Do you like the music of Tom Waits ?

Posted by: Peter Stockwell on 22 March 2001

Yesterday I bought the new John Hammond CD 'Wicked Grin'

. The track list is a sort of 'best of' Tom Waits. The sound has that cavernous big sound of the recent Tom Waits Recordings, and with good reason, because Tom Waits is the producer of this disc. The result is as if somebody reached into the past and resurrected Muddy Waters or even Howling Wolf to sing the songs of Tom Waits. I'm completely and utterly enthralled by this record, it's my favourite new recording of this year.

'I'd give it foive'

Peter

Posted on: 22 March 2001 by Mike Hanson

I'm a big fan of Waits, with around 10 of his albums. I'll have to pick up that John Hammond CD.

There's a guy here in Toronto (I can't recall his name), who plays at a bar in Kensington Market. I've not had a chance to see him myself, but my friend has went to a bunch of performances. I've heard his CD, and he's remarkably like Waits as well. I've got to give my friend a call and arrange to see the show.

-=> Mike Hanson <=-

Posted on: 22 March 2001 by Former member

my favourite Tom Waits CD is "Small Change".

Unfortunately, the sound quality is marginal, but his lyrics...

The Hammond CD sounds interesting.

John

Posted on: 22 March 2001 by Mike Hanson

It's rather hard for me to pick favourites, although I would rank his first and last quite highly, along with "Swordfish Trombones". Even though he plays with instrumentation a little from one album to the next, the basic essence is quite consistent. Some of the albums are more "touching" than others, but they're all quite recognizably Tom Waits.

-=> Mike Hanson <=-

Posted on: 22 March 2001 by Peter Stockwell

I enjoy Tom Waits, don't really have a favourite album, but I think Swordfishtrombones and Raindogs form a nice starting point for anybody that wants to explore. These two have outstanding melodies and great recording. Of course the notion of Tom Waits as a singer ....

I find there's more to enjoy each time I return to his music.

FWIW, He wrote Downtown train, a hit for Rod Stewart, and Jersey Girl, something of an anthem for Bruce Springsteen.

Peter

Posted on: 22 March 2001 by Mike Hanson

Yes, Mr. Waits is not a good singer in the "normal" sense. However, I find him to be far more enjoyable as a singer than many other "real" singers out there.

For those of you who don't know anything about the Canadian Juno music awards, Leonard Cohen won the award for "Best Male Vocalist" a few years back.

-=> Mike Hanson <=-

Posted on: 23 March 2001 by Peter Stockwell

quote:
or those of you who don't know anything about the Canadian Juno music awards, Leonard Cohen won the award for "Best Male Vocalist" a few years back.

Hmmm, What about:

Screamin' Jay Hawkins
Leon Redbone
Tiny Tim
Captain Beefheart

Who else is in the pantheon of great singers ?

Peter

Posted on: 23 March 2001 by Former member

I didn't make the connection before but Beefheart probably does belong in the same category as Tom Waits...but Leon Redbone?

To my ears Beefheart has incredible rythym, and many of his songs I consider "musical" (funny how far that word can stretch....)

For sheer beauty the best voice I have heard to date is Rebecca Pidgeon. This might be skewed, however, since her album "Raven" was one of the first CDs I played after getting a supercap.

John

Mike - any progress on the headphone research?

Posted on: 23 March 2001 by colin thomas

Can also recommend Tom's 'nighthawks at the diner' album. John Hammond's made some decent albums in the past and 'got love if you want it' is worth a listen. I must check out this new album of Tom Waits songs, sounds interesting.

Posted on: 23 March 2001 by Mike Hanson

I finally got the necessary cables last night. I've hooked up the Headline to the SNAPS2, and used it to drive the AKG 240's.

Initially they seemed bright to the point of being a touch shrill. However, I figured this was break-in and warm-up (new Headline, newly re-capped SNAPS2, and new Headphones). I let them run all night at a "moderate" volume, and they smoothed out a bit by morning. They still don't have nearly the same bass and slam as my regular speakers, but the level of detail is astonishing.

I haven't had a chance to try the direct-from-SuperCap cable yet, although that will happen sometime in the next week or so. I've also got a set of Sennheiser HD330's that I want to compare to the AKGs. If I prefer the general demeanor of the 330's, then I may audition a pair of the 600's.

The other thing that I was considering was using the digital power supply from the Super-Cap to power the Headline. However, I've heard that this supply doesn't provide enough volts to do the trick.

I'll know more later.

-=> Mike Hanson <=-

Posted on: 24 March 2001 by Peter Stockwell

Colin,

Thanks for the John Hammond tip. I took 'Wicked Grin' to a demo yesterday, it really swings through a Naim system

Peter

Posted on: 26 March 2001 by Former member

Thanks for the tip - I'll give it a go.

My favourite Waits :-

- 9th and Hennipen
- Walking Spanish
- Time
- The piano has been drinking
- What is he building in there
- The ocean doesn't want me today

..oh - and all the rest of it. Closing time is a bit dull. Pity he's not recording his 'new work.'

Jonathan

Posted on: 27 March 2001 by Mike Hanson

It seems like you prefer Waits' weird, spoken-word pieces. I get a real kick out of these myself, although my favourites tend towards his pining, melancholy ballads, usually backed by jangling piano. "The Piano has been drinking" is one example, although it's more "funny" than "sad". "Time" also fits the bill (even though it's backed by guitar instead of piano).

Considering your picks, have you heard "Trouble's Braids" on "Swordfish Troubones"? If not, I can almost guarantee that you'll like it.

I'm not usually a fan of "The Blues". The only reason that I can enjoy Waits' contributions to the genre is that he's such an odd character. In fact, I can enjoy this from any performer who has lots of character, like John Lee Hooker. Typical, small-town beer parlour blues bands are an anathema, in my books.

Overall, I enjoy Waits for his quirkiness and intensity of emotion. My wife hates him for the same reasons.

-=> Mike Hanson <=-

Posted on: 27 March 2001 by Former member

Gets my vote. The live vibe is excellent and some of the spoken introductions to the songs are hilarious. If you like Waits and don't have this album then you are missing out big time.

Of the more recent stuff, I think his latest album is one of his best and I also like the Chuck E. Weiss album he produced and sang on "Extremely Cool" or something like that.

Cheers,
Marc.

Posted on: 27 March 2001 by Peter Stockwell

Marc,

Yes it's the same guy as the R-L Jones song. Can you describe a little more that Chuck E. Weiss album ?

I bought another John Hammond Album yesterday, I couldn't find 'Got Love if you want it' but went for 'Found true Love'. He sings some of those Howlin' Wolf classics like 'Howlin for My darlin'. I tell you it's eerie how sings the blues like that. The recorded quality is not bad either.

Peter

Posted on: 29 March 2001 by Former member

I've only got one Tom Waits LP, but I could listen to the title track "The Heart of Saturday Night" for a very long time.

quote:
"Is it the clack of the pool balls - neon's buzzin' -
telephone's ringing, it's your second cousin.."

One of the very best songs that wasn't written by Bob Dylan.

All the best,

David

Posted on: 01 April 2001 by Former member

I have heard it - and all of swordfishtrombones - fell in love with Tom at University and have only recently "remembered" - gradually collecting all his stuff. In addition to all the standard albums I have Beutiful Maladies - and excellent compilation of the Island years, which is great when you can't decide which album to put on.

And, yes, I love the wierd stuff (so Rain Dogs re-bought first - followed by Bone Machine) but some of the ballards are superb.

I really wish he would record the stuff from his new shows - alledgedly some of the best stuff he has ever written. I believe he has caved in a bit and is due to record a new album soon.

Jonathan

Posted on: 08 April 2001 by Peter Stockwell

I bought a disc from www.secondspin.com the other day for $1.99. It's called 'dreamland', by Madeleine Peyroux. I got the hint for this from a review of the new creek 5350Se by Bob Reina in S'phoole.

The guitarist is Marc Ribot, and some of the cuts have that special sound that Tom Waits albums have. She sings like Billie Holliday, a not altogether unpleasant listen.

For $2 it's a bargain.

Peter

Posted on: 05 June 2001 by ken c

peter stockwell, and all you musically knowledgeable people.

i bought "wicked grin" a couple of weeks ago. unfortunately i played it last week when my system was having a tantrum.

my system is in fine voice now, and i gave it another spin today and the title of the album describes my face very well as i played thru it. great album !!!

this is the first hammond record in my collection -- at this rate i might get one or 2 more.

many thanks

enjoy

ken

Posted on: 06 June 2001 by Peter Stockwell

Ken,

In another thread you said how much you enjoyed the Blind Boys of Alabama CD. I think there's two songs from Tom Waits on that. One of those songs, "I've been Saved", or something like that, is on the Hammond album, with TW handling, err, harmony vocals. It's a blast hearing the two versions side by side!

I, too, was impressed enough to dig into the back catalogue of John Hammond. I bought a 1995 CD, the title of which escapes me because I loaned it to a friend two days after I bought it and I haven't seen it since, and I liked that too, a real blues man with 1990's recording technology.

On a Vinyl vs CD note, both the Hammond and Blind Boys CD sound so good that I for one am not craving the LP versions. And I listen to about 80% LP compared with CD

Peter