CD review by Roger Zee
After 25 years in the business with 17 major label albums, singer-songwriter John Hiatt
turned to his new manager and said, "How about an 'acoustic-y' kind of record?
I've never really made one." So he entered the studio for three days accompanied only by
Dave Faragher on bass and David Immergluck on mandolin -- guys he played with on and off for the
past six years. They gave birth to "Crossing Muddy Waters," a record recorded live with just one
or two overdubs. According to John, "It's a simple way to do it, but it's not necessarily easy.
You have to have the goods."
How can one single man create so many terrific tunes? His hits include
"Riding With The King," the title track of Eric Clapton and B.B. King's chart-topping blues
album, as well as Bonnie Raitt's "Thing Called Love." Could it be tragedy -- alcoholism,
divorce, the suicide of his first wife? Not according to John. "I don't think that you have to be in despair to
write about despair. That's the fallacy that I used to subscribe to. I thought that you had to
be miserable to write songs, and I spent a lot of time trying to make myself miserable
and I was pretty good at it."
Whatever his muse, it works. Standout tracks include "What Do We Do Now,"
"Lift Up Every Stone," "Take It Down," and "God's Golden Eye."
As Bonnie Raitt has said, "He's twistedly gifted and giftedly twisted. He's got a real
skewed view of human emotions, love, and the world."
In one final twist, John owns the master of this record.
Vanguard can only sell it for three to five years.
©2003 Roger Zee