Tom Waits is my favorite artist as well, but I’m a bigger fan of his early-to-mid career: the boozy, bluesy, beatnik barfly; the mad, maudlin hipster; the romantic, ranting poet; the haunter of Edward Hopper’s late-night greasy spoons, Charles Bukowski’s dingy, smoky lounges, and Raymond Chandler’s noir street scenes and dimly-lit cityscapes.
I could take or leave his first album, the “singer-songwritery” Closing Time (which to me has an unmistakable '70s feel I just can’t get into), but I absolutely love and adore Nighthawks, Small Change, Blue Valentine, Foreign Affairs, the *One From the Heart * soundtrack, and then the drift into darker, edgier territory for the Frank trilogy: Rain Dogs, Swordfishtrombones, and Frank’s Wild Years.
I actually created a Tom Waits mix CD to introduce friends to my favorite artist. What do you fans think of this collection? It’s in no specific order and isn’t meant to be – just some of my favorite songs that I think capture him in several different modes, doing what he does best.
I do enjoy The Black Rider as well…November, Just the Right Bullets, Lucky Day, Russian Dance, all are great songs. It does get a little dark and screamy though, and might not be the best next progression from Closing Time and Nighthawks.
Is there an independent store you can go to? They usually fill the niche of providing less popular artists. Also, the last time I went to the Virgin Mega Store, there was not a single virgin in the place.
It is a musical play written by William Buroughs, with music and lyrics by Tom Waits directed by Avaunt Gaurd (sp?) theater icon Robert Wilson. I can almost guarantee that you won’t like it so I will offer to take the tickets off your hands for no charge .
Amazing how different (~20% match) our selections were for an identical project[ol][li]Ol’ 55[/li][li](Looking For) The Heart Of Saturday Night[/li][li]Emotional Weather Report (With Intro)[/li][li]Eggs And Sausage (With Intro)[/li][li]Warm Beer And Cold Women (With Intro)[/li][li]The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me)[/li][li]Tom Traubert’s Blues (Four Sheets To The Wind In Copenhagen)[/li][li]Heartattack And Vine[/li][li]Underground[/li][li]Frank’s Wild Years[/li][li]Sixteen Shells From A Thirty-Ought Six[/li][li]Singapore[/li][li]Downtown Train[/li][li]Goin’ Out West[/li][li]Earth Died Screaming[/li][li]Filipino Box Spring Hog[/li][li]Big In Japan[/li][li]Misery Is the River Of The World[/li]Shake It[/ol]
With Closing Time and Nighthawks at the Diner you have a nice sampling of the early Waits. There is a sort of a middle period of experimental stuff best characterized by Raindogs, Swordfishtrombones and Frank’s Wild Years. I tend to think of Black Rider as the start of the “Devil’s jug band” period which continues to this day even as it gets mellower, as in Mule Variations.
Small Change, if only for the haunting ballad Tom Traubert’s Blues (Four Sheets to the Wind in Copenhagen). Or any compilation featuring this song. I recommend the hard to find Bounced Checks, which has a bizarre live version of “The Piano Has Been Drinking”.
I think my personal favorite is Heart Attack and Vine. I saw Tom do his test show for his tour. His band had quit, and so he came up to Davis with his bride (who was from sacramento) to play on campus to about 1000 people with just a stand up base player.
he had asked the college radio station KDVS for some “wierd music” and during a break he sat smoking and playing records. “I’m gonna wash that man right out of my hair” from the musical Oklahoma (?) was his favorite.
It was a great show, and he did a big tour after that with just his stand up base player.
Well, aren’t you just the sweetest thing! We have season tickets, and buy them before the Ahmanson announces its season. The season so far has been quite good, and I suppose that The Black Rider is a nice contrast to The Drowsy Chaperone and The Importance of Being Earnest. So I think I’ll take my chances on it. But thanks again for your kind offer.
Does anyone know if there is a live version of Blue Valentines on one of his albums? I prefer it to the studio version, but I think it might be bootlegged.
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But thanks again for your kind offer.