Terms of My Surrender
Above all else, John Hiatt is a songwriter. As a performer, he’s tinkered with his approach and proved to be a true lifer unlikely to stop until he can no longer play guitar. Hiatt’s also an absolute sponge for music and ideas, whether he\'s adapting Motown love songs or tackling Bruce Springsteen–like heartland rockers. It all filters through and turns into that John Hiatt sound. For 2014’s *Terms of My Surrender*, Hiatt has lead guitarist Doug Lancio handle the production for a largely acoustic approach. Lancio plays some beautiful slide guitar. Previous albums employed the slicker, commercial-oriented Kevin Shirley, so *Terms of My Surrender* is a return of sorts. “Long Time Comin’” captures the beautiful, heartfelt, somber tone of Hiatt at his finest, while “Nobody Knew His Name” lets Hiatt draw up one his hard-luck loner sketches. “Baby’s Gonna Kick” percolates with a tense electric blues groove, complete with terse harmonica. Hiatt’s dark humor winks at us from the vantage point of “Old People.”
Terms Of My Surrender is the latest chapter in Hiatt’s prolific run of releases. The press has been stellar both in the US and UK. Mojo awarded the record four stars and exclaimed: “[Terms Of My Surrender] digs deeper into acoustic blues than he’s ever dug before. Recorded live in the studio with his road band The Combo, from the simple blues ‘Nothing I Love’ to the sinister ‘Wind Don’t Have to Hurry,’ Hiatt sounds throughout as if he’s gargling a box of frogs in some eternal late night New Orleans backroom. And it’s glorious.” Uncut declared: “the past, present and future intertwine on the veteran’s latest effort... Its songs are blues-based reflections recalling the sauntering grooves of JJ Cale, the gritty swamp rock of Tony Joe White and Bob Dylan’s Modern Times throughout. No Depression remarked: “He still sounds as funky and nimble as ever and obviously has retained his sense of humor -his sarcasm hasn't dropped a notch. This old person is the one we want breaking in front of our line for the foreseeable future; cranky, pushy and magnificently mean-spirited in the best possible way.” Blog critics simply called it his "best album since 2000′s Grammy-nominated Crossing Muddy Waters.” Hiatt’s songs have been recorded by artists as diverse as Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt (“Thing Called Love”), Emmylou Harris, Iggy Pop, Rosanne Cash (#1 country hit, “The Way We Make A Broken Heart”), the Jeff Healey Band (“Angel Eyes”), and even the cartoon bear band of Disney’s film, The Country Bears. He earned a Grammy nomination for Crossing Muddy Waters, while B.B. King and Eric Clapton shared a Grammy for their album Riding With The King, the title track from which was a Hiatt composition. Hiatt has received his own star on Nashville’s Walk of Fame, the Americana Music Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting, has been inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and was saluted at the Indiana Governor’s Arts Awards.
AllMusic provides comprehensive music info including reviews and biographies. Get recommendations for new music to listen to, stream or own.
People often forget that John Hiatt was among the young troubadours featured in Heartworn Highways, the essential documentary film about the Texas singer-songwriter scene in late 1975.