Where do I start with Tom Waits?

[twilight]

After hearing a lot of praise for Mr.Wait's work here and elsewhere I decided to buy one of this albums and have a listen.

What's a good starting point for somebody unfamiliar with the Waits catalouge?

Any key tracks I should download to get a taste for him?

[Brian Cronin]

I say The Heart of Saturday Night.

Besides the title track (which is amazing), there are San Diego Serenade, Shiver Me Timbers and Please Call Me Baby?, which are all must-have Waits tunes.

-Brian

[Spike-X]

You can't go wrong with any of the seventies albums -

Closing Time
Heart Of Saturday Night
Nighthawks At The Diner
Small Change
Foreign Affairs
Blue Valentine
Heart Attack And Vine

[twilight]

Thanks for the help guys.

I know for a fact that I can get Blue Valentine from a shop in the city for $10 so I might start with that one.

[Brian Cronin]

I dunno, I mean, Spike is basically correct - you can't really go WRONG with the seventies stuff, but I think his first four are his best (and most accessible to new listeners), so I would recommend one of them.

My first Waits album was Small Change, because I lurv Waltzing Matilda, and Waits does an amazing version.

-Brian

[twilight]

You know I hold your oppinion in high regard Cronin so if I can find Small Change or The Heart of Saturday Night in one of the cheaper music stores in Perth I'll get 'em.

[Brian Cronin]

The "problem" with Small Change is that, like the later of his 70s albums, it also has a lot of songs that could be jarring to a new listener.

The more albums Waits did, the less he really cared about his audience.

Closing Time and Heart of Saturday Night are the most mainstream by far (while also being great albums on their own merits, as well).

-Brian

[twilight]

Closing Time and Heart of Saturday Night are the most mainstream by far (while also being great albums on their own merits, as well).

Ah.
So what you're suggesting is that I should ease myself into his work with CT or HoSN before jumping into the harder stuff?

[Brian Cronin]

Yep. :)

-Brian

[Spike-X]

My first Waits album was Small Change, because I lurv Waltzing Matilda, and Waits does an amazing version.



That's not quite accurate. He nicked a couple of lines from our unofficial national anthem and put them in one of his songs.

[Brian Cronin]

That's not quite accurate. He nicked a couple of lines from our unofficial national anthem and put them in one of his songs.

Right, but I didn't feel right calling it an "original" song. :)

You know who did a good cover of that? Rod Stewart covered it on his Unplugged Album. Only reason I got the Unplugged album, to see how Stewart would handle it - he did well.

-Brian

[Prosthetic Head]

You have to check out Bone Machine. I think it's one of his very best albums.

[Lubichev]

Early Years Volume One. Small Change. Blue Valentine.

A Nickle's Worth of Dreams is a great import, if you can find it.

http://www.officialtomwaits.com/music/m_r_nwod.htm

[Adam Crocker]

With Waits? Well that really depends. Everyone has said his seventies stuff, which is good, but so totally different from his work in the 80s onwards that began with Swordfish Trombones that you're almost talking two completely different musicians. His seventies stuff is primarily piano driven and rooted in the pre-rock pop and jazz, though with a smokier, grittier feel in it's focus on the barroom and the down and out (which he got from the Beats). His experimental stuff after that is pretty much a strange bastard mating of some of that style, German theatre music (and Bravarain Oompah-music), the dadist Delta blues of Captain Beefheart, the odd percussion of Harry Partch, and several other elements. If you are going to go into the latter I'd start with Rain Dogs, which is where I started. It's still weird, but it's more accessible than his later albums and has some more conventional songs like the "Downtown Train," the country-soul of "Blind Love", and "Time."

[Brian Cronin]

Oh yeah, if you DO want to go straight into "experimental" Waits, then I, too, would recommend Rain Dogs.

I do a great impression of "Downtown Train." :) It kills my throat, though. ;)

-Brian

[SlightlyMad]

Beautiful Maladies: The Island Years (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000007QQL/sr=8-1/qid=1151412646/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-0476876-5090321?ie=UTF8) gives a good representation of his work.

[Adam Crocker]

Beautiful Maladies: The Island Years (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000007QQL/sr=8-1/qid=1151412646/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-0476876-5090321?ie=UTF8) gives a good representation of his work.

Well a good representation of his earlier experimental work, but the track list does seem to jump around chronologically, going from Frank's Wild Years (1987) to The Black Rider (1993) to Raindogs (1986) to Bone Machine (1992) within the space of the first seven tracks (and yes in that order). Not sure if I have a problem with that though I wonder how it will affect people new to Waits' work. His post-'83 music is not only incredibly idiosyncratic, but his albums often have a distinct feel that makes it hard to smoosh songs from each of them together. In particular I don't know how you'd fit material from Bone Machine alongside the rest.

[K'Nort]

I always start people with greatest hits. I figure they're more accessible. So either Beautiful Maladies or Used Songs. Rain Dogs is my personal favourite though.

[Brian Cronin]

Oh, I didn't know Greatest Hits was an option!! :)

-Brian

[Patrick Zircher]

----------

[howyadoin]

I always start people with greatest hits. I figure they're more accessible. So either Beautiful Maladies or Used Songs. Rain Dogs is my personal favourite though.Used Songs is definitely a great compilation. My personal favourite out of all the Waits I've heard, though, is Swordfishtrombones. Easily.

Never could stand that dog.

[Archyduke]

After reading this thread, I picked up a copy of Rain Dogs last night during a trip downtown. I'm really digging it so far; I'm on my third repeat at the moment.

[twilight]

Picked up Blue Valentine yesterday.

I'm on $29.00 and I'm digging it so far.

[Brian Cronin]

I think Waits is better served album by album, his records evoke a mood that might be busted up by a collection.
If Heart of Saturday Night had been everyone's first Tom Waits album, he'd have even more fans. If you even half-way like it, get Rain Dogs-- nothing else like it.

Agreed on both points, but I think EVERY artist is better served by album to album.

Okay, maybe not EVERY artist, as I'm sure there are some single-driven artists out there, but who likes singles driven artists??!

And yes, if Heart of Saturday Night had been people's first exposure to Tom Waits, he would be a much bigger star. Granted, of course, he doesn't really care about that. :)

-Brian

[Adam Crocker]

If Heart of Saturday Night had been everyone's first Tom Waits album, he'd have even more fans. If you even half-way like it, get Rain Dogs-- nothing else like it.


And yes, if Heart of Saturday Night had been people's first exposure to Tom Waits, he would be a much bigger star. Granted, of course, he doesn't really care about that. :)

I actually find this idea odd. Waits' fanbase has actually grown more substantially during his experimental years than during his far more conventional Asylum years. (Granted, that fact itself is even weirder.) Mule Variations scored the highest chart position he ever had at #30 and I think sold about a million copies.

[howyadoin]

Mule Variations scored the highest chart position he ever had at #30 and I think sold about a million copies.That really warms the cockles of my heart.

[The Mirrorball Man]

Okay, maybe not EVERY artist, as I'm sure there are some single-driven artists out there, but who likes singles driven artists??!
Everybody but us?

[howyadoin]

Okay, maybe not EVERY artist, as I'm sure there are some single-driven artists out there, but who likes singles driven artists??!Such as the Beatles, Elvis, or CCR?

Oh, not me, sir.

[twilight]

Bit of a follow up here.

I got Blue Valentine and loved the hell out of it.
Favourite track would be Romeo Is Bleeding.

[Adam West]

With Waits? Well that really depends. Everyone has said his seventies stuff, which is good, but so totally different from his work in the 80s onwards that began with Swordfish Trombones that you're almost talking two completely different musicians. His seventies stuff is primarily piano driven and rooted in the pre-rock pop and jazz, though with a smokier, grittier feel in it's focus on the barroom and the down and out (which he got from the Beats). His experimental stuff after that is pretty much a strange bastard mating of some of that style, German theatre music (and Bravarain Oompah-music), the dadist Delta blues of Captain Beefheart, the odd percussion of Harry Partch, and several other elements. If you are going to go into the latter I'd start with Rain Dogs, which is where I started. It's still weird, but it's more accessible than his later albums and has some more conventional songs like the "Downtown Train," the country-soul of "Blind Love", and "Time."


I got Swordfishtrombones by accident (don't ask), and when I listened to it, it sounds like some guy that growls alot. But when I search around for reviews most people think he's great.

But if what you say is true, how different is his work from Swordfishtrombones? Perhaps it's more accessible for me?

[Jonathan Bogart]

I got Swordfishtrombones by accident (don't ask), and when I listened to it, it sounds like some guy that growls alot. But when I search around for reviews most people think he's great.

But if what you say is true, how different is his work from Swordfishtrombones? Perhaps it's more accessible for me?
Um, his work is Swordfishtrombones. At least part of it is.

You might like the 70s albums better; they're more blatantly melodic. Or the turn-of-the-millennium albums Mule Variations, Alice, and Blood Money, which can be more accessible. (And sometimes less. Depends on the song.) But his voice pretty much sounds the same throughout.

He growls a lot for two reasons. One, that's how his voice sounds, and two, that's the effect he's going for, kind of like a hobo rooting around in the junkyard of twentieth-century music. He's not for everyone, but the people who like him, love him. I'm one of them.

[Adam West]

Um, his work is Swordfishtrombones. At least part of it is.

uh, there a 'previous' there that went missing :D.

You might like the 70s albums better; they're more blatantly melodic. Or the turn-of-the-millennium albums Mule Variations, Alice, and Blood Money, which can be more accessible. (And sometimes less. Depends on the song.) But his voice pretty much sounds the same throughout.

He growls a lot for two reasons. One, that's how his voice sounds, and two, that's the effect he's going for, kind of like a hobo rooting around in the junkyard of twentieth-century music. He's not for everyone, but the people who like him, love him. I'm one of them.
Cheers, I might checked it out.

[Adam Crocker]

I got Swordfishtrombones by accident (don't ask), and when I listened to it, it sounds like some guy that growls alot. But when I search around for reviews most people think he's great.

Jonathan summed up his work, though I mentioned it previously. Earlier stuff from the seventies is more straight-forward, blues and jazz based. But yes lots of people think he's great because he is.* His post-Swordfishtrombones stuff isn't for everyone, but it represents some of the weirdest and most unique sounding music out there. He roots through discarded musics of the twentieth century and mashes them together in such bizarre, outlandish ways that he very often produces new results.

There isn't really anything else I can think of that sounds like Waits. The closest is Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band but that's more in Beefheart's own theatrical growl (which influenced post seventies Waits) and the screeching, atonal guitar work which influenced the more subtle scratchy guitar work of Marc Ribot (who appeared on Rain Dogs and a few other Waits albums).

* No that is not an opinion. That is unvarnished fact. :p