November 24th street date. In 2008, Tom Waits launched a sold-out national tour, garnering intense critical praise – Paste magazine called it the best live show of 2008 – and thrilling fans across the country and the world, some in cities where Waits had never played before. Now comes the document of those concerts, 17 performances hand-picked by Waits from along the tour. Leaning heavily on songs from his ANTI- releases – including a haunting “Trampled Rose” from Real Gone and roaring “Get Behind the Mule” from Mule Variations – Waits also digs into the vaults for tracks like a re-imagined “Singapore” from 1985’s Rain Dogs. Glitter and Doom Live will reside in the Waits catalog alongside earlier live albums like Nighthawks at the Diner and Big Time, both discs held on par with his classic studio releases by fans.
February 16 street date (date change). In 2008, Tom Waits launched a sold-out national tour, garnering intense critical praise – Paste magazine called it the best live show of 2008 – and thrilling fans across the country and the world, some in cities where Waits had never played before. Now comes the document of those concerts, 17 performances hand-picked by Waits from along the tour. Leaning heavily on songs from his ANTI- releases – including a haunting “Trampled Rose” from Real Gone and roaring “Get Behind the Mule” from Mule Variations – Waits also digs into the vaults for tracks like a re-imagined “Singapore” from 1985’s Rain Dogs. Glitter and Doom Live will reside in the Waits catalog alongside earlier live albums like Nighthawks at the Diner and Big Time, both discs held on par with his classic studio releases by fans.
Available now. 2013 Grammy Nominee for 'Best Alternative Music Album'. Throughout his career, Tom Waits has created milestone albums that serve both to refine the music that has come before, and to signal a new phase in his career: Rain Dogs and Mule Variations are both counted by fans as among these pivotal works. Now comes Bad As Me, his first studio album of all new music in seven years, which finds Tom Waits in possibly the finest voice of his career and at the height of his songwriting powers, working with a veteran team of gifted musicians and longtime co-writer/producer Kathleen Brennan. From the opening horn-fueled chug of “Chicago,” to the closing barroom chorale of “New Year’s Eve,” Bad As Me displays the full career range of Waits’ songwriting, from beautiful ballads like “Last Leaf,” to the avant cinematic soundscape of “Hell Broke Luce,” a battlefront dispatch. On tracks like “Talking at the Same Time,” Waits shows off a supple falsetto, while on blues burners like “Raised Right Men” and the gospel tinged “Satisfied” he spits, stutters and howls. Like a good boxer, these songs are lean and mean, with strong hooks and tight running times. And there is a pervasive sense of players delighting in each other’s musical company that brings a feeling of loose joy even to the album’s saddest songs. Bad As Me is a Tom Waits album for the ages.
November 3 street date. New remastered, reissue series, overseen by Waits himself! 2013 Grammy Nominee for 'Best Alternative Music Album'. Throughout his career, Tom Waits has created milestone albums that serve both to refine the music that has come before, and to signal a new phase in his career: Rain Dogs and Mule Variations are both counted by fans as among these pivotal works. Now comes Bad As Me, his first studio album of all new music in seven years, which finds Tom Waits in possibly the finest voice of his career and at the height of his songwriting powers, working with a veteran team of gifted musicians and longtime co-writer/producer Kathleen Brennan. From the opening horn-fueled chug of “Chicago,” to the closing barroom chorale of “New Year’s Eve,” Bad As Me displays the full career range of Waits’ songwriting, from beautiful ballads like “Last Leaf,” to the avant cinematic soundscape of “Hell Broke Luce,” a battlefront dispatch. On tracks like “Talking at the Same Time,” Waits shows off a supple falsetto, while on blues burners like “Raised Right Men” and the gospel tinged “Satisfied” he spits, stutters and howls. Like a good boxer, these songs are lean and mean, with strong hooks and tight running times. And there is a pervasive sense of players delighting in each other’s musical company that brings a feeling of loose joy even to the album’s saddest songs. Bad As Me is a Tom Waits album for the ages.
Available now. 2013 Grammy Nominee for 'Best Alternative Music Album'. Throughout his career, Tom Waits has created milestone albums that serve both to refine the music that has come before, and to signal a new phase in his career: Rain Dogs and Mule Variations are both counted by fans as among these pivotal works. Now comes Bad As Me, his first studio album of all new music in seven years, which finds Tom Waits in possibly the finest voice of his career and at the height of his songwriting powers, working with a veteran team of gifted musicians and longtime co-writer/producer Kathleen Brennan. From the opening horn-fueled chug of “Chicago,” to the closing barroom chorale of “New Year’s Eve,” Bad As Me displays the full career range of Waits’ songwriting, from beautiful ballads like “Last Leaf,” to the avant cinematic soundscape of “Hell Broke Luce,” a battlefront dispatch. On tracks like “Talking at the Same Time,” Waits shows off a supple falsetto, while on blues burners like “Raised Right Men” and the gospel tinged “Satisfied” he spits, stutters and howls. Like a good boxer, these songs are lean and mean, with strong hooks and tight running times. And there is a pervasive sense of players delighting in each other’s musical company that brings a feeling of loose joy even to the album’s saddest songs. Bad As Me is a Tom Waits album for the ages. Deluxe edition includes bonus disc with 3 extra tracks & 40 page book.
April 3 street date. These 1973 radio broadcasts find Tom Waits perfroming much of his earliest material live with interview segments between tracks. Approximately 71 minutes.
Available now. This superb live recording is from late 1977 and finds Tom holding court in fine style at legendary New York venue, My Father s Place. Despite its small capacity - circa 400 people this humble abode hosted shows by superstars like Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Bob Marley, The Ramones and U2 during the 16 years it was open for business (1971-1987). It was also a hugely popular recording location for Long Island s revered WLIR radio station, who broadcast the show across the airwaves.
March 3 street date. Touring in support of his classic third album, Small Change, which was released in September of 1976 – this Chicago live date is one of the finest sessions (both in terms of performance and recording quality) from the ‘76-’77 world tour. Featuring his classic backing group of the time, The Nocturnal Emissions, this is Waits at his drunken, pessimistic best. Available on remastered CD and audiophile quality LP.
May 19 street date. 2CD. Recorded a week before Christmas, 1976, at the landmark NYC club, The Bottom Line, this superb live performance finds Waits at his finest, perfectly capturing his drunken troubadour poet persona. On tour to support his recently released Small Change LP, this set is finally released on CD in superb, remastered audiophile quality.
Available now! Tom Waits wasn't always the intense, even bizarre pop expressionist he'd become by the 1980s. Before the brilliant dementia of his later work, Waits was just another soft-spoken troubadour with a wicked sense of humour and a special fondness for jazz, blues, and the Beat generation. The roots of his music are revealed within the 13 tracks of The Early Years, a collection of previously unreleased 1971 demo tapes. Waits never intended these recordings for public consumption. But the wise guy pathos of "I'm Your Late Night Evening Prostitute" and the intentionally bad puns of "Had Me a Girl" hold up well as intelligent, charming, early snapshots of an important artist. --Steve Appleford
November 17 street date. Part of the new forthcoming Tom Waits remastered reissue series, overseen by Waits himself !! More info & remastered reissues to come !
December 15 street date. TOM WAITS - UNDER THE COVERS (THE SONGS HE DIDN’T WRITE. While Tom Waits has been responsible for some of the finest compositions of the past 40 years, his regular interpretations - particularly when performing live - of songs written by others often remain as enticing and delightful as his delivery of his self-penned numbers. This splendid collection includes 24 such renditions, recorded live in concert for FM broadcast at various points in his career thus far. Including songs originally, or most famously, performed by artists and groups as eclectic and diverse as The Doors, James Brown, Peggy Lee, Ewan MacColl, Elvis Presley and many others, this CD will delight Tom Waits’ enormous fan base as it catalogues the very best of this skilled translator’s readings of many great compositions.
Please note new street date March 23 for CD (March 9 for LP). Closing Time is the debut record of Tom Waits and it foreshadows the distinctly lyrical storytelling and original blending of jazz, blues and folk styles that would come to be associated with the artist. Waits performs enduring classics of his career such as Ol’ 55 (covered by the Eagles), the heartbreaking “Martha” and the gentle acoustic folk of “I Hope I Don’t Fall In Love With You”.
Please note new street date March 23 for CD (March 9 for LP). Closing Time is the debut record of Tom Waits and it foreshadows the distinctly lyrical storytelling and original blending of jazz, blues and folk styles that would come to be associated with the artist. Waits performs enduring classics of his career such as Ol’ 55 (covered by the Eagles), the heartbreaking “Martha” and the gentle acoustic folk of “I Hope I Don’t Fall In Love With You”.
March 23 street date. Expanding beyond the folk and pop stylings of his first album, “Heart of Saturday Night,“ Waits’ second studio release, established his reputation as a versatile and distinctly American songwriter. Its bluesy jazz arrangements featured bass, drums, sax and Waits on piano. The title track, a melancholy ode to Saturday night rituals, and the tenderly romantic hymn-like “San Diego Serenade” are enduring classics covered by an array of artists from Diana Krall and Nancy Griffith to folk hero Eric Anderson and Dion. The album also features “Diamonds on My Windshield”, the first of what would become a signature for Waits’, the spoken word-poetry song.
May 11 street date. Recorded in front of a live audience at the Record Plant recording studio in Los Angeles in 1975, Nighthawks at the Diner debuts some of Waits’ greatest classics like “Warm Beer, Cold Women” and “Eggs and Sausage” with a crack Jazz ensemble backing him up and some of the greatest stage patter ever committed to record. Nighthawks at the Diner was an indication of what a true and unique talent Waits was… totally unique in his time… falling between the cracks of traditions singing and traditional theater, Waits does a mixture of the two things. What Waits does is create a theater of the mind, a cabaret lounge with a much more surreal take on those traditions. - Greg Kot Rolling Stone/Chicago Tribune Writer
March 23 street date. Remastered 2018 Reissue!! Tom Waits' first seven albums, originally released through Elektra Asylum Records in the 1970's, have been re-mastered and are being re-released via Anti-Records! Small Change (1976) is a masterpiece that contains some of Waits’ best early work. Classic jazz, Tin Pan Alley, and Stephen Foster filtered through Tom’s unique worldview and lyrical genius. Heartbreaking, hilarious and always vivid, songs like “Step Right Up”, “Tom Traubert’s Blues”, “I Wish I Was in New Orleans”, “The Piano Has Been Drinking”, and “Invitation to the Blues” are all classics that have influenced generations of songwriters since. Recorded with a live orchestra and featuring jazz legend Shelly Manne on drums, Small Change is a classic and stands as one of Tom Waits most popular recordings.
March 23 street date. Remastered 2018 Reissue!! Tom Waits' first seven albums, originally released through Elektra Asylum Records in the 1970's, have been re-mastered and are being re-released via Anti-Records! 1977’s Foreign Affairs takes the jazz and poetry that Tom Waits explored on his earlier albums in a more cinematic direction, foreshadowing his own breakthrough work in the 80s. Opening with the instrumental “Cinny’s Waltz” and featuring some new standards like “Muriel” and “I Never Talk To Strangers”, his dramatic duet with Bette Midler, this album gets into some of Waits’ most ambitious storytelling ever. Foreign Affairs also features the jazzy, colorful “Jack and Neil” and the sweeping, dramatic “Potters Field” as well as classic Waits ballads “Burma Shave” and “Sight for Sore Eyes”.
March 23 street date. Remastered 2018 Reissue!! Tom Waits' first seven albums, originally released through Elektra Asylum Records in the 1970's, have been re-mastered and are being re-released via Anti-Records! Blue Valentine (1978) is a big departure from earlier Waits albums. Trading the piano for the guitar, Waits is getting rawer and bluesier and title track is a great example of this. Waits is in transition here, so you also get a stunning orchestrated rendition of Gershwin’s “Somewhere”, and the beautiful piano ballad, “Kentucky Ave.”, but you also get the juke joint swagger of “Romeo Is Bleeding” and “Whistlin’ Past the Graveyard”. This is also the record that contains one of Waits’ most popular songs ever, “Christmas Card from A Hooker in Minneapolis”
March 23 street date. Remastered 2018 Reissue!! Tom Waits' first seven albums, originally released through Elektra Asylum Records in the 1970's, have been re-mastered and are being re-released via Anti-Records! Released in 1980, Heartattack and Vine was Waits’ final album on Elektra Asylum and it built on the raw blues approach of Blue Valentine with the incendiary title track, the funky, organ driven “Downtown” and the stomping NOLA blues of “Mr. Siegal”. This album also contains some of Waits most popular ballads, including “Jersey Girl” which was famously a hit for Bruce Springsteen. “On the Nickle” is a moving song about the homeless people who lived on 5th street in downtown LA, and “Ruby’s Arms” is a beautiful song with a lovely Bach-like melody.
Please note new street date, May 11. Expanding beyond the folk and pop stylings of his first album, “Heart of Saturday Night,“ Waits’ second studio release, established his reputation as a versatile and distinctly American songwriter. Its bluesy jazz arrangements featured bass, drums, sax and Waits on piano. The title track, a melancholy ode to Saturday night rituals, and the tenderly romantic hymn-like “San Diego Serenade” are enduring classics covered by an array of artists from Diana Krall and Nancy Griffith to folk hero Eric Anderson and Dion. The album also features “Diamonds on My Windshield”, the first of what would become a signature for Waits’, the spoken word-poetry song.
May 11 street date. Recorded in front of a live audience at the Record Plant recording studio in Los Angeles in 1975, Nighthawks at the Diner debuts some of Waits’ greatest classics like “Warm Beer, Cold Women” and “Eggs and Sausage” with a crack Jazz ensemble backing him up and some of the greatest stage patter ever committed to record. Nighthawks at the Diner was an indication of what a true and unique talent Waits was… totally unique in his time… falling between the cracks of traditions singing and traditional theater, Waits does a mixture of the two things. What Waits does is create a theater of the mind, a cabaret lounge with a much more surreal take on those traditions. - Greg Kot Rolling Stone/Chicago Tribune Writer
June 8 street date (LP). / March 23 (CD). Remastered 2018 Reissue!! Tom Waits' first seven albums, originally released through Elektra Asylum Records in the 1970's, have been re-mastered and are being re-released via Anti-Records! Small Change (1976) is a masterpiece that contains some of Waits’ best early work. Classic jazz, Tin Pan Alley, and Stephen Foster filtered through Tom’s unique worldview and lyrical genius. Heartbreaking, hilarious and always vivid, songs like “Step Right Up”, “Tom Traubert’s Blues”, “I Wish I Was in New Orleans”, “The Piano Has Been Drinking”, and “Invitation to the Blues” are all classics that have influenced generations of songwriters since. Recorded with a live orchestra and featuring jazz legend Shelly Manne on drums, Small Change is a classic and stands as one of Tom Waits most popular recordings.
June 15 CD street date. For the first time, Tom Waits will make available as individual records his 2006 classic 56 song release Orphans: BRAWLERS, BAWLERS AND BASTARDS. Each of the three albums, Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards, will be available on 180 gram vinyl and CD. The collection of 56 songs went far beyond a simple career retrospective. It dipped back as far as 1984 with the bulk of it’s songs hailing from the mid-nineties onward. Over 2/3 of the material had never been heard when originally released in 2006 and had 30 newly recorded songs. Orphans also featured a number of songs finding a home on a Waits’ album for the first time. They included Waits’ unique interpretations of songs by such diverse talents as The Ramones, Daniel Johnston, Kurt Weill & Bertolt Brecht and Leadbelly. These outtakes, rarities and the previously unreleased material were separately grouped into themes and named, Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards. And now these titles will be released individually. Brawlers is a collection of raucous blues and full-throated juke joint stomps Bawlers is a collection of Celtic and country ballads, waltzes, lullabies, piano and classic lyrical Waits’ songs Bastards is a collection of experimental music and strange tales.
June 22 LP street date. For the first time, Tom Waits will make available as individual records his 2006 classic 56 song release Orphans: BRAWLERS, BAWLERS AND BASTARDS. Each of the three albums, Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards, will be available on 180 gram vinyl and CD. The collection of 56 songs went far beyond a simple career retrospective. It dipped back as far as 1984 with the bulk of it’s songs hailing from the mid-nineties onward. Over 2/3 of the material had never been heard when originally released in 2006 and had 30 newly recorded songs. Orphans also featured a number of songs finding a home on a Waits’ album for the first time. They included Waits’ unique interpretations of songs by such diverse talents as The Ramones, Daniel Johnston, Kurt Weill & Bertolt Brecht and Leadbelly. These outtakes, rarities and the previously unreleased material were separately grouped into themes and named, Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards. And now these titles will be released individually. Brawlers is a collection of raucous blues and full-throated juke joint stomps Bawlers is a collection of Celtic and country ballads, waltzes, lullabies, piano and classic lyrical Waits’ songs Bastards is a collection of experimental music and strange tales.
June 15 CD street date. For the first time, Tom Waits will make available as individual records his 2006 classic 56 song release Orphans: BRAWLERS, BAWLERS AND BASTARDS. Each of the three albums, Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards, will be available on 180 gram vinyl and CD. The collection of 56 songs went far beyond a simple career retrospective. It dipped back as far as 1984 with the bulk of it’s songs hailing from the mid-nineties onward. Over 2/3 of the material had never been heard when originally released in 2006 and had 30 newly recorded songs. Orphans also featured a number of songs finding a home on a Waits’ album for the first time. They included Waits’ unique interpretations of songs by such diverse talents as The Ramones, Daniel Johnston, Kurt Weill & Bertolt Brecht and Leadbelly. These outtakes, rarities and the previously unreleased material were separately grouped into themes and named, Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards. And now these titles will be released individually. Brawlers is a collection of raucous blues and full-throated juke joint stomps Bawlers is a collection of Celtic and country ballads, waltzes, lullabies, piano and classic lyrical Waits’ songs Bastards is a collection of experimental music and strange tales.
June 22 LP street date. For the first time, Tom Waits will make available as individual records his 2006 classic 56 song release Orphans: BRAWLERS, BAWLERS AND BASTARDS. Each of the three albums, Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards, will be available on 180 gram vinyl and CD. The collection of 56 songs went far beyond a simple career retrospective. It dipped back as far as 1984 with the bulk of it’s songs hailing from the mid-nineties onward. Over 2/3 of the material had never been heard when originally released in 2006 and had 30 newly recorded songs. Orphans also featured a number of songs finding a home on a Waits’ album for the first time. They included Waits’ unique interpretations of songs by such diverse talents as The Ramones, Daniel Johnston, Kurt Weill & Bertolt Brecht and Leadbelly. These outtakes, rarities and the previously unreleased material were separately grouped into themes and named, Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards. And now these titles will be released individually. Brawlers is a collection of raucous blues and full-throated juke joint stomps Bawlers is a collection of Celtic and country ballads, waltzes, lullabies, piano and classic lyrical Waits’ songs Bastards is a collection of experimental music and strange tales.
June 15 CD street date. For the first time, Tom Waits will make available as individual records his 2006 classic 56 song release Orphans: BRAWLERS, BAWLERS AND BASTARDS. Each of the three albums, Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards, will be available on 180 gram vinyl and CD. The collection of 56 songs went far beyond a simple career retrospective. It dipped back as far as 1984 with the bulk of it’s songs hailing from the mid-nineties onward. Over 2/3 of the material had never been heard when originally released in 2006 and had 30 newly recorded songs. Orphans also featured a number of songs finding a home on a Waits’ album for the first time. They included Waits’ unique interpretations of songs by such diverse talents as The Ramones, Daniel Johnston, Kurt Weill & Bertolt Brecht and Leadbelly. These outtakes, rarities and the previously unreleased material were separately grouped into themes and named, Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards. And now these titles will be released individually. Brawlers is a collection of raucous blues and full-throated juke joint stomps Bawlers is a collection of Celtic and country ballads, waltzes, lullabies, piano and classic lyrical Waits’ songs Bastards is a collection of experimental music and strange tales.
June 22 LP street date. For the first time, Tom Waits will make available as individual records his 2006 classic 56 song release Orphans: BRAWLERS, BAWLERS AND BASTARDS. Each of the three albums, Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards, will be available on 180 gram vinyl and CD. The collection of 56 songs went far beyond a simple career retrospective. It dipped back as far as 1984 with the bulk of it’s songs hailing from the mid-nineties onward. Over 2/3 of the material had never been heard when originally released in 2006 and had 30 newly recorded songs. Orphans also featured a number of songs finding a home on a Waits’ album for the first time. They included Waits’ unique interpretations of songs by such diverse talents as The Ramones, Daniel Johnston, Kurt Weill & Bertolt Brecht and Leadbelly. These outtakes, rarities and the previously unreleased material were separately grouped into themes and named, Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards. And now these titles will be released individually. Brawlers is a collection of raucous blues and full-throated juke joint stomps Bawlers is a collection of Celtic and country ballads, waltzes, lullabies, piano and classic lyrical Waits’ songs Bastards is a collection of experimental music and strange tales.
July 13 street date. Remastered 2018 Reissue!! Tom Waits' first seven albums, originally released through Elektra Asylum Records in the 1970's, have been re-mastered and are being re-released via Anti-Records! 1977’s Foreign Affairs takes the jazz and poetry that Tom Waits explored on his earlier albums in a more cinematic direction, foreshadowing his own breakthrough work in the 80s. Opening with the instrumental “Cinny’s Waltz” and featuring some new standards like “Muriel” and “I Never Talk To Strangers”, his dramatic duet with Bette Midler, this album gets into some of Waits’ most ambitious storytelling ever. Foreign Affairs also features the jazzy, colorful “Jack and Neil” and the sweeping, dramatic “Potters Field” as well as classic Waits ballads “Burma Shave” and “Sight for Sore Eyes”.
Please note: new street date is August 10. (Indie-Shop-Only Colour Vinyl Edition!!) Remastered 2018 Reissue!! Tom Waits' first seven albums, originally released through Elektra Asylum Records in the 1970's, have been re-mastered and are being re-released via Anti-Records! 1977’s Foreign Affairs takes the jazz and poetry that Tom Waits explored on his earlier albums in a more cinematic direction, foreshadowing his own breakthrough work in the 80s. Opening with the instrumental “Cinny’s Waltz” and featuring some new standards like “Muriel” and “I Never Talk To Strangers”, his dramatic duet with Bette Midler, this album gets into some of Waits’ most ambitious storytelling ever. Foreign Affairs also features the jazzy, colorful “Jack and Neil” and the sweeping, dramatic “Potters Field” as well as classic Waits ballads “Burma Shave” and “Sight for Sore Eyes”.
August 10 street date. REMASTERED ON 180 GRAM VINYL!! Blue Valentine (1978) is a big departure from earlier Waits albums. Trading the piano for the guitar, Waits is getting rawer and bluesier and the title track is a great example of this. Waits is in transition here, so you also get a stunning orchestrated rendition of Gershwin’s “Somewhere”, and the beautiful piano ballad, “Kentucky Ave.”, but you also get the juke joint swagger of “Romeo Is Bleeding” and “Whistlin’ Past the Graveyard”. This is also the record that contains one of Waits’ most popular songs ever, “Christmas Card from A Hooker in Minneapolis”.
September 14 street date. 2018 remastered edition! Released in 1980, Heartattack and Vine was Waits’ final album on Elektra Asylum and it built on the raw blues approach of Blue Valentine with the incendiary title track, the funky, organ driven “Downtown” and the stomping NOLA blues of “Mr. Siegal”. This album also contains some of Waits most popular ballads, including “Jersey Girl” which was famously a hit for Bruce Springsteen. “On the Nickle” is a moving song about the homeless people who lived on 5th street in downtown LA, and “Ruby’s Arms” is a beautiful song with a lovely Bach-like melody.
March 20 street date. Tom Waits' first album for ANTI-, "Mule Variations", was issued in April 1999. The record won a Grammy in 2000; as an indicator of how difficult it was by then to classify Waits' music, he was nominated simultaneously for Best Contemporary Folk Album (which he won) and Best Male Rock Vocal Performance (for the song ‘Hold On’), both different from the genre for which he won his previous Grammy. Tom performed a superb set at Neil Young's annual Bridge School Benefit concert, which featured cuts from his new release alongside a well-chosen selection of cuts from previous albums. This performance is now available in full on this LP. Bonus cuts come from an in-station broadcast appearance Waits made the previous year at KCRU, Santa Monica, on 31st March 1998.