    "Rocking in the USA" of whatever it was. The opening track "Something
    Wild" sounds a bit like a Smithereens tune.

    One of my all time favorite Hiatt Tunes is off the "Bring the Family"
    disc.....**Tip of my tongue**   This is a nice ballad with beautiful
    finger-style guitar accompanyment. I still can't figure if an electric 
    or acoustic guitar was used on this tune.
    
    Another great tune off this album is "Have a little faith in me", 
    which consists of Hiatt singing gospel-style with piano accompanyment. 
    He really has a super powerful voice and this tune showcases it.
    
    If anyone out there in guitarland hasn't been turned on to Hiatt yet,
    you don't know what you're missing. 
    
    Mark

    Right on, Mark. "Have A Little Faith In Me" is one monstrous bit of
    songwriting. How someone like this knows how to reach down to the depths
    of his soul and commit to words and music feelings that are so
    overwhelmingly personal is a complete mystery to me. He says more about
    the human condition in those lyrics than what's been written in the
    previous 200 years of literature. At the show I went to he did this tune
    solo on a Wurlitzer Electric Piano. A big hall with a pinspot on him. It
    was pure magic.

    If my older brother, who took me to so many shows back in the late
    sixties were alive today, I'd take him to see John Hiatt. And if the
    show was half as good as the one I went to, I tell him "We're even".

    --Ron

    	No question, John Hiatt is one of the premiere American songwriters
    now. And he does have a great voice. THe "Bring The Family" album
    abounds with great vocal performances; as mentioned before, "Tip Of My
    Tongue" is a great performance. I particularly remember a song called
    "Love Like Blood" that had a great soulful vocal; I can't remember
    which LP it was on.
    
    	John's great. I've been a "mild" fan since the "Warming Up To The
    Ice Age" album, but "Bring The Family" really made me a follower.
    
    
    	Brad
    

	John Hiatt was on "The Tonight Show" last night. They squeezed 
    him into the last 5 minutes of the show. Just enough time to perform 
   "Perfectly Good Guitar" and talk to Jay for about 2 minutes.

	John was playing a Takamine acoustic electric. His lead guitarist 
    was playing a Gretch thin-hollow body. This guy does sound a lot like 
    Niel Young. 

	At the end of the song, John Hiatt smashed the Takamine guitar 
    against the stage monitors and it disintigrated into pieces on the stage. 	

	After the tune, John sat with Jay, and his other guests (Rosanne 
    Arnold, and Barry Goldwater). Someone asked if he smashed a guitar at 
    every show, and he said "only the Big ones". He also mentioned that he 
    stopped in Nashville on his way to The Tonight Show to celebrate his 
    step-son's 16th birthday. He came across as being very humble and low 
    keyed. I got a kick out of his attire. He was wearing a pair of bib 
    overalls, construction boots, and a baseball cap. One of the guys in his 
    band (bass player?) had his head shaved and looked a little like *Uncle 
    Fester*.

	This lark appearence left me wanting more. I'd love to see the
    Austin City Limits segment, but I don't get cable. I taped the show
    last night. Anyone wanna swap?

	BTW, how is "Warming up to the Ice Age"? I've got all of his 
    recent stuff and still crave more, but I don't need no stinkin'
    Elvis Costello album !
    
    	Mark
    
    
	Mark	

re: .17

>	At the end of the song, John Hiatt smashed the Takamine guitar 
>    against the stage monitors and it disintigrated into pieces on the stage. 	

Aauuuggghhh!!!!  What a waste of a perfectly good guitar!

>	This lark appearence left me wanting more. I'd love to see the
>    Austin City Limits segment, but I don't get cable. I taped the show
>    last night. Anyone wanna swap?

Austin City Limits isn't on cable, it's on PBS.

-Hal

    >           <<< Note 2828.18 by TAMRC::LAURENT "Hal Laurent @ COP" >>>
    >
    >re: .17
    >
    >>       At the end of the song, John Hiatt smashed the Takamine guitar
    >>    against the stage monitors and it disintigrated into pieces on the
    >     stage.
    >
    >Aauuuggghhh!!!!  What a waste of a perfectly good guitar!
    
    It makes me sick when I hear about someone doing this.  I guess it's a
    good thing I've never actually seen it happen.
    
    Paul

    In JH own words:
    
    	"There oughta be a law..  smash a guitar and go to jail"

    I guess maybe he was showin' everybody what he was talking about. Of
    course, to people who really weren't paying attention to what he was
    singing, he just looked like a jerk. I saw it and it *was* pretty weird.

                                            Ron

    At least it was only a Tamamine...		;^)

re: .22

>    At least it was only a Tamamine...		;^)

Hey, you got any "only a Takamine"s lying around you'd like to 
give me? :-) :-)

-Hal

    After looking at the tape again, I think the guitar he smashed
    might have been a Yamaha, rather than a Tak. Not much differance.
    
    Mark

	John Hiatt will be playing (at least) 2 shows in Boston
    in the near future. He has one show scheduled at the Berkely
    Performing Arts Center which is sold-out. There is another
    show planned for Saturday, Jan 29, at the Avalon on Landsdown
    St. Tickets are still available for the Avalon Show ($15.00).
    
    	Mark (hard-core Hiatt fan).

    As I write this, Hiatt is playing at the Sting in New Britain CT and
    WHCN Hartford is broadcasting it live. The tape is rolling. The sound is
    most excellent. Party on Wayne. Party on Garth.

    --Ron

    Sounds like the show at the "Sting" was most excellant. I'd love to
    hear the tape (hint-hint)!
    
    Mark
    

    Saw his Berkleey gig on the 30th...truly religious experience.
    
    Mark.

Yes, the Berkley gig was an eye opener.

Jim

>    Saw his Berkleey gig on the 30th...truly religious experience.

Hiatt on Letterman tonight, I think.

    
    
    Yeah, he was there at the tail end...for once, Paul Schafer didn't
    force himself on the visiting act...the rest of the band joined in,
    well maybe the brass section sat out.  JH has got a little goatee
    action going now and a kid playing guitar with a little nod to the
    grunge scene.  The director didn't have a clue...showed closeups of
    Hiatt's and the kid's hands while the guy in Schafer's band was playing the lead
    fills...so that's how you play those tricky rhythm parts!!!
    
    

    The "kid" is Mike Ward, and I frankly look forward to the day when Hiatt
    teams up with a different player.

    --Ron

What did Hiatt play?

As for Hiatt hooking up with another player, this kid (Mike Ward) follows
Ry Cooder and Sonny Landreth.  That's pretty fast company.

Jim

    
    
    Hiatt played a 12 string electro-accoustic kind of thing, didn't catch
    the brand.  The tune was "Cross My Fingers" or a song with those lyrics
    in the chorus.  He changed it to "let's go, Rangers" a couple of times.
    
    

    I was surprised at that choice for a song. It might have been changed at
    the last minute because his segment got squashed into the last 5 minutes
    of the show due to an appearance by the Stanley Cup and some of its new
    owners. Maybe they had to pick a shorter tune. It's certainly not one of
    his more memorable tunes.

>    As for Hiatt hooking up with another player, this kid (Mike Ward)
>    follows Ry Cooder and Sonny Landreth.  That's pretty fast company.

    It sure is, though he's not in their league. I figger Hiatt was looking
    to make a different kind of sound this time around, what with tunes like
    "Perfectly Good Guitar" and "Something Wild". And Ward does a decent job
    on those tracks. It's just that he's ill suited for most of the rest of
    Hiatt's material AND he overplays (to my ears) on just about everything.

    BTW, Ward has one weird Gibson. What the hell is that thing. It looks
    like an ES-335 that has some kind of asymetrical problem. I'm pretty
    sure it says Gibson on the headstock. I got one good look at it.
    

    That's a Les Paul Signature model, one of their early 70's abominations;
    Gold Top, low impedance pickups, assymetrical semi-hollow.  Remember
    the GP ads for these, featuring a deranged looking rocker in a white
    suit?
    
    The bass versions of these have surged in popularity recently, thanks
    to Jack Casady who's currently using one.
    

    John Hiatt has a new Live disk out these days entitled "John Hiatt
    comes alive at Budakan". The title is a spoof, as all of the tunes
    were recorded at various venues here in the good ole US of A. This
    album contains cuts from his last 4 albums and makes for great 
    listening. I highly recommend it for fan's and curiosity seekers
    alike. I've seen this disk at bargain prices, which is an added
    bonus for fans. 
    
    Mark