Tom Waits Corner

[md655321]

I tried seraching for a Tom Waits corner, and unless I am blind or stupid or both, I could not find one. No doubt there are many rabid Waits fans on this site, and I certainly consider myself part of that group.

I could go on for hours on what I love about Tom Waits, so I will just start with a nifty quote I just came across.

"Here's something i stumbled upon at my daughter's birthday party: I rubbed the outside of a large tight balloon and obtained the familiar screaming warble you hear when clowns are making balloon animals. I found that if you put cornstarch on your hands and "play" it, it sounds very much like an Eric Dolphy solo, or a monkey with its hair on fire." - Tom Waits

I would say the pretty well encapsulates many of the aspects that makes me love the man and his music.

Additionally I will be playing in a jazz duo (2 guitars) on friday where we will be covering an instrumental version of the classic 'In the Neighborhood." Should be fun.

[Man with the Golden Arm]

I enjoy Waits much.

Dug out these couple articles about what he digs: HERE and HERE.

funny about the balloon in that his main man Ribot plays the guitar with them. oonf!

[Alexander]

I'm a big fan (see my avatar and sig quote). My favorite Waits line is his comment on the Eagles: "The only good use for an Eagles album is keeping dust off of your turntable."

Love all of his stuff, but the Swordfishtrombones/Rain Dogs/Frank's Wild Years troika is my fav...

[JSngry]

Does anybody remember the live show of his that was on PBS right around the time of Nighthawks At The Diner? Who was the tenor player?

[(BB)]

I just finally found a clean / reasonably priced copy of Nighthawks on vinyl last friday. That lp has been on my short list for the last 5 years.

The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me) was last song played at our wedding.

That man could read my phone bill and I would pay to hear it.

[(BB)]

JSngry

Pete Christlieb played tenor on "Nighthawks" if that was your question.

Edited March 8, 2006 by (BB)

[JSngry]

Yeah, but I don't think that he was on that TV show. It was an older guy iirc.

[Д.Д.]

I am quite a fan of Waits as well, with Blue Valentine (both the album and the song) being a favorite. I haven't heard his post-Bone Machine stuff yet - afraid to be disappointed. And "Piano Has Been Drinking" is really a mesmerizing song - I rarely listen to it just once - usually, at least three times in a row.

I keep wondering what his concert tours with Zappa (in mid-70s) were like.

I also wonder how much he was influenced by Captain Beefheart, and whether they had any interaction.

[Jazzdog]

If memory serves, the special I think Mr. Sangry is referring to had Ernie Watts on tenor. IIRC, the special was recorded in '79 (12/5/78) or so, which would chronologically be Hollywood and Vine era.

I found this link, which dosen't say who the sax player is but I think it was Watts.

http://www.pbs.org/klru/austin/artists/program259.html

Edited March 8, 2006 by Jazzdog

[JSngry]

No, this one was before the Austin City Limits show referenced on that site. Circa 1975-76, that's when this show was on.

Of course, I could be confused, but there's a sequence of personal events involved that makes me almost certain that I'm not.

[JSngry]

Found it - Soundstage, Chicago 1-9-76 http://www.officialtomwaits.com/t_main.htm

[Jazzdog]

This is by no means a comprehenisve list, but here is another site I found which had more info on Waits' shows...

http://www.geocities.com/chrisbct77/tomwaits.html

Of course, no one seems to care who the sidemen were on various Waits tours, so details like who played Sax on what seem kind of moot to the typical Waits collector.

Or so it would seem....

Now, Zappa fans have put up exhaustive lists of who played what and what was played on various tours.

Waits opened for FZ in the Fall of "74, and he even gave Waits a small spot in the middle of certain shows.

The one I have is the Bostom Orpheum show on 11/9/74. Its kinda funny.

Edited March 9, 2006 by Jazzdog

[JSngry]

Here we have the Soundstae appearance listed as 1975 http://www.musicstack.com/item/37338/tom+waits/soundstage,

The reason that I'm wondering is that I recognized the player as sort of a "cult" name, one of the "Brothers" type players (but a lesser one), and I was impressed that Waits would use a player such as this.

And here it's listed as 12/22/75 http://www.musicstack.com/item/37338/tom+waits/soundstage,

Edited March 9, 2006 by JSngry

[JSngry]

Yeah, this is it: http://db.etree.org/lookup_show.php?shows_key=299037

Setlist for Tom Waits - 12/22/75

Venue Soundstage (PBS)

City Chicago

State IL

Set 1 PBS television show on Tom Waits and Mose Allison. Chicago / USA (aired December 22, 1975, recorded November 3, 1975 or earlier)

TOM WAITS

"Eggs And Sausage"

"Semi-Suite"

"Diamonds On My Windshield"

"Drunk On The Moon"

"Better Off Without A Wife"

"Nighthawk Postcards"

"The Heart Of Saturday Night

"San Diego Serenade"

MOSE ALLISON

1. If you're Goin' To the City

2. Everybody Cryin' Mercy

3. Your Molecular Structure

4. Swingin' Machine

5. How Much Truth

6. Your Mind Is On Vacation

7. I Don't Worry About A Thing

That was a good show!

[HolyStitt]

I have tons of Waits.

I have all of the official recordings, quite a few unofficial, and a few of the compilations that have one or two exclusive songs.

Has anyone seen him in concert?

What are your favorite movie appearances?

[Jazzdog]

Awesome.

so...who was the Sax player on that?

[HolyStitt]

I keep wondering what his concert tours with Zappa (in mid-70s) were like.

I also wonder how much he was influenced by Captain Beefheart, and whether they had any interaction.

In a Mojo interview April of 1999 he says:

"I was always rather intimidated by Frank, 'cos he was like some type of a baron. There was so much mythology around him, and he had such confidence. Tremendous leadership and vision. When I toured with him, it was not well thought out. It was like your dad saying, "Why don't you go to the shooting range with your brother Earl?" And I was like, I don't really want to, I might get hurt. And I did get hurt. I went out and subjected myself to all this intimidating criticism from an audience that was not my own. Frank was funny. He'd just say: "How were they out there?" He was using me to take the temperature, sticking me up the butt of the cow and pulling me out. Kind of funny in retrospect. I fit in, in the sense that I was eccentric, Went out every night, got my 40 minutes. I still have nightmares about it. Frank shows up in my dreams, asking me how the crowd was. I have dreams where the piano is catching fire and the legs are falling off and the audience is coming at me with torches and dragging me away and beating me with sticks...so I think it was a good experience. "

I couldn't find the Captain Beefheart reference in my magazine stash, but I know he has credited him for influencing his post Asylum/Elektra years. He has said that when he started dating Kathleen Brennen, while making "One From The Heart," she exposed him to a wider variety of music. Out of this music, he has mentioned the influence of Howlin' Wolf, Captain Beefheart, and Harry Partch. He has said that he was afraid he would alienate his audience with a new sound, but Kathleen gave him the strength to go record his new sound.

[Kreilly]

I have tons of Waits.

I have all of the official recordings, quite a few unofficial, and a few of the compilations that have one or two exclusive songs.

Has anyone seen him in concert?

What are your favorite movie appearances?

I have his entire catalog and have bought each album on the day of its release since Raindogs. He was friends with Teddy Edwards and sings on two cuts on Edwards' "Mississippi Lad" release. On "Bone Machine: the operators manual" the promo cd for Bone Machine, Waits talks about hanging out with Edwards and about how Edwards used the pick-up line "Hey, we're all gonna be dirt in the ground." I saw him at the Beacon in NY during the "Mule Variations" tour. Great show.

[HolyStitt]

"Mississippi Lad" is fun, I just played it the other day.

Have you heard the John Hammond CD Wicked Grin? Pretty fun to hear someone else sing his songs and hear Waits primarily playing guitar.

I have the second volume of the Gatmo Sessions, but have still been unable to find the first.

I also saw him on the "Mule Variations" tour. He played two nights at the State Theatre and it was great to see the variety between the two nights. The funny thing is the theatre is between the streets 8th & 9th and Hennepin Avenue. I love how he performed on an amplified wood box with dust on it. During certain songs he would stomp on it to add percussion to the song.

Did he make any references to any local places?

In town, he made references to a surplus army store, the The Museum of Questionable Medical Devices, and some crop art that he had seen earlier in the day at the Minnesota State Fair.

[md655321]

One amazing find Ive been listening to lately is his VH1 Storytellers performance from 1999. Just great stories, often not relating to the song but funny enough, followed by great performances. Ive never had the opportunity to see him live, but I hope to someday.

As for film appearances I like them all, but his scene with Iggy Pop in Coffee and Cigarettes is just great, with Iggy trying his best to act cool and impress the unimpressable Tom Waits.

[Guest]

this site

http://www.keeslau.com/TomWaitsSupplement/...s/1949-1975.htm

if I got everything right (still a little tired) suggests that the tenor player is Frank Vicari

niko

[JSngry]

this site

http://www.keeslau.com/TomWaitsSupplement/...s/1949-1975.htm

if I got everything right (still a little tired) suggests that the tenor player is Frank Vicari

niko

Thanks!

Vicari is not who I was remembering, but over 30 years, I've probably morphed "former Woody Herman sideman" into "one of the "Brothers" type players (but a lesser one)" in my mind.

[ejp626]

Longish interview in the UK Observer today:

Tom Waits interview

I particularly like this paragraph, which is about his wife, who has been a major creative partner for him apparently:

There was a lot more to it than that, though. An Illinois farm girl from Irish Catholic stock, Kathleen was the catalyst for the dramatic sea-change in Waits's music that occurred with the release of Swordfishtrombones in 1983. 'I didn't just marry a beautiful woman,' he says, 'I married a record collection.'

[HolyStitt]

The mom-and-pop record store I used to work for had the 15 track promo sampler for Orphans in the listening box. I played it a couple times during the visit. The sampler had a nice mix of music, with a nice version of "Young at Heart" with a Hawaiian pedal steel.

[md655321]

The whole box is indeed fantastic. Tons of great new songs and recording, and some very curious and entertaining older stuff.

As I do with all Tom Waits, I completely love it. If you like anything he has done in the last 20 years, you will love this.

It also contains his version of the song 'Long Way Home' which Norah Jones recorded on her last album. (He wrote it.) Definitely a high point on the set.