Description
Label Review.
1973 debut album. Remastered. Also available on vinyl.
Our Overview.
Tom Waits was performing The Troubadour, a venue in Los Angeles, California when in summer 1971, Herb Cohen inadvertently spotted Waits and became his manager. Through Cohen’s contacts, Waits recorded demos in Los Angeles in late summer 1971 with producer Robert Duffey. Waits relocated from San Diego to Los Angeles in early 1972 and performed more frequently at The Troubadour, where David Geffen discovered him performing “Grapefruit Moon” Geffen negotiated with Cohen, and Waits signed to Geffen’s Asylum Records.
Producer Jerry Yester (ex-Lovin’ Spoonful) was signed up direct Waits’ debut record. The pair had different ideas as to how the album should sound; Waits wanted a jazzy record while Yester favoured a more folky direction but in the end they came out with an album both were satisfied with. The whole album took just ten days to lay down and the finished article collected some very good reviews upon release but minimal sales.
However, the mix of jazz, country and blues coupled with Waits storied lyrics found fans with fellow musicians who wanted to cover his songs. First off the block was Tim Buckley, who recorded “Martha” for his ‘Sefronia’ album released the same year. In 1974, The Eagles put “Ol’ 55” on their ‘On The Border’ which really helped bring some recognition to Waits’ name although the man himself thought their version was “antiseptic”.
This album and the rest of his catalogue from 1973-1980 are all getting reissued and remastered through Wait’s current label, Anti.