Biography of John Hiatt

One of the longest-gestating singer/songwriters of the last quarter-century, and one of the best, John Hiatt left his native Indianapolis in 1970 (after high school) to go to Nashville and write songs. He signed up with Epic Records and made two albums, Hangin' Around the Observatory (1974) and Overcoats (1975), which demonstrated his powerful songwriting ability but didn't draw customers. He signed to MCA in Los Angeles in the late '70s and released Slug Line (1979) and Two Bit Monsters (1980), still without gaining a commercial following. Then came a stint on Geffen that produced All of a Sudden (1982), Riding with the King (1983), and Warming Up to the Ice Age (1985). All increased his visibility without really breaking through.But in 1987, Hiatt went into the studio with old friends Ry Cooder and Nick Lowe, plus drummer Jim Keltner, and came out with his first chart album, Bring the Family. That album's follow-ups, Slow Turning (1988), Stolen Moments (1990), and Perfectly Good Guitar (1993) have demonstrated Hiatt's maturity as a writer and his flowering as a performer, resulting in some of the best singer/songwriter rock of the era. In 1992, Hiatt again teamed with Cooder, Lowe, and Keltner, this time in a group called Little Village that released a well-received debut album.John Hiatt's songs have been covered by Rick Nelson, Dave Edmunds, the Searchers, Three Dog Night, Conway Twitty, Maria Muldaur, Rodney Crowell, Bob Dylan, the Neville Brothers, and many others. ~ William Ruhlmann