Published on Feb 6, 2001
John Hiatt hasn’t made a four-star album since 1988’s
Slow Turning. His studio releases — ’97’s
Little Head, 95’s
Walk On, 93’s
Perfectly Good Guitar — all had their moments and were
fairly solid three-star offerings, but, all in all, the songwriting
seams were showing.
Oh, there were some first-rate tunes like “Perfectly Good
Guitar,” “Cry Love,” “Ethylene,” and “Buffalo River Home.” Alas,
there were lyrical stretches like “Sure Pinocchio” and “The Wreck
Of The Barbie Ferrari” where Hiatt tried to shore up his crumbling
muse with strained pluck and wit. Also there were songs that
unsuccessfully attempted to “rock out” so hard one wouldn’t notice
the lack of songwriting craft (thinking “Shredding The Document,”
“Cross My Fingers,” and “Pirate Radio” here). All things
considered, played and sung, Hiatt was in a funk.
The happy news is Hiatt’s latest,
Crossing Muddy Waters, is a solid four on the star meter.
The inspiration? Perhaps his move to the more songwriter-friendly
Vanguard label. His last two albums were on Capitol, with all
before that on A&M. This scale-down label move has given Hiatt
the courage to let the musical chips fall where the woodchuck
chucked them.
Vanguard is a basically a 60s folkie label just now getting back
into the “new music” market. This fact has perhaps enabled Hiatt to
mostly “go acoustic” this time out. There are no drums to be heard,
though there is some foot-stomping, metal chair-banging percussion
courtesy of long-time Hiatt cohort Davey Faragher. Besides Hiatt on
acoustic 6-string guitar, harmonium, and resonator, David
Immergluck abets on mandolin, acoustic 12-string, and very
occasional electric slide guitar. That’s it.
Hiatt, of course, provides lead vocals, with both Immergluck and
Faragher helping on harmonies. The feel is that of a back porch
guitar pull. Most of the songs were recorded live to tape without
overdubs. One could call
Crossing Muddy Waters Hiatt’s first “stringband”
recording.
The acoustic backdrop leads Hiatt’s new songs into folk/blues
territory rather than his customary rock/r&b thang. Take, for
instance, the opening cut, “Lincoln Town.” With Hiatt on resonator
guitar, Immergluck on mandolin, and Faragher on footstomps and
handclaps, the song becomes a country blues. Hiatt’s growling,
guttural vocal is relaxed and assured and resides naturally within
the song. It appears to be a song about leaving Detroit: “I’m going
down to Lincoln town/Turn your pretty little head around/Take the
next train outward bound/Carry you out of Lincoln town.” It is a
fine, bluesy setting for Hiatt’s voice – much better than the
overly-rocking context of his last three studio releases.
The moody title track features acoustic guitar and mandolin and
has nothing to do with McKinley Morganfield (aka Muddy Waters).
“Crossing muddy waters (small “m” small “w”)” is actually a deft
metaphor for giving up on a troubled (muddy) relationship: “Left me
in my tears to drown/She left a baby daughter/Now the river’s wide
and deep and brown/She’s crossing muddy waters.” In fact, the
proliferation of leaving and bust up songs on
Crossing Muddy Waters would leave one to believe Hiatt and
his second wife are on the outs, though he insists, in recent
interviews, that they are happily (if doggedly) married.
Another “leavin'” song is “Gone,” whose up-tempo, “whistling in
the dark” attitude is the opposite of the title track’s reaction to
abandonment: “Gone/Like a Nixon file/Gone, gone away/Gone/Like my
landlord’s smile/Gone, gone away.” The hurt is just a real, but the
coping mantra is decidedly “screw it.” Lyrically, it is one of
Hiatt’s more clever, in-the-pocket compositions, and some country
star should countrify it post haste and release it to world
acclaim.
One of Hiatt’s songwriting strengths, besides clever stompers
like “Gone,” is the anthemic ballad. Consider his 1987 classic
Bring The Family with its twin, killer ballads “Lipstick
Sunset” and “Have A Little Faith In Me.” Or, take a listen to
Slow Turning‘s oft-covered “Feels Like Rain.” Besides the
title track, another moody Hiatt classic this time around is “God’s
Golden Eyes.” It appears to be a song about man’s quest for that
final, serene resting place: “Every facet so perfect/And every cut
the proper size/When we find ourselves staring in/God’s golden
eyes.” It has soul, presence, and grace. In short, it is another
Hiatt ballad composition ripe for covering.
I can’t conclude this review of
Crossing Muddy Waters without mentioning the new “gospel”
song. “Lift Up Every Stone,” with its Baptist call and response
chorus, is a bona fide, toe-tapping, hand-clapping wonder: “You
gotta lift up every stone now sister/Gotta clear this field and
build that wall.” It could also be a commentary on this fine album.
Hiatt has crossed his muddied, musical waters, cleared his field of
contractual constraints, and built a new wall that suits him, not
the record mavens.