For his 73rd birthday, a mixtape of artists - from Iggy Pop and Linda Ronstadt to the Neville Brothers and Bruce Springsteen - celebrate the songwriting brilliance of John Hiatt.
Never knew his name, but I probably heard some of his songs in my almost as old as he is days, maybe even heard him sing his songs himself. Anyway, I bought his book. I hope I read it. Thanks for writing this tribute to the man and his music and the mess he made of things until a little faith turned things around for him and his family. I love those kinds of stories. I probably will read the book. I'm downloading his music onto my phone right after I finish this comment.
Spotify is horrible, I agree. I don't subscribe to them at all. Can't even listen to my own playlists on there! The only streaming service I really use is Apple, and I've had them since the beginning when I finally broke down and got iTunes. I'm a physical media guy at heart, of course.
The only reason I post the Spotify link is because that's the only streaming platform Substack allows to be embeddable on posts. It gnaws my ass to no end.
I've been mulling over whether or not to just stop posting to Spotify at all, and your comment is pushing me closer to that. It screws artists, promotes dumbass AI pap, and sounds terrible. And in the words of Hunter S. Thompson, there's also a bad side...
By "allows," I mean we can only embed the player from Spotify in our posts. I can link to both Apple and TIDAL, and - thanks to your suggestion - I've created a TIDAL account and have posted the link to the playlist above just under the Apple one. You should be able to access it. They only had 69 of the 73 songs, but it allowed me to choose four different ones that I had to initially cut, so it all worked out.
The best cd of covers is “Love Gets Strange” available on Amazon for $5.60. Every one should own it. And the albums of Ron Nagle, “Bad Rice,” 1970 with Ry Cooder and Jack Nitzsche and with Scott Mathews, The Durocs, “She Lies” and others. They produced side a of “Riding With The King.”
Willy DeVille did a heartfelt Way We Make A Broken Heart - and a good shot at Across The Borderline (which Hiatt shares with Cooder and Dickinson). There's a clip of Willy in his Chelsea Hotel room singing Broken Heart to Jack Nitzsche who says "that's a great song - you wrote it?" "No. John Hiatt." I asked John about Willy and he said he toured with Mink DeVille in the late 70s but they weren't friendly as Willy was such a bad junkie at the time.
I almost added the Willy version! Was also considering Cooder’s take. Decided to stick with Rosanne’s definitive version ultimately. Nitzsche should’ve known Hiatt wrote that!
an awesome array of talent,in one room,stage or on a disc,sorely missed in this day and age.
Never knew his name, but I probably heard some of his songs in my almost as old as he is days, maybe even heard him sing his songs himself. Anyway, I bought his book. I hope I read it. Thanks for writing this tribute to the man and his music and the mess he made of things until a little faith turned things around for him and his family. I love those kinds of stories. I probably will read the book. I'm downloading his music onto my phone right after I finish this comment.
Unfortunately one must subscribe to Spotify to listen to your Mixtape. I don’t do Spotify. 🍏
Neither do I, in fact! Here's the link to the Apple version: https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/john-hiatt-covered/pl.u-pZkKmFGAZoBr
Any chance I could get you to not use Spotify? I’m not going there. I like what you do otherwise. I think you know that.
Spotify is horrible, I agree. I don't subscribe to them at all. Can't even listen to my own playlists on there! The only streaming service I really use is Apple, and I've had them since the beginning when I finally broke down and got iTunes. I'm a physical media guy at heart, of course.
The only reason I post the Spotify link is because that's the only streaming platform Substack allows to be embeddable on posts. It gnaws my ass to no end.
Here's the link to the Apple version: https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/john-hiatt-covered/pl.u-pZkKmFGAZoBr
I've been mulling over whether or not to just stop posting to Spotify at all, and your comment is pushing me closer to that. It screws artists, promotes dumbass AI pap, and sounds terrible. And in the words of Hunter S. Thompson, there's also a bad side...
Thanks for reading and caring enough to comment.
Substack only allows Spotify?
I use Tidal. Not as robust as Spotify but only the really obscure is missing. Sound is good. I think I shared a Tidal link in one of my posts.
Anyway do what you must.
By "allows," I mean we can only embed the player from Spotify in our posts. I can link to both Apple and TIDAL, and - thanks to your suggestion - I've created a TIDAL account and have posted the link to the playlist above just under the Apple one. You should be able to access it. They only had 69 of the 73 songs, but it allowed me to choose four different ones that I had to initially cut, so it all worked out.
cool. thanks!
Great read-time to read it once more!!! thanks...
The best cd of covers is “Love Gets Strange” available on Amazon for $5.60. Every one should own it. And the albums of Ron Nagle, “Bad Rice,” 1970 with Ry Cooder and Jack Nitzsche and with Scott Mathews, The Durocs, “She Lies” and others. They produced side a of “Riding With The King.”
‘Love Gets Strange’ is a fantastic compilation, for sure. A classic!
Awesome! I was trying to decide where to start with Hiatt music to listen to today.
I have seen this great artist 4 times in concert. He is a treasure. thanks for this great post and mixtape. Jon
Willy DeVille did a heartfelt Way We Make A Broken Heart - and a good shot at Across The Borderline (which Hiatt shares with Cooder and Dickinson). There's a clip of Willy in his Chelsea Hotel room singing Broken Heart to Jack Nitzsche who says "that's a great song - you wrote it?" "No. John Hiatt." I asked John about Willy and he said he toured with Mink DeVille in the late 70s but they weren't friendly as Willy was such a bad junkie at the time.
I almost added the Willy version! Was also considering Cooder’s take. Decided to stick with Rosanne’s definitive version ultimately. Nitzsche should’ve known Hiatt wrote that!
What a great photo! That's so cool