Tom Waits

― tremendoidorangeblazer, Saturday, 28 August 2004 21:47 (8 years ago) Permalink

― adam. (nordicskilla), Saturday, 28 August 2004 21:53 (8 years ago) Permalink

― adam. (nordicskilla), Saturday, 28 August 2004 21:54 (8 years ago) Permalink

good show

― dancefloor (+dancefloor), Saturday, 28 August 2004 21:54 (8 years ago) Permalink

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Saturday, 28 August 2004 22:26 (8 years ago) Permalink

― jed_ (jed), Saturday, 28 August 2004 22:42 (8 years ago) Permalink

She is great.

― adam. (nordicskilla), Saturday, 28 August 2004 23:51 (8 years ago) Permalink

― Chris Trew, Monday, 30 August 2004 06:34 (8 years ago) Permalink

Eight million Tom Waits threads, I know, but I might as well use this one for this info:

For his Atlanta stop, recorded at the city's historic Fox Theater on July 5, Waits delivered a stunning and epic two-and-a-half-hour performance, including songs he says he's never attempted outside of the studio before. Backing Waits is a five-piece group featuring Seth Ford-Young (upright bass), Patrick Warren (keyboards), Omar Torrez (guitars), Vincent Henry (woodwinds) and Casey Waits (drums and percussion). "They play with racecar precision and they are all true conjurers," Waits says. "They are all multi-instrumentalists and they polka like real men."

---

Setlist:

"Lucinda / Ain't Going Down to the Well"

"Down in the Hole"

"Falling Down"

"Chocolate Jesus"

"All the World Is Green"

"Cemetery Polka"

"Cause of It All"

"Till the Money Runs Out"

"Such a Scream"

"November"

"Hold On"

"Black Market Baby"

"9th and Hennepin"

"Lie to Me"

"Lucky Day"

"On the Nickel"

"Lost in the Harbor"

"Innocent When You Dream"

"Hoist That Rag"

"Make It Rain"

"Dirt in the Ground"

"Get Behind the Mule"

"Hang Down Your Head"

"Jesus Gonna Be Here"

"Singapore"

ENCORE

"Eyeball Kid"

"Anywhere I Lay My Head"

Link near the top of the page to listen.

― Ned Raggett, Friday, 1 August 2008 15:15 (4 years ago) Permalink

thanks Ned, listening now. this set is pretty similar to what i saw him play in Houston, plus a few songs i didn't hear -- Chocolate Jesus, Such a Scream, 9th and Hennepin, On the Nickel, Singapore (maybe a couple others) -- but overall very similar. Recording quality is excellent too!, this is really really good.

― stephen, Saturday, 2 August 2008 00:25 (4 years ago) Permalink

Live double CD at the end of November 2009:

Trailer: http://vimeo.com/6985723

8 free tracks: http://www.tomwaits.com/news/article/60/Free_Glitter_and_Doom_Live_Album_Preview/

Preorder: http://kingsroadmerch.com/tom-waits/

― StanM, Tuesday, 13 October 2009 19:02 (3 years ago) Permalink

― StanM, Saturday, 17 October 2009 14:35 (3 years ago) Permalink

― Bag Smart, Street Stupid (Eazy), Sunday, 15 August 2010 22:32 (2 years ago) Permalink

whoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

― zorn_bond.mp3, Monday, 16 August 2010 00:07 (2 years ago) Permalink

So I don't want to start yet another TW thread, but there's hardly been any discussion of Glitter & Doom yet. What did people think?

― village idiot (dog latin), Tuesday, 9 November 2010 20:58 (2 years ago) Permalink

I get a guilty conscience every time I see it in my record collection, as I've hardly played it since I bought it several months ago. I was put off a little by the boomy-ness of the sound at first. But I clearly owe it to him to listen more.

― Duke, Tuesday, 9 November 2010 23:14 (2 years ago) Permalink

i listened to it a ton when it came out, and then i haven't played it since. it's good! i should dig it out again.

― tylerw, Tuesday, 9 November 2010 23:14 (2 years ago) Permalink

― Cunga, Tuesday, 16 November 2010 22:48 (2 years ago) Permalink

old guys play some sort of event

― tylerw, Tuesday, 15 March 2011 18:03 (2 years ago) Permalink

(ribot in the back there!)

― tylerw, Tuesday, 15 March 2011 18:04 (2 years ago) Permalink

Ribot good enough that he gets to sit.

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 15 March 2011 18:25 (2 years ago) Permalink

― tylerw, Friday, 25 March 2011 20:19 (2 years ago) Permalink

― MaresNest, Friday, 25 March 2011 20:33 (2 years ago) Permalink

http://www.tomwaits.com/news/article/146/Peek_At_A_Lyric_From_New_Tom_Waits8217_Album/

― StanM, Friday, 10 June 2011 15:18 (1 year ago) Permalink

never seen this before

also finally getting around to the brawlers box set thing. some amazing stuff! kind of frustrating that the info about when the tracks were recorded / who played on them is so vague, but oh well.

― tylerw, Wednesday, 20 July 2011 19:43 (1 year ago) Permalink

― not bulimic, just a cat (James Morrison), Thursday, 21 July 2011 00:14 (1 year ago) Permalink

I'm not a huge fan but I really enjoyed the Boxers set, especially the third disc with the spoken word stuff. The poem about the boy waiting at a diner during a bus ride stopover is particularly great.

― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Thursday, 21 July 2011 00:39 (1 year ago) Permalink

aw that's nirvana by bukowski. but yeah what a beaut. what a beaut.
there's some real gold on this that used to live on bootlegs, i think a long series called tales from the dimestore?, vols one to nine or something. almost wonder if they might theoretically hold a little more info about what's what. i like never let go, & lie to me a bunch.

― Aa Bb Obscure Dull Blue (#000066) (schlump), Thursday, 21 July 2011 00:49 (1 year ago) Permalink

Thanks to Chuck Tatum for:

#!

― Lophar Andreusz DeLeone (admrl), Friday, 19 August 2011 23:23 (1 year ago) Permalink

HAW!

― Why'd You Wanna Tweet Me So Bad? (dog latin), Friday, 19 August 2011 23:50 (1 year ago) Permalink

http://www.somekindofawesome.com/journal/2011/8/22/listen-tom-waits-bad-as-me.html

― johnny crunch, Tuesday, 23 August 2011 00:30 (1 year ago) Permalink

I like it

― Lophar Andreusz DeLeone (admrl), Tuesday, 23 August 2011 00:37 (1 year ago) Permalink

was that actually taken down within the last 9 minutes?

― Gukbe, Tuesday, 23 August 2011 00:40 (1 year ago) Permalink

Woah! Yes, I guess it was!

― Lophar Andreusz DeLeone (admrl), Tuesday, 23 August 2011 00:43 (1 year ago) Permalink

It sounded much like Tom Waits FWIW. Brash, honking, stompjng Tom Waits rather than sad Tom Waits. U know the drill

― Lophar Andreusz DeLeone (admrl), Tuesday, 23 August 2011 00:44 (1 year ago) Permalink

anti ppl be lurking ilm

― johnny crunch, Tuesday, 23 August 2011 00:45 (1 year ago) Permalink

I'm anti-ppl

― Lophar Andreusz DeLeone (admrl), Tuesday, 23 August 2011 00:46 (1 year ago) Permalink

You guys are right about Nirvana upthread. It's been on every Christmas compilation I've made since I first heard it.

― Why'd You Wanna Tweet Me So Bad? (dog latin), Tuesday, 23 August 2011 00:47 (1 year ago) Permalink

The poem about the boy waiting at a diner during a bus ride stopover is particularly great.
yeah! almost wish there was a whole album of this sort of thing. he has an amazing speaking voice, even when he's not hamming it up.

― tylerw, Tuesday, 23 August 2011 02:40 (1 year ago) Permalink

I made a compilation of many of his best spoken word pieces, stuff like "What's he building in there". A bit disjointed in feel but it captures that incredible side of his work. I wish I flat-out loved his singing but I just don't.

― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Tuesday, 23 August 2011 03:44 (1 year ago) Permalink

U know the drill

yeah it's funny how much this is exactly what you expect a new tom waits song is going to sound like, but, you know, nice also. spoken bits are v wolf.

― sexual union prayerbook slam (schlump), Tuesday, 23 August 2011 09:11 (1 year ago) Permalink

am i totally reactionary if i prefer his pre-swordfishtrombones stuff?

― by another name (amateurist), Tuesday, 23 August 2011 09:29 (1 year ago) Permalink

nope, otm.

― Ludo, Tuesday, 23 August 2011 09:47 (1 year ago) Permalink

it's like loving the complex human sprawl of a man but remembering the innocence of the child he was

― sexual union prayerbook slam (schlump), Tuesday, 23 August 2011 09:50 (1 year ago) Permalink

thanks, i feel validated!

― by another name (amateurist), Wednesday, 24 August 2011 09:26 (1 year ago) Permalink

you're all wrong.

― Why'd You Wanna Tweet Me So Bad? (dog latin), Wednesday, 24 August 2011 09:42 (1 year ago) Permalink

Nah, I'm kidding - you can like what you like, you don't have to ask me!

There is something quite devastating and melancholy and genuine about a lot of early Waits. Albums like Small Change are gut-wrenchingly desperate while Heart Of Saturday Night is so wistful and starry-eyed. I have a lot of time for this era. He had a tendency to go from genuinely affecting to full-on hammy, but by reinventing himself in the early '80s he managed to hit a happy medium through pure theatre.

― Why'd You Wanna Tweet Me So Bad? (dog latin), Wednesday, 24 August 2011 09:46 (1 year ago) Permalink

I love that cartoon "The Street Tom Waits Grew Up On" upthread. Who did that?

― Why'd You Wanna Tweet Me So Bad? (dog latin), Wednesday, 24 August 2011 09:47 (1 year ago) Permalink

So, the new album is out. Ilxors?

― dog latin, Friday, 21 October 2011 12:40 (1 year ago) Permalink

Amazing to have that ever being in doubt, having started with Waits with FRANK'S WILD YEARS and giving everything before that a listen before long after.

― Matt M., Friday, 21 October 2011 21:49 (1 year ago) Permalink

Goes all the way back to "Grapefruit Moon."

― waylon flowers and muammar gaddafi (Eazy), Friday, 21 October 2011 21:50 (1 year ago) Permalink

yeah, the dude is sort of a walking sentimental streak. i think he makes it work though.

― tylerw, Friday, 21 October 2011 21:52 (1 year ago) Permalink

First album is mostly sentimental ballads, no? "Martha" etc

― encarta it (Gukbe), Friday, 21 October 2011 21:58 (1 year ago) Permalink

the new one is really good! kinda surprised i thought he'd jumped the shark and tipped into self-parody on real gone

― lex pretend, Monday, 24 October 2011 12:18 (1 year ago) Permalink

LOVE the recession ballad in his falsetto (!)

― lex pretend, Monday, 24 October 2011 12:18 (1 year ago) Permalink

lex you liking tom waits is quite incomprehensible to me.

I mean, I believe you obv, but I'm a bit shaken too.

― Tim F, Monday, 24 October 2011 12:24 (1 year ago) Permalink

yeah that is surprising. i had to read that twice.

― Daniel, Esq., Monday, 24 October 2011 12:26 (1 year ago) Permalink

It's a shame he tours so infrequently, since in many ways live presents him in the best light. The "Mule Variations" comeback jaunt was memorable awesome, and the "Real Gone" tour was tons of fun, too. The guy's theatricality is made for an audience.

― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 24 October 2011 12:26 (1 year ago) Permalink

i've always loved tom waits, i thought this was common knowledge

― lex pretend, Monday, 24 October 2011 12:33 (1 year ago) Permalink

ranking the albums i've heard, not inc the new one

rain dogs > blue valentine > closing time > mule variations > alice > swordfishtrombones > blood money > heartattack and vine > real gone

absolutely adore the first three espesh

― lex pretend, Monday, 24 October 2011 12:35 (1 year ago) Permalink

Ooh crumbs the Lex, if you like those, you must seek out Franks Wild Years, Small Change and Heart Of Saturday Night. I find Blue Valentine and Closing Time just a little too hammy. Mule Variations is a bit boring in places.

― dog latin, Monday, 24 October 2011 13:38 (1 year ago) Permalink

I love this Jon Pareles interview with him in the NY Times. Waits in his Suburban SUV drives Pareles onto railroad tracks and near a defunct truck stop...Plenty of informative and entertaining Waits quotes

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/arts/music/tom-waitss-new-album-bad-as-me.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp

His songs and arrangements often smack of bleary late nights. But he prefers to record, surprisingly, first thing in the morning. “I used to think that great albums were made at 3 in the morning, until I tried recording at 3 in the morning. And then it was like: ‘Oh, man, I missed it. I’m out of gas,’ ” he said. “At 9:30, 10 o’clock, no one’s heard anything yet, they’re clean. Most of ’em haven’t even had breakfast yet, so this is breakfast.”

He offers his sidemen suggestions: “ ‘I want you to play like you’re 7 years old at a recital. I want you to play like your mom’s in the room. I want you to play like you’re miles from home, and your legs are dangling from a boxcar. Or play like your hair’s on fire. Play like you have no pants on.’ ”

....

Mr. Waits’s black Suburban was cluttered. On the passenger seat was a yellowing newspaper announcing the inauguration of John F. Kennedy. A large bottle of Valencia Mexican hot sauce rolled on the floor. Atop a pile covering the back seat were a bowler hat and a glittery sequined jacket. “I have the pants to match,” he said.

Under the clothing were LPs akin to Mr. Waits’s own music: Captain Beefheart, Willy DeVille and an album by the blues harmonica virtuoso Charlie Musselwhite, who also plays on the album. Digging further, Mr. Waits came up with an old sarsaparilla bottle, discovered, he said, while scavenging the truck stop’s parking lot.

― curmudgeon, Monday, 24 October 2011 13:46 (1 year ago) Permalink

waits really is just a bottomless well of great interview quotes. he doesn't even repeat himself very much!

― tylerw, Monday, 24 October 2011 14:48 (1 year ago) Permalink

i loved this-

"Anyone who has ever played a piano would really like to hear how it sounds when dropped from a 12th-floor window."

― mid-song laughing elvis (schlump), Monday, 24 October 2011 14:58 (1 year ago) Permalink

loved this from the ny times interview (and meyers does sound awesome on the album)

Q.
Another one of the sidemen on this album is Augie Meyers, the keyboard and accordion player who defined Tex-Mex with the Sir Douglas Quintet.

A.
He responds well to suggestions but he doesn’t do anything you ask him to do. He did some organ stabs on “Raised Right Man.” I was trying to tell him where to put them. And he was looking at me, like, don’t tell me where to put the stabs, man. I could stab this myself. I’m the stab king. I’ve been stabbing since before you were born.

― tylerw, Monday, 24 October 2011 15:06 (1 year ago) Permalink

:P

― Turangalila, Monday, 24 October 2011 15:11 (1 year ago) Permalink

listening to this on the npr stream for the first time. sounds great, though i'm not sure if there's anything on here he hasn't done before. shorter song lengths are a good idea!
cool that keef richards is all over it. waits should produce a richards solo album!

― tylerw, Monday, 24 October 2011 15:16 (1 year ago) Permalink

My teenage son was all what's with that guy's scratchy voice.

― curmudgeon, Monday, 24 October 2011 15:19 (1 year ago) Permalink

It's Tom Waits's "Wild Honey" IMO. Fun album, shorter songs.

― dog latin, Monday, 24 October 2011 15:21 (1 year ago) Permalink

friggin love "Chicago".

― Porto for Pyros (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Monday, 24 October 2011 16:16 (1 year ago) Permalink

― omar little, Monday, 24 October 2011 16:47 (1 year ago) Permalink

omg. you're outta luck *smooch*

― runaway (Matt P), Monday, 24 October 2011 16:52 (1 year ago) Permalink

omg "Hell Broke Luce" = "Mutiny In Heaven"

Still the best song on the album though.

― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Monday, 31 October 2011 16:59 (1 year ago) Permalink

While I was listening to this I thought, hmm, I wonder if Tom Waits will ever do a Tom Waits Songbook, wherein he remakes favorite songs from his catalog. And then it hits me that, well, that's basically what he's been doing as of late. This is still a fun album, and has a spark that "Real Gone" didn't quite have. Or maybe it did; my listening of that one got eclipsed by "Orphans."

― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 31 October 2011 17:07 (1 year ago) Permalink

This is certainly easier to digest than Real Gone. The latter's slow, creepy, acoustic, sort of soporific in places and definitely front-loaded (the second half is mostly throwaway Waits-by-numbers and I never cared for the war-song). I still love a lot of Real Gone, 'How's It Going To End', 'Hoist That Rag', 'Sins Of My Father' and 'Don't Go Into That Barn YEAAAHH' are all ace, and slightly different from what he'd done before.

― Mum-Ra Gaddafi the Ever-Living (dog latin), Monday, 31 October 2011 17:17 (1 year ago) Permalink

Really liking this on first listen, but I'm really not a fan of the sequencing. I really like "Hell Broke Luce", but I think its really awkwardly placed between "Last Leaf" and "New Years Eve".

― jon /via/ chi 2.0, Monday, 31 October 2011 17:18 (1 year ago) Permalink

yeah, too much quiet song/loud song on this. it's the only problem really.

― Mum-Ra Gaddafi the Ever-Living (dog latin), Monday, 31 October 2011 17:30 (1 year ago) Permalink

It's too soon to call it love, but I am having a mad affair with this record. "Chicago" kicks so much ass, good lord.

― DSMOS has arrived (kenan), Wednesday, 2 November 2011 17:06 (1 year ago) Permalink

Guys, I don't think he is trying to "hide" being sentimental! On places other than ILX (yes, I have ventured out there and return with this news), a healthy degree of sentiment is seen as a sign of humanity.

― Tevez Sr. (admrl), Wednesday, 2 November 2011 17:25 (1 year ago) Permalink

Still, well done for nailing him, we all thought he was cool

― Tevez Sr. (admrl), Wednesday, 2 November 2011 17:26 (1 year ago) Permalink

heard the new one at a friends house on a good stereo last night, and i'm really digging it! on the radio, "bad as me" didn't come across very well but i love the sound of this album, really like a 50s album or something...

i need to go pick this up

― the 500 gats of bartholomew thuggins (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 2 November 2011 17:33 (1 year ago) Permalink

I'm loving this album.

Be sure to get the version with the 3 bonus tracks. "Tell Me" is lovely. And "Hell Broke Luce" is fucking bad-ass.

― thirdalternative, Wednesday, 2 November 2011 18:02 (1 year ago) Permalink

yeah i think this album is pretty great!
any word on whether he's touring? he might be at the top of my list of people i've never seen live.

― tylerw, Wednesday, 2 November 2011 18:06 (1 year ago) Permalink

No word on a tour. A Waits "tour" typically involves three cities. Was lucky enough to see him once after "Mule Variations" and it was a fucking stunning show. He's a great actor up there.

― thirdalternative, Wednesday, 2 November 2011 18:12 (1 year ago) Permalink

Don't miss the Fresh Air interview with him. He talks to Terri like they're old buddies -- hell, maybe they are. At one point he shuffles through some books he has sitting around his studio and reads her dadaist poetry from 1916.

― DSMOS has arrived (kenan), Wednesday, 2 November 2011 18:13 (1 year ago) Permalink

listening to "Chicago" over footage of the OWS chaos works pretty damn well together!

― Porto for Pyros (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Saturday, 19 November 2011 21:02 (1 year ago) Permalink

Have we talked about how he's apparently announcing a tour tomorrow?

― Everything You Like Sucks, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 02:50 (9 months ago) Permalink

actually

― MUBU gai pan (Whiney G. Weingarten), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 05:23 (9 months ago) Permalink

is there news?

― Legendary General Cypher Raige (Gukbe), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 05:31 (9 months ago) Permalink

Here's the LA Times piece about it: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-tom-waits-20120806,0,1222309.story

― Everything You Like Sucks, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 05:43 (9 months ago) Permalink

I think he's planning to raid a stock exchange and then blow up a football stadium.

― Quickly, take hold of my hand, asshole! (dog latin), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 11:35 (9 months ago) Permalink

LOL at LA Time's HuffPo SEO headline with literally no actual information in the story

― MUBU gai pan (Whiney G. Weingarten), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 13:07 (9 months ago) Permalink

Just a new video, was really hoping for a tour annoucement

― chr1sb3singer, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 13:33 (9 months ago) Permalink

Awesome, a new video!

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 13:38 (9 months ago) Permalink

oh cool you guys...

― Quickly, take hold of my hand, asshole! (dog latin), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 13:57 (9 months ago) Permalink

honestly, you've gotta be kidding me, is that it?

― Quickly, take hold of my hand, asshole! (dog latin), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 13:57 (9 months ago) Permalink

Funny move by Tom, actually. The only reason that story got any press is because everybody was expecting a tour.

― Everything You Like Sucks, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 17:46 (9 months ago) Permalink

"As most of you guessed, it’s a tour…a tour de force!"

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:05 (9 months ago) Permalink

nice video as it is though. Reminds me of Up! and also Mario 3 for some reason.

― Quickly, take hold of my hand, asshole! (dog latin), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 08:35 (9 months ago) Permalink