Ahhh…a musical Blog!
Well, if I want to earn the ire of my family the surest way to do it is put on “Real Gone” by Tom Waits whilst we have supper. My eight year old does a mean version of “Don’t Go Into The Barn” despite my explaining that it tells of the discovery of human remains and slave chains in the newly dug earth of an American Farmstead.
That is why I love Tom Waits. He has reinvented himself successfully several times in 30 years whilst never compromising on the way. He is an accomplished actor, raconteur, comedian, songwriter and polemicist. He is a beat poet and a country singer, a blues groaner and a bull horn screamer. He whispers poetry and beats car doors, sings of Singapore bars, midgets and prostitutes and of driving home from a girlfriends as it starts getting light.
To me he is even greater than Dylan – his range is greater and he hits the target every time. Whether I listen to the jazz lounge perfection of the early albums or the beauty of Orphans, whether I am transfixed by the story of “9th and Hennepin” or crying to “Johnson, Illinois” and “On The Nickel” - he always touches me in one way or another.
Tom Waits has created a persona and, with Kathleen Brennan his muse and astounding musicians like the angular guitarist Marc Ribot, he has already created a body of work that any genius would look back on with pride...and there's a new album next year!
Ladies and Gentlemen - Tom Waits.
Current Top 10 (and this changes all the time)
10. Ol’ 55
9. Hoist That Rag
8. Shore Leave
7. Tom Traubert’s Blues
6. Ruby’s Arms
4. The Briar & The Rose
3. Lie To Me
2. On The Nickel
1. Day After Tomorrow
Discover them if you haven’t already…
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