Hiatt is what's called "alternative country," a category that pretty much means he sounds like country music but not quite. In my opinion, that means he doesn't go by the pre-fab hooks and cliched patterns that country music is known and hated for. He actually creates his own sound.
And it's a good sound. The first song on the album is "Memphis in the meantime," a great catchy dancey tune that makes me wish I knew how to line dance. I'll tell you, I'd never really felt that before.
The rest of the songs are intelligent and fun. One other song in particular I really love you may have heard from the love scene n Benny and Joon: "Have a little Faith in Me."
It's a great song, and it makes you think you've heard it before, as if it were written by one of the greats-BB King or somebody. It's so heartbreaking. Of course, I'm a sucker for piano songs, I'll admit.
My boyfriend loves "Lipstick Sunset." Maybe it's a guy thing, I'm not so fond of it because it's about a girl getting left. But the song itself is a good kind of mournful.
Hiatt really loves what he does, and it shows.
Article comments
1 - Aaron
I bought Bring the Family because it had the original version of Thing Called Love which had been remade by Bonnie Raitt. I was blown away by the entire album after the first listen.
I love the first song Memphis in the Meantime. It pretty sums up my feeling on Country Music: "One more heath-felt steal guitar chord, girl, is gonna do me in" and "Right now I need a Telecaster through a Vibralux turned up to ten."
Slide Guitar god Ry Cooder plays over the entire album and is fantastic throughout.
2 - Hazy Dave
"Your Dad Did" is the song that makes this album for me. I guess my daughter was about a year old when this came out.
Besides Hiatt and Cooder, Nick Lowe and Jim Keltner make this the precursor to "Little Village". A pity that album's material was not as strong as this one. (Perhaps Rockpile had the same problem with their record, heightened expectations?)
3 - patrick plante
I first heard the music of John Hiatt on the Bring the Family alblum. I have been a die hard fan ever sense