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Lyle Lovett, John Hiatt, Joe Ely, Guy Clark

I saw these four gentlemen perform together last night. Four chairs, four guitars, and them sitting in a row on the stage. Each taking a turn playing their songs. It was an amazing performance. After last night, I want to expose myself to more of John Hiatt's music. He has a really quirky voice and a wry way of looking at the world, plus his guitar playing really impressed me. Can anyone recommend some of his music for me? I would love to get my hands on some of his work on vinyl, but CD/SACD will work as well. It was great to see a show in which everyone on the stage was an equal, each sharing, laughing, and applauding the other's playing. As usual, Lyles voice was wonderful, and Ely and Clark have always been a treat to listen to, with their songs of West Texas. What a great night! 2 1/2 hours of wonderful music making. If this tour makes it to your area, don't miss it.
slipknot1
reubent
7,004 posts
 
Sk1,

I really like John Hiatt (and the other artist you saw last night!) Sounds like a great show. BTW, I would pay good money to see that one!

For Hiatt, look no further that his "The Best of John Hiatt". Unlike some "best of" collections, this 1998 Capitol release is very good and is generally well recorded on CD. My favorite cuts on this disk are "Drive South", "Buffalo River Home", "Feels Like Rain (WOW!!)" and "Tennessee Plates". It is a great collection.

Past that, I like the recent "Crossing Muddy Waters" and, of course, many others......

For something different, check the cut-out bins for "Little Village", the "supergroup" album from Hiatt, Ry Cooder, Jim Keltner and Nick Lowe. Two good "Hiatt" cuts on this record are the Island Music Influenced "Do You Want My Job" and the Awesome cut "Don't Think About Her When You're Tying to Drive".

Good stuff......

Enjoy,

TIC
sfar's avatar
sfar
1,760 posts
 
if Guy Clark piqued your interest and you don't already have it, find a copy of "Old No. 1," his first CD (I think.) There are several songs that other people made famous, L.A. Freeway, Desperados, and guest performances by a lot of good people, Johnny Gimble, Mickey Raphael, Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle and others.

It's one of the definitive albums of Texas music from the '70's and you can hear the influence of it in later music from a lot of people. Several of the songs are near-perfect images of the place. Maybe it's just nostalgia talking but I don't think he produced any later albums that are as good, though I really like him, particularly live.
slipknot1 OP
1,423 posts
 
Reubent, Hiatt brought the house down with a rendition of "crossing muddy water", and had the place howling with an improv of the lyrics in "Wintertime Blues". Thanks for the tip. I did find a copy of "Bring The Family" in my wife's car CD collection, so maybe we'll give it a spin.

Sfar, Clark is a classic. Great sense of humor, great story teller (his songs bear that out). He seemed to be in a pensive, sad mood last night, but I really enjoyed listening to him again.

Joe Ely was the big surprise to me. I am familiar with his work as he has been around quite a while, but his guitar playing last night was a treat.
sbank's avatar
sbank
3,379 posts
 
http://www.worldcafe.org/artist_detail.php?artist=209

from the World Cafe a great radio show produced out of WXPN philadelphia, and syndicated all over. bothe the xpn.org and worldcafe.org websites are rich with ideas for this type and other rock/blues/folk/alt.

Enjoy, Spencer
rar1's avatar
rar1
1,784 posts
 
Hi Slipknot1:

Hiatt's body of work can be a real hit or miss.

Some of his best recent work can be found on an album that John did about four years ago on the Vanguard label entitled, "Crossing Muddy Waters." I feel that this album has some of his most expressive songwriting (What Do We Do Now; Take It Down); as well as some of his best musical performances (Lincoln Town; Only the Song Survives). Of his older albums (1987), "Bring the Family," also features equally strong songwriting and performances (Have a Little Faith In Me). When John is on top of his game, his combination of blues/folk/country/rock is magical. By contrast, I did not care much for his latest release "Beneath This Gruff Exterior," as I found the album to be missing that magic.

I only have CD's, so I do not know from vinyl. "Bring the Family" was recently released on SACD.

Regards,

Rich
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