The guest on BBC4s Inheritance Tracks this week was Neil Oliver* & he picked a Tom Waits song that floored me a little!
The song in question was Martha & it has made me want to dig deeper into the back catalogue, but I have no idea where to start & it’s quite overwhelming! I have tried previously & it felt like climbing Everest wearing a pair of sandals so I promptly gave up. Can you help?
The Tom Waits songs I like are as below. Most of these have jumped out & impressed me or I have found by using Shazam whilst watching a film due to liking what I hear. I love the melodies on these & really like his voice** so I am not sure why I can’t just jump in two footed
– Martha
– All The World Is Green
– I’m Your Late Night Evening Prostitute
– Grapefruit Moon
– I Don’t Wanna Grow Up
– Innocent When You Dream
– I Hope That I Don’t Fall In Love With Yu
I also loved the Scarlett Johansson album where she covered her favourites of his. However, when I have delved deeper, some of those songs just didn’t do it for me.
Any individual track/playlist/album recommendations would be gratefully received.
*He must have had a break from peddling some nonsense on GB News
**I get why some would hate his voice, but like early Dylan it just works & would be nowhere near as good with a better voice. I have a feeling he may smoke & drink somewhat
This might possibly serve as a useful primer Sean, a BBC doc made by the notable James Maycock. In any event enjoy your journey into Waits’ ‘world going on underground’.
I really like Pony from The Mule Variations. Beyond that, no clue.
Heartattack and Vine album.
Asylum Years is a good overview of his early stuff.
As are The Early Years Vols 1 and 2, two albums of demos. Some of them turned up on later albums in a more finished way, but I really like them them anyway. Eg…
Good call, M.
High time i dusted off those two again,
Yesterday is Here. Love Franks Wild Years. Also the triple from 2006 – Orphans- Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards is magnificent
The two compilations Used Songs and Beautiful Maladies are great introductions to different eras of his work. Asylum Years as mentioned above was where I started. Of his early albums, the Heart of Saturday Night is maybe the best introduction. There’s a very good “This is Tom Waits”, playlist on Spotify selected by the man himself. The only caution I’d add is to avoid singing along, however tempting, it’s tough on the vocal chords. My own family have a particular aversion to my rendition of I Never Talk to Strangers in which I sing both the Tom Waits and Bette Midler parts.
That’s where I started – you can then pick and choose which of the parent albums to explore further
(interpretation: end up buying the whole lot)
There is no whole album of Tom Waits’ that I particularly like. Quite a few scattered songs though.
As well as some of those mentioned above, Alice, from the album of that name and $29.00 from Blue Valentine. From the 3-disc”Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards” collection of leftovers, I really like Nirvana, which is just him telling a heartwarming but ultimately slightly sad story.
I absolutely detest the version of Gavin Bryars’ “Jesus Blood Never Failed Me Yet” that he did. He hobnails all over it IMO and completely spoils the ambience. I also think his version of “Down In The Hole” only works in the context of “The Wire”. As a standalone track it’s inferior to the Blind Boys Of Alabama’s version.
I like Tom Waits, especially the earlier stuff, but I couldn’t agree more re “Jesus’ Blood”. Had to make sure the version I bought didn’t have that on it.
I first came across Tom Waits in the early ’80s. My pal’s big brother had a couple of albums. Heart Attack and Vine was one and I can’t remember the other. I have been a fan ever since. I don’t like everything he’s done, but I love most of it. I have all the albums and I used to have tons of bootlegs(I probably still have them…..just not looked for a while.
I won’t name individual albums, because wiki is your friend for info like that. The albums before Heart Attack and Vine, in general have bluesy, jazzy and country styles all mixed together. Lots of piano ballads….he liked to give the persona of a drunk, slumped over the piano. Martha is a simple example. There is a (pretend) live album called Nighthawks at the Diner which should be listened to in order….it’s all live with wisecracks in between the songs.
In 1980, he met Kathleen Brennan on a film set where he was writing the music( one from the heart). He married her and she persuaded him to stop with the maudlin stuff. We got Swordfishtrombones, Rain Dogs and Frank’s Wild Years in the ’80s. They’re all a bit experimental and a total change in direction. Definitely not easy listening, but interesting, and this is probably my favourite period.
The Black Rider and Bone Machine would put newbies off, but there are melodic and imaginative gems in there too.
Alice and Blood Money are my least listened to…….this just means that I don’t know every word on them as I do with most of his output.
So much for not mentioning album titles then! I love Mule Variations.
My advice(since you like Martha) would be to start with the early ones in order. If his voice wasn’t so hoarse, they could almost be easy listening. There’s nothing difficult in there apart from some jazzy rap almost. Once you get them, you’ll notice the difference in that ’80s trilogy. You’ll be an expert by then….or an addict maybe?
I think this is essential TW advice. The early stuff really is the best, IMHO.
When he falls into the trap of playing ‘Tom Waits the famous grizzly recording artist’, he loses touch with me. He becomes a parody of himself. Rory Bremner could probably do a better job.
For me his career is divided into pre and post Kathleen. Before her, he sounds kind of lost, trying to find himself, wearing different characters for size and finding the maudlin, drunken barfly the closest fit. His songwriting changes dramatically with Kathleen. Literally. One For The Heart, Frank’s Wild Years, The Black Rider, Alice and Blood Money were all written for film or theatre. Otherwise, his observations of others are more intimate and some songs are intensely personal and revealing. He could never have written a song as beautiful as Johnsburg, Illinois or a melody as exquisite as Rain Birds without her influence.
There are seven Asylum albums and all are very good to excellent, the pseudo-live one being particularly outstanding. Excluding the five ‘musical theatre’ ones, there are only six thereafter. He knows he’s a marmite artist and has always been very good at self-editing so that only high quality albums emerge. Personally, I don’t hear much parody, except when he is playing a role.
All points of his career has value. Bad As Me is comparable with Mule Variations and Rain Dogs and Heartattack And Vine. I find I play his post Asylum work much more often, but there is some Waits somewhere for everyone, even if it’s a cover version.
Wise words. I think the Tom Waits artist I first fell for was the Rickie Hopper edition. Once he passed that stage there wasn’t so much there for me, or at least, it started to sound more mannered to my ears and I subsequently lost interest.
“He could never have written a song as beautiful as Johnsburg, Illinois or a melody as exquisite as Rain Birds without her influence.”
That’s just nonsense. There are plenty of lovely melodies written before then.
But they are the most beautiful and exquisite. OOAA
My favourite album of all time is Swordfishtrombones (most days).
Here’s a list I’ve been working on:
Nearly forgot. Come On Up To The House is superb album of Tom Waits songs sung by women.
Shawn Colvin covered (Looking For) The Heart of Saturday Night on the Cover Girl album.
Juliet Turner covered I Hope That I Don’t Fall In Love With You as a duet with Brian Kennedy (Brian Kennedy). I used to see her around, was it really 20 years ago?
Swordfishtrombones for me is the peak of his catalogue closely followed by Raindogs.
If you like I dont want to go home check out the song Fish and Bird from the album Alice.Absolutely beautiful.
I did a homemade companion piece to that which you are welcome to have.Is your e-mail still the same?
Indeed it is, Sour. Great to see you in these parts again. I hope all is well. Your mix tapes are legendary in my house.
I’ve only got a couple of albums, Swordfishtrombones being one. In The Neighbourhood was the first Waits song I heard and I still love it.
I think Heartattack and Vine is probably the most approachable of his LPs
swordfishtrombones and Rain Dogs are both brilliant, covering ballads and weird noises, with great stories and characters in the songs.
The more melodic side of Tom Waits is found on the Asylum Albums – his voice growing increasingly hoarser as the years go by. My favourite of those is Blue Valentine, which opens with his version of Somewhere. As suggested above “The Asylum Years” is a very good compilation
Rain Dogs is perhaps the best of the Island years albums – still pretty melodic, but Marc Ribot’s clanking guitar features prominently. It also has his version of Downtown Train – later covered by Rod Stewart.
For the most melodic TW, there’s his soundtrack for One from the heart, which is the Tom Waits album for those that don’t like Tom Waits, where he croons & duets with Crystal Gayle.
Finally, if you want another artist covering Tom Waits, go for the big band Southside Johnny “Grapefruit Moon”
I like Tom Waits very much. And I also like One from the Heart. I think my favourites of his are Nighthawks at the Diner and Blue Valentine. He went a bit too self consciously ‘weird’ for my tastes a bit later on. But he hasn’t really done anything that isn’t worth investigating.
“a bit too self consciously ‘weird’” is exactly right.
How many times can you listen to stuff like ‘What’s He Building?’ before it palls? It’s a busted flush after the first run through. Like a second rate Bernard Cribbens song.
Oh No! I’m going to be barking “Right Said Fred” all day.
This always happens… “Can you direct me to an accessible, digestible introduction to the intimidating edifice of a major artist’s work?”
Answer: “A three-and-a-half-hour box set, of course!”
Start at the beginning and you’ll end up with the lot, the thing is you will not regret it.
What the Baron said – sometimes he talks sense you know
That’s exactly what I was going to say. I dived straight in with Swordfishtrombones and wondered what on Earth I was listening to. A while later I tried with Rain Dogs and still didn’t get it. Over the years I’d keep trying listening to them, waiting for it to click, but it never did. Until eventually I started from the beginning and it all made sense. I now have all his CDs and I’m a firm fan. What’s more, his best albums are smattered across his entire output and aren’t just heavily concentrated on the early years, as they are with most artists.
There were several other artists that I’d struggled with over the years, so I did the same with all of them – Captain Beefheart (although I have liked Safe as Milk for ages, but didn’t get the rest), The Fall, Frank Zappa and Nick Cave. Cave was the toughest. I had a couple of his albums that I thought were okay, but I felt he was probably much better than I thought, so I needed to make more effort. But unlike, say, Tom Waits, whose more accessible albums are his early ones, I didn’t find Cave’s early albums with The Boys Next Door and The Birthday Party to be an easy way in to him at all. I think with him I should probably have started at the other end.
Neil Oliver… erm… do some research… and not just to do with him being a dodger… though he is…whatever he thinks… do the polar opposite.
You never see him and David Icke in the same room…..
Eh? What’s wrong with Neil Oliver? I recently read a book of his, A History of Ancient Britain, and really liked it. Has he said or done something wrong that I’ve missed?
Type “Neil Oliver covid” into Google and it handily appends “rant” for you.
Ah.
I started with Rain Dogs and it’s still my fave. Beautiful melodic stuff that’s also just weird enough to make you work a tiny bit. A joy from soup to nuts IMO.
Rain Dogs is his masterpiece. He gets the most out of the people who work with him, like, say, Mark Ribot, who all seem to be well chosen individuals. Tom is none of that singer-songwriter-plus-Wrecking Crew formula.
Ask 20 different people and you’ll get 20 different answers! But then, that’s the sign of a great artist with a varied and interesting career.
The song of his that really floor’s me is Picture in a Frame. Can’t remember what album it’s on.
I’m definitely weighted towards his later albums. I don’t think I’ve ever even listened to anything pre-swordfish all the way through.
Two of my favourites are two late ones no-one has mentioned yet: Bad As Me and Real Gone. Both are very good at balancing all sides of his persona, from the experimental stuff to the grizzly ballads to the blues stomps.
The Piano Has Been Drinking…….
…..Not Me
It’s been a preasure and a plivelege.
Back in the seventies, he was briefly considered as the lead singer for a revitalised Herman’s Hermits.
Tom Waits for Noone?
Very good, Sal.
Start with
The Heart of Saturday Night
Blue Valentine
Then Swordfishtrombones.
Then he got weird and shouty and I lost interest but others can advise.
Start with Tom Traubert’s Blues. Finish with Tom Traubert’s Blues. Finest song ever written. Compared to it all the rest is noise. Some of the noise is brilliant but most of it is huge endless and boring, rolling across the prairies like Tom Sings Jack Kerouac.
the TLDR – pick one of the pre-Swordfishtrombone albums (probably Nighthawks or Heart of Saturday night) for his jazz/crooner phase.
Then pick one of his post Swordfishtrombone albums (probably swordfishtrombone or Rain Dogs) for his wild croaking/hitting the furniture phase.
And Glitter and Gloom disk 2 Tom Tales for his stand up. (genuinely funny – at least to me)
I find I have 170 Tom Waits tracks on Itunes. That barely touches the sides.
My personal favourite (today) is probably Hand down your head or Downtown Train, both from Rain Dogs.
I genuinely wish there was a song called “Hand down your Head” – it’s conjuring up some disturbing images even now…
Of Alfredo Garcia?
*awards 5 points*
“and what do points mean?”
Its surprisingly plausible, isnt it?
*Hang down your head
I’ve held off replying because I haven’t listened to much Tom for a while, even though I always say that when push come to shove my favourite album of all time is Rain Dogs, but this is the answer for me.
My entry point was Asylum Years, but for whole albums I would say Looking for the Heart of Saturday day Night for the ‘gin-soaked, lovesick bar room crooner’ phase, and Rain Dogs for the ‘Captain Birdseye’s been at the cough syrup again’ years, and you work your way out from there. So long as you don’t pick one expecting the other you can’t really go wrong with Tom.
As @tiggerlion says, Come Up to the House, the covers album is the place to start, with the Holly Cole one and the John Hammond next. The Scarlett Johansson has some merit and the one with Screaming Jay Hawkins and Andre Williams has the odd good track(New Coat of Paint). The one with Tindersticks and the 10k Maniacs ought to better, but has some clunkers (Step Right Up). When all else fails, get the twofer of his first 2 records, before his voice is more swallow than sigh.
I have a rather old compilation of Waits covers called Step Right Up on which the clear winner is Buzzcocks uptempo take on Better Off Without a Wife. Classic!
Best Track from Southside Johnny’s Grapefruit Moon is this duet of Walk Away.. Southside & TW trading lines like Baloo & King Louis.
‘Frank’s Wild Years’, the album, is an absolute masterpiece. A sepia dream film in your head.
There’s a nice unofficial recording available in some eel markets of a concert of Waits music, performed in 2004 at the New York Guitar Festival.
Eleni Mandel, John Hammond and Tin Hat Trio. 20 songs and some chat about Tom. On 2 CDs. “$29 And An Alligator Purse: The Music Of Tom Waits”
Really liked Bone Machine at the time otherwise Asylum years plus SFTB and Raindogs.
Don’t really listen to him too much these days but the brief-ish set I saw him do at The Bridge Concert in 2007 remains in my favourite gigs list
Oily Night is German Techno played on non-electronic instruments.
Discuss.
The trouble I’ve had with Tom Waits, after a few decades of enjoying him, is that throughout his career he has produced songs that come close to being mere ‘novelty’ items. Pick your own examples from any period of Tom: The kind of thing that brings a wry smile to your face, but which doesn’t do that much for you after repeated listenings.
Just saying. Not to diss any of the many brilliant tracks.
Indeed. See ‘What’s He Building’ as an example.
InnnnndonEEEEEEsia!
Had the chance to see TW in Manchester in 1981 and stupidly didn’t go. Together with passing up a ticket to see Van Morrison and the Caledonia Soul Orchestra at Birmingham Town Hall in the summer of 73, one of the biggest regrets of my gig going life
I saw him in London – went to the Edmund Hopper exhibition in the afternoon. That was a day out.