Endtro
Well-Known Member
Tori covers Time and it’s excellent.
The Tom Waits Thread
- Thread starter Jake!
- Start date
avecigrec
Well-Known Member
This makes me so happy!
avecigrec
Well-Known Member
Also, speaking of Tom Waits covers, this is a band from Peterborough that did two gigs playing Rain Dogs in it's entirety and put out an album of the best versions. No idea where my CD of it got to, but I played the hell outta that thing!
The first time I saw these guys I was living in the Rockies and had no idea who they were but most shows at the bar were in the free to $5 range, so I'd seldom hesitate to take a chance on a band before I worked at said bar and got paid to see bands. The Silver Hearts were pretty solid but they truly won my heart when the unplugged during their encode, pied pipered a large portion of the audience outside while continuing to play and finished with an epic in the round in the middle of the 4-way stop out front, surrounded by a few dozen folks!
The first time I saw these guys I was living in the Rockies and had no idea who they were but most shows at the bar were in the free to $5 range, so I'd seldom hesitate to take a chance on a band before I worked at said bar and got paid to see bands. The Silver Hearts were pretty solid but they truly won my heart when the unplugged during their encode, pied pipered a large portion of the audience outside while continuing to play and finished with an epic in the round in the middle of the 4-way stop out front, surrounded by a few dozen folks!
Selaws
Well-Known Member
I love seeing people get excited over music like this. Fantastic write-up, I really enjoyed reading it.
Back in 2018 I listened to every bit of Waits' music that was on Spotify, plus the albums and bootlegs I had on vinyl. The Spotify portion alone was, at the time, 32 'Studio' albums, 4 compilations, 4 'bootlegs', and a 5hr long curated playlist. I loved every minute of it and listening to them in chronological order is fantastic for seeing how his music (and ideas) changed over his career.
For those wanting to dig deeper into the world of Waits, I recommend the 1986 Jim Jarmusch film 'Down By Law' (some fantastically Waits dialogue) and "Lowside of the Road: A Life of Tom Waits" by Barney Hoskyns.
Mtcvinyl
Well-Known Member
John Hammond has an all Waits covers album called Wicked Grin that is pretty great, and includes a duet with Tom.
Wish it had an LP release
Wish it had an LP release
Mtcvinyl
Well-Known Member
And let us not forget the complete opposite side of that coin; the Scarlett Johansson, Waits cover album produced by Dave Sitek from TV on the Radio. I want to like this but…
It is kind of a train wreck
It is kind of a train wreck
4080
Well-Known Member
I vaguely remember this, sampling this right now It's something else... This definitely wouldn't have lead me to listening to Tom Waits!
ranbalam
Well-Known Member
And there's this...
www.discogs.com
But i have to say, most Waits covers albums make me want to hear his versions regardless of who is interpreting them.
Various - Come On Up To The House: Women Sing Waits
View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 2019 Vinyl release of "Come On Up To The House: Women Sing Waits" on Discogs.
www.discogs.com
But i have to say, most Waits covers albums make me want to hear his versions regardless of who is interpreting them.
4080
Well-Known Member
Here we go again, my excitement for these records has me writing a whole hell of a lot, sorry if I'm carrying on a little too much, it's been a while since I've been this excited about a "new" musical discovery!
Next up is Frank's Wild Years, this is like the comedown from those last two records at least for me! It eases you in but doesn't give you much time you catch your breath! It's a slower burn, Straight to the Top (Rhumba) almost sounds like you're walking past the club and you want to go in so badly but figure if you do you'll never come out again! Now I'm again hit with just another song trying to bring me closer, trying to take me away and it's working! Temptation, we get a little weird but it works so well, the music is just so perfect you kind of get lost listening to it, and sort of lose track of what he's saying until he pulls you back in with a line or turn of phrase, this one will need a few more listens to really catch everything, just like all his stuff. I love the feeling of this record I'm getting, feels like something that's drawing you in but never letting you get close enough to be part of it, the story telling is so lively and vivid but just enough off kilter to keep you questioning what you're hearing. Listening to Please Wake Me Up, that ending sounds like some theme to an old TV show that only exists in your dreams!
Confession time, I'm pretty sure the first Tom Waits song I ever heard that I knew was Tom Waits was the theme to the Wire... actually that's not true, he did a song called Big in Japan that an internet radio station I used to listen to played a lot, shit I heard about Tom Waits more than I ever heard his music! This was during a time where if you didn't buy it or know someone that could dub you a copy you were never going to hear it! I'm not sure I knew anyone into him and I know they didn't play him on the local radio station when I was younger so it was just a name, a name mentioned a lot on a lot of best of lists, a guy name dropped frequently that was nothing more than a name! Funny how things change and now his entire catalogue is at my fingertips!
The second half of this record is wild! It's a little unexpected and yet feels like this was the only direction to go, until he switches it up again! Why shouldn't I trust a man in a blue trenchcoat and what's wrong with driving when you're dead? Really like the way this album ends, perfect comedown from the nice turn the second half took!
Bone Machine: this one starts off dark, I don't know what happened in the five years since his last record but it seems like he went through some shit! He kind of snaps out of it then gets weird, I'm on the record that his weird is so much better than most, it doesn't feel like he's being weird to be weird it just seems like he just does the song whatever way he feels like and whatever way that is is the right way. Like he's doing this wild duet with himself and it shouldn't work but you can't stop listening to it! Gets back to a mixture of what is probably really dark but sounds almost sweet, lyrically he hasn't missed a beat! This is a sad dark album that's not putting it on the listener, the artist is adsorbing all the pain and sorrow, you're listening trying to figure out if he's going to be ok. I don't know how he keeps finding new ways to create scenes that both sound impossible and also somehow the most realistic scenes imaginable! I'm just listening to A Little Rain over and over because I want to go to that place and just live there for as long as I can! Going Out West sounds really familiar, I wonder if I somehow heard this before? Ok I looked it up, it was in Fight Club so add that to Tom Waits songs I've heard before this! For as much music as I have listened to the last few days I'm amazed at seemingly not finding one bad song in the bunch, might be a bit of an exaggeration but I can't remember one song I flat out didn't like, can't say I've skipped any either, that's a little crazy this deep into his catalog, I love it, I hate interrupting the flow of an album with a terrible song or just one so boring you just want it to stop so you move on! I think I've also heard I don't wanna grow up, I know for sure I've heard the Ramones version!
Another fantastic experience, this is yet another album that will find its way into heavy rotation!
Next up is Frank's Wild Years, this is like the comedown from those last two records at least for me! It eases you in but doesn't give you much time you catch your breath! It's a slower burn, Straight to the Top (Rhumba) almost sounds like you're walking past the club and you want to go in so badly but figure if you do you'll never come out again! Now I'm again hit with just another song trying to bring me closer, trying to take me away and it's working! Temptation, we get a little weird but it works so well, the music is just so perfect you kind of get lost listening to it, and sort of lose track of what he's saying until he pulls you back in with a line or turn of phrase, this one will need a few more listens to really catch everything, just like all his stuff. I love the feeling of this record I'm getting, feels like something that's drawing you in but never letting you get close enough to be part of it, the story telling is so lively and vivid but just enough off kilter to keep you questioning what you're hearing. Listening to Please Wake Me Up, that ending sounds like some theme to an old TV show that only exists in your dreams!
Confession time, I'm pretty sure the first Tom Waits song I ever heard that I knew was Tom Waits was the theme to the Wire... actually that's not true, he did a song called Big in Japan that an internet radio station I used to listen to played a lot, shit I heard about Tom Waits more than I ever heard his music! This was during a time where if you didn't buy it or know someone that could dub you a copy you were never going to hear it! I'm not sure I knew anyone into him and I know they didn't play him on the local radio station when I was younger so it was just a name, a name mentioned a lot on a lot of best of lists, a guy name dropped frequently that was nothing more than a name! Funny how things change and now his entire catalogue is at my fingertips!
The second half of this record is wild! It's a little unexpected and yet feels like this was the only direction to go, until he switches it up again! Why shouldn't I trust a man in a blue trenchcoat and what's wrong with driving when you're dead? Really like the way this album ends, perfect comedown from the nice turn the second half took!
Bone Machine: this one starts off dark, I don't know what happened in the five years since his last record but it seems like he went through some shit! He kind of snaps out of it then gets weird, I'm on the record that his weird is so much better than most, it doesn't feel like he's being weird to be weird it just seems like he just does the song whatever way he feels like and whatever way that is is the right way. Like he's doing this wild duet with himself and it shouldn't work but you can't stop listening to it! Gets back to a mixture of what is probably really dark but sounds almost sweet, lyrically he hasn't missed a beat! This is a sad dark album that's not putting it on the listener, the artist is adsorbing all the pain and sorrow, you're listening trying to figure out if he's going to be ok. I don't know how he keeps finding new ways to create scenes that both sound impossible and also somehow the most realistic scenes imaginable! I'm just listening to A Little Rain over and over because I want to go to that place and just live there for as long as I can! Going Out West sounds really familiar, I wonder if I somehow heard this before? Ok I looked it up, it was in Fight Club so add that to Tom Waits songs I've heard before this! For as much music as I have listened to the last few days I'm amazed at seemingly not finding one bad song in the bunch, might be a bit of an exaggeration but I can't remember one song I flat out didn't like, can't say I've skipped any either, that's a little crazy this deep into his catalog, I love it, I hate interrupting the flow of an album with a terrible song or just one so boring you just want it to stop so you move on! I think I've also heard I don't wanna grow up, I know for sure I've heard the Ramones version!
Another fantastic experience, this is yet another album that will find its way into heavy rotation!
Matt M
Santa Extraordinaire
Two of his best, and at times I think Franks Wild Years is my favorite of his records. Not sure if you've seen the movie Smoke, but they use Innocent When You Dream to wrap up the movie. Perfect spot for that song.
yukbon
Well-Known Member
don't skip the live albums -- they really are something else. big time is after frank's wild years and glitter & doom is more recent (I think after mule variations? I know there's a VH1 storytellers after mule variations but i don't think there's an official release. it's vey worhwhile, if only to hear the wooden leg story)
ayayrawn
Well-Known Member
Love this album. Not all of the covers are great, but a few of them are quite good.And there's this...
Various - Come On Up To The House: Women Sing Waits
View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 2019 Vinyl release of "Come On Up To The House: Women Sing Waits" on Discogs.
But i have to say, most Waits covers albums make me want to hear his versions regardless of who is interpreting them.
avecigrec
Well-Known Member
Glitter and Doom came after Orphans - Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards. I think before Bad As Me though.
And I absolutely agree on VH1 Storytellers. Very worthwhile.
4080
Well-Known Member
I'm just running through the studio albums and since it's going so well I was going to go back and fill in anything I missed that's available! Any thoughts on the soundtracks or comps?
yukbon
Well-Known Member
The soundtracks are mostly ok but not as essential as the albums. Black rider is the exception, it's great. Not top 10, but that's mostly because it's a collaboration (with burroughs) and he's got so much top tier material.
Orphans collects most of the one offs and is essential imo. My only complaint about orphans is they used the version of "little drop of poison" from Shrek instead of from A history of violence
avecigrec
Well-Known Member
Yeah, it's something else.
Orphans is absolutely essential. Some of his finest gems are sprinkled in there.