Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits

Tom Waits: • Born December 7, 1949 in Pomona

California.• Singer song-writer, musician, actor, and

composer.• Lives with wife Kathleen Brennan and their

three children.• 63 years old and still performing strong.

Musical Persona:• Genre: Blues, jazz, parlor ballads,

vaudeville, rock and EXPERIMENTAL.• Instruments: Piano, guitar, percussion,

and vocals.• Distinctive voice: “like it was soaked in

a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car”—Daniel DurchHolz/Rolling Stone magazine

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUhWuPTBIfo

Band and accompanying instruments:

• Standard: Electric guitars, keys, stand-up bass, drums, percussion, tenor sax.

• Supplemental: Banjo, accordion, harp, bag-pipes, bull-horn, bowed saw, harmonica, conundrum, organs, hand-bells, shakers, theremin, and you name it……..

Trademark:• One of a kind character and versatile • Multi talented entertainer (actor, produces

musical theatre, writes books, comedian) • Well known for his conventional ballads• Uses 12 Bar Blues form (traditional and non)• Fusing of genres• Lyric content: Under-belly of American life

(beautiful losers, nighthawks, boozers, grifters, drifters, dreamers, con men and the portrayal of seedy characters).

• High energy output/explosive performances• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lh7JZUpaVPg

Major Influences:• Tin Pan Alley• George Gershwin• James Brown• Bessie Smith• Ray Charles• Bob Dylan• Louis Armstrong• Thelonious Monk• Howlin’ Wolf• Muddy Waters• Billie Holiday• Johnny Cash• Frank Sinatra

• Beat Generation• Jack Kerouac• Charles Bukowski• Lord Buckley

Artists covering Waits songs:

• Johnny Cash• Eagles• Bruce Springsteen• Neville brothers• Tori Amos• Nora Jones• Rod Stewart• Steve Earle• Robert Plant • Allison Krauss• Blind Boys of

Alabama• Sarah MacLachlan• Screaming Jay

Hawkins• Solomon Burke• Elvis Costello• Bob Seger• Les Claypool• Ramones

-VH1 declared him, “one of the most influential artists of all time.”-Recorded with many artists such as Hank Williams III, Les Claypool, Teddy Edwards, Blind Boys Alabama, Bette Middler and more…….

24 Albums (1973-2011)

Closing Time -1973

Heart Of Saturday Night -1974

Night hawks at the Diner -1975

Small Change -1976

Foreign Affair -1977

Heart-attack And Vine -1980

Bounced Checks-1981

Blue Valentine-1978

One From the Heart: Soundtrack

-1982

Swordfish Trombones-1983

Franks Wild Years-1987

Big Time-1989

Bone Machine-1990

Night On Earth: Soundtrack -1992

The Black Rider -1993

Rain Dogs-1985

Mule Variations-1999

Used Songs-2001

Blood Money-2002

Alice-2002

Real Gone-2004

Orphans-2006

Glitter and Doom-2009

Bad Ass Me-2011

Musical Theatre:

• “Black Rider”(successful run at the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago)

• “Blood Money”• “Alice in Wonderland”• “Franks Wild Years”1990

Acting Career:• Coffee and Cigarettes• Dracula

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaVZmo8CsGQ

• Down by Law• The Imaginarium of Dr.

Parnassus• Fisher King• Iron Weed• Book of Eli• Produced several sound

tracks• (2014) Pinocchio (director

Guillermo Del Toro)

Waits was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame March 14, 2011. The

ceremony was held at the Waldorf Astoria.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o72GDj7svq4

Tom Waits living legend—musical genius

References:

"Tom Waits Biography." Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum. n.d. n. page. Web. 10 Dec. 2012. <http://rockhall.com/inductees/tom-waits/bio/>.

"Tom Waits." Rolling Stone Artists. n.d. n. page. Web. 10 Dec. 2012. <http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/tom-waits/biography>.

"Tom Waits Biography." Sing365. n.d. n. page. Web. 12 Dec. 2012. <http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Tom-Waits-Biography/4E0D557FC6DA695248256974002C0F8B>.

"Tom Waits." Anti. n. page. Web. 12 Dec. 2012. <http://www.tomwaits.com/albums/