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Tom Waits

#41
ShoeManiac said:
It's amazing that almost 40 year on, Tom Waits is still writing some heartbreakingly beautiful songs. Just listen to "Never let go" from Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards and it becomes instantly clear that his talent truly is something special.
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That's a great point, and it underscores not only the longevity of Waits' career, but the manner in which he has stayed relevant by continually reinventing his sound.

I can't think of many other artists who achieved his status in the early '70s who are still gaining new fans without recycling their old music. I don't think of Waits as a '70s artist, or belonging to any single decade.

His is a singular talent; his career path and music are unique.
 
#42
Call me a super fan, I believe I've listened to every Tom Waits recording ever made available ten times over, film soundtracks and all. I was introduced to him with the concurrent 2002 releases of Blood Money and Alice, but it was "Small Change" that really got me hooked. Before hearing Tom Waits I never paid attention to lyrics, I was a straight up jazz/orchestral guy with the pretentious "words don't belong in music" attitude to go with it. His brilliant marriage of poetry and composition was the much needed slice of humble pie that opened me up to a whole new world of music... call me a pansy, but I still get teary thinking about it. :)

fwiw, the title track on Swordfish trombones (mentioned by the OP) has 2 basses on it- upright, and fretless electric.
 
#43
Count me as a long time TW fan. Swordfishtrombones was the one that REALLY hooked me in but good. :bassist:

"--got a gallon of gas, came home doused everything in the house, torched it, parked across the street laughing, watching it bun all Halloween orange and chimney red. Then Frank put on a Top 40 station, got on the Hollywood Freeway heading north, never could stand that dog" :D
 
#44
scootron said:
That's a great point, and it underscores not only the longevity of Waits' career, but the manner in which he has stayed relevant by continually reinventing his sound.
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I see that said a lot about Tom Waits and I think it is the result of a market saturated with opinions about commercially-oriented musicians. I look at Tom Waits more as a "composer" in the same vein as, say, Philip Glass, Eric Whittacre, or even Steve Reich (of whom Tom Waits is reportedly a huge fan). Those guys have had hugely successful careers spanning decades as well, and built largely on the strength of their compositions, but I don't think any of them has ever been accused of "reinventing" themselves- to do so would almost be an insult.

I think what makes Tom Waits so lasting is that he actually DOES compose his music. He's not someone who takes a bunch of rhyming words and sticks them into whatever pre-defined song form is popular at the time, necessitating a so-called "reinvention" every few years so that they can keep in step with whatever is trendy. He crafts his songs from start to finish.. instrumentation, melodies, counterpoint, rhythm, all of it! He's an artist from head to toe, and in the unique position of not having anyone to answer to for his art. I think THAT is what keeps Tom Waits relevant... not that he is reinventing anything, but simply that he just keeps on creating. :hyper:
 

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