The words and music of Tom Waits / Corinne Kessel.
Author/creator |
Kessel, Corinne |
Format | Book and Print |
Publication Info | Westport, CT : Praeger, 2009. |
Description | xiv, 176 pages ; 25 cm. |
Subject(s) |
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Series | Praeger singer-songwriter collection, 1553-3484 Praeger singer-songwriter collection. ^A691721 |
Contents | Life and works in brief -- Music, instrumentation, and voice. Night on earth: a nomadic soundtrack ; Dirty water on a swordfishtrombone ; A voice from the gutter ; The black box -- Tom's Wanderers: character and narrative in the music of Tom Waits. Nighthawks and tire tramps ; Rain dogs ; The pianist has been drinking ; Black market babies ; The only kind of love ; Soldier's things and sailor's dreams ; Train songs ; The wild years ; Human oddities ; A little drop of poison: outlaws and bandits ; Crossroads ; Sururalism -- Beautiful maladies: Tom Waits's realism. Closing time. |
Abstract | Tom Waits's distinctive, bourbon-soaked growl, his unique persona, and his incorporation of musical styles from blues to experimental to vaudeville have secured for him a top-shelf cult following and an extraordinary critical respect. The idea of the Wanderer--someone who seeks an escape from all of life's problems, and dreams himself into oblivion--serves as the fundamental personality type around which all Waits's music revolves. Ten years of producing and touring with Waits's macabre folktale adaptation across Canada and the U.S. has given the author direct access to his work, creative process, and his associates. In this comprehensive analysis, she examines all of the many characters that have appeared throughout the course of Waits's musical career, from Closing Time (1973) to Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards. His raw form of expression and his evocative lyrics work together to form an emotional chronicle of society's misfits, outcasts, and lowlifes. He is not the sort of composer to chase after shiny red fire trucks to awesome blazing fires, but instead looks after the intangible dreams found dissipating in the last wisp of smoke from a cigarette, held in the weathered hands of a broken soul. Here, the author pursues Waits into this distinctly murky and unsettled atmosphere to address in particular Waits's enduring questions of reality, landscape, and identity. |
Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (pages 157-168), discography (pages 133-136), filmography (pages 137-143) and index. |
Bibliography note | "Tribute albums and covers": pages 145-150. |
LCCN | 2008037538 |
ISBN | 9780313349065 (alk. paper) |
ISBN | 0313349061 (alk. paper) |
Available Items
Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions | |
Music | Music Stacks | ML 420.W13 K47 2009 | ✔ Available | Place Hold |