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"…Strangle All The
Christmas Carols…"
The Asylum label period of
Tom Waits' extraordinary career began in 1973 with his debut album
"Closing Time" and ended 8 albums later in 1980 with
"Heartattack & Vine". He then signed to Island Records and in
1982 released "Swordfishtrombones" to howls of joy, amazement, praise
and derision - all in equal measure. And most of his albums on Island ('82 -
'93) and Anti ('99 to the present day) have been the same ever since - mad,
bad, beautiful, discordant and utterly unique in a world of increasingly
plastic pop forced down our throats by gutless radio programmers every single
day of our lives. Personally I love each period, Asylum, Island and the Anti
label. And although the word is often overused, Waits is a genius - and utterly
unique - beloved by both his fans and the industry for being so.
His Asylum albums were - if
you like - his romantic troubadour period, a drunken Street bum with the heart
of a poet and the itchy feet of Bukowski. He looked and sang the part too -
greasy hair, freshly lit cigarette hanging out of his gob, wrecked clothes, a
chronicler of the downtrodden and lost. But this was an artist whose songs were
written with charm and real feeling for those on the outskirts - often touching
and beautiful to a point where he could make you laugh with one song and cry
with the next. But by "Heartattack & Vine", he had taken this
persona it as far as it could go - hence the complete about face with his
Island debut.
A little history for
potential purchasers to explain why "Used Songs" is the best of
scrappy bunch; the 1st compilation covering the Asylum Label period of his
career appeared in 1981 and was called "Bounced Checks" - a single
vinyl album containing a spattering of tracks and an unreleased live version of
"The Piano Has Been Drinking" recorded in Dublin - a gig a friend of
mine was privileged to be at. It's never been made available on CD to my
knowledge. The second outing is "Asylum Years", a far better and more
comprehensive 2LP set released on vinyl in 1984. Unfortunately, it's CD
equivalent which came out two years later is a bit of a mish-mash - a single
disc that lost 9 of the original 24 tracks and added 3 new ones not on the
original double! This 14-track truncated CD carried the then relatively new
words "digitally remastered" on the front cover and was sought after
for that reason. The sound on that CD is good - if not spectacular - and is
available to this day. It’s also worth noting that there are 8 tracks on the
“Asylum Years” 1986 remastered CD that aren’t on “Used Songs” – they are
“Diamonds On My Windshield”, “Martha”, “The Ghosts Of Saturday Night (After
Hours At Napoleone’s Pizza House)”, “Grapefruit Moon”, “Small Change (Got
Rained On With His Own .38)”, “Potter’s Field”, “Somewhere” (a superb cover of
the famous Leonard Bernstein classic from “West Side Story”) and “Ruby’s Arms”.
Which brings us up to "Used Songs 1973-1980", his 3rd and best
compilation covering that period.
Released November 2001 - "Used Songs 1973-1980" by TOM WAITS on Elektra/Rhino 8122-78351-2 (Barcode 081227835125) features 16 tracks Digitally
Remastered by tape experts BILL INGLOT and DAN HERSCH at DigiPrep - and the
sound quality is full, clear and beautifully rendered. It takes in songs from
all 7 of his studio albums and one from the live double. Here's the layout and
what track is from what album:
USED SONGS 1973 - 1980 (77:33
minutes):
1. Heartattack & Vine (on
Heartattack And Vine", 1980)
2. Eggs & Sausage (In A
Cadillac With Susan Michelson)
(on the live 2LP set
"Nighthawks At The Diner", 1975)
3. A Sight For Sore Eyes
("Foreign Affairs", 1977)
4. Whistlin' Past The
Graveyard (on "Blue Valentine", 1978)
5. Burma Shave (on
"Foreign Affairs", 1977)
6. Step Right Up (on
"Small Change", 1976)
7. Ol' 55 (on "Closing
Time", 1973)
8. I Never Talk To Strangers
(on "Foreign
Affairs", 1977) [duet with BETTE MIDLER]
9. Mr. Siegal (on
"Heartattack And Vine", 1980)
10. Jersey Girl (on
"Heartattack And Vine", 1980)
11. Christmas Card From A
Hooker In Minneapolis
(on "Blue
Valentine", 1978)
12. Blues Valentines (on
"Blue Valentine", 1978)
13. (Looking For) The Heart
Of Saturday Night
(on "The Heart Of
Saturday Night", 1974)
14. Muriel (on "Foreign
Affairs", 1977)
15. Wrong Side Of The Road
(on "Blue Valentine", 1978)
16. Tom Traubert's Blues
(Four Sheets To The Wind In Copenhagen)
(on "Heartattack And
Vine", 1980)
Being a single disc there are
some glaring omissions and odd choices, "I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love
With You" from "Closing Time" is left off in favour of "Ol'
55". "Wrong Side Of The Road" is chosen instead of the
beautifully evocative "Kentucky Avenue" or the fantastic "Romeo
Is Bleeding", both from "Blue Valentine". "On The
Nickel" from "Heartattack & Vine" isn't there either. And so
on - you could bitch about choices for days. ("Ol' 55" first turned
up on the 3rd EAGLES album "On The Border" and was probably most
peoples first introduction to Waits - so its easy to see why it was chosen.)
What is on here though, sounds fabulous.
Why is sound so important
with this issue? Each of his Asylum albums are available on CD, but the earlier
albums in particular are hissy and less that impressive sound-wise, because
almost all of them came out in the initial vanguard of CD releases in the late
Eighties - they weren't mastered well and have never been touched since. That's
not the case with "Used Songs". The REMASTERING done by Rhino here
makes all the difference. Right from the opening guitar and drum of "Heartattack
& Vine", you're aware of the fantastic sound quality upgrade - it just
pounds you. "Burma Shave", with just piano and vocals, is loud and
beautifully clear. Then there's the delicacy of "Muriel" and "A
Sight For Sore Eyes" and the hurting gargled-with-gravel vocals of
"Tom Traubert's Blues" (his Waltzing Matilda song) - the sound on all
of them is sweet and full, the saxophone and sassy rhythm section floating out
of the speakers like some boozed-up turned-on jazz combo. It's thrilling, it
really is! And lyrically, Waits has always been the equal of Joni or Bob - and
way funnier. The booklet pictures the albums, there's a reproduction of a 1975
Jon Landau article from Rolling Stone, and a new liner note from Hal Willner -
all tied off with a tasty card wrap, giving the whole package the class this
release deserves.
Although it should have been
a double, "Used" has the big advantage of its gorgeous sound and
makes you pine for Extended Editions of each of his fantastic albums from that
period. And on that point, when you think of the amount of lesser artists who
have their entire catalogues released, remastered and pumped up with bonus
tracks, and then you see someone of Waits' stature have no album from 1973 to
1993 in REMASTERED form by either WEA or Island on the market after 20 years of
CD re-issues - it's just ridiculous and criminal. The same of course applies to
Little Feat, Prince, Rickie Lee Jones, and Van Morrison. Come on Rhino and
Universal - get their individual album catalogues remastered and get them out
there - for God's sake!
In the near 20 years I've
spent working in record shops and dealing with rare records, I've met some
great artists and huge talents in the industry and enjoyed chin waging with
them all - fame doesn't really faze me that way. But my love of Tom Waits is
different. Tom is God incarnate. If Tom Waits actually turned up in our humble
little shop, I'd be knobbled! I'd be too busy kissing the hem of his garment to
actually speak to the man! An Irishman lost for words - yikes!
To sum up, "Used
Songs" is a fantastic set, a superb introduction to the man & his
music and frankly, a beacon of light in a landscape of increasingly dim musical
pap. It's available from over 60 on-line retailers for about three to four quid
including P&P.
Sure I'm biased. I adore the guy and his musical warmth and racket I do.
If you love music - you need to hear this man's songs - it will be the best
musical fiver you've ever spent...
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