Longtime singer-songwriter John Hiatt talks about the vinyl set of all his records

(24 Dec 2019) LONGTIME SINGER-SONGWRITER JOHN HIATT TALKS ABOUT THE VINYL SET OF ALL HIS RECORDS John Hiatt wrote his first song at age 11, and knew right away that's what he wanted to do.  It's not his job; it's who he is.  He's 67 now. "I didn't even look at it as, 'Oh, this is my job.'  It's just what I did.  It's how I sort of figure out life for myself," said Hiatt. His latest project, "Only the Song Survives" is a box set that collects all his records in this century on 15 vinyl albums.  He's best known for writing "Thing Called Love," made into a hit by Bonnie Raitt, and the standard "Have a Little Faith in Me." He sang his song, "Robber's Highway" about a singer at the tail end of his career, and he said that there is a cost to the life of a troubadour. "B.B. King - I think he said it, you know, 'You don't pay us for the two hours we play, you pay us for the other 22.'  And that's, you know, that's… there is the rub of being a troubadour.  You know, it's the travel that kills you and breaks hearts and destroys relationships and, you know, gets you into all kind of ancillary troubles, potentially, especially when you're young.  But, you know, at the end of the day, this is my life.  This is what I signed up to do, and I love it." He said he was flattered that his label, New West, wanted to commemorate his career like that. "When New West said they wanted to put together, you know, a box set of what I'd done in this millennium, I thought it was great.  I mean, I was thrilled, you know, flattered and all that, you know, because it's considerable.  It's 11 records and a live performance from Austin City Limits back in '93.  And I think the total disks are about 15 because they had to spread some of them out over two discs." Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives ​​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/fcfb53a78baf4610a08d2de2e101e573

Added 3 Jun 2026