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Tom Waits....


DIAMOND DUST

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Originally posted by funk jazz:

my personal favorite is Rain Dogs

 

used to drop acid and listen to that record over and over and over...

 

maybe that's why i'm a little off kilter now :freak:

Yeah, that is about where he lost me. Reviewers were raving. All the Kule Kids were raving. I just didn't 'get it'. But "Nighthawks at the Diner", "Heart of Saturday Night", "Blue Valentine".... wow. great stuff.

 

Bill

"I believe that entertainment can aspire to be art, and can become art, but if you set out to make art you're an idiot."

 

Steve Martin

 

Show business: we're all here because we're not all there.

 

 

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When I worked for EMG guitar pickups I lived up in a liitle town near Santa Rosa called Occidental. In this small hippie town of 600 or so tucked in the redwoods also lived Mr. Waits and Les Claypools "Rancho Relaxo" and Jack Irons (original chilie pepper drummer also Pearl Jam). I would run into Tom in this tiny wood floored three aisled grocery store in town. He was just Tom from up the street to everyone on town.
overheard street personality on Venice Beach "Man, that Bullshit is Bulllshhittt...."
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Not a fan here...

 

Read an interview on him and thought to myself "I think I would really like this guy's music".

 

He seemed weird in all the right ways.

 

I think quoting your own thoughts is pretty stupid. Or maybe it isn't. Just weird seeing it, like it was important or something...

 

Anyway, where should I start?

What do you recommend for a first listen to Tom?

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Originally posted by TeleCarlos:

Anyway, where should I start?

What do you recommend for a first listen to Tom?

Well, he wrote "Old '55" which was a minor hit for the Eagles. If you want to get into him from an accessable yet artistic place, perhaps "Heart of Saturday Night", which was his second album... he has developed his personality by that point, and was not trying to be anyone or anything else.

 

If you like live jazz/blues grooves (think: dark, smokey club...) then you might dig "Nighthawks at the Diner", with Waits throwing verbal riffs of beat poetry, similar to the riffing that James Elroy does in "The Cold Six Thousand". My personal favorite.

 

If you want to just dive right in to the deep end, "Rain Dogs" is a good place to start.

 

Bill

"I believe that entertainment can aspire to be art, and can become art, but if you set out to make art you're an idiot."

 

Steve Martin

 

Show business: we're all here because we're not all there.

 

 

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TeleCarlos-

 

Heart Attack and Vine (named after a sarcastic take on the street-signs at the intersection of Hollywood Blvd. and Vine) is a cool album; I particularly dig "The Nickel" (NOT a dope reference, as per contemporary slang). No other song like it!

 

As le brer funk jazz indicates, Rain Dogs is also an excellent jumping-in, -off, or -out point...

Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?

 

~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~

_ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _

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Diamond Dust-

 

Thanks for that link. Tom Waits has been a favorite of mine for a few years now. I like the fact that he's a little "out there" (and sometimes, more than just a little!). It's music that you'll never hear the likes of from anyone else. Thanks again.

 

TeleCarlos-

 

While I like Waits' earlier stuff best, Mule Variations from just a few years back is what really turned me on to him. It's got some somngs that are just beautiful, along with some of his more bizarre stylings. Bone Machine is really good, too. Heart of Saturday Night, one of his early albums, is a no-miss pick. Very accessible to the potential Tom Waits fan.

Everybody knows rock attained perfection in 1974. It's a scientific fact. - Homer Simpson
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I do nort rememebr the album's name, but I loved the one with "Jack & Neil; going to California", "Potter's Field", and the duet with Bette Midler "I Never Talk TO Strangers". HE totally nailed that album.

Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else.

 

 

 

 

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Originally posted by DIAMOND DUST:

I think we have way to much in common. :D Please tell me your a fan of Neil Young. :cool::)

i respect Neil Young, but i'm not a huge fan. probably because i haven't listened to much *shrug*

 

oustide of harvest moon, buffalo springfield, and csny, i'm pretty ignorant of his work.

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Who would you rather hear do "Downtown Train", Tom Waits or Rod Stewart? ;)

 

I like "Coney Island Baby" from the recent Blood Money. Nostalgic, yet warped.

 

Do you think someone that sings like Waits would even be allowed near a record label today if he didn't already exist?

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man, Waits is awesome... he's kinda like a Captian Beefheart meets Van Morrison meets Alan Ginsberg.

 

"Thepianohasbeendrinking" is classic. Then you listen to something like "Blue Skies" and he shows he really can sing "traditionally".

 

You've reminded me that I've got to go back and take another listen.

overheard street personality on Venice Beach "Man, that Bullshit is Bulllshhittt...."
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