TOM WAITS SURVIVOR: Round 17 - Franks Wild Years

[MrK]

I wasn't sure if everyone had voted. Do we have anyone that still needs to vote? For some reason as the thread owner I can't see who has voted for what...?

 

[Mosh]

Wasn’t sure if you made it that way on purpose, I can make votes public

 

[MrK]

Wasn’t sure if you made it that way on purpose, I can make votes public

I thought I made them public, but since I published the post I no longer see that option? If you could make them public that'd be cool!

 

[Mosh]

Ok weird. I tried it on my poll and it lets me make them private, but then I don’t have the option to make them public again. You might have to wait until you’ve reset the poll

 

[MrK]

ELIMINATED after ROUND 1:
Rosie - 5 votes
Old Shoes (& Picture Postcards) - 4 votes
Lonely - 4 votes
Little Trip to Heaven (On the Wings of Your Love) - 4 votes


The Heart of Saturday Night (1974)

When his debut album failed to take off in popularity, Asylum records CEO David Geffen and Waits decided to push further into jazz. They recruited jazz and blues session musicians such as double bassist Jim Hughart (who played with Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra) and drummer Jim Gordon (who cut his teeth with The Beach Boys, The Birds, and Derek and the Dominos). Waits wholeheartedly embraced this turn away from the folksy sounds of his debut album, leaning further into his bohemian, jazzy tendencies with the help of new producer Bones Howe.

The Heart of Saturday Night is darker than Closing Time. It shuffles in the door of a jazz club at midnight, already a few drinks deep, and stumbles out long after closing time into the streets of American nightlife. The songs here are more realized and capture more of Tom’s persona (or his character, depending on how you view it). The sentimental touch of Tom’s early years is still here in spades, though it is treated with a slighter degree of subtlety thanks to the shift away from the California-folk sound. Scat singing and rambling poetic raps find their beginnings here, a style that will evolve throughout Tom’s career but never go away.

The Heart of Saturday Night received far more press than Tom’s debut, but the reviews remained mixed. Some fell in love with his boozy delivery and some found the album too schmaltzy and clever. Opinions would change over time, as in 2003 Rolling Stone ranked this as one of the 500 Best Albums of All Time. Despite a lackluster experience, Tom Waits once again toured in support of the album with Frank Zappa and, once again, received a less-than-stellar response from the audience. He headlined his first show following the Zappa run and later performed for the first time on the East Coast. Tom Waits became a known quantity on the American music scene thanks to this album, even if not everyone knew how to quantify him at the time.

Spoiler: Diamonds on My Windshield from The Early Years

Spoiler: Photos

Tom Waits Song by Song podcast - playlist for The Heart of Saturday Night

Down in the Hole podcast, Episode 2 - The Heart of Saturday Night

 

[Whooten]

In my excitement for this game, I checked "The Many Lives of Tom Waits" by Patrick Humphries out of my local library. What a bunch of garbage. Sure it is an unauthorized biography with no participation from the Waits camp, but he wrote the book on the basis of one interview he had with Waits during the filming of One From the Heart. Some nice insights from that time, which coincidentally is when Waits met his wife and future collaborator. Otherwise it is rife with Humphries own personal tastes on songs and he tries to conflate Waits' music with what was going on in contemporary culture at the time. However, these attempt seem very contrived and he often times lumps movies and music created years apart as contemporaries. He also spends a lot of time reiterating and reciting how many times Waits has sued someone (usually advertisers) and is seemingly obsessed with how much money he has made over the years. In short, you can find out a lot more about Tom Waits searching around the internet, than reading this book. I literally gave up on the book with 4 pages to go, because I could not stand the author one second longer.

 

[MrK]

In my excitement for this game, I checked "The Many Lives of Tom Waits" by Patrick Humphries out of my local library. What a bunch of garbage. Sure it is an unauthorized biography with no participation from the Waits camp, but he wrote the book on the basis of one interview he had with Waits during the filming of One From the Heart. Some nice insights from that time, which coincidentally is when Waits met his wife and future collaborator. Otherwise it is rife with Humphries own personal tastes on songs and he tries to conflate Waits' music with what was going on in contemporary culture at the time. However, these attempt seem very contrived and he often times lumps movies and music created years apart as contemporaries. He also spends a lot of time reiterating and reciting how many times Waits has sued someone (usually advertisers) and is seemingly obsessed with how much money he has made over the years. In short, you can find out a lot more about Tom Waits searching around the internet, than reading this book. I literally gave up on the book with 4 pages to go, because I could not stand the author one second longer.

Yep, I have that one and it is definitely not worth the time. I am reading a magazine special that collects interviews and reviews of his albums from the years they were released and it’s really cool with little to no conjecture.

 

[Whooten]

Seriously, the guy went on about whether or not Lewis Carroll was a pedophile for about 6 pages. Nice analysis of Alice there, mate!

 

[Mosh]

Drunk On the Moon is rising as my favorite of the bunch. Lots of other great songs, the stretch from Shiver Me Timbers to Diamonds is fantastic. The album seems to be a more fleshed out and mature continuation of Closing Time. Been spinning it off and on all week.

Also liking the podcasts BTW. Checking them out when I can fit them in. One of the Closing Time podcasts was interesting because I shared a lot of their opinions, but they helped me understand why some songs stick out to me more than other. The whole "singer/songwriter" thing is a genre I'm not that well versed in and I've found that it has to be listened to fairly differently than other styles of music, for me at least. Everything revolves around the vocals and lyrics, which I typically pay the least amount of attention to.

 

[MrK]

Man, those holidays were long! But I'm back in full swing and I've listened to this album at least 5 times since my last appearance in here.

In general, I love the progression of this album. The tracklist is really great, something I could not particularly say about Closing Time. This feels like a portrait of a night, or a series of nights, in a sleazy part of LA in the 70s - and I think that's exactly what it was meant to be. From the opening, going-out-on-the-town vibes of New Coat of Paint to the final sweeping up of the ghosts of Saturday night, it's just perfectly laid out.

That said, there are certainly weaker songs. I'm voting for:

Semi Suite - The only odd track out as far as the track listing goes. It feels out of place coming so soon after the slightly superior San Diego Serenade. Even the titles are similar! It's not a bad little tune, but not very memorable.

Diamonds on My Windshield - It has some classic lines ("Well-digger's ass", anybody?) but definitely is not up to the standards of his later beatnik songs or spoken word pieces. The whole thing just feels cobbled together. I appreciate Tom more when he at least tries to make a melody or tries to make a point in his jazz ramblings. This feels like a lot of observations and clever lines just for the sake of it. Not bad, but not great. For those who haven't listened yet, the next Tom Waits album Nighthawks at The Diner, is essentially this song for 2 hours.

Depot, Depot - As far as Tom Waits songs go, this one is actually pretty bad. Everything about it feels lazy, from the lyrics to the rhyme scheme, especially to the lame "on a roll just like a pool ball, baby." Easily the worst song of the bunch.

So are we moving on? I am getting anxious to vote against Depot, Depot.

I really hadn't remembered this tune being so bad, but it is quite poor by Tom's standards.

The Ghosts of Saturday Night - I do enjoy the mood of this song and its place on the record, but it simply can't hold a candle to the better songs. The best part is the last line.

Also Virginia Ave, Ice Cream Man, Grapefruit Moon, and Closing Time.

Also liking the podcasts BTW. Checking them out when I can fit them in. One of the Closing Time podcasts was interesting because I shared a lot of their opinions, but they helped me understand why some songs stick out to me more than other. The whole "singer/songwriter" thing is a genre I'm not that well versed in and I've found that it has to be listened to fairly differently than other styles of music, for me at least. Everything revolves around the vocals and lyrics, which I typically pay the least amount of attention to.

Glad you like them! I also find it incredibly interesting to hear non-Americans discuss Tom Waits. In my mind, Tom is an American artist through-and-through, from his subjects to his delivery to his musicality. These British folks get such radically different ideas and opinions out of his music than I do. So far we have different tastes in his music (both podcasts tend to love the loose, jazzy stuff that I'm not particularly fond of) and it's helping me appreciate more of his music than before.

Also, calling @JudasMyGuide, @Forostar, @Shadow, @Deus_Adrian, @Niall Kielt

 

[Cat Milk Supreme]

Alas, I am slightly discombobulated at the moment. My Tom Waits enabled phone died (somebody bit it and broke the screen) and the laptop also shit itself to death so my listening capabilities are severely disrupted, not exhausted but severely fucked so I cant guarantee participation.
However, I listened to half ofthis album one day and liked what I heard, really sets a mood. One song stood out, the first one, I think.
And yes, "well diggers ass" brought a chuckle.

 

[MrK]

Sorry to hear it, Niall. BTW - your life sounds like a Tom Waits song.

 

[MrK]

BUMP

 

[MrK]

Anyone else wanna vote? Looking at you - @JudasMyGuide, @Forostar, @Shadow, @Deus_Adrian! If not, I'll update this tomorrow.

 

[JudasMyGuide]

I'll try to vote this evening, sorry for the delay.

 

[Deus_Adrian]

Put Nighthawks in and I will participate. To not include it is pure folly. I dont even Understand not putting it in. Its a legitimate item in his canon and its as good as anything he did in his early troubadour period nay his entire career.
But thats just my opinion.

 

[MrK]

Put Nighthawks in and I will participate. To not include it is pure folly. I dont even Understand not putting it in. Its a legitimate item in his canon and its as good as anything he did in his early troubadour period nay his entire career.
But thats just my opinion.

My reasons for not including it have nothing to do with the quality: it's a required listen. I encourage everyone to listen to it. I don't want to include it because none of the tracks are really "songs"...they're just beat poetry with backing music. This game is already going to take a long time to complete and will clearly require some time to digest each album. At this point in the game, where we are already dragging our feet, I feel like Nighthawks will just stall the game forever.

If you will 100% participate in the rest of the survivor and not just the Nighthawks rounds, then it might be worth it for sheer numbers alone. I would love it if you participated either way instead of boycotting the game due to the absence of one album, but that's your decision.

So, I'll ask again to anyone still interested: should I include the next album, Nighthawks At The Diner, as part of the survivor?

Either way, I'm updating this round tonight because this has gone on long enough.

 

[Mosh]

I don’t care either way, but not participating due to the absence of it seems like an overreaction.

 

[Whooten]

Great news for vinyl lovers:
All of Tom Waits’ Elektra Asylum releases are set to be reissued on vinyl in 2018 via his label, ANTI-Records.

Beginning with debut Closing Time, the series will continue with The Heart Of Saturday Night (1974), Nighthawks At The Diner (1975), Foreign Affairs (1977), Blue Valentine (1978), Heartattacks And Vine (1980), and the smoked-out, jazzy opus Small Change (1976).

http://www.anti.com/news/anti-to-re-release-tom-waits-entire-elektra-aslum-catalog-in-2018/

 

[Forostar]

Anyone else wanna vote? Looking at you - @JudasMyGuide, @Forostar, @Shadow, @Deus_Adrian! If not, I'll update this tomorrow.

Sorry Knick, I'm not sure if I could get into his music. I only do know Downtown Train from when we did that one in a cover band at work.