Tuesday, December 20, 2011

John Hiatt "Dirty Jeans and Mudslide Hymns"


I had a good friend in the early 80's who kept pushing this guy on me, extolling the virtues of the songwriting.  I had seen the LP's come into the WPRK studios in college and dropped a needle on them briefly to provide a category and a short synopsis for the other DJ's.  I believe it was the whiny voice that put me off.  Ten years and a half dozen records go by, and then one day in 1993, in our Music 4 Less promo bag of goodies (Hutch was our favorite CSMS contact :) was this sampler:

Playing this compilation on a regular basis allowed me to GET what my friend years earlier was alluding to.  Culled from what is arguably his finest stretch of recordings (well, I loved "Perfectly Good Guitar", most reviewers didn't feel the same way), I understood the songwriting aspect of it.  But as I go back through my collection of John Hiatt, I realize that it contains mostly songs, not full-lengths.  Of the eight albums since "...Guitar", I have one in its entirety.  I will now add DJ & MH as the third. 

The man has written some great songs made famous by others.  How about "Angel Eyes", "Have A Little Faith In Me" and "Ridin' With The King" for example.  I hear this track as a hit for somebody in Nashville, for certain...



Yes, if I had to stick a category label on this record I'd have to file it in Country, with a cross-file in Rock.  Why?  This is the opening track...



The quality of the recording itself was so impressive that I had to investigate.  Found out it was recorded in Ben Fold's studio in Nashville, which was originally a historic RCA room, and produced by Kevin Shirley, currently one of the most in-demand knob spinners around.  Guess that explains that.  Throw in ten great songs (so there's one semi-turkey) and Hiatt's touring band, which includes one of my favorite, most versatile bassists of all-time, Patrick O'Hearn, and you have a keeper. 

If you like country music, you will love this record.  Just play it at least three times before passing judgement.  I guarantee you'll be singing along...

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