"Cracked Rear View"

Boy, I'll tell you that Hiatt must be good if everyone agrees that Slow Turning and Bring The Family are clearly his best.  Both are superior records, IMO, but Stolen Moments is one of my all-time favorite records.  Personally, I prefer it to Family, but I'm not gonna argue with you if you disagree.

I went to see John on his Perfectly Good Guitar tour, and his opening act had just begun her last song as I entered The Roxy Theater on Sunset Blvd. As I listened, I thought to myself "Hey, this is a good song, she's a good singer, and this is a good band". It was Sheryl Crow and the song was "Run Baby Run". I started making it to shows earlier after that!

"bring the family" was his critical/commercial breakthru and is  very good, but my favorite was always "two bit monsters," which i believe to be one of the best-written singer-songwriter records of the 80s. much closer to new wave/pub-rock than to the earthier, folkier stuff he evolved into, tho "pink bedroom" was a country hit for somebody.

This thread has renewed my appreciation for John Hiatt and made me got back and listen to his work again.

Last night, I listened, (via Tidal) to "Slow Turning" and "Bring The Family" back to back.

I really like "Bring The Family" better.  Both are indeed excellent.

Tonight, I will try the above mentioned "Stolen Moments" and "Two Bit Monsters".  

Thanks for the recommendations.

Bdp,

I saw a show on the Good Guitar tour at Irving Place in NYC.  I caught Crow's entire set and was also impressed, tho I do remember thinking that she was so little that it was hard to see her behind her guitar.

The other memory of that night was how hard Hiatt's band rocked.  I'd seen him play several times prior to that show and he was usually in some variation of singer/songwriter mode.  Not that night - that band just tore it up!

My other Hiatt memory came some years later.  I was having dinner with my then girlfriend at Santorini, a small Greek restaurant two blocks from The Bottom Line, a club where I'd just seen Hiatt play that night.  In walks.....John Hiatt!  After a bit he got up (presumably for a bathroom break) and walked by my table.  I said, "John, I just want to tell you that your music has been a really happy thing in my life."

He asked my name and responded "Thank you, Marty, when I hear people say that kind of thing, it makes me feel good about the choices I've made."  It was a nice moment that's stayed with me for over twenty years.

BTW,  Two Bit Monsters, Slug Line, Hanging Around The Observatory and all of the early Hiatt LPs are all terrific records.  At that time, I always thought of Hiatt as a Southern fried Bob Dylan disciple.  Maybe it's time for me to revisit those records.

They were different from the "golden era" Hiatt records discussed here: A bit less polished, but still very effective, IMO.  Oddly, his more recent, bluesier stuff fecalls those early records for me.  For better and for worse.