Tom Waits and why I find him to be one of the best artist
09-12-08 | 08:59 AM
#26
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From: Northern New Jersey...or as we say it "Sopranos Country USA"
Tom Waits is an amazing artist, but a heavily acquired taste. I remember I was on vacation in Canada, and found a place selling a bunch of Island albums for $8.99 Canadian (this was at a time when the U.S. dollar was stronger than the Canadian). I picked up a bunch of U2 albums and noticed Swordfishtrombones and Rain Dogs were also on sale. I had heard of Tom Waits before, but had never delved into his catalog. I bought them, and those U2 albums I got went untouched for a few weeks. 
As soon as I got home I tracked down the rest of his albums. I also picked up the remastered soundtrack to One From The Heart when the movie got re-released.
Probably the coolest Tom Waits moment I've experienced was seeing Woyzeck, the opera for which Waits wrote the songs which became the album Blood Money, live at UCLA. It wasn't Waits performing; it was the touring company doing the opera. But many of them did their best Waits impression, which I found kind of humorous. I'm still waiting for him to do a live show in LA so I can actually see him live.
As soon as I got home I tracked down the rest of his albums. I also picked up the remastered soundtrack to One From The Heart when the movie got re-released.Probably the coolest Tom Waits moment I've experienced was seeing Woyzeck, the opera for which Waits wrote the songs which became the album Blood Money, live at UCLA. It wasn't Waits performing; it was the touring company doing the opera. But many of them did their best Waits impression, which I found kind of humorous. I'm still waiting for him to do a live show in LA so I can actually see him live.
Believe it or not, my first taste of Waits was Blood Money. I had heard of him before (as mentioned "Jersey Girl" is kind of popular in my neck of the woods) but Blood Money was the first album I had purchased. I listened to that one for sometime and was impressed, but had no idea where to go next. Around the same time, I had gotten into The Wire and the first season is the Blind Boys of Alabama doing an utterly fantastic and spellbinding version of "Way Down In The Hole", so I went with Frank's Wild Years. Some kid at the record shop (buddy of my uncle's owned and I think still owns, an indie shop in the mall in Livingston) told me it was a trilogy so I bought Swordfish and Rain Dogs with it. I was not disappointed.
Also, and hopefully not breaking the rules here, I found a copy of Waits "VH1 Storytellers" on some guy's website a few years ago. I think you can probably find the show in some form from a legit label, but even if you download it from somewhere, it is totally worth your time.
09-12-08 | 09:07 AM
#27
Senior Member
I have a very limited amount of experience with Tom Waits' music, but I absolutely love the song "Step Right Up". Probably a pretty lightweight track in relation to a lot of his stuff, I suspect, but I just love it.
And I got into Nick Cave a little bit after seeing "The Zero Effect". "Into My Arms" is a great song, and he also does a great version of The Beatles' "Let It Be" on the "I Am Sam" soundtrack.
And I got into Nick Cave a little bit after seeing "The Zero Effect". "Into My Arms" is a great song, and he also does a great version of The Beatles' "Let It Be" on the "I Am Sam" soundtrack.
