Tom Waits. The origin of a legend

Be it for his unmistakable deep and husky voice, for his irreverent writing or even on stage or on the big screen, the presence of Tom Waits is impossible to go unnoticed.

Considered one of the most iconic and charismatic personalities of modern popular culture, this artist’s legend began 50 years ago. More precisely on March 6, 1973, when he released his debut album, Closing Time.

With a great inspiration in Bob Dylan, but still without the vocal technique and personality that would become one of his trademarks, the artist signed the beginning of his discography with an album that would become a cult object, with songs that would come to be adapted by artists such as Tim Buckley, Bette Milder, Meat Loaf, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins or Jon Bon Jovi.

After a youth in which, in his words, he gained a reputation as an “amateur juvenile delinquent”, interested in “mischievous pranks” and breaking the law, Waits would drop out of high school at 18. A decision inspired by his heroes, Beat Generation writers like Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs.

After dropping out of school, he would work in a pizzeria and a local restaurant – whose customers would have served as inspiration for some of his songs -, but also as a firefighter in the forest service and coast guard.

However, in 1969, he would go to Southwestern Community College, in California, to study photography, thinking that it would be in this area that he would make his future, but an old passion got in the way: music.

Although he already had a band at school, The Systems, described as a «white boy band trying to achieve the Motown sound», his first more professional contact with music took place at Heritage (a daytime cafe and club at night), where, in addition to working as a doorman, he also performed, presenting versions of songs by artists such as Bob Dylan.

But it was the following year that his musical career found greater stability, starting to perform every Monday at The Troubadour, with a set that, in addition to the usual Dylan covers, already contained original songs, and that would come in the Closing Time lineup, such as Ice Cream Man, Virginia Avenue, Ol’ ’55, I Hope That I Don’t Fall in Love with You.

It was in this space that his career was launched, having been discovered by David Geffen, who hired Waits to be part of his label, Asylum Records, after being enraptured by the performance of the song Grapefruit Moon.

Once signed, Waits began work on Closing Time, with assistance from Jerry Yester, a former member of the rock band Lovin’ Spoonful.

The pair had a different vision of what the record should be: Yester, who served as producer on Closing Time, intended this to be a folk album, but Waits intended to add a jazz touch, with instruments such as the double bass to tinge the sound. of the songs.

Despite some initial disappointment from Waits, which led to new sessions to add new elements to the disc, and a year-long delay in the release of Closing Time, in 1973, it was very well received by critics due to the wide variety of musical styles.

«Closing Time sets the stage for the first of a disparate variety of identities that Waits would assume over the course of his career, starting with that of the forlorn, alcohol-soaked jazz pianist, lost in time and playing night after night in an almost empty bar», can be read on the Culture Sonar blog.

«Aesthetically, the album is, essentially, lounge music wrapped in a cloud of cigar smoke and soaked in cheap whiskey», refers the article written by Cameron Gunnoe, adding that this album still does not have the characteristic tone of voice that marked the career of the singer.

«Some say that the composer drank and smoked himself into oblivion, others believe that it is simply an inflection chosen to convey an artistic message. In any case, during Closing Time, there was little trace of the harsh vocalization to come. In fact, until his third album, Nighthawks at the Diner, when Waits’ sound began to indicate what was to come », explained the journalist.

The album features some of the most beautiful songs in the artist’s discography, namely, Martha, considered by Tom Taylor, from Far Out Magazine, as one of «the most beautiful songs ever written» and «which offers cohesion to the masterpiece that is Closing Time, one of the greatest albums of all time».

“It’s an anthem that dives into the bittersweet truth that life moves on,” he writes. “Keeping up this feeling is Waits’ impressive vocal performance, often dismissed as simply rudely unique, forgetting its astounding quality within its imperfect confines,” he concludes.

Since it was released, Closing Time has become one of the singer’s most cherished albums, being, for example, reinterpreted in a tribute album, which featured artists such as Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy and Andrew Bird, and is also considered a one of the best albums of all time, being included in several publications of best albums ever.

To mark the 50th anniversary of Tom Waits’ debut album, it will be re-released by Anti-Records on June 2nd.

These celebrations come after, last year, their albums Alice and Blood Money, which both celebrated 20 years, were also re-released on vinyl.