John Hiatt

John Hiatt

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MEMPHIS MASTERPIECE
John Hiatt Heats Things Up Down South
John Hiatt's a risk-taker in the studio, so when he made plans to hook up with the equally adventurous producer Jim Dickinson -- the legendary captain behind seminal records by the Stones, Big Star, and The Replacements -- the stage was set for some serious fireworks. That's exactly what's delivered on Master of Disaster, one of Hiatt's most far-reaching discs in ages. It's also one of the funkiest, thanks in part to a second generation of Dickinsons, Luther and Cody, better known as the backbone of the North Mississippi Allstars, who pitch in. Master of Disaster follows in the rough-and-tumble tradition of ghosts of Memphis past -- mixing the flavors of soul, funk, and old-fashioned garage-rock. Hiatt took a break from rollin' and tumblin' long enough to give Barnes & Noble.com's David Sprague a peek at Master's plan.

Barnes & Noble.com: You work with the Dickinson brothers from the North Mississippi Allstars on this album, which their dad, Jim produced. Was it a package deal?

John Hiatt: I called Jim last fall and basically said I'd been messin' around with a solo record and I wasn't getting anywhere trying to do it on my own. So I said, Let's get your boys together and see what happens. Putting together that group of people, you have an inkling how things might turn out, but you never really know until you start.

B&N.com: Had you worked in Memphis before?

JH: We were gonna do Bring the Family in Memphis, using the Hi Records rhythm section, which didn't work out, but it would've certainly been interesting -- the album would sound totally different. I did some demos at Ardent back in the '90s, too, but this was the first time I really recorded there seriously.

B&N.com: That city's vibe seems to show up fairly often on Master of Disaster.

JH: We didn't want to go overboard and make an album that people would listen to and automatically think that. There are a couple of songs that use horns, but I think the only real obvious Memphis song is "Find You at Last." I hadn't done the horn thing since '85 or so, but Jim has this group of guys -- he calls them Tower of Sour -- who are just awesome. But Memphis has a lot more to it than just that soul thing. It's the garage band capital of the world, and there's a tremendous amount of blues right there, of course.

B&N.com: There's definitely a blues tone to some of the quieter songs on the album.

JH: Well, on "Wintertime Blues," absolutely. I think of that as a sort of sittin' around the parlor, '20s kind of thing. "Back on the Corner," too, I guess. That's about a guy who's waiting for that job recovery this regime has been talking about for the past four years -- you know, that trickle-down that's supposed to make everything so much better for all of us. I was also able to think back on my own days of being just a step or two away from being on the street.

B&N.com: In the song "Love's Not Where We Thought We Left It," you write a dialogue between Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene. What was the inspiration for that?

JH: I started reading the new Jim Harrison novel and he mentioned Elaine Pagels, who's written a lot about the Gnostic gospels, and how the Gnostic Christian thing didn't survive and the more orthodox stream did. It's just about the idea of people thinking they have the market cornered on goodness and godliness. There's a premium on that these days, on bluster rather than humility.

B&N.com: On "Old School," you sing from the perspective of a real old-timer -- do you feel that way yourself?

JH: [Laughs] Hell, I'll be 53 in August and I feel great -- better than ever. There are things that let you know you're aging, sure. For instance, I've just spent a couple of months recuperating from back surgery, but overall, I'm great. I just love those kinds of songs, the ones where an old guy or woman is imparting truth to the youngsters. To tell you the truth, I wanted to cut that because I thought George Jones might hear it and want to cut it.

B&N.com: How would you describe the overall tone of Master of Disaster?

JH: I was trying to cover the whole American musical experience, to reflect the sense of the frontier, the whole southern experience of different cultures and sounds bumping up against the Mississippi River. I try not to have too much of a game plan. I write songs, think of a setting, and go from there, so I'm not one of those guys with some grand design.

June 2005