John Hiatt

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John Hiatt (2010)
John Hiatt at the ZMF 2015 in Freiburg
John Hiatt at the ZMF 2015 in Freiburg

John Hiatt (born August 20, 1952 in Indianapolis , Indiana ) is an American guitarist , pianist and singer-songwriter . His styles include new wave , blues , country and southern rock .

Beginnings

John Hiatt gained his first musical experience in high school bands. At the age of 18 he moved to Nashville , where he was signed to work as a songwriter with a music publisher and played in the local club scene. He achieved his first success in 1974 when the group Three Dog Night had a top 20 hit with his Sure as I'm Sittin 'Here . In the same year he received a record deal with the Epic label. Two LPs were produced, but they only sold disappointingly.

Hiatt left Nashville and moved to Los Angeles. Through the mediation of the guitarist Leo Kottke , he received a contract with the MCA Records label. Again two albums were produced and again, despite good reviews, sales were poor. At the end of the decade he was again without a contract.

Career

In 1980 Hiatt joined Ry Cooder . Established musicians like Dave Edmunds , Rosanne Cash or Ry Cooder himself increasingly resorted to his material and achieved remarkable success with it. His reputation as a songwriter earned him a new record deal in 1981. Again the first two albums flopped. Hiatt, who drank from an early age, was losing control of himself. His alcohol consumption exceeded the tolerable level. In 1985, his second wife committed suicide. After completing another album, he underwent rehab.

In 1986 he remarried and received another record deal, this time with the A&M label. The LP Bring The Family played John Hiatt with Ry Cooder, Nick Lowe and Jim Keltner ; the record almost made it into the top 100. A first modest success. The follow-up album, Slow Turning , even reached number 98. Other performers were more successful with his songs. Rosanne Cash achieved a number 1 hit with The Way We Make a Broken Heart and Earl Thomas Conley won a CMA Award in 1991 with Bring Back Your Love to Me .

In 1991 Hiatt, Cooder, Lowe and Keltner formed the band Little Village . After only producing one album of the same name, they split up again. John Hiatt took up solo albums again, but, as usual, only reached medium hit parade spots. He switched to the Capitol label in 1995. Again, good quality albums were released, but the great sales success was denied. A move to Vanguard in 2000 did not bring the commercial breakthrough either.

Instruments

John Hiatt prefers to play Gibson branded acoustic guitars , mainly J-45 models. In his honor, the company that brought John Hiatt J-45 - signature guitar out.

Discography

Albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
DE DE CH CH UK UK US US
1987 Bring the family - - - US107 (17 weeks)
US
AT THE
1988 Slow turning - - - US98 (31 weeks)
US
AT THE
1990 Stolen moments DE68 (6 weeks)
DE
CH25 (5 weeks)
CH
UK72 (1 week)
UK
US61 (19 weeks)
US
AT THE
1993 Perfectly good guitar DE89 (3 weeks)
DE
CH11 (10 weeks)
CH
UK67 (1 week)
UK
US47 (11 weeks)
US
AT THE
1995 Walk on DE49 (2 weeks)
DE
CH49 (2 weeks)
CH
UK74 (1 week)
UK
US48 (9 weeks)
US
Capitol
1997 Little Head - - - US111 (4 weeks)
US
Capitol
2000 Crossing Muddy Waters - - - US110 (4 weeks)
US
Vanguard 79576
2001 The Tiki Bar Is Open DE86 (1 week)
DE
CH84 (2 weeks)
CH
- US89 (5 weeks)
US
Vanguard 79593
2003 Beneath This Gruff Exterior - - - US73 (4 weeks)
US
New West NW 6045
John Hiatt & the Goners
2005 Master of Disaster - - - US126 (3 weeks)
US
New West NW 6076
2008 Same Old Man - - - US84 (3 weeks)
US
New West NW 6145
2010 The Open Road - - - US72 (2 weeks)
US
New West NW 6182
2011 Dirty Jeans and Mudslide Hymns DE61 (1 week)
DE
- UK99 (1 week)
UK
US59 (4 weeks)
US
New West NW 6206
2012 Mystic pinball - CH90 (1 week)
CH
- US39 (2 weeks)
US
New West NW 6260
2014 Terms of My Surrender DE86 (1 week)
DE
CH41 (1 week)
CH
UK80 (1 week)
UK
US47 (4 weeks)
US
New West NW 6284
2018 The Eclipse Sessions DE74 (1 week)
DE
CH43 (1 week)
CH
- US162 (1 week)
US

More albums

  • 1974: Hanging Around the Observatory (Epic)
  • 1975: Overcoats (Epic)
  • 1979: Slug Line (MCA)
  • 1980: Two Bit Monsters (MCA)
  • 1982: All of a Sudden (Geffen)
  • 1983: Ridin 'with the King (Geffen)
  • 1985: Warming Up to the Ice Age (Geffen)
  • 1989: Y'all Caught? (Geffen)
  • 1994: Hiatt Comes Alive at Budokan (A&M)
  • 2006: Live from Austin Texas (New West NW 6086)
  • 2006: Live at the Hiatt (HIP-OSelect)
  • 2013: My Kind of Town (Goldfish GOLF 003)
  • 2013: Here to Stay - The Best of 2000-2012 (New West NW 6300)

Singles

year Title
album
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
UK UK
1995 Cry love
UK99 (1 week)
UK

Cover songs

  • Bob Dylan : The Usual (Album: Hearts of Fire, 1987)
  • Rosanne Cash : The Way We Make a Broken Heart (Album: King's Record Shop, 1987)
  • Bonnie Raitt : Thing Called Love (Album: Nick of Time, 1989)
  • Iggy Pop : Something Wild (Album: Brick by Brick, 1990)
  • Bill Frisell : Have a Little Faith in Me (Album: Live, 1991)
  • Joan Baez : Through Your Hands (Album: Play Me Backwards, 1992)
  • Suzy Bogguss : Drive South (Album: Voices in the Wind, 1992)
  • Willie Nelson : Across the Borderline (Album: Across the Borderline, 1993)
  • Bruce Springsteen : Across the Borderline (Album: Unplugged - Live in the USA, 1993)
  • David Crosby : Through Your Hands (Album: Thousand Roads, 1993)
  • Joe Cocker : Have a Little Faith in Me (Album: Have a Little Faith in Me, 1994)
  • Jewel : Have a Little Faith in Me (Album: Phenomenon OST, 1996)
  • Ilse DeLange : Child Of The Wild Blue Yonder, Angel Eyes, Have A Little Faith In Me and 6 more (Album: Dear John, 1999)
  • Adam Duritz & Friends Crossing Muddy Waters (Album: Adam & Immy at the Shim Sham Club, 2000)
  • Chaka Khan : Have a Little Faith in Me (Album: Disappearing Acts OST, 2000)
  • Elvis Costello : Living a Little, Laughing a Little (Album: Nashville & More, 2000)
  • BB King & Eric Clapton : Riding with the King (Album: Riding with the King, 2000)
  • Bob Seger : Detroit Made (Album: Ride Out, 2014)

swell

  1. The John Hiatt J-45 Signature on gibson.com , accessed May 11, 2012
  2. a b Chart sources: DE CH UK US

Web links

Commons : John Hiatt  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files