THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS PRESENT: THE SUNNY SIDE OF MY STREET with THE "MIGHTY MEZ" - SONGS TO MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD - EPISODE #42: FEELS LIKE RAIN by John Hiatt (A&M, 1988)

The singer-songwriter’s singer- songwriter; the Americana artist’s Americana artist, John Hiatt doesn’t get anywhere near the respect he deserves. From way back in 1974, when 3 Dog Night made a hit out of “Sure as I’m Sittin’ Here”, up to today, Hiatt has written and recorded more classic songs than most, and although his voice sounds like vinegar on sand paper, I love his unique vocalizations. He is one of my favorite singers. Born in Indiana, just like that other heartland rocker-poet John Mellencamp, Hiatt represents a no frills, tell it like it is approach - (but with consummate lyrical style) - and, always with a wink. Even when he makes me cry with lines like, from “Icy Blue Heart”: “To melt your icy blue heart, Should I start - To turn what's been frozen for years Into a river of tears?” - I smile, appreciating his unerring craftsmanship. Hiatt provided a ligature in the sinew of my marriage. Chemayne and I met in ’87 in Atlanta - and the album Slow Turning accompanied our journey northward to New York City. We saw him at the Bottom Line, sitting at a front row table, and when he asked for requests, I suggested Feels Like Rain, because we had made love to it. He obliged. Later, in ’95, after we’d moved to L.A., Chemayne dispatched me to Starbucks (of all places), where Hiatt was making a personal appearance, to get his new CD autographed. When he handed back the disc to me, he called me “Sir”. A true Gentleman Road Warrior.