+1blastman That would be an insult to John Hiatt. Of course he belongs, but he will have to wait until all the hip hop performers and Jann Wenner ass kissers are inducted. In other words... posthumously.
It has been a joke. Madonna before Kiss? Deep Purple? Yes? Moody Blues? LL Cool J gets inducted, before Motorhead? The list is endless. The HOF is on hard times financially. Good! Rock and Roll is a state of mind. The essence of it cannot be contained in a building. A cold, sterile, concrete, steel building. The HOF is in one's mind flying down the road, free as the breeze, and feeling alive at that moment. Sorry... I'll get off my soapbox. John Hiatt is THE MAN!!!
Four 'dislikes' on this? You gotta be kidding me. This deserves a 'like' just for being a textbook example of how to play rhythm guitar...not to mention stellar slide work, funky, funky bass, and rock-solid drumming.
Buddy...Sonny is no "show-off" or "hot-dog." Why? Cos he is so darned great! No need to flaunt things or "overstate the case" when one is as gosh-darned skilled as Sonny.
Hiatt ended his show here in Richmond, VA back on May 10th... nearly a ten minute version,... 4 piece band... amazing! This is such old Hiatt and such classic... timeless raunchy r&b blues country rock however you want to classify music these days... whatever... Hiatt is truly a great and under-appreciated american songwriter, musician, singer. Long Live John
I listen to this after every milestone in whatever project I am working as a reminder that if I thought I worked hard then Hiatt and Landreth and the boys worked way harder. Respect.
I've seen Sonny and the Goners Live more than 20 times in my 58yrs and he always blows me away. He always seems to be 3 long steps forward in his playing each time. I will argue with my last breath that he is the greatest Slide player ever.
"Riding With the King" is one of my all-time favorite songs. John Hiatt and Sonny Landreth are both great in their own right. They compliment each other unbelievably. I was lucky to see "John Hiatt & the Goners", Hiatt with Sonny, a few years back in the "Beneath This Gruff Exterior" tour. Blew me away as usual. Definitely in my top 10 shows of all time. Saw John Hiatt and the Ageless Beauties last year with Patrick O'Hearn on bass. Hiatt attracts awesome, talented musicians when he tours.
You HAVE to see this guy !!! Incredible playing and a great person on and off stage. Last time I saw him, I talked to him after the show. I asked him what ties all his music together. Sonny paused for a few seconds, gathered his thoughts, then replied, "Grace." I was floored. Amen brother ! Slan abhaile.
That's Dave Ranson on bass and Kenny Blevins [I think] on drums. This was Sonny's band when he was touring as a solo act during this time. With John, they called themselves the "Goners". Dave and Sonny have been playing together since high school, Sonny will rotate drummers depending on who's available at the time. This is an amazin' cut. Hiatt is such a great songwriter.
I bet Keith Richards wishes he could still move like that! Unbelievable performance...Hiatt looks like a combination of Jack Nicholson, Tom Waits ha ha!!. What a voice. Few guitarists scare me but Sonny Landreth does the IMPOSSIBLE...what a sound, what control of the slide. I'm convinced he's been to the Crossroads!
Man oh Man how I love those Goners! JH needs to get them together again and tour the northeast for me. Begging Delbert to bring 'em back on his cruise - talk about heaven on sea, if not earth. Goners asked me to take their picture with their camera as they were breaking up thereafter.....They sure did deserve a better photographer. What a ball they seemed to be having doing this show. Wouldn't mind a Little Village reunion either. (i can dream, can't I?)
Oh MAN - John was ON that night - and don't he and Sonny look like they're having a fine, fine time! Get these two geniuses together again - they're BRILLIANT!
Been to over 500 bands Hiatt and Lyle Lovett were in the top 5 of the must see shows. Yep he said he wrote this song thinking of Elvis thank you very much and Clapton called him at home asking if he could do a version of it. You all gotta go see John Prine if you like Hiatt, Prine has throat cancer so may not be around, made me glad I saw Stevie Ray Vaughn twice. RIP brother.
Saw Derek Trucks the other night with The Allman Bros. Band live in Orange Beach, AL. I was in guitar heaven with he and Warren Haynes jamming next to each other!! Their live version of "Jessica" was over the top! He and Sonny are truly blessed with the slide-God syndrome. Sh*t, Derek doesn't even watch himself play as he plays, just looks around. Boy, that child can play. Of course, so can my crawdad buddy Sonny Landreth!!! OOUUiee!!
Sonny and Dave Ranson - best guitar\bass team since Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce. I've seen Sonny close to 100 times since the 90's and he always exceeds my ever raised expectations. He is to slide guitar what Hendrix was to electric rock guitar. He did an interview at Jazzfest and told a Hendrix story and then broke into "I Don't Live Today" and it blew everyone there away. Humble genius - Slide Pioneer!
The first time I saw John Hiatt, I had never heard of Sonny Landreth. My jaw hit the frickin' ground. And then I saw Sonny last year in Tampa. I was close enough to reach out and touch (but I didn't) One of teh high points of my musical concert career
I saw this bandf in Lund, soutwest of Sweden, he had just released the Slow turning album. It was fantastic, John was great, Sonny was great, the band was great. One of the ten greatest shows I ever seen. And I've seen a lot.
Sonny Landreth is an incredible musician. John Hiatt has an incredible singing voice and, is no slouch on the guitar. I'm not sure what version I like better. The original with B.B. King and Eric Clapton or this version?
I hear ya Jamma, even though they have diffeent sounds, Hiatt always makes me think of Prine. Loved it when they performed together! Prine has throat cancer? Shit...just lost one of my best friends to that damned desease & he never smoked or drank-polar opposite of me... Great clip, thanks for sharing!
An all time great version of an all time great song. When the live energy comes through on a video...whew!!!! I saw John play this one about the time the King and Clapton cover came out. He said it was great to have it covered, then sarcastically added...."15 years later." I saw Sonny up close a few months ago. I've never seen any guitar player use so many parts of his right hand...truly amazing. BTW Dave Ransom is one kick ass bass player.
I love Ry,Gregg A,George H,Lowell G,John Campbell and Roy Rogers. I can only speak from personal experience. I've seen all of them live with the exception of Harrison. Sonny is my personal favorite.
Awesome pairing of talents. These things usually work out with Mr. Hiatt (and Mr. Landreth as well). Search Levon Helm and Buddy Guy too. "Feels Like Rain" might be the "single song performed by the most gifted followers" ever.
hey grumpy, hiatt is a fabulous songwriter and entertainer. it's not all about who is the better player . landreth is a not only a solo artist but also a "hired gun" from time to time. he's played with hiattt before. he must like the gig
