Tom Waits
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Tom Waits is a Californian singer-songwriter best known for his experimental music that incorporates rock and blues with pre-rock and folk. Though not the pop icon, he still has a cult following mainly because of his bizarre way of creating his music. Two of his works--Bone Machine and Mule Variations received Grammy Awards in 1992 and 1999 respectively.
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About
Born Thomas Alan Waits on December 07, 1949 in Pomona,California is better known to the music industry as simply Tom Waits is an American singer songwriter slash composer. He is as flexible and talented in his own way that he also was an actor in a certain part of his career. The unusual strangeness and oddness has started a cult following and propelled a number of gold record albums for this musician outside the United States. He has also been nominated for several awards and took home two Grammy's to date.
As a child, Waits' parents divorced and that led him to move out of California towards National City where he learned how to play the piano at his neighbors'; he also learned how to play the Gibson Guitar and showed an inclination towards music as he admires Bob Dylan. Singing with his gruff and gritty vocals, he attracts the attention of manager and signs with Herb Cohen; by the early 70's he released The Early Years Vol 1 and The Early Years Vol 2.
His formal recording debut set forth on 1973 with the release of Closing Time under Asylum Records. Following this debut release, he toured and opened for John Hammond and Frank Zappa.
Since the 1974 release of The Heart Of Saturday Night in 1974, this critically acclaimed singer had gained himself a cult following; alongside his subsequent album releases and tours. Late in the 70's, he enters the world of movies and started to compose music for the movies. His music was highly theatrical and passionate. His marvelous works include songs from Paradise Alley, On The Nickel and One From The Heart, the latter was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score.
He appeared in a series of cameo roles during the earyl 1980's side by side with his compositions for the movies; soon he wedded plawright Kathleen Brennan with whom he worked with in One From The Heart.
In 1983, he released another experimental yet interesting album with Swordfishtrombones that involved several new instruments and unusual recording techniques. He also appeared as Irving Stark in The Cotton Club. After the release of Rain Dogs in the mid-80's, the album had a tour following in the USA, Canada and Europe. During that time also, he composed songs for Streetwise.
Waits decided to enter the theatrical scene with a three-month run as Frank in a play the he co-wrote with wife Brennan entitled Frank's Wild Years at Chicago' Stepenwolf Theatre; an album mainly based on the play was released thereafter.
In the late 1980's Waits released Big Time, accompanied by a 9 month extensive tour in the USA, Canada and Europe. During that year he also played parts in the movies Ironweed and Candy Mountain. The following years of his career concentrated on acting and composing songs for plays and movies.
Bone Machine was releasedin 1992 which won for Waits a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album. He also composed music and lyrics with Kathleen Brennan for the stage production of Alice in Hamburg.
The following year, Black Rider was released and Waits played a number of roles for movies and plays as well. After three years of absence, he goes back to composing music for movies namely Dead Man Walking and The End Of Violence; he also appeared in Paramount and Healdsburg benefit concerts for Don Hyde and the John Huston Award for Artist's Rights show honoring Martin Scorsese.
Tom Waits goes back to the music scene as he released Mule Variations, his first release under Anti-. The album was critically renowned and was followed by a short tour; he almost instantly followed it with two albums Alice and Blood Money in 2002; Blood Money contained songs from stage success in Denmark in 2000 which won Best Drama of the Year.
His newest endeavor that defies the keyboards and focuses on stringed instruments goes by the names Real Gone and was released in 2004. The album itself again defined the raw, eerie music that only Tom waits could actually offer.
Awards & Certifications
| Year | Award | Category |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Grammy Awards | Best Alternative Album for Bone Machine |
| 1999 | Grammy Awards | Best Contemporary Folk Album for Mule Variatons |
News
Tours & Concerts
No tours to date.
Announcements
Discography
Albums
 Closing Time
1973 |
 Nighthawks at the Diner
1975-10 |
||
 Small Change
1976-10 |
 Foreign Affairs
1977-09 |
 Blue Valentine
1978-10 |
|
 Heartattack and Vine
1980-09 |
 Swordfishtrombones
1983-09 |
 Rain Dogs
1985-08 |
 Franks Wild Years
1987-08 |
 Bone Machine
1992-08 |
 The Black Rider
1993-11-02 |
 Mule Variations
1999-04-27 |
 Alice
2002-05-07 |
 Real Gone
2004-10-05 |
EPs
 Hold On
2000-05-16 |
Compilations
 Asylum Years
1986-12-08 |
 The Early Years, Volume 1
1991-07-16 |
 The Early Years, Volume 2
1993-02 |
|
 Beautiful Maladies: The Island Years
1998-06-16 |
 Used Songs (1973-1980)
2001-10-23 |
 Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards
2006-11-21 |
Other artists
Similar artists
Influences
Contemporaries
Trivia
- Tom Waits refuses to use his works for television advertisements and was very vocal about it; he was very firm on his stand and filed numerous complaints against the companies who used his songs without permission. Most artist would regard it as a complement if theor songs were used in TV ads, but apparently, Tom Waits wasn't like them.
- He previously dated Rikki Lee Jones before he met and married playwright Kathleen Brennan with whom he has made a multitude of collaborations in his career.
- In 1988, he guested on Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night.
Reviews
External Links
Categories: Artist | Rock | Blues
