Since blue-tooth is out AGAIN in the car, I’ve been listening to CD’s, including, “Hiatt Comes Alive at Budokan?,” which is neither a tribute to Peter Frampton nor recorded in Japan. You know the origin of the title by now (if you don’t please look it up.) The live album was released in Nov 1999. The song I’m sharing today was originally on the album, “Slow Turning,” released in 1988.
Every time song 13 comes on I think lordy I love the guitar in this one. The name of the song is, “Tennessee Plates,” which of course reminds me of Max because of the state and because he likes old cars and John Hiatt. Written by Hiatt and Mike Porter, it was recorded at The Terrace Ballroom, Austin, TX. From what wiki says, Michael Ward, formerly of School of Fish, on lead guitar. Looking a little further, I was sad at what I learned:
Guitarist Michael Ward went on to play with John Hiatt and eventually became a member of The Wallflowers. After The Wallflowers split, Ward spent many years as a member of Ben Harper‘s band, The Innocent Criminals. He was also a sought-after session guitarist in LA, and the author of the children’s books ‘Mike and the Bike’ and ‘Mike and the Bike Meet Lucille The Wheel.’ Ward died on April 1, 2024.
I woke up in a hotel and I didn't know what to do
I turned the TV on and wrote a letter to you
The news was talkin' 'bout a dragnet up on the interstate
Said they were lookin' for a Cadillac with Tennessee plates
Since I left California baby, things have gotten worse
Seems the land of opportunity for me is just a curse
Tell that judge in Bakersfield that my trial will have to wait
Down here they're lookin' for a Cadillac with Tennessee plates
It was somewhere in Nevada, it was cold outside
She was shiverin' in the dark, so I offered her a ride
Three bank jobs later, four cars hot wired
We crossed the Mississippi like an oil slick fire
If they'd known what we was up to they wouldn't 'a let us in
When we landed in Memphis like original sin
Up Elvis Presley Boulevard to the Graceland gates
See we were lookin' for a Cadillac with Tennessee plates
Well, there must have been a dozen of them parked in that garage
And there wasn't one Lincoln and there wasn't one Dodge
And there wasn't one Japanese model or make
Just pretty, pretty Cadillacs with Tennessee plates
She saw him singing once when she was seventeen
And ever since that day she's been living in between
I was never king of nothin' but this wild weekend
Anyway he wouldn't care, hell he gave them to his friends
Well this ain't no hotel I'm writin' you from
It's the Tennessee prison up at Brushy Mountain
Where yours sincerely's doin' five to eight
Stampin' out my time makin' Tennessee plates
Tao Talk 
You can never have too much John Hiatt.
That’s quite a career Ward had. (K)
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Yes he did. It’s always a shock to learn about a great musician and then learn they’ve already passed on; yet musicians and other creatives are immortals <3
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Yes, the work always remains.
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Great pick, Lisa. This song is cooking. I’ve really come to love John Hiatt over the past 5-6 years. For longest time, I had known his name only.
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Thanks, Christian. I love love love this guitar. Very fun story to go with it.
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quite a song Lisa! I love it :-)
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Glad you like it :)
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Aw, I hate finding out people have passed away. I know it’s part of life, but sometimes it comes as a shock.
That first line reminds me of Tom Waits’ Telephone Call from Istanbul:
“All night long on the broken glass
Livin’ in a medicine chest
Mediterranean hotel back sprawled across a roll top desk…”
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Just went out to listen to the Waits song. Good stuff!
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Wow, you’re a woman of action! :)
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Those lyrics grabbed me, what can I say.
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It’s indeed disheartening to see so many musical greats passing.
Some real guitar shredding there. At one point the song seems to channel a bit of Eddie Cochran’s “Summertime Blues.”
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Yes it is, yes it is, and yes it does.
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I love his writing! I want to go see him one day…I’ve always missed him when he played around…great live cut.
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I do too, Max. I knew you’d love it for a lot of reasons. That whole album is moving up my charts.
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His band sounds so good here.
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Great choice !!!!!!
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It’s a good’n.
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