Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
By John Hiatt with The Jerry Douglas Band, New West Records 2021.
John Hiatt has been 50 plus years in the Nashville music scene, it’s a long time and he’s learned a thing or two about penning a good song in that time.
He’s become a recognised master of his craft and an inductee into The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, a BMI Troubadour Award winner, and a Lifetime Achievement Award winner in Songwriting from the Americana Music Association.
John has released more than 20 studio albums and his songs have been recorded by luminaries such as Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, B.B. King, Willie Nelson, and Bonnie Raitt plus many more.
John Hiatt lives within walking distance of Jerry Douglas who is considered to be one of the world’s great dobro players and the two master musicians have collaborated on Leftover Feelings.
Douglas himself appears on some 1,500 albums by stars such as Ray Charles, George Jones, Alison Krauss, Earl Scruggs and James Taylor to mention a few.
The album was recorded in the historic RCA Studio B and the rollcall of the legendary performers who have recorded there is not lost on them: Elvis, The Everly Brothers, Waylon Jennings… Hiatt comments, “you can’t not be aware of the music that was made there.”
Leftover Feelings is a gentle album that encompasses the broad range of American country music from bluegrass to ballad and country rock.
The tracks were recorded live in real time with the five players making decisions on instinct that comes from listening, empathy, and with a lifetime of musical experience.
Interestingly the band did not contain a drummer and yet there is a great rhythmic feel to the disc.
Tracks like Black Electric Cadillac rock beautifully through the fantastic grooves that the Jerry Douglas Band produce without the additional assistance of drums.
Leftover Feelings is not strictly a country album but rather an American musical encyclopedia in song and it’s one that will take a treasured place in my record collection.
