John Hiatt
Hiattology
(Tendolar #TDR-116, 71:42)
SOURCE: Tracks 1 – 10, unnamed venue, Ottawa Canada, January 4, 1989; tracks 11 – 14, unnamed venue, Hamburg Germany Listed as December 1989 but probably from
SOUND QUALITY: Tracks 1 – 10, very good soundboard (8-9) offering crisp vocals and instrumentation with volume dropping a bit across tracks nine and ten. Tracks 11 – 12 are very good audience (7-8) with a slight bit of hollowness, overly bright vocals and editing dropouts between songs.
COVER: Front offers single-sided color portrait of Hiatt copped from an old album cover while the back offers another nicked photo and track information. Silver disc just shows the Tendolar name and the Hiattology title. Amusingly enough, the title is spelled correctly on the disc but misspelled on the front cover.
TRACKLIST: Memphis In The Meantime/ Drive South/ Thank You Girl/ Tip Of My Tongue/ Tennessee Plates/ Alone In The Dark/ Ride Along/ Is Anybody There?/ Paper Thin/ Thing Called Love/ I Don’t Even Try/ Love That Harms/ Love Like Blood/ Falling Up
COMMENTS: John Hiatt definitely falls into the category of “one of the best artists that you’ve never heard.” The consummate songwriter and a perennial critic’s favorite, Hiatt’s checkered career has seen him jump from label to label in search of some degree of security and commercial success. Along the way, he’s made over a dozen albums for almost half a dozen labels, created some great music, some music that was good but not great, and excelled musically in genres ranging from folk-oriented singer/songwriter material to angry “new wave” rave-ups to soulful, blues-infused rock.
Even if you’re unfamiliar with Hiatt as an artist, chances are that you’ve heard some of his work nonetheless – performers as stylistically diverse as Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, the Neville Brothers, Iggy Pop, and a slew of country types have recorded Hiatt songs, some with great chart success. Nevertheless, Hiatt remains somewhat of an obscurity, a talented and charismatic artist whose best efforts tend to bubble just under the mainstream. As such, Hiattology is a one of a rare breed – a John Hiatt bootleg – of which only a handful are known to exist. The disc features a performance from what is generally considered to be the commercial and critical peak of Hiatt’s career, the three-year period circa 1987-1989 that surrounds the release of his Bring the Family and Slow Turning albums.
A fine soundboard recording from a January 1989 performance in Ottawa, Canada, the entire set showcased by Hiattology is drawn from the two aforementioned albums. Hiatt’s faithful legions of fans know this material like the back of their hands and it does, indeed, represent some of his best songs. Hiatt toured with a pick-up band dubbed the Goners during this period, this performance featuring the wonderful slide guitar of Sonny Landreth. All the material here is solid, but some songs stand out: “Memphis In the Meantime” is given a soulful, extended rendition while “Tennessee Plates” offers some particularly tasty riffage courtesy of Mr. Landreth. “Drive South” is pretty lively and “Thing Called Love,” a breakthrough hit for Bonnie Raitt, is performed here with heart, though less sass than Raitt’s version. Whoever edited this disc left in Hiatt’s between-song comments and intro, which definitely adds to the listening experience.
The final four songs on Hiattology are listed as from a December 1989 performance in Germany and feature guest stars Nick Lowe and Paul Carrack. Provided Hiatt’s onstage comments and given that the material is taken entirely from an earlier Hiatt album, Riding With the King, that was made with Lowe and Carrack, these songs are probably taken instead from a 1984 or ’85 performance. The four songs are good, but the true appeal of Hiattology lies in the Ottawa material. For those unfamiliar with Hiatt, this collection is a good way to discover the talents of this underappreciated performer and songwriter.
Review originally published by Live! Music Review zine, 1999
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