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Tom Waits
In a career that has spanned four decades, Tom Waits' music has taken
adventurous turns, from confessional country-blues and jazz-flavored
lounge, to primal rock and avant-garde musical theatre. By turns tender
and poignant, to strange and twisted, his songs tend to explore the
dark underbelly of society as he gives his uniquely human voice to adventurers
both romantic and mercenary, drifters, con artists and those forgotten
characters on the fringe and in the fray. He has expanded and drawn
from a deep well of American song idioms: folk, blues, country, jazz
ballads, polkas, waltzes, cabaret, swing, popular ballads, and a category
that can only be described as Waitsian.
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But for every tale of street life and hard luck, there is also another picture -- one of almost idyllic, carefree emotion, told in such achingly vivid strokes that tingling sensations may even creep up your spine.
In the summer of the early '70s, Tom Waits was working as a doorman at the Heritage nightclub in San Diego, where artists of every genre performed. An avid fan of many writers and musicians, among them Bob Dylan, Lord Buckley, Hoagy Carmichael, Marty Robbins, Raymond Chandler, and Stephen Foster, he began developing a voice that expressed his appreciation by combining song and monologue. He took his newly formed act to Monday nights at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, where musicians from all over stood in line all day to get the opportunity to perform onstage that night. Shortly thereafter, Waits was signed to Asylum Records at the age of 22.
Waits' first formal recording, Closing Time was released in
1973 and contained the song, "Ol' 55," which was also covered by his
labelmates, The Eagles, for their On the Border album. He began
touring and opening for such artists as Charlie Rich, Billy Preston
and Frank Zappa. He gained increasing critical acclaim and a loyal cult
audience with his subsequent albums: The Heart Of Saturday Night
(1974), Nighthawks At The Diner (1975), Small Change (1976),
Foreign Affairs (1977), Blue Valentine (1978) and Heartattack
and Vine (1980). It was an incredibly prolific period for Waits
and one that solidified his reputation as one of America's new leading
songwriters. As a singer, his trademark gravelly voice became one of
the most unique voices ever heard in pop music.
In 1983 Waits signed a new recording contract with Island Records and released the album Swordfishtrombones. It marked a creative and startling turning point, which secured him a whole new generation of listeners. He began experimenting with ethnic instruments, altering the sound of his voice, trying unusual recording techniques and utilizing found sounds and bizarre textures. His trademark storytelling backed by his piano and a combo mutated into impressionistic and surreal aural landscapes. He went "lo-fi" and helped set off a whole new aesthetic that other artists emulated. This period of bold experimentation continued with the albums Rain Dogs (1985), Frank's Wild Years (1987), Big Time (1988) -- which was a film and soundtrack album of his acclaimed 1987 tour (which was named "Tour of the Year" in Rolling Stone magazine -- Bone Machine (1992) -- for which he won a Grammy for Best Alternative Album -- and The Black Rider (1993) a recording of the songs and music he wrote for the avant-garde opera based on the German folk tale that was adapted by Beat novelist William Burroughs for director Robert Wilson. Waits and his wife, Kathleen Brennan, his frequent collaborator in writing and production, composed songs and music for another Wilson opera, "Alice." He also contributed a standout interpretation of the Disney classic "Heigh Ho (Dwarf's Marching Song)" to the 1988 Stay Awake compilation.
Such rich imagery on record makes for the perfect cinematic companion, and so Waits naturally explored the worlds of composing music for film as well as acting. He wrote songs for and appeared in Sylvester Stallone's Paradise Alley (1978). He wrote and performed two songs for Ralph Waite's portrait of Skid Row, On the Nickel (1980). In 1982, he composed the score for Francis Ford Coppola's One From The Heart, which earned him an Academy Award nomination. In the next two years, Waits would also appear in Coppola's Rumble Fish, The Outsiders and The Cotton Club. In 1986, he appeared in Jim Jarmusch's Down By Law (with the U.S. debut of actor Roberto Benigni), and in the same year made his theatrical debut with Frank's Wild Years, at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre, a musical play he co-wrote with Brennan. His other film appearances include Ironweed, Queens' Logic, The Fisher King, At Play In The Fields Of The Lord and the Jarmusch film Night On Earth, for which Waits and Brennan composed the score. Waits had memorable acting turns as the insect-eating Renfield in Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula and Robert Altman's Short Cuts.
After the release of The Black Rider in 1993, Waits devoted time to
a variety of musical projects. He and Brennan wrote two songs for the
Dead Man Walking soundtrack album at the request of director
Tim Robbins. He also contributed the song, "A Little Drop Of Poison,"
for the Wim Wenders film The End Of Violence. He recorded a vocal
for a 75-minute orchestral essay by composer Gavin Bryars, "Jesus' Blood
Never Failed Me Yet," in which he sang to a 1971 recording of an old
hobo intoning the hymn of the same name. In 1998, Waits and Brennan
composed the score and a song to Bunny , which won the Oscar for
Best Short Film (Animated). Also in 1998, they contributed two songs
to the Liberty Heights film by Barry Levinson, and in 2000, they
composed "The World Keeps Turning" for the end credit of Ed Harris'
Pollack.
Waits' most recent album is the Grammy Award-winning Mule Variations released on Anti/Epitaph Records, a punk rock label. By synthesizing his affinity for American song froms from blues to country with his love of naturalistic sound worlds, he succeeded in creating the most direct and intimate album of his career. Most recently, Waits and Brennan collaborated for the third time with opera director Robert Wilson on a new production of Buchner's play, "Woyzeck," a 19th century nightmarish fable about a soldier who murders his girlfriend in Germany. Recently, it received an award for best musical in Denmark, and the production is currently touring Europe.
Tom is a legendary live performer who toured extensively in the '70s and '80s. In recent years, his live performances are rare, extraordinarily memorable and highly anticipated events. Part distorted vaudeville, part big top, part piano bar and part stand-up, Waits' live shows are meticulously orchestrated to have all of the grace and excitement of a derailing train.
Named as one of VH-1's "Most Influential Artists of All Time," it is no surprise that Waits' body of work has long been covered (and coveted) by other musicians. Notable cover versions include: Bruce Springsteen ("Jersey Girl"), Rod Stewart and Everything But The Girl ("Downtown Train"), Marianne Faithfull ("Strange Weather"), The Ramones ("I Don't Wanna Grow Up"), 10,000 Maniacs ("I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You"), Bob Seger ("Blind Love"), Shawn Colvin ("The Heart Of Saturday Night") and many others. A diverse list of artists have cited Tom Waits as an inspiration, including Bob Dylan who has named him as one of his "secret heroes." And the adoration strikes a chord with a rabid fan following -- there is even an annual celebration called "Waitstock" near Poughkeepsie, New York.
For more than 25 years now, Tom Waits has been creating music. He continues to inspire new generations of songwriters who have their own story to tell...and their own dark muse to follow. |
