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I first discovered Tom Waits thru an ex-boyfriend of mine. He was into the whole Bone Machine thing, but I really fell in love with both Early Years volumes. Now the ex is long gone, but having that man in my life left me with one great thing anyway. The music takes me to a entirely different place. I get so sick of boring, repetitive commercial radio or television shows, that show no real feelings and give the listener/watcher no credit for intelligent thoughts. Just one listen of a Tom Waits record erases all that. .........escrafford@ntpinc.com
A friend and I were playing cards one night with the TV playing in the background. At one point we both stoped and looked at the tube with a "What the hell is that?" expression. It was Tom on Letterman playing 'Innocent When You Deam' on an out of tune upright piano with a stand-up base and an accordion for accompanyment. We were dumb-struck. The next day we walked to the record store and purchased the only Waits album they had - 'Small Change.' I've never looked back. ....and it's not just because my name is Frank that 'Frank's Wild Years' is my favorite album, although it may have had some influence. .........frank@pixelworkshop.com
Frank's Wild Years.........thagymasi@aol.com
I have been a diehard Tom Waits fan since the mid 70's and actually spent some time with him in his dressing room at Toad's Place in New Haven Ct a few years back. Though I am not crazy about his newer stuff ( " junkyard orchastration" I beleive he calls it) I really love his earlier work. I have seen him several times in concert but have heard nothing of him of late. Can you please tell me what he has been up to..........Thanks........Tim Beesley.........Wingman044@aol.com
Well.. 4 years ago my american friend, who came to study in SPb. Univer. gave me a tape named "Night On Earth". I've never heard about Tom Waits before. I don't remember what I thought about his vois at the firs time.. No it is absolutely normal for me. Second album I found was Bone Machine. So I started to listen Tom Waits from his last albums. Then I bought his Blue Valentine and Foreign Affairs but this works are not so interesting for me. Any way I like his music more than Maykldjekson :))) .........linux@mail.marinform.ru
Great page, man, great page. I really like that little introduction you have (about his voice etc...), it really corresponds to how I feel about Tom.
I had been aware of Tom for maybe 8 or 9 years, but never really listened to him, until the summer of 95. I was sitting in a student room with a friend who was a Tom Waits fan, and he put on "Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis". I was swept off my feet. Every tone, every word, every single second of that song hit home like a shot of moonshine. Since then, I've been getting more and more into his music.
My favourite album? Tough one... really tough... but I would go with either Rain Dogs, for its unashamed experimenting, or Blue Valentine. Yeah, probably Blue Valentine. I mean, it has "Christmas Card...", "Kentucky Ave.", "Whistle Past the Graveyard", "A Sweet Little Bullet...", "Blue Valentines"...
I really feel Tom is one of the best poets of the 20th century. No one, except maybe maybe Dylan, comes close in the rock/pop/blues genre. He can say so much with so few words. He can describe emotions just by showing you a piece of dark asphalt. For me, he's one of the few artists who can actually fill up everything. It's hard to read or hold a discussion when Tom is on the stereo - you just shut everything off and lay back and listen, and live the lives he describes.
Keep up the good work on your page!
Peace, Bjorn........bjwa6373@hem1.passagen.se
i'm attending a computer class, so i have no email address i'f you've got any recordings it would be great to be in contact, somehow(USPS) i'm 21 and been listening for a couple of years, i've only caught one show at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland about 2 years ago TW's music has ben abig part of my life, all the sappy stuff well enough
Waits is easily my favorite modern musician and near the top of my list of favorite poets. I own every one of his "normal" albums and six bootlegs to boot. I appreciate him most because of his numerous sides. He can revel in the grime at the bottom of the gutter of society as well as reveal the best aspects of love.........winston.e.black@lawrence.edu
First saw/heard Waits in "Down By Law" (I'm a big Lurie fan). Loved his performance, loved the opening tune (Jockey Full of Bourbon). Then saw Waits on some concert film on Bravo (The cable network). Incidentally, does anyone know what this performance is called? Is it available on video?.........nleditor@ruby.ncbc.edu
The street given voice ... loved the man's work ever since I saw him at Red Rocks in Denver, where he was filling in for a much lamer act (which shall not be mentioned). He was into his second or third song before the audience realized that this was Waits and not some raggedy-ass roadie. He, like thoughts of suicide, has gotten me through many a bad night and a worse morning. Laughed my ass off when driving down I-25 between Santa Fe and Albuquerque one day and spied Rafael's Silver Cloud Lounge on the east side of the road. Never went in always regretted it........velodog@rmi.net
Tom Waits has been serenading me since birth, but I only ran into his music a few years back. New Orleans is the town that my heart revolves around, and there's nothin' better than Tom playin' somewhere in the background. Tom is alive, I like him!........Gaeleck@usa.net
Hmmmmmm.....
Hmmmmmmmm.....
Hmmmmmmmmmm....
I haven't been a long time fan, (beause I only discovered Waits through a frind a few years ago) But, I'm sure to be one.... For someone like me who loves depression, and finds it mind clearing, there's nothing better than sitting down with a bottle of gin, jim bean, or red wine and wallowing in the sorrows of humanity with Tom... Tom is definately on my short list of people I want to sit down and have coffee (or a drink) with before I die........Svich@hotmail.com
When I realized that "The Early Years" vols. 1 and 2 were both put out on the Bizzare label(owned by Frank Zappa and Herb Cohen), ...well Tom coulda stuck his ass in my beer and I'd still be drinkin'. That means that I regard Tom Waits on such a high level that it's practically ineffable. Hence this "provide your comments" section should technically be left blank.. It's really hard to make a general statement about someone whom you feel so strongly about. I guess more specific questions might be a better approach for me. This place that I'm putting these words in is like that massively genalized question asked in the general bar having something to do with, "So, what are you into?" Who answers that question? (I worry about meating the person who can.)Mr. Waits is an incomprehensably intelligent person who's ability to express emotive situations goes so far beyond admiration that again, I find myself babbling, because I can't find the words to adiquately describe the admiration and awe I have. (for Tom). Tom Waits is a true genius, in my humble opinion... and I hope that doesn't offend anyone, and if it does... your probably a nasty drunk.........awappler@nassau.cv.net
i need some informations about gigdates of tom waits !! .........manfred.seidel@t-online.de
The first time I saw Tom was on the Tonight Show and Late Night with David Letterman during one week in 1989 or 1990. He was plugging the "Rain Dogs" album. He played "Time" on Carson and "Tango 'til They're Sore" on Letterman, and I fell in love. I was a wee high school lad at the time, but my musical horizens had been broadened by years of piano lessons and my parents' old records. I was bored with the radio, but I didn't know what else there could be. When I heard and saw what Tom was playing, especially his use of unusual percussion instruments, organs, and THAT VOICE, I knew what the world and I had been missing. "Raindogs" was the first album I bought, so it's my favorite, although "The Black Rider" comes in a close second. I like "Raindogs" because it gives a pretty complete picture of the music that Tom has produced throughout his career, from the country-like stuff on "The Early Years," to his wild music. I like his latest stuff the best. The chao! tic harmonies and clashing sounds reach inside of me to a place where nothing else can go nothing else is strong enough. Some day, I hope to see him perform live, but I'm just going to have to wait, I guess..........peter_storms@qm.ascp.org
a constantly mutating entity... too much pride to stagnate and die like everyone else..........godaddyo@compu.net
There's not even words to describe what an intense and amazing musician Tom Waits is..........queenie@pomn.com
There is no one else I know of who plucks the strings of my soul the same way. Nothing I can say seems adequate. ..........pnhenry@ionet.net
I loved Tom Waits. All of you. And I would like to know about his tours in 1998, and if it could be in Brazil. Please, send me an answer. Thanks so much, Andreia ..........andreia@jcocco.com.br
I first heard of Tom Waits via my older brother, and I loved his shit immediatly. Since then, I have purchased a cornocopia of albums. My favorite Tom Waits stuff is his live stuff (Big Time). ..........elephantitas@hotmail.com
Tom Waits has this way of tapping directly into your brain with his music. He hits a nerve with lyrics that cut like a knife. My favourite song would have to be Romeo is Bleeding, with "The moon cut like a sicle" He is real, and he hurts and that is something you just don't find. Emma ..........emm@bit.com.au
Best medicine I ever had...........SpikeMilano@t-online.de
I am looking to buy a copy of the movie Big Time. Could you steer me in that direction ? Thanks..........Dennis.Erno@gepex.ge.com
Thanks for the cool tom stuff. I printed out the frito story for a buddy of mine who is a fanatic.
thanks loads!
george..........heymoe@lamar.colostate.edu
The best! I've experienced and "lived" Waitss music since 1979. A constant reassuring companion thru' good and bad. No pretention - though some would like to make it so - just the truth..........bell.baxter.cupar@zetnet.co.uk
how can you not love the guy?.........jg900@bright.net
I have been listening to Tom Waits since the early 70s. I first heard bits of nighthawks at the diner on the radio and then bought every record I could ge. I am a little deprived because I live in Australia but when Tom toured here I went to every concert. I feel the question about what is my favourite album is unfair because I don't think I could get away with less than 8: closing time, nighthawks, heart of saturday night, small change, franks wild years, swordfishtrombones, raindogs, bone machine plus bits from all the others. Somewhere on blue valentines has to be one of the best songs ever, the duet with Bette and the song about jack kerouac on a foreign affair are also fab. i also love heart attack and vine plus the early years albums volume one and two. They are all so different. I love the words because they are so clever and the music has changed so much over the years. I love the way tom blossomed when he move from asylum and so really live his later stuff. I love introducing young people to Tom and expanding their musical horizons. I also love the way Tom's music finds its way into so many films. Like you're innocent when you dream at the end of smoke and the piano has been drinking at the end of Georgia, etc. I also like to see films where Tom appears. i think seeing Tom live has to be one of those special things. He's such a showman. So good at making a concert magical. Anyway i've gushed enough. Keep up the good work and may all good things come to you
Pam..........pamc@mpx.com.au
Hey, You have what must be the most Impressive site I have ever seen. Very entertaining. Thank you. And Waits IS the best ! Thanks Again, -M.........god2@mediaone.net
it is my humble opinion that Tom Waits is the greatest musical genius in the history of American music. His lyrics provide a snapshot of a life that everyone has led at some point in their being. I became good friends, (okay, drinking buddies) with Spider Stacy of the Pouges in London simply because we had a common interest--the music of Tom Waits. No matter if you are down and out (me) or rich and famous (Spider), Wait's music is for everyone to enjoy.........00jkjarrett@bsuvc.bsu.edu
Another comment.... My first time hearing TW was just like my first time "with" a woman. It was weird, scary, and it didn't last very long, but I knew from then on, I wanted more. I have never forgotten the rough voice, the simple yet heart-wrenching lyrics, and the emotion that rocked through my body. To this day, years later, I still listen to TW every damn day and I still get choked up at classics like "Tom Traubert's Blues", "Old Shoes (And Picture Postcards)", and my all time favortie song, "Ol' 55". The stories of loves found and lost, the extraordinary lives of simple people are each gems in their own ways. Thanks, TW, for providing years of comfort, humor, and most of all, music that has been a part of my life through the good and bad. The world owes you a debt of graditude. ........00jkjarrett@bsuvc.bsu.edu
Mr. Waits came roaring into my life in 1992. After hearing his contribution to the Primus song "Tommy The Cat," I neede to hear more of this gravelly, roaring and potent voice. I picked up "Bone Machine." As soon as heard the opening line to "Earth Died Screaming" I realized what insanity was all about. The moods that I heard on each of these songs represented a different aspect of darkness. Four years later, I used "Dirt In The Ground" and "I Don't Wanna Grow Up" for a film project in college. Everyone I talked to said that the music is what made it what it was downright spooky. When it comes to party time, "Raindogs" takes the cake. "Swordfishtrombones" is my favorite hang out disc. That's what is so great about his music. To me, every song, every album, represents something different to me. That just doesn't happen enough in music. Is he ever going to grace us with another album?.........bgalante@imaspub.com
the sound of his voice makes me cry even when I'm NOT drunk..........alyseh@hotmail.com
Ah what can be said about Tom? Without a doubt my favorite. He's realitly. Favorite album would have to be Franks Wild Years, but Nighthawks At The Diner is also a wonderful masterpiece. Everytime I pour a drink I think of that wonderful voice. I first heard him at a camp I was working at. Love at first sound!..........irvings@midcoast.com
Tom's lyrics, melodies, and rhythms are deeply and simultaneously personal and archetypal, specific and universal, urban and backwater. He has a way of making people believe and, in some way, experience what he sings. That's a rare gift, and I wish he would put out another album. Soon. Very soon......... Tsyganka@aol.com
It all started so simply-- Jonah taped a copy of "Raindogs" for me and a life long passion was born. I'd been listening to Springsteen, Dylan, Ani DiFranco, all geniuses in their own right (write) but nothing could have prepared me for this man. He can make me feel so much. He's the most versatile living composer, with lyrics that reach right out and touch your trachea. And that voice that voice! Darth Vader after a rough night. Nothing compares. He is the man, and I am a Raindog for life.......... DittoMarx@aol.com
Having just turned 30, I'v been listening to TOM for about 6 years. TOM embodies everything I ve done in my life and some things that I have yet to do. I could never begin to tell you of the countless times he has moved me to tears. Being continuously unemployed and travelling around the country I feel at times he is telling my story. Sitting here and finding this site thrills me to no end,(I'm on a friends computer and she would love to be included in any new information concerning TOM, especially concert appearances on the east coast). I'm gladdened to see young people are enjoying his music, I'm always turning people onto him. keep the faith.......... cookie@mci2000.com
Hi! Once again, I really like your site. I'm thinking of putting up a page called The Rock Poetry Files, and of course Tom will be on it. Anyway, here's a little thing I wrote a while ago, trying to paint my own picture of the world described in Tom's songs. There are references to at least 10 Tom songs (and one film) in here - can you find them?
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TOM WAITS FOR NO ONE
The bar is right where it has always been. When you step inside, the smoke hangs as heavy as always, and the liquor fumes live deep in the walls. Tom sits at a table in the corner and looks as if he's not waiting for anything. As if he were satisfied with just watching. Are we in St. Louis, New York City, Los Angeles or Minneapolis? Or are we in Copenhagen, Istanbul or even Serviceton, Australia? Do you really need to ask? And the hours pass. A distorted guitar comes from the jukebox. That's Willie Johnson playing, and Howlin' Wolf singing. I asked her for water, she brought me gasoline. The occasional trombone or the distand clinking of a piano comes leaking through the ceiling from the jazz club upstairs. It's after hours, and the musicians only play to themselves. In here, the Cuban chef has signed off for the night and sits smoking at the counter, absent-mindedly drumming the rhythms of his homeland on the bar in front of him. Glasses jangle. Everything melts into one single music. Tom listens to the music and orders once more. The chef has signed off for the night, and the only non-alcoholic alternatives are coffee and cigarettes. And the hours pass. As long as it keeps raining, there will always be a sailor playing biliards over in the corner. His opponent is only just over one metre tall, so every shot takes time while he moves the chair he has to stand on to reach. But the sailor's home is far away, and he's in no hurry. Nobody here is in any hurry. Tom drags his index finger along his goatee and looks like he's thinking about something. His gaze rests for a few seconds on each guest. The waitress with a tattoed tear at the corner of her eye serves him another whiskey. Ain't you had enough yet, she asks. He shakes his head. His been here for a long time, and he'll stay here a while. He closes his eyes and listens to the silence that hangs like a fog over the whispering jukebox, that has become stuck just at the end of a song. No one speaks. It's after hours, and the people only play to themselves. And the hours pass. A man sits at the bar, drinking Guinness. He looks in the mirror, not at himself, but at the girl in a red dress standing by the jukebox, smoking a cigarrette. The lines on her face and the bruises on her wrists make her look older than she is. If she'd had a diamond ring on her finger she might not have been here, but she hasn't and she is. Outside in the dark, outside in the rain, lonely people walk past the bar with their collars turned up, wet and cold. A Harley skids on a patch of ice, and the engine rushes. The man at the bar turns around, and his eyes search for the girl in the red dress. But she's already left. The man orders another Guinness, unaware that Tom has seen it all. And the hours pass. Somewhere in the world the sun rises, but here, it's always just before three A.M. and everyone who can has gone home. There is nothing to eat, but as long as there is coffee, cigarettes and whiskey Tom will stay. And as long as Tom stays, the others will also be here.
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Peace, Bjorn..........bjwa6373@hem1.passagen.se
There are few truly adequate words in any lexicon that could describe my feelings about Tom Waits. He runs the entire spectrum of emotions. In one instance, he fills the soul with the undeniable and uncontrollable beatitude that jazz brings in another instance, he simply makes you want to drink anything alcoholic and reminisce about past broken relationships, and, in still yet another, he delights with brilliant use of similies and metaphors.
And, while I believe Waits to be an acquired taste, I have always rejected any attempts to classify him in the two most over-rated and meaningless categories: good voice, bad voice. Tom Waits' voice, to my ear, is extremely effective, especially in terms of accompanying the music he creates. Waits doesn't have the naturally sonorous voice of, say, Bing Crosby, but "Blue Valentine" is one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard--Waits' voice included. To that aim, Tom Waits is the only person who can sing Tom Waits songs. Frank Sinatra sings "Romeo Is Bleeding?" Sorry. Hence the definition of "effective." And while I'm on the subject of other people slaughtering Waits' material, Tom himself said in an interview a few years back that if John Lennon knew the disposition of his songs (in the hands of Michael Jackson), he would come back from the grave and kick Jackson's ass in a way we would all enjoy. I'm still waiting for Tom to kick Rod Stewart and Patty Smythe's! asses for mutilating "Downtown Train."
I see below this little text box that you ask your visitors to name their favorite Tom Waits album. That's quite a task. Lemme preface it by casting these essential votes as well:
Favorite drinking/cigar smoking album: Small Change
Favorite musically composed album: Blue Valentines
Favorite lyrically composed album: Rain Dogs
Favorite reminiscing album: The Heart of Saturday Night
Tom Waits deserves the recognition and dedication evident on this site. Your efforts are very much appreciated by this Waits fan. Craig Ciccone .....TSB1967@aol.com
Being a fan of Mr. Waits I'd hate to see the best site devoted to him get buried on a slow server in some obscure corner of the net. If you're still searching for somewhere other than geocities I can talk to the guy that runs gothic.net and see if he'd be interested in helping out. ciao, Scott..........raindog@charon.gothic.net
I am very like You music. Tswetkov Pavel from Saint Petersburg (Rusland)..........pashac@comset.net
Tom Waits is a man who sings the pain the whole earth feels. He makes it easy to be sad and cry for all the harm that we do to each other. Thanks to him we can all remain in touch with our humanity. Why hasn't there been any recordings since "Black Rider" 1993?..........tmpurdey@tig.com.au
Tom Waits is probably one of the most talented musicians that this century ever produced. He is versatile, and he never goes out of style.
He is a god...........JNNKKPLR@OTTERBEIN.EDU
HEY!!!!!!!!!!!
just sittng here litening to NIGHTHAWKS AT THE DINER and cruising the net and thought i'd do a search for my favorite poet of the real life the harkening back to the days of beat and my youth we may be in the gutter of life all wailing sax's and dark foggy streets we still look at the ever shining diamond stars and we know this is IT you have the site and i shall return.......
POLEKAT..........tommybob@feist.com
I wish TW played out a little more. I missed the benefit shows he did in the Bay area but everytime joe gore or ralph carney play somewhere i go see them in case TW might show up. plus of course their bands are swell also. especially ralph's partial parrot. that just kills me, "ralph carney's partial parrot." i haven't seen anything about this anywhere else yet but the guy i get all of my TW bootlegs from says he heard TW might have a bad medical problem with his throat. i think that everybody right now should stop whatever they're doing and strike something large and yell at the heavens to please not let anything bad happen to tom waites..........cferoz@cresearch.com
i find him extremly explanitory in his lyrics. he is fearless when it comes to his writing style. i am still getting used to his later recordings. i find that i am more attracted to swordfishtrombones and prior. my favorite recording definatly has to be heartattack and vine. he is one of the very few in modern american music history to be able to cosecutivly put out album after album where one is comfortable listening to the complete album without skipping around, on the same level, in my opinion, as bob dylan, jeff buckley, even hendrix, in the way he, like the others have changed music forever...........calvinhb@jvlnet.com
hallo mr.trussel i`m looking for note-material or songbooks from mr.tom waits. i`m a german musican and have a projekt with my wife and a friend about interpretation of this great music-stuff. sorry about my mistakes in writing. hope to hear soon,thank you very much...........schede@ebs.ebs-net.com
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