And my town’s on the tour. I’m hoping I can score tickets.
Love Tom.
His Blue Valentine album is one of my all time faves.
Since a 1970’s TV appearance playing “Small Change”, Tom Waits has dominated my musical world. Tom Waits is a genius, without being an overrated cliche.
“Hoist That Rag” is one of my favourite tracks of the last decade and “On the Nickel” is in my top 5 songs of all time.
How the hell can a guy with such wreckage for a voice manage to make me cry? I dread anything happening to stop him creating.
I’ve just tried hard to overstate my regard for Tom Waits. I think I failed.
For those of you who admire Tom Waits’ work, can I butt in and ask why? He’s one of those people who I’ve never been able to understand why he has as large a following as he does…
For myself, I love Tom Waits because of this and this and this and definitely this and about 300 more that aren’t his “hits”. He might, though, require some easing into for some. If that’s the case, you might want to start with Holly Cole’s Temptation, an album of her interpretations of songs by Waits. Great in it’s own right.
Thank you. Those were interesting.
What’s wrong with his voice?
“Hoist That Rag” is terrific. But, I’m partial to “Make it Rain.”
When I saw this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOrG1r3S6ZA
I was tranformed.
Have you heard his live set on that Tibetan Buddhist benefit concert CD?
It’s a perfectly fair question. He has a number of modes of singing, none of which are explainable. Or reasonable, even.
Here are a couple more:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZYYwfR2xuc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4x8RpnUne2U&feature=related
Waits’s appeal isn’t universal. I keep all my Waits CDs in the workshop because my wife isn’t crazy about him.
The thing I love about him is that he puts a human face on the underbelly of society. He makes me cry – "Heart of Saturday Night "gets to me every time. That was me for some time (sans the sweet one); thankfully I worked my way out of it. Nighthawks at the Diner was largely spoken word, lots of stuff about lonely people and small towns; that’s me again when I was younger. It’s very powerful stuff.
As for his voice, it’s partly put on, partly the five packs of smokes he inhaled daily for many years. I much prefer his earlier stuff, before he really put on the gravelly thing and got into the whole percussive sound, though I like all that, too. He’s actually a good interpreter of others’ music when he wants to be; I just love his version of “Somehow Somewhere” from West Side Story.
You might also want to check this out:
http://www.poetv.com/video.php?vid=7081
He’s just way cool.
No way. I have to hear that. I actually love that song.
Found it. Gorgeous.
The raspy one is voice masking. It goes back to West African spirit possession cults. Think Blind Willie Johnson, Howling Wolf and even Captain Beefheart. And hordes of gospel quartet baritone leads, ironically.
He’s also heavily influenced by 40s and 50s hipster culture. Rhino brought out a box set of hipster recordings a few years back and anybody who loves Waits owes it to themselves to check it out, as well as the singers I mentioned.
He doesn’t come from nowhere. He comes from traditions that have no mainstream visibility. Of course, he’s done a lot of wonderful stuff that’s very much his own.
i heard an interview with him on NPR a couple of falls ago and it was a special experience, covered a lot of territory and with a “wryness”? can’t think of another word to descibe it and I never use that word.
I’ve always appreciated Tom Waits more for his persona than his performance.
He has a song about Iraq called The Day After Tomorrow. For me, it’s easily the best Iraq era anti-war song. If Waits raspy voice doesn’ work for you, Linda Thompson sings it on her new cd Versatile Heart - great cd.
I can’t think of the name of the female duet partner, but I absolutely love Tom Waits “In Spite of Ourselves”.
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Larry
ah - that’s John Prine and Iris Dement…
Well, I guess that explains it.
I recall my now ex really liked Tom Waits back in the 70s. I could never figure out what the guy was saying. His voice always sounds garbled to me. Its only when other people sing his songs that I can understand them.
But, “In Spite of Our Selves”, that’s a John Prine song.
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Larry
don’t worry about it, I just happen to be a huge JP fan!!
And in the “old lady on Brady” no less. I remember taking the bus there for concerts in elementary school. Quite a long time ago.
Good luck on getting tickets.
Reg