As I’m writing this I’m listening to John Hiatt drawl “Perfectly Good Guitar” an awesome song made even better by John Hiatt’s perky, drawling vocals and the lyrics go…
Oh it breaks my heart to see those stars
Smashing a perfectly good guitar
I don’t know who they think they are
Smashing a perfectly good guitar
I’m on a new high on my musical journey these days, in that I’m discovering new artists and going back in time to do that considering most of what’s turned out these days is crap. Now coming to John Hiatt, chances are you don’t know him and have not heard about him, but even greater are the chances you have heard him. Why you may wonder? Because while John Hiatt has not gained much fame as a singer/performer, he has however gained enormous success as a songwriter and you would have heard him on Bonnie Raitt’s "A Thing Called Love", Suzy Bogguss’ “Drive South", Rosanne Cash’s "The Way We Mend a Broken Heart", Jeff Healey’s "Angel Eyes", Aaron Neville’s "Feels Like Rain" among others. If not at the very least I am sure you would have heard “Have a Little Faith in Me” and John Hiatt’s own rendition of it results in an amazing number.
This particular album mentioned here The Best Of John Hiatt features all of these songs delivered in John Hiatt’s imitable vocal drawl and the result is a very good and a very enjoyable collection of songs, in fact a must have album. This collection is as good a place to start and discover John Hiatt for oneself. While fans of John Hiatt would obviously be disappointed and bemoan the fact that their particular favorite song is missing from this compilation, this is still a very good compilation and selection of songs especially for those who are out to discover John Hiatt for themselves. The recording quality too is good, just not audiophile quality but what is these days unless one is willing to spend thousands of dollars on the very best of equipment to begin with. I have however discovered a way to generate audiophile quality music on my system but more of that in a latter/upcoming post (so stick around). Anyways coming back to this album it’s a treasure trove of an undiscovered artist/performer/songwriter and truly some great songs so go ahead and get this album for your personal collection, you’ll not be disappointed. Of course if you’ve already discovered John Hiatt for yourself and own a few or quite a few of his albums you’ll undoubtedly find those songs/tracks in your own collection back home so you might want to give this album a miss… but for those out to discover some great music this is a must have addition to your collection, take my word for it.
You can buy this album from Amazon at -
good to see your posts after a very long time