JOHN HIATT - FEELS LIKE RAIN

FEELS LIKE RAIN

JOHN HIATT

SONGWRITER: JOHN HIATT

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: SLOW TURNING

LABEL: A & M RECORDS

GENRE: ROCK

YEAR: 1988

John Robert Hiatt (born August 20, 1952) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. He has played a variety of musical styles on his albums, including new wave, blues, and country. Hiatt has been nominated for nine Grammy Awards and has been awarded a variety of other distinctions in the music industry.

Hiatt was working as a songwriter for Tree International, a record label in Nashville, when his song "Sure as I'm Sittin' Here" was covered by Three Dog Night. The song became a Top 40 hit, earning Hiatt a recording contract with Epic Records. Since then he has released 22 studio albums, two compilation albums and one live album.

A variety of artists in multiple genres have covered his songs, including Aaron Neville, B.B. King, Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Guy, Chaka Khan, Dave Edmunds, Delbert McClinton, Desert Rose Band, Emmylou Harris, Eric Clapton, Iggy Pop, I'm with Her, Jeff Healey, Jewel, Jimmy Buffett, Joan Baez, Joe Bonamassa, Joe Cocker, Keith Urban, Linda Ronstadt, Mandy Moore, Maria Muldaur, Nick Lowe, Paula Abdul, Paulini, Rodney Crowell, Rosanne Cash, Ry Cooder, Suzy Bogguss, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, The Searchers, Three Dog Night, Willie Nelson, Asleep at the Wheel, and Willy DeVille. The Dutch singer/songwriter Ilse DeLange recorded the album Dear John with nine of his songs.

Slow Turning was singer-songwriter John Hiatt's ninth album, released in 1988. It provided Hiatt's only significant radio hit with the title track, which features the memorable line "I'm yelling at the kids in the back, 'cause they're banging like Charlie Watts". The single "Slow Turning" was also featured in the 2002 motion picture drama The Rookie which starred Dennis Quaid. "Feels Like Rain" was later covered by Buddy Guy on an album of the same name and was featured in the 2004 Kate Hudson movie Raising Helen. Aaron Neville also covered "Feels Like Rain" on his 1991 album "Warm Your Heart". "Drive South" became a country hit for Suzy Bogguss in the early 1990s. "Icy Blue Heart" was covered by Emmylou Harris in her 1989 album Bluebird, with backing vocals by Bonnie Raitt. Ilse DeLange recorded "It'll Come to You" and "Feels Like Rain" on her live album "Dear John". During the barroom scene in the Film "Thelma and Louise", the band is playing "Tennessee Plates" (Charlie Sexton recorded the song for the soundtrack album).

Though not credited on the album cover, Hiatt is backed by The Goners.

Down here the river meets the sea

And in the sticky heat I feel ya' open up to me

Love comes out of nowhere baby, like a hurricane

And it feels like rain

Underneath the stars lying next to you

Wondering who you are baby

How do you do?

When the clouds blow in across the moon

And the wind howls out your name

Feels like rain

We'll never make that bridge tonight

Across lake Ponchartrain

Feel like rain

Batten down the hatches

But keep your heart out on your sleeve

A little bit of stormy weather, that's no cause for us to leave

Just stay here baby, in my arms

Let it wash away the pain

Feels like rain.