The Best of John Hiatt [Capitol]

Performer: John Hiatt
Artist: The Persuasions; Ry Cooder; Rosanne Cash; Ashley Cleveland; Benmont Tench; Paul Carrack; Nick Lowe
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: Personnel includes: John Hiatt (vocals, acoustic, electric & tremelo guitars, acoustic & electric & Wurlitzer pianos); Rosanne Cash (vocals); Sonny Landreth (acoustic & electric guitar, 12-string guitar, slide guitar, steel guitar); Glen Ballard (acoustic & electric guitars, keyboards, programming); David Immergluck (electric, slide, pedal steel, lap steel & baritone guitars, mandolin, 3-stringed stick); Ry Cooder, Michael Landau (electric guitar); Ian McLagan (organ, Wurlitzer); Benmont Tench (organ); Paul Carrack (keyboards, background vocals); Davey Faragher (bass, loops, background vocals); Nick Lowe (bass, background vocals); Jim Keltner (drums); Lenny Castro (shaker, tamborine); The Persuasions, Ashley Cleveland (background vocals). Producers include: Glen Ballard, John Chelew, Nick Lowe, John Hiatt, Davey Faragher. Engineers include: Christopher Fogel, Larry Hirsch, Neil King. Includes liner notes by John Hiatt. "Have A Little Faith In Me" was nominated for the 1999 Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance and Best Rock Song. Personnel: John Hiatt (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano, electric piano); Scott Mathews (vocals, vibraphone, 6-string bass, drums); Rosanne Cash (vocals); David Immergl�ck (guitar, electric guitar, slide guitar, lap steel guitar, mandolin); Ethan Johns (guitar, drums); Doug Yankus, Martin Belmont, Matt Wallace , Michael Ward (guitar); Glen Ballard (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, keyboards, programming); Greg Leisz (acoustic guitar, 12-string guitar); Michael Landau, Ry Cooder (electric guitar); Ravi Oli (electric sitar); David Ranson (Fender Rhodes piano); Ian McLagan (organ, Wurlitzer organ); Todd Cochrane, Benmont Tench (organ); Paul Carrack (keyboards, background vocals); Paul "Wix" Wickens (synthesizer); Nick Lowe (electric bass, background vocals); Jon Paris (bass guitar); Gary Ferguson (drums, shaker); Michael Urbano, Brian MacLeod (drums, percussion); Brian McCloud, Jim Keltner, B.J. Wilson, Bobby Irwin (drums); Lenny Castro (shaker, tambourine); Shad T. Scott (programming); Davey Faragher, Dennis Locorriere, The Studio Sausages, Shaun Mariani, Mike Finnigan, Russ Taff, Shannon McNally, Ashley Cleveland, Jean McClain (background vocals). Audio Mixers: Clif Norrell; Glyn Johns; Jack Joseph Puig; Larry Hirsch; Matt Wallace ; Scott Mathews. Recording information: Eden Studios; Ocean Way, Los Angeles, CA; Ronnie Milsap's Groundstar Labs, Nashville, TN; Tongue & G. Photographer: Chapman Baehler. Unknown Contributor Role: John Philip Shenale. If there's any contemporary singer-songwriter deserving of the anthology treatment, it's John Hiatt. Not only has he created timeless works of passion and humor like BRING THE FAMILY and SLOW TURNING, he's provided career-turning hits for everyone from Bonnie Raitt to Buddy Guy. Here we get an overview of the Hiatt catalogue, and a glimpse at the breadth of Hiatt's compositional expertise. The simple, poignant piano-based ballad "Have a Little Faith in Me" kicks things off nicely. The churning, gutbucket rock & roll of the acerbic "Memphis in the Meantime" showcases Hiatt's ability to rock with humor. The panoramic "Child of the Wild Blue Yonder" is representative of Hiatt's later, more polished work. Throughout this collection, Hiatt's rough, endearingly quirky voice lends a valuable idiosyncracy to these lyrically inventive roots-rock gems, which incorporate, rock, pop, soul and country to create an accessible but intelligent sound that is uniquely John Hiatt.

Entertainment Weekly (8/21-8/28/98, p.126) - "The title is a misnomber since Hiatt's been with Capitol only since '95 and this classiest of roots-pop singer-songwriters has been recording since the '70s....Suggested title: SOME OF THE BEST OF JOHN HIATT." - Rating: B Q (10/00, p.144) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...[His] songs nearly always find love going very bad indeed....tracks such as 'Angel Eyes' are just the kind of songs you're doomed to hear on the radio just after your lover has disappeared with the VCR and the cat..."

Over the decades, and in various quests to land his audience, the presentation of Hiatt's resilient songs changed to fit the times. Beginning in the mid-'70s, he went from singer-songwriter to Elvis Costello-ish rocker to progressive-country/adult alternative icon. However, they all bear the craft of a superlative writer who finds his voice with both tender ballads and hotwired rockers.

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