Hiatt ditches the script

by Bobby Reed

Wednesday, October 18, 2000, Digital Chicago Inc.

Everyone occasionally misplaces things, but very rarely are the missing items truly lost. It may require a painstaking search, but eventually that "lost" purse or wallet reappears.

Songwriter John Hiatt had the misfortune of actually losing something of utmost importance -- his wife's wedding band. Given his emotional state at the time, however, Hiatt's blunder is understandable.

After a terrifying accident in which the sport-utility vehicle she was driving overturned twice, Hiatt's wife, Nancy, and youngest daughter, Georgia, were taken to the emergency room. When Hiatt arrived at the hospital, ER physicians were busy attending to his loved ones.

Hiatt recalled the scene. "They had to cut off her wedding ring, and I just put it in my pocket," he said, speaking from a hotel in New York City. His wife's hand was so swollen and scraped up that the wedding band could not be pulled off her finger. As he slipped it in his jeans pocket, Hiatt noticed that a diamond had fallen out of the ring.

"They were worried that my daughter had glass in her eyes, so they flushed out her eyes," he said. "Then I promptly lost the wedding ring in the chaos of the emergency room because I was so flipped out and concerned about them. I don't know what the hell happened, but I lost it," Hiatt said with a sigh.

Fortunately, both Nancy and Georgia recovered fully. This traumatic episode, in a highly altered form, is fictionalized in "Only the Song Survives," a cut on Hiatt's new acoustic album, "Crossing Muddy Waters" (Vanguard). In the song, the SUV becomes a Camaro, and after the accident, the missing diamond is flushed out from beneath the protagonist's eyelid.

Hiatt, 48, who has been writing unique tunes with striking images for nearly three decades, scoffed at the notion that a bad event can generate a good song. With a hearty laugh, he said, "I hate it that everything seems to turn into a song, and that, as songwriters, we're almost like vultures sometimes. [We're like] the `dark angels,' as I call them--the turkey vultures, waiting around for something to die so we can get a meal out of it."

On his 16th album, Hiatt is accompanied by bassist Davey Faragher and guitarist David Immergluck. Both musicians are quite familiar with Hiatt's songwriting style, after touring with him repeatedly over the last five years. Immergluck's masterful mandolin riffs add a rustic touch to several cuts.

The trio did very little rehearsing before going into the studio. "I would play the song once, they would get the chord changes, and then we'd roll the tape," Hiatt said. "There were no charts. We were definitely winging it."

This spontaneity has resulted in one of the most compelling albums of his long career. The new disc is being simultaneously licensed to Vanguard for distribution in retail outlets and to emusic.com for sale online in the MP3 format. Another twist is that Hiatt himself owns the master tapes, which normally become the property of the artist's label.

Hiatt naturally hopes that online music fans will buy the disc, but he supports Napster, the software that allows users to share digital MP3 files. The songwriter likes the idea of "free goods as a way to sell."

"Giving away things has just never been in the `repertoire' of a major label, and it's a shame because [people in] any other business can tell you the value of giving things away," he said.

Though Hiatt never has been a chart-topper himself, he has made a good living from his songwriting royalties. Early in his career, he penned "Sure as I'm Sittin' Here," which became a Top 20 single for Three Dog Night.

The eclectic array of artists who have recorded Hiatt tunes includes Paula Abdul, Rodney Crowell, Rosanne Cash, Bob Dylan, Ronnie Milsap, Iggy Pop and Bonnie Raitt. The title track to Eric Clapton and B.B. King's new hit album "Riding With the King" (Warner Bros.) was originally the title cut to a 1983 disc that Hiatt recorded for Geffen.

In addition, public television viewers may know Hiatt as the host of "Sessions at West 54th," a live music show that covers an even broader spectrum of music than his own diverse repertoire.

Hiatt's October dates, including two sold-out shows Thursday at the Park West, will be solo performances. Later in the tour, he will be joined by Faragher and Immergluck.

In the meantime, Hiatt has found an advantage to playing alone. "You can play a lot more songs because you don't have people tuning in between," he said with a laugh. "I've been doing 18 or 20 songs in a set, in the same amount of time that we used to do 13 or 14. It's pretty cool."

Free-lance writer Bobby Reed covers country and roots music for the Sun-Times.

Some big acts have got him covered

Some memorable cover versions of songs by John Hiatt:

"Angel Eyes," Jeff Healey Band: A little sappy, but the soulfulness comes through on this Top 40 hit.

"Bring Back Your Love to Me," Earl Thomas Conley: Winner of BMI's 1991 Country Music Song of the Year.

"Feels Like Rain," Buddy Guy: Nice to hear a bluesman's take on a Hiatt classic.

"Have a Little Faith," Delbert McClinton, Joel Sonnier and Jewel: One song fits all.

"Riding With the King," B.B. King and Eric Clapton: The gears don't exactly mesh, but the power of these two kings can't be denied.

"She Loves the Jerk," Rodney Crowell: Is he singing about his soon-to-be ex-wife, Rosanne Cash?

"Something Wild," Iggy Pop: Rave on, it's a crazy feeling.

"Thing Called Love," Bonnie Raitt: Saved her career--and his.

"Washable Ink," the Neville Brothers: An indelible version by the godfathers of New Orleans swamp blues.

"The Way We Make a Broken Heart," Rosanne Cash: A No. 1 country hit for the daughter of the Man in Black.