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Tom Waits (born Thomas Alan Waits, on December 7, 1949 in Pomona, California), is an American author, composer, interpret and actor. The first part of his career was kind of soft and jazzy, but after leaving Asylum Records and his marriage with Kathleen Brennan (1980), he turned to some more alternate music. |
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Tom Waits (born Thomas Alan Waits, on December 7, 1949 in Pomona, California), is an American author, composer, interpret and actor. The first part of his career showed his roots as a nightclub singer, half speaking and half crooning ballads, often with either a soft jazz background. The 1975 album "Nighthawks at the Diner", recorded in a studio but with a small audience to capture the ambience of a live show, captures this phase of his career, including the lengthy spoken interludes between songs that punctuated his live act. |
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He is mostly characterized by his rocky voice, his strong personnality, his theatral presence on stage and the "late night smoky bars" humour of his texts ("I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy."). |
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After leaving Asylum Records and his marriage with Kathleen Brennan (1980), his music became less mainstream. His trio of albums from the mid-1980s, "Swordfishtrombones", "Rain Dogs" and "Frank's Wild Years", all featured eclectic instrumentation to some extent, often marrying [soul music]? horn sections to avant-garde percussion or the distorted guitar of [Marc Ribot]?. The last of these albums, an off-broadway musical co-written with his wife and the later collaboration with William S. Burroughs on "The Black Rider" both demonstrated the increasing interest in theatre, which has resulted in a somewhat succesful acting career, as well as soundtrack work. |
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He has had several opportunities in movies, as a soundtrack composer, but also as an actor. |
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In the popular perception, however, he and his work remain mostly characterised by his rocky voice, his strong personality and theatrical presence on stage and the "late night smoky bars" humour of his texts ("I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy."). |
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His songs have been covered by famous stars such as [Bruce Springsteen]? and [Rod Stewart]?. |
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He has had several opportunities in movies, as a soundtrack composer, but also as an actor. In essence, however, and despite his songs having been covered by such famous stars such [Bruce Springsteen]? and [Rod Stewart]?, Waits remains a cult performer, steadfastly outside the mainstream. |
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*1987 Frank's Wild Years |
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*1992 Bone Machine (which gave him a Grammy Award for ?Best Alternative Music Album?) *1993 Black Rider |
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*1992 Bone Machine (which gave him a Grammy Award for "Best Alternative Music Album") *1993 Black Rider (collaboration with William S. Burroughs |
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*1999 Mystery Men -- played an inventor who specialized in non-lethal weapons. |
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