Tom waits born thomas alan waits, in pomona, california, on december 7, 1949 is a prolific american singer, songwriter, composer, and actor. Released in 1983, it was a forty minute, thirteen track, carnival mad house of wicked instrumentals and monologues. Swordfishtrombones, an album by tom waits on spotify. Tom waits swordfishtrombones 1983 uk blue label 15track lp, the first. From the 80s on, his work became increasingly theatrical as he moved into acting and composing. As far as the juxtaposition of primitive and intellectual art goes, he was a worthy disciple of captain beefheart. Find tom waits discography, albums and singles on allmusic. The 33 15 book about swordfishtrombones is really good if you want something short and.
Download tom waits mp3 songs and albums music downloads. Swordfishtrombones with a couple of years off, during which he married the love of his life, tom waits also found time to change labels and rethink his approach to recordmaking. Swordfishtrombones is the seventh studio album by american singersongwriter tom waits, released in september 1983. Chick a boom real gone 2004 as one of waits more demented and offkilter rural.
And he drastically altered a musical approach that had become as dependable as it was unexciting. Later, tom waits worked on soundtrack for musical franks wild years, which was premiered in 1986. For our full tom waits discography click here click here to find out more info. Its dark themes and sound are undercut by strong emotion and sorrow. But at his low point, he got the phone call that changed everything.
The 1983 ariola eurodisc pressing has the song title spelled as swordfishtrombones. Bitter and desperately unhappy, he moved to new york in 1979 to change his life. The thing is that if strange music is what you are looking for then swordfishtrombones delivers. The word genius is one of the most overused cliches around, however, to call tom waits a genius would be an understatement. Swordfishtrombones has none of the strings and much less of the piano work that waits previous albums had employed. Other pressings seem to have it spelled as swordfishtrombone. Dith playlist the most wtf tom waits songs down in the hole. Swordfishtrombones by tom waits on amazon music unlimited. Well he came home from the war with a party in his head and modified brougham deville and a pair of legs that opened up like butterfly wings and a mad dog that wouldnt sit still he went and took up with a salvation army. Check out swordfishtrombones by tom waits on amazon music. Hello, we provide concise yet detailed articles on radio choices. The albums title track is a story of a demented soldier returning home, hell bent on giving a show. One of the greatest and most distinctive musical geniuses of the 20th century, tom waits was apparently a barbarian but in reality an erudite postmodern artist.
They continue all that way through the swordfishtrombonesrain dogsfranks wild years era of the 80s, with a few more recent live covers too. The album swordfishtrombones took waits from being the club singer who never gave in to what was topping the charts, to the genius who defies description in every way. What im getting at is that tom waits is not for everyone, in fact the music probably wont appeal to very many people at all. Swordfishtrombones vinyl lp at, a better music store experience since 1999. Under his wifes encouragement, he pursued a new, more experimental and eclectic musical aesthetic influenced by the work of harry partch and captain beefheart. Tom waits paints pictures that spark beautiful thoughts in the listener. I am just doing this to share the love, and will have to stop if it gets too popular and eats up too much bandwidth, so if you downloaded and can share with somebody as easily as pointing them to this page, please do so.
It has a clutch of new songs that appeared on the latest album blue valentine. Today, sam picks 10 of waits most inexplicable tracks. Rattle big black bones in the danger zone theres a rumblin groan down below theres a big dark town, its a place ive found theres a world going on. Tom waits lyrics swordfishtrombones well he came home from the war with a party in his head and modified brougham deville and a pair of legs that opened up like butterfly.
Some tom waits albums from this period are expensive and im sure a lot of buyers must disappointed. Listen to your favorite songs from swordfishtrombones by tom waits now. The whole show unedited with more stories and more songs. Find similar albums to swordfishtrombones tom waits on allmusic. Release swordfishtrombones by tom waits musicbrainz. I love biographies and such of my favorite musicians and i have never read anything on tom. Find a tom waits rain dogs first pressing or reissue.
Im no expert on tom waits but i have three favorite albums. The first album of the loose trilogy that also includes rain dogs and franks wild years, swordfishtrombones marked a radical departure for waits, whose avantgarde ambitions became plain not so much in his lyrics or subject matterthe songs here deal, as do his older albums, with hard life on the wrong side of the tracks and dreams of escape and transcendencebut in the music, a sound. An absolute classic from tom waits, this superb high quality performance was included among the wolf hqr remaster series. Swordfishtrombones island universal distribution rain dogs. Swordfishtrombones has a certain atmosphere that is difficult to pick out. Andy gill expressed the view that throughout waits oeuvre, the theme of. Of t h e two non album tracks annies back in town appeared on the paradise valley soundtrack, also released in 1978. A new down in the hole blog series curating playlists of tom waits songs ordered by theme and then preference of either cohost.
David coulter now turns to another major opus by tom waits, swordfishtrombones, offering a. Stream adfree with amazon music unlimited on mobile, desktop, and tablet. Stylistically different from his previous lps, the album moves away from the piano and string orchestra arrangements of the late 1970s, replacing them instead with unusual instrumentation and a somewhat more abstract songwriting. The first in a trilogy of classic albums including rain dogs and franks wild years, swordfishtrombones was tom waits original experiment with his own production, and raw, live.
On this album, he started to use uncommon instruments in his music. Tom waits swordfishtrombones steve hoffman music forums. In 1983, tom waits released an album that was considered not only a wild departure for him as an artist, but the beginning of the tom waits as we know him. Two entwined narratives run through the creation of swordfishtrombones and form the backbone of this book. The first album of the loose trilogy that also includes rain dogs and franks wild years, swordfishtrombones marked a radical departure for waits, whose avantgarde ambitions became plain not so much in his lyrics or subject matterthe songs here deal, as do his older albums, with hard life on the wrong side of the tracks and dreams of escape and transcendencebut in.
If you are deeply offended by criticism, nonworshipping approach to your favourite artist, or opinions that. Some of the stuff on shore leave is like sound effects, the low trombone is like a bus going by and i got a little more adventurous, im still a little timid about it but melody is what really hits me first, melody is the first thing that seduces me source. Swordfishtrombones was originally recorded in 1982 after waits had gotten rid of his manager, his producer, and his record company. According to david smay, swordfishtrombones was the record where tom waits. Tom waits swordfishtrombones remastered 180 gram vinyl.
Mp3 is a digital audio format without digital rights management drm technology. If the simply vinyl swordfishtrombones is going cheap, why not buy it and then get yourself an original, you will see a huge difference. You will get 2 track for free after confirming your account. In the 1970s, tom waits combined a lyrical focus on desperate, lowlife characters with a persona that seemed to embody the same lifestyle, which he sang about in a raspy, gravelly voice.
The soundtrack to tom waits inner gothic freak show when tom wants to conjure a mood thats when he reaches for his boo bams. Tom waits foreign affairs remastered indie exclusive vinyl. Album number seven from artistintheshadows, tom waits. All the voices in tom waits head come out on this album.
Swordfishtrombones marks the beginning of an obvious trilogy that saw the emergence of waits as a designer of soundscapes this was the first of his albums waits produced himself, with an overall. After leaving asylum for island records, waits released swordfishtrombones. In the work of american songwriter tom waits, swampy blues, beat poetry, west coast jazz, tin pan alley, country, 1930sera cabaret, and postcivil war parlor songs meet neonlit carnival music and the wheezing, clattering, experimental rhythms often played by makeshift musical instruments from car radios to metal pipes and tin cans, hence his love of edgard varese and harry partch form a. Been looking to pick up a good book to read as the weather outside gets colder and staying inside will soon be inevitable.
After leaving asylum, tom waits released swordfishtrombones in 1983 with island records. Tom waits 198208 track 8 bell, hammond organ and snare drum. Well he came home from the war with a party in his head and modified brougham deville and a pair of. Song by tom waits from the album swordfishtrombones. The complete tom waits storytellers by thomas for ed. As the 1970s ended, waits felt increasingly constrained and trapped by his persona and career. Between the release of heartattack and vine in 1980 and swordfishtrombones in 1983, tom waits changed labels, and transformed himself from a jazzinflected poetcrooner into something altogether new. Swordfishtrombones is an album by american singersongwriter tom waits, released in september 1983. We and our partners use cookies to personalize your experience, to show you ads based on your interests, and for measurement and analytics purposes.
Well, he came home from the war with a party in his head and modified brougham deville and a pair of legs that opened up. When you find the article helpful, feel free to share it with your friends or colleagues. Tom waits discography is huge and intimidating to outsiders. Tom waits underground original lyrics genius lyrics. Whats most remarkable about tom waitss 1973 debut album, closing. Features song lyrics for tom waitss swordfishtrombones album. This was reflected in a series of albums released by island records, including swordfishtrombones 1983, rain dogs 1985, and. Theres some confusion over the spelling of the songtitle with or without the s.
Thomas alan tom waits born december 7, 1949 is an american. Tom waits swordfishtrombones 2009, 180 gram, vinyl. It was the first album that waits produced himself and is marked as such by a sense of artistic freedom that would increasingly characterize his later work. This certainly applies to tom waits musical career too.
If swordfishtrombones is meant to be some kind of artistic year zero, then the. In 1980, waits married kathleen brennan, broke from his manager and record label, and moved to new york city. Between the release of heartattack and vine in 1980 and swordfishtrombones in 1983, tom waits got rid of his manager, his producer, and his record company. The central theme, more or less, is again night life, either in new orleans or in general, but toms lyrics. The second track, shore leave, is a squeaky love ballad from a sailor to the land and his girl. Swordfishtrombones is a studio album by tom waits released in 1983. When swordfishtrombones finally appeared, it would have been a shock to those who were expecting another album of saloon laments. No one knows exactly what happened to tom waits between 1980 and 1983, but whatever occurred had explosively. Thomas alan waits born december 7, 1949 is an american singer, songwriter, musician. Unidentified swordfishtrombones interview interviewers tape. Tom waits swordfishtrombones lyrics and tracklist genius.