Small Change

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The song is considered one of Waits' signature songs and was described by Howe as "the work of an extremely talented lyricist". It has since been covered by a number of artists, including Rod Stewart, who released a version of the song on the compilation album Lead Vocalist (1993). Stewart's version was released as a single in 1992 and charted in eight countries upon its release, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands. I love this album for three reasons. Firstly the songs. Whomever was singing them it would be churlish to argue with the quality of song writing on Rain Dogs. These are anthems for the ages. On the other hand, “Somewhere” makes perfect sense thematically: His characters may be hard up, but they’re still dreaming about that promised “place for us.” “Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis,” a minor hit at the time and a fan favorite for decades after, is one of Waits’ most devastating tunes. He sings in the voice of the title character as she describes a happy life to an old friend: She’s married and off the dope, pregnant and hopeful. Someone might have stolen her record player, but “I think I’m happy for the first time since my accident.” The last verse arrives like a punch in the gut, as she admits she’s making it all up before asking to borrow some dough. and has a slow tempo of 60 beats per minute. It is composed in the key of F major. The song is piano-based and led by Waits but also features Jim Hughart performing bass. A fifteen-piece orchestral ensemble performs on the song, arranged and conducted by Jerry Yester who had produced Waits' debut studio album Closing Time (1973). [6]

ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2001 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association . Retrieved July 26, 2012. And really, this record could use more in the melody department. That's what makes the lesser (though not bad - nothing disagreeable here) songs lesser in the first place. It's more about creating that late-night, drunken romantic mood than it is about giving us a solid set of melodies. All of the songs succeed at creating this mood, but some work better than others. "Tom Traubert's Blues" or "Jitterbug Boy?""The Piano Has Been Drinking" or "I Wish I Was in New Orleans?" No real competition for me. But yeah, still a very solid album. Hard to miss with, especially if you dig the early period. O'Neal, Sam (October 28, 2009). "Elvira, Mistress Of The Dark (and merchandising)". The A.V. Club . Retrieved November 20, 2009. Small Change is the fourth studio album by singer and songwriter Tom Waits, released on September 21, 1976 on Asylum Records. [1] It was recorded in July at Wally Heider's Studio 3 in Hollywood. It was successful commercially and outsold his previous albums. This resulted in Waits putting together a touring band - The Nocturnal Emissions, which consisted of Frank Vicari on tenor saxophone, FitzGerald Jenkins on bass guitar and Chip White on drums and vibraphone. The Nocturnal Emissions toured Europe and the United States extensively from October 1976 till May 1977.I’ve never pulled the plug on Tom either, I accept who he is and what he does. Everything about him is like something from a bygone era, yet magically in the moment. I have however, asked friends if they’d mind finding something else to play at dinner other than Tom Waits. Hearing Tom’s records has on more than one occasion ruined a perfectly good high, reducing me to long exhales of frustration and anxiety ... one for which even Valium refuses to help. Tom is like “Outsider Art,” but he’s been around so long that he’s nearly mainstream, and if not mainstream, certainly part of our collective consciousness; where even if we don’t know the Wait’s reference, we understand the joke.

Bones Howe considers the song's lyrics to be "brilliant" and "the work of an extremely talented lyricist." Speaking of the lyrics, Howe has said: "occasionally I'll do something for songwriters. They all say the same thing to me. 'All the great lyrics are done.' And I say, 'I'm going to give you a lyric that you never heard before.' ' A battered old suitcase to a hotel someplace / And a wound that will never heal. '." [5] Release and reception [ edit ] Well, gee. I'd say there's probably more songs off that record that I continued to play on the road, and that endured. Some songs you may write and record but you never sing them again. Others you sing em every night and try and figure out what they mean. "Tom Traubert's Blues" was certainly one of those songs I continued to sing, and in fact, close my show with. [20]Tom Traubert's Blues" was written solely by Waits and produced by Bones Howe. The song is in common time ( 4 Bad liver and a broken heart - Another good one. It's funny and insightful. "The Moon Aint Romantic, it's intimidating as hell". That's great writing from a wise man.

a b c d "Tom Traubert's Blues". Tom Waits Library. Archived from the original on 2011-12-09 . Retrieved 2007-01-18. There are a lot of little things on Small Change that add up and make the album one of the strongest in Waits's terrific catalog.

Companies, etc.

The Piano Has Been Drinking -an obvious standout. Funniest song on the album. That makes 3 great songs in a row.

Secondly there's the sounds. From the voices Tom spews the songs out in to the bizarre percussion and filthy sounding guitars. There are jam jars where there should be cymbals and muddy fuzz where there should be chords. The Rolling Stones, Some Girls (1978): Marilyn Monroe, Raquel Welch, Lucille Ball, Farrah Fawcett, etc. As wiseacre and rambunctious as that particular song may be, Small Change is electrically charged with a pathos that comes across as both false and real, with Waits playing the raconteur masking his very real sadness behind expressions of sadness. “Bad Liver and a Broken Heart” launches a counteroffensive against his congenital sentimentality, as he slyly undercuts his own pieties: “The moon ain’t romantic, it’s intimidating as hell,” he crows. Deeply embedded in the underbelly, Small Change is nevertheless Waits’ most personal, even is most confessional album, somehow refracting the real person through the persona. Congratulations to bartonmb, paddymc123 and StephanoBentos who will be getting a copy of Bad As Me in the post, and honourable mentions also go to:

It's Tom Waits, fer christsake. And I don't mean it in the obnoxious "it's Tom Waits and if you don't love him then you're a fool" kind of way, I mean it in the "It's Tom Waits giving us his all and leaving no liver unshot" kind of way. Tom really pours himself over the songs on Small Change, and makes no apologies for doing so. And that's how I like my Waits. Lyrically, Nighthawks is one of the best albums. It encapsulates everything that makes Waits Waits. Storyteller. Drawler. Bopper. Tour guide. Joker. Observer of the unobserved. The 1975 album takes us on a colourful sunset-to-sunrise trip through the Los Angeles streets. Streets that people never see through their blurry eyes & smoked-glass windows. The Fun Facts: In his hipster beatnik glory meets Hollywood noir period (1973-1980), Tom Waits was sharing the bill with a Burlesque show on the Lower East-Side of Manhattan, at the Club Copacabana. Photographed here taking a break between sets, he sits in the dressing room with a dancer from the show. The sultry posed girl is none other than Cassandra Peterson who would later be known as Elvira, "Mistress of the Darkness," though Peterson will not claim authenticity to his fact.