It is often said that fans of Tom Waits tend to fall into two camps: those who love his early barroom Beat troubadour songs and those who prefer the throaty, percussive, avant-garde work he began in the early 1980s with the brilliant Swordfishtrombones. (In truth, pretty much everyone I’ve known likes the later work best, I believe, but I suppose that must just be the crowd I hang with.)
Here’s a long, hearty drink of both sides of Waits.
Early Waits
Aside from probably Small Change and the oft-overlooked Nighthawks at the Diner, I’d say Waits’s early career is best heard in compiled form. So here you have it, in two hefty playlists. I’ve left off a few fan favorites (“Somewhere,” “Martha,” “Ruby’s Arms,” etc.) to highlight some deep album cuts that I really love, but other than that pretty much all the essentials are here.
Playlist 1
Selected highlights from Closing Time (1973) and The Heart of Saturday Night (1974), plus a healthy dose of the jazzy, live-in-the-studio (complete with a bar set up just for the audience) double-LP Nighthawks at the Diner (1975).
Playlist 2
Selected highlights from Small Change (1976), Foreign Affairs (1977), Blue Valentine (1978), and Heartattack and Vine (1980).
Peak Waits
After a three-year hiatus (and marriage to his new partner in musical crime Kathleen Brennan), Waits emerged, as if from a cocoon, as a dark, devious butterfly. What once sometimes came across as a bit of a shtick now felt like an intense, unique artistic vision.
Playlist 3
Highlights from the brilliant Swordfishtrombones (1983) and the excellent follow-up Rain Dogs (1985). (Did I need to say that word “brilliant” again? Yes.)
Playlist 4
Selected highlights from two of his works for theater, Franks Wild Years (1987) and The Black Rider (1993).
Playlist 5
Selected highlights from the also-brilliant, abrasive Bone Machine (1992) and the more accessible Mule Variations (1999).
Cover Art:
- Swordfishtrombones: Source, Discogs.com, Fair use.
Recent Comments