In the beginning of 1987 John Hiatt had a rough time, but he made a fresh start. He teamed up with concert promoter/producer John Chelew and recorded ten new songs in four days at Hollywood’s Ocean Way Studios. The result was ‘Bring the Family’, an album that won universal praise for its enthusiastic performances as well as its now-classic and oft-covered compositions. While Hiatt, who written all the songs, sings, plays acoustic guitar and the occasional piano, he’s joined by guitar legend Ry Cooder, veteran session drummer Jim Keltner, and Nick Lowe on bass. The result is a tight, skilled ensemble that gives the songs a lot of rootsy gravitas.