Kaylee ,'Serenity'
There's a lady plays her fav'rite records/On the jukebox ev'ry day/All day long she plays the same old songs/And she believes the things that they say/She sings along with all the saddest songs/And she believes the stories are real/She lets the music dictate the way that she feels.
Poking my head in late to pass my condolences along to Jon B.
And a big old w00t to Corwood and Hecubus for the book deal. Ah... I have no Tom Waits in my collection, unless you count Holly Cole's Temptation. Can anyone recommend a release to start with?
Jon, I am so, so sorry to hear about your dad. Take care of yourself, OK?
Thanks, all!
Corwood, the BBC did an hour-long RT documentary a year or two ago. Did you see it? I can have a look, I may have still it on tape somewhere - a PAL VHS, but still. They looked at the SOTL tour in some detail, IIRC.
I would love to see that, Fiona.
Can anyone recommend a release to start with?
Go with Swordfishtrombones. It's a great introduction to his weird later period.
Go with Swordfishtrombones. It's a great introduction to his weird later period.
I'll second this, but add if you want to here where he came from, SMALL CHANGE is probably his early masterpiece.
SMALL CHANGE is probably his early masterpiece.
Definitely. That's where he really mastered all his songwriting strengths. I think this is the record that most influenced the Pogues - there's a direct line between "Tom Traubert's Blues" and "Fairytale of New York." (Cait O'Riordan's pre-Pogues band Pride of the Cross did a single titled "Tommy's Blue Valentine" in tribute to TW. For those unfamiliar with the backstory, Cait's the relatively recent ex-Mrs. Elvis Costello who he ditched for Diana Krall. Oof, casting off a Pogue for Ms. Smooth Jazz. Declan, you rotter.)
"Tom Traubert's Blues"
Which I've seen him do live (Frank's tour, heh). My favorite on that is "Invitation to the Blues" (followed closely by "Step Right Up"), but, man, that is a hella good song.
Declan, you rotter
This is the kind of statement that makes me want to kiss you Hec, even though we're both straight males.
I thought he and cait were way over before DK appeared on the scene.
Swordfishtrombones and Small Change were my intro to Tom Waits. When I finally heard Closing Time (though I do love it), I couldn't believe it was the same man.
I thought Cait dumped him, actually. Don't know where I heard that.
That was my impression, too. That Cait dumped him. Not that I haven't lost a little of my respect for him for marrying DK.
I'm not a big fan of Tom Waits' earlier stuff (although I haven't revisited it and probably need to). I think Swordfishtrombones is an excellent start point. I think Rain Dogs is good too.
