John Hiatt: Rock 'n' Roll Or Else

HE'S OUT there, in his old white Volvo, trying to come in from the cold. It's not an easy job, and the odds of ever making it inside are way beyond anything you'd like to make book on, but he's still trying. He's got to. John Hiatt, like it or not, has the goods. Now whether or not that gives him an advantage is subject to conjecture; in his line of work it can actually turn into an open handicap, and for Hiatt, knowing that what he's holding has remained a semi-secret must only add to the frustration. Still, his complaints about the wall he's so often found himself up against aren't bitter. In rock 'n' roll, it goes with the job.