Willard's Wormholes

Live At Vredenburg, Utrecht, The Netherlands – March 14, 1984 (1984)
“Hiatt’s On-The-Brink Years,” Pt. 2

UPGRADED FROM 2010: Outstanding FM broadcast from The Netherlands, capturing John Hiatt and band, electric and live. Includes material from Hiatt’s just released Riding With The King, as well as others from his extensive (and extensively ignored) catalog. Some cool moments as JH gets naked, playing and singing by himself on a couple of tunes, with a noticeable looseness and fearlessness. The crowd is appreciative, however, and seems to be better acquainted with his older material than American crowds. Great sound. We had 192 files up for years (Since His Penis… Came Between Us) and have finally gotten around to upgrading to 320 with new source files. Give a listen to “Death By Misadventure,” below. This era is when Hiatt went balls-to-the-wall on everything he did. Part 2 of Hiatt’s “On-The-Brink” Years… get all 6 parts HERE.

Riding With The King (1983)
Hiatt’s “On-The-Brink Years,” Pt. 1

A lesser man would probably have just given up. By the mid-80s, John Hiatt had already suffered over a decade of audience indifference – releasing 7 albums on 3 labels, without so much as a blip on the charts. His frustration found him frequently shedding his musical skin, trying folk, roots rock & new wave on albums that clicked with fellow musicians (his songs were often hits for others), but not with the public at large. By 1983, Hiatt had succumbed to alcohol addiction, while his marriage was about to end in suicide a year later. Somehow, despite it all, Hiatt managed to record his first great album, Riding With The King. It’s a difficult one to pigeonhole, however, mixing bluesy pop and caustic R&R with a dash of brittle new wave, all filtered though Hiatt’s emerging R&B sensibilities. There are plenty of recognizable influences (Costello, Zevon, Jersey Bruce) mashed by 3 different producers (Nick Lowe, among them) into a surprisingly tough and coherent album. In keeping with tradition, however, Riding With The King didn’t sell for shit, while the title track, a backhanded homage to Elvis Presley, became better known from the 2000 cover by Eric Clapton & BB King. Fun Fact: Hiatt wrote 3 Dog Night’s 1974 hit, “Sure As I’m Sittin‘ Here.” Find it at Amazon, HERE. Get all 6 of Hiatt’s “On-The-Brink” years, HERE.

I Don’t Even Try
Death By Misadventure
Girl On A String
Lovers Will
She Loves The Jerk
Say It With Flowers
Riding With The King
You May Already Be A Winner
Love Like Blood
The Love That Harms
Book Lovers
Falling Up

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Warming Up To The Ice Age (1985)
Hiatt‘s “On-The-Brink Years,” Pt. 3

John Hiatt had hit rock bottom during the recording of Warming Up To The Ice Age – a fantastically rich collection of confessional songs that vaguely chronicled his loves, losses (Hiatt’s wife committed suicide during this period) and out of control spiral into alcohol abuse. Commercially, the album went nowhere. Critics appreciated it but radio had no place for it, and the album earned him only his walking papers from Geffen Records. Yet… despite all that, Ice Age may still be Hiatt’s meatiest work. He had, by this time, abandoned the new wave trappings he had toyed with for years and headed straight towards rock/R&B – with a horn section and a lyrical fragility that belied his hard-drinking persona. On the opening track, “The Usual,” Hiatt confronts his demons head on: “She was good, I was unkind, I’m not thirsty but I’m standing in the line – I’ll have the usual.” Dylan even covered it. Elvis Costello duets on “Living A Little, Laughing A Little.” Despite the unimaginable hardship Hiatt endured during these years, Warming Up To The Ice Age proved both vital and strong. And, after losing his recording contract, Hiatt’s vindication (and sober rebirth) would soon taste sweet. Bring The Family, his acoustic follow-up for A&M, found both an appreciative audience and the charts, initiating a string of Grammy nominations and Billboard successes. Ice Age is at Amazon, HERE. Get all 6 of Hiatt’s “On-The-Brink” years, HERE.

The Usual
The Crush
When We Ran
She Said The Same Things To Me
Living A Little, Laughing A Little
Zero House
Warming Up To The Ice Age
I’m A Real Man
Number One Honest Game
I Got A Gun

Bug Demos (1983/1985)
Hiatt’s “On-The-Brink Years,” Pt. 4

I’ve written about my favorite John Hiatt period before. The era during his last two, chart-repellent albums for Geffen Records which – after a severe battle with alcohol abuse and the suicide of his wife – left Hiatt without a label, without a job and without much of a life that wasn’t covered by the catch-all phrase, rock bottom. There’s a happy ending to this tale, fortunately. Hiatt turned his life around after 1985, signing with a new label, recording his first charting album (Bring The Family) and finally getting clean and sober. Anyone who’s ever appreciated the guy knows he deserved a break more than most. As connoisseurs are aware, however, sometimes artists on drugs, or on the brink, record some of their most interesting material. Hiatt’s no exception. His two albums from this period, Riding With The King and Warming Up To The Ice Age aren’t universally acclaimed, but represent some of Hiatt’s ballsiest, most personal writing. Just recently, this batch of demos from 1983-85 hit the torrents, capturing Hiatt and band (sometimes with a drum machine) sketching out some of Hiatt’s contending work. The sound quality is quite good, but not studio perfect, while the performances are record-ready, even if the sonics aren’t quite there yet. Because of the rarity of the material and the vintage of these sessions, I didn’t mind. If you revere this period in Hiatt’s career like I do, you probably won’t either. Hiatt’s latest, 2010’s The Open Road, is at Amazon. Get all 6 of Hiatt’s “On-The-Brink” years, HERE.

The Truth About Money (4:40)
Trudy and Dave (3:58)
Where Is The Next One Coming From (3:49)
Kick Out Of Nothing (2:30)
She Don’t Love Nobody (3:26)
The Penny Dropped (4:49)
Mercy Don’t Know My Name (4:17)
New Fingerprints (4:16)
Tennessee Plates (2:37)
Everybody’s Girl (4:00)
Confidence Man (3:20)
Real Emotion (4:19)
Right Now (4:12)
Angel Eyes (5:00)
Tip Of My Tongue (5:01)
Wild World (3:46)
Lipstick Sunset (4:11)
Falling Apart At The Dreams (3:48)
Someplace Where Love Can’t Find Me (4:06)
Two Hearts Like Ours (3:04)
Kick Out Of Nothing 2 (solo) (2:57)