Tom Waits

Tom Waits

1949-12-07

Biography

Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during the 1970s, but his music since the 1980s has reflected greater influence from blues, rock, vaudeville, and experimental genres. Waits was born and raised in a middle-class family in Whittier, California. Inspired by the work of Bob Dylan and the Beat Generation, he began singing on the San Diego folk music circuit as a young boy. He relocated to Los Angeles in 1972, where he worked as a songwriter before signing a recording contract with Asylum Records. His first albums were the jazz-oriented Closing Time (1973) and The Heart of Saturday Night (1974), which reflected his lyrical interest in nightlife, poverty, and criminality. He repeatedly toured the United States, Europe, and Japan, and attracted greater critical recognition and commercial success with Small Change (1976), Blue Valentine (1978), and Heartattack and Vine (1980). He produced the soundtrack for Francis Ford Coppola's film One from the Heart (1981), and subsequently made cameo appearances in several Coppola films. In 1980, Waits married Kathleen Brennan, split from his manager and record label, and moved to New York City. With Brennan's encouragement and frequent collaboration, he pursued a more experimental and eclectic musical aesthetic influenced by the work of Harry Partch and Captain Beefheart. This was reflected in a series of albums released by Island Records, including Swordfishtrombones (1983), Rain Dogs (1985), and Franks Wild Years (1987). He continued appearing in films, notably starring in Jim Jarmusch's Down by Law (1986), and also made theatrical appearances. With theatre director Robert Wilson, he produced the musicals The Black Rider (1990) and Alice (1992), first performed in Hamburg. Having returned to California in the 1990s, his albums Bone Machine (1992), The Black Rider (1993), and Mule Variations (1999) earned him increasing critical acclaim and multiple Grammy Awards. In the late 1990s, he switched to the record label ANTI-, which released Blood Money (2002), Alice (2002), Real Gone (2004), and Bad as Me (2011). Despite a lack of mainstream commercial success, Waits has influenced many musicians and gained an international cult following, and several biographies have been written about him. In 2015, he was ranked at No. 55 on Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time". He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011. Description above from the Wikipedia article Tom Waits, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Also appears in

Paradise Alley

Paradise Alley

5.8

One from the Heart

One from the Heart

5.9

Coffee and Cigarettes

Coffee and Cigarettes

6.9

The Old Man & the Gun

The Old Man & the Gun

6.4

The Two Jakes

The Two Jakes

6.0

Twixt

Twixt

5.1

Rumble Fish

Rumble Fish

7.0

At Play in the Fields of the Lord

At Play in the Fields of the Lord

6.3

Wristcutters: A Love Story

Wristcutters: A Love Story

6.9

Keith Richards: Under the Influence

Keith Richards: Under the Influence

6.6

The Absence of Eden

The Absence of Eden

5.0

Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night

Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night

7.4

Queens Logic

Queens Logic

5.8

Coffee and Cigarettes III

Coffee and Cigarettes III

6.9

The Stone Boy

The Stone Boy

6.8

Candy Mountain

Candy Mountain

5.7

Cold Feet

Cold Feet

3.8

Bukowski: Born Into This

Bukowski: Born Into This

6.8

Tom Waits: Tales from a Cracked Jukebox

Tom Waits: Tales from a Cracked Jukebox

6.7

Father Mother Sister Brother

Father Mother Sister Brother

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