Tom Waits
Swordfishtrombones (1983)



Song: "Johnsburg, Illinois"
lyrics | sound clip (Falkner version) | sound clip (Tom Waits version)

Tracklist:

1. Underground
2. Shore Leave
3. Dave The Butcher
4. Johnsburg, Illinois
5. 16 Shells From A Thirty-Ought Six
6. Town With No Cheer
7. In The Neighborhood
8. Just Another Sucker On The Vine
9. Frank's Wild Years
10. Swordfishtrombone
11. Down, Down, Down
12. Soldier's Things
13. Gin Soaked Boy
14. Trouble's Braids
15. Rainbirds

Album Review:

Waits' debut for Island Records is nothing short of a modern American masterpiece-an anthology of gin-soaked, graphic tales of pleasure and pain. The trademark gravelly (make that rock-filled) voice is still present but Waits sounds more melodic and tuneful than ever before. His rabid cult following will eat this one up without a doubt-yet it's about time that Tom Waits receives the widespread recognition he deserves. He's witty, poignant and powerful-and a master storyteller to boot Open your ears and minds. Top cuts: "Shore Leave, "Johnsburg, Illinois," "16 Shells From A 30.6," "In The Neighborhood," and the title track.

© 1978-1999 College Media, Inc.


Mini - Bio:

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. From the '80s on, his work became increasingly theatrical as he moved into acting and composing. Growing up in Southern California, Waits attracted the attention of manager Herb Cohen, who also handled Frank Zappa, and was signed by him at the beginning of the 1970s, resulting in the material later released as The Early Years and The Early Years, Vol. 2. His formal recording debut came with Closing Time (1973) on Asylum Records, an album that contained "Ol' 55," which was covered by labelmates the Eagles on their On the Border album. Waits attracted critical acclaim and a cult audience for his subsequent albums, The Heart of Saturday Night (1974), the two-LP live set Nighthawks at the Diner (1975), Small Change (1976), Foreign Affairs (1977), Blue Valentine (1978), and Heart Attack and Vine (1980).

His music and persona proved highly cinematic, and starting in 1978 he launched parallel careers as an actor and as a composer of movie music. He wrote songs for and appeared in Paradise Alley (1978), wrote the title song for On the Nickel (1980), and was hired by director Francis Coppola to write the music for One from the Heart (1982), which earned him an Academy Award nomination. While working on that project, Waits met and married playwright Kathleen Brennan, with whom he later collaborated. Moving to Island Records, Waits made Swordfishtrombones (1983), which found him experimenting with horns and percussion and using unusual recording techniques. The same year, he appeared in in Coppola's Rumble Fish and The Outsiders, and in 1984, he appeared in the director's The Cotton Club. In 1985, he released Rain Dogs. In 1986, he appeared in Down by Law and made his theatrical debut with Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre in Frank's Wild Years, a musical play he had written with Brennan. An album based on the play was released in 1987, the same year Waits appeared in the films Candy Mountain and Ironweed. In 1988, he released a film and soundtrack album depicting one of his concerts, Big Time. In 1989, he appeared in the films Bearskin: An Urban Fairytale, Cold Feet, and Wait Until Spring. In 1991, he appeared in the films Queens' Logic, The Fisher King, and At Play in the Fields of the Lord. In 1992, he scored the film Night on Earth, released the album Bone Machine, which won a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album, and appeared in the films Deadfall and Bram Stoker's Dracula. In 1993, he released The Black Rider, the recording of a musical he had co-written with Beat novelist William Burroughs for opera director Robert Wilson in 1990, and appeared in the film Short Cuts.

A long absence from recording resulted in the 1998 release of Beautiful Maladies, a retrospective of his work for Island. In 1999, Waits finally returned with a new album, Mule Variations.

- by William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
© 1999 AEC One Stop Group, Inc.



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