Nighthawks At The Diner

Tom's third, from 1975, still on Asylum, still with Bones Howe.

This was my first Tom Waits album, and it certainly did not sound like what I had expected, so I probably ended up shelving it for years before I really got into him (via Mule Variations), but after having starting this marathon, I certainly like it more than I used too.

The interesting thing about it was that it was recorded in front of a live audience. The band is in great shape and nicely tight, yet mellow and smooth (for lack of a better word). The whole album usually gets tagged as jazz, although I feel odd about tagging him as such. Good music, great lyrics again, and Tom, quite a storyteller and certainly a fascinating performer already, provinding the listeners with amusing anecdotes and his delirious introductions to almost every songs.

I still don't think that after having listened to it over three times today that I know it well enough to discuss it more than this, but this record must the best way to get a sense of what Tom was like as a live performers in the 1970s, and I can not wait to compare it more closely to the last album of this series, the new Glitter and Doom tour album.