Tom Waits

Tom Waits (born Thomas Alan Waits on December 7, 1949 in Pomona, California) is an American singer-songwriter, composer and actor.

1980s

Waits left Asylum Records for Island Records. 1983 saw the release of Swordfishtrombones, a record which marked a sharp turn in Waits' output, and which cemented his reputation as a visionary, steadfastly outside the mainstream. In many ways, Waits has carved out his own musical genre.

Related Topics:
Asylum Records - Island Records - 1983 - Swordfishtrombones - Musical genre

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Apart from some of Dr. John's early output, there was little precedent in popular music for Swordfishtrombones or its followups, Rain Dogs and Frank's Wild Years. The instrumentation and orchestration were often quite eclectic. Waits' self described "Junkyard Orchestra" included wheezing pump organs, clattering percussion (sometimes reminiscent of Harry Partch), bleary horn sections (often featuring Ralph Carney, and taking their cues from brass bands or soul music), nearly atonal guitar (perhaps best typified by Marc Ribot's contributions) and obsolete instruments (Waits is fond of a damaged chamberlin which he purchased from several surfers; recent albums have featured the little-used stroh violin.)

Related Topics:
Dr. John - Swordfishtrombones - Rain Dogs - Frank's Wild Years - Orchestration - Pump organ - Harry Partch - Horn section - Ralph Carney - Brass band - Soul music - Atonal - Marc Ribot - Chamberlin - Stroh violin

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Along with a new instrumental approach, Waits gradually altered his singing style, sounding less like the late-night crooner of the 70s, instead adopting a number of techniques: A gravelly sound reminiscent of Howlin' Wolf and Captain Beefheart, a booming, feral bark, or a strained, nearly shrieking falsetto Waits jokingly describes as his Prince voice.

Related Topics:
Crooner - Howlin' Wolf - Captain Beefheart - Falsetto - Prince

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His songwriting shifted as well, becoming somewhat more abstract, and embracing a number of styles largely ignored in pop music, including primal blues, cabaret stylings, rhumbas, theatrical Kurt Weill-esque approaches, tangos, early country music, European folk music and Tin Pan Alley-era songs. He undertook a few nearly-spoken word pieces influenced by Ken Nordine's "word jazz" records of the 1950s. All of these different techniques are filtered through Waits' unique lens, however, and so rarely seem like a pastiche.

Related Topics:
Songwriting - Pop music - Blues - Cabaret - Rhumba - Kurt Weill - Tangos - Country music - Folk music - Tin Pan Alley - Spoken word - Ken Nordine - 1950s - Pastiche

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Swordfishtrombones, Rain Dogs and Frank's Wild Years were a trilogy of loose concept albums, following sailor Frank O'Brien, as he leaves the familiar comfort of home, sees the world, and returns. The last of these albums was also adapted as an off-Broadway musical co-written with Brennan. This was the first of several theatre collaborations Waits would undertake: with his wife, Waits wrote and performed in Big Time, a slightly surreal concert movie and soundtrack relased in 1988.he was hailed a soilder at the two thousand and one music awards

Related Topics:
Swordfishtrombones - Rain Dogs - Frank's Wild Years - Trilogy - Concept album - Sailor - Off-Broadway - Musical - Theatre - Surreal - Soundtrack - 1988

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