Mystery & Manners' Honorary Southern Artist(s) PART THREE--Tom Waits
Mystery & Manners' Honorary Southern Artist(s) PART THREE
10/31/07
"The quill from a buzzard
The blood writes the word
I want to know am I the sky
Or a bird."
--Tom Waits
...In the spirit of Northern California this week...another chapter in cornerstone non-southern artists...
Tom Waits serves as a seminal American songwriter. Many of Waits' songs derive heavy influence from old southern music. Born December 7, 1949, in Pomona, California, Waits' early music diet consisted of Mose Allison, Bob Dylan, Thelonious Monk, Johnny Mercer, James Brown, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Skip James, Ray Charles, Joe Turner, Big Mama Thornton and Robert Johnson.
Waits acted in numerous films over the years including The Fisher King, Dracula, Rumble Fish, The Cotton Club, Down By Law, Ironweed, Mystery Train, Coffee & Cigarettes, Domino and Short Cuts. Waits composed a soundtrack at Zoetrope Studios for Francis Ford Coppola's film One From the Heart. His songs appeared in movies such as Sylvester Stallone's Paradise Alley, Down By Law, 12 Monkeys, Dead Man Walking, Georgia, Fight Club and many others. Although his work reaches mainstream audiences in such films, Waits refuses to sell his music to any company for advertisement purposes.
Waits has collaborated with William Burroughs, Ken Nordeen, Jerry Garcia, Keith Richards, Charlie Musselwhite, Crystal Gale, John Lurie, and Jim Jarmusch in a long list of others. Musicians such as Johnny Cash, The Eagles, Bruce Springsteen and Rod Stewart have covered the songs of Tom Waits. Waits lives in Northern California...
Essential albums include Closing Time (1973), Small Change (1976), Swordfishtrombones (1983), Rain Dogs (1985), Bone Machine (1992), Mule Variations (1999), Real Gone (2004) and Orphans (2006). For an underbelly perspective of great American storytelling and song, investigate the work of Tom Waits. My plane for Old Frisco flies tomorrow...
James Calemine
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Comments
PenneElk says...
Can't believe I was just thinking of Tom Waits when I walked in, clicked on Swampland, and saw your tribute. Satellite radio was playing "If I Loved You" and for some crazy reason I thought of the Tom Waits' song "Hope I Don't Fall in Love with You." I loved your reviews of Cormac McCarthy, Harry Crews, and Hunter S. Thompson. Keep up the good work!