My all-time favorite songwriter/musician. Blue Valentine is a holiday staple 'round the old Ryan mansion, mostly due to this song:
Was there really no Tom Waits thread?!? Blue Valentine is great. I’ve recently been listening to Closing Time a lot. It’s always been near the bottom of the stack for me when it comes to Waits, but I’ve recently found a new appreciation for it for whatever reason. Did you check out his performance in the Ballad of Buster Scruggs on Netflix? His performance/story was easily my favorite part.
Blasphemy, I know. Closing Time is probably my least favorite Waits album (not counting the soundtracks), but there's still a lot to like about it. "Ol' 55" and "Grapefruit Moon" are great songs. And I haven't yet! Definitely need to check that out. Also, happy holidays, man!
Happy holidays to you as well! And I hope every year is the year we get a new album, but I’m like you, I’m beginning to wonder if it will ever happen again.
I think we will get a new album eventually, i’m definitely not expecting it at any point but when it comes we shall rejoice. I liked Bad As Me but I don’t want that to be his last album. Franks Wild Years is easily one of my favorite albums of all time.
Seeing Tom Waits live has been and will continue to be the number 1 thing on my bucket list. At this point I’ve pretty much accepted it will never happen :(
Not familiar with Waits outside of Heart of Saturday Night but I listened to Rain Dogs and absolutely loved it, Swordfishtrombones is pretty awesome so far as well. Damn! Constantly sleeping on things
Same. I listened to his VH1 Storytellers set earlier -- pretty much my ideal Waits show, in terms of setting. The guy is a world class entertainer. The full thing is up on YouTube, if anyone hasn't heard it:
Closing Time is actually my favourite of his just because his singing voice works more for me on that one, lol. His gruffer vocals have grown on me a lot though, I used to hate his music because I couldn't deal with the vocals.
I remember a friend showing me some songs of his when we were in grade 10, and I completely did not enjoy it at all and I'm going back now and just... kind of falling in love with his stuff.
I agree with Joey Diaz on a lot of things...but not Tom Waits really hope we get at least one more album
My favourite songwriter. Thanks for starting the thread. PS I have recently decided San Diego Serenade might be his best song.
Man, the Real Gone remaster is just terrible. They completely nuked the whole "transistor radio with bad reception" aesthetic the original album had, and stripped out all of the magic and mystery of it in the process. It's the only version available on Apple Music, too. Which is a huge bummer.
I’ve heard all the Asylum albums that got remastered this year were awful too. I actually picked up a copy of Closing Time from Vinyl Me Please, but have been in no hurry to listen to it bc of all the crap I’ve read about how awful it is. Pretty disappointing.
That's super disappointing to hear. I would never want a Bone Machine remaster. That album is recorded PERFECTLY.
So a while back I tried making a top 100 Tom Waits playlist, in order of my favourite to 100th favourite... I jotted down my top 50. Just found it: 1 San Diego Serenade 2 Tom Traubert's Blues 3 Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis 4 Time 5 Jersey Girl 6 Downtown Train 7 Anywhere I Lay My Head 8 Who Are You 9 Ol' 55 10 Hold On 11 Cold, Cold Ground 12 Blind Love 13 16 Shells from a 30.6 14 The Heart of Saturday Night 15 Hang Down Your Head 16 Come on Up to the House 17 Train Song 18 Dirt In The Ground 19 Tango Till They're Sore 20 I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You 21 Make It Rain 22 Bottom of the World 23 Goin Out West 24 Alice 25 Shiver Me Timbers 26 Hoist That Rag 27 Way Down in the Hole 28 Innocent When You Dream 29 Earth Died Screaming 30 Lucky Day 31 Invitation To The Blues 32 Jesus Gonna Be Here 33 Take It With Me 34 I Don't Wanna Grow Up 35 Jockey Full of Bourbon 36 Martha 37 Walking Spanish 38 A Little Rain 39 Whistle Down The Wind 40 Kentucky Avenue 41 On the Nickel 42 Hell Broke Luce 43 Clap Hands 44 Johnsburgh Illinois 45 Step Right Up 46 Yesterday Is Here 47 The Day After Tomorrow 48 Shore Leave 49 Rain Dogs 50 Swordfishtrombone
Same here. Closing Time is actually one of my favorite records of all time. Nothing else have ever really stuck for me.
I would recommend giving the later records another go (Waits is an acquired taste, and it can take some time for him to really click) but if nothing else you should definitely check out The Heart of Saturday Night if you haven't already, especially if it's the voice that's the dealbreaker for you. A couple samples:
This song’s great! It’s weird, I’ve listened to a few Waits albums (and own Rain Dogs) but have never gotten deep into his music.