Tom Waits

Last night I went to La Bodega to see a performance by Mark Radford. He is a singer/songwriter but includes lots of cool covers in his set by the likes of Tom Waits, Lucinda WIlliams, Lyle Lovett and Steve Earle. This was the third or fourth time I've seen him play and he never fails to disappoint. I'm a huge Tom Waits fan so he made it a point to play a couple extra Waits tunes for me. Unfortunately, most people in Regina have no clue as to who Tom Waits is. If you look under the dictionary under "Cult Artist" I bet there is a picture of Tom Waits there. He is one of those artists that don't sell too many records, but those that do are completely hooked. His only real "hit" song was "Downtown Train"... Unfortunately, it only became a hit after Rod Stewart recorded it (and butchered it I might add). The Ramones also did a killer cover version of "I Don't Wanna Grow Up. In turn, Tom Waits did a great version of "Return of Jackie & Judy" on the Ramones tribute album.
Tom Waits is definitely what you would call an acquired taste. It took me forever to get into his music because his rough, raspy voice is definitely startling at first. But I relate it to finally acquiring the taste for Guinness or Scotch. It tastes disgusting at first, but once you get used to it, you realize it is ten times better than drinking a Canadian or vodka special. So if anyone is willing to try some classic, timeless music that won't get stale in 2 years, I would highly recommend taking a chance and buying a Tom Waits album. He has two "best of" albums out. His first album Closing Time and Mule Variations are probably my two favorites of his, perhaps because they are the most melodic. My cousin Dave is the one responsible for getting me into this amazing artist, and I have to thank him a lot because by some strange circumstances, it turns out that Tom Waits will play a big part in my Jack Kerouac thesis.