Have a Little Faith: The John Hiatt Story

By Michael Elliott and Elvis Costello

"You already know John Hiatt is one of our best songwriters, but what you might not know is his life is as great a story as his songs. . . . I thought I knew my John Hiatt, but I learned a lot." —David Menconi, author of Step It Up and Go

A journey through an artist's quest for success, deep dive into substance abuse, family tragedy, and ultimate triumph

By the mid-1980s, singer-songwriter John Hiatt had been dropped from three record labels, burned through two marriages, and had fallen deep into substance abuse.

It took a stint in rehab and a new marriage to inspire him, then a producer and an A&R man to have a little faith. By February 1987, he was back in the studio on a shoestring budget with a hand-picked supergroup consisting of Ry Cooder on guitar, Nick Lowe on bass, and Jim Keltner on drums, recording what would become his masterpiece, Bring the Family.

Based on author Michael Elliott's multiple extensive and deeply personal interviews with Hiatt as well as his collaborators and contemporaries, including Rosanne Cash, Bonnie Raitt, Ry Cooder, and many others, Have a Little Faithis the journey through the musical landscape of the 1960s through today that places Hiatt's long career in context with the glossy pop, college-alternative, mainstream country, and heartland rock of the last half-century.

Hiatt's life both pre- and post-Family will be revealed, as well as the music loved by critics, fellow musicians, and fans alike.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Chicago Review Press
• Release date: Sep 14, 2021
• ISBN: 9781641604215

Michael Elliott

Professor Michael Elliott is the Director of the Institute of Estuarine & Coastal Studies (IECS) and Professor of Estuarine and Coastal Sciences at the University of Hull, U.K. He is a marine biologist with wide experience in teaching, research, advisory and consultancy work in estuarine and marine aspects of ecological components and communities, and the impacts of human activities, as well as policy, governance, and management of estuaries and coasts. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and of the Society of Biology. Mike has published widely, coauthoring/coediting 15 books and contributing to over 200 scientific publications, which includes coauthoring The Estuarine Ecosystem: ecology, threats and management (with DS McLusky, OUP, 2004), Ecology of Marine Sediments: science to management (with JS Gray, OUP, 2009), and as a volume editor and contributor to the Treatise on Estuarine & Coastal Science, Elsevier, Amsterdam (Eds.-In-Chief E Wolanski & DS McLusky). Mike has acted as an advisor on many marine and estuarine environmental matters for academia, industry, government, and statutory bodies in Europe and elsewhere. Mike is a past-president of the international Estuarine & Coastal Sciences Association (ECSA) and is also one of the four editors-in-chief of the international journal Estuarine, Coastal & Shelf Science and on the editorial board of Marine Pollution Bulletin. He is the Sir Walter Murdoch Distinguished Adjunct Professor, Murdoch University, Australia, and also has adjunct professor and research positions at Klaipeda University (Lithuania), the University of Palermo (Italy), and the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, Grahamstown. From 2014, he was appointed an independent non-executive member of the UK Marine Science Coordinating Committee and member of the Science Advisory Board of Marine Scotland. In 2014, Mike was awarded the Laureate of the Honorary Winberg Medal of the Russian Hydrobiological Academic Society.