In the early 90s I was a teen and some older alcoholic guy in the flat across the road would drink and play Tom Waits loud. I said to him: "what the heck is wrong with this singer?" After a few more weeks I went over the road with some blank tapes and said: "dude, can you tape me some of those crazy guy's albums?". Then I'd play the tapes & my teen friends would say: "dude! What's wrong with this guy?"
I was that alcoholic. Tom waits, bukowski, and R&R had me on the ropes. Someone was kind enough to bring me to the hospital when I was cooked, can’t drink anymore but at least my brain is wrecked.
If I didn’t know who Tom Waits was and simply heard this recording I’d have thought the guy singing HAD to be the absolute baddest man on Earth…and I wouldn’t have been wrong. Waits is a fucking national treasure.
just a small correction: planetary treasure. He belongs to no one nation, nothing less than the whole human race though I think it's safe to say also interplanetary
Absolutely no one is like Tom Waits. I've been listening to his music since the early 1970s, and he just gets better and better and is fearless in experimentation. When he went to Island Records in the mid-80s and did the Rain Dogs and Swordfishtrombones LPs, I was completely blown away. You are right. National Treasure.
I live on earth in (2023) while Tom Waits lives on a different planet in a different time frame and sings from a different universe. you just gotta love him - no doubt!.
Not only is Tom a great songwriter and totally unique singer, he’s an incredibly gifted performer. You really need larger than life charisma to pull off this act with the suit and the fedora and the weird movements and make it look cool and not dorky.
‘Swordfishtrombones’ was the ultimate product of Tom meeting Kathleen. That relationship opened up the musical elements that enabled his major transition to a fully realized and totally unique artistic persona. Bringing in musicians like Marc Ribot blew the lid right off! Biff’s engineering approach was a perfect fit. After that, Tom was a one man musical genre.
Back at the end of the 80's my late highschool English teacher introduced me Tom Waits (and Charles Bukowski!) outside of the curriculum and it completely changed my trajectory as a teen. Top 40 radio was utter garbage after hearing something as innovative and masterful as the music, voice & artistry of Tom Waits. NOTHING like him before or since. (R.I.P. & thx, Mr. Chappell)
Cool to see a young Ribot in that Waits video. I think it's Greg Cohen on upright bass. He's gone on to play and record with tons of musicians as part of that NY Downtown jazz/avant garde scene. What a great live performance of Swordfish era tunes. That band is killer.
Rain Dogs has long been among my favorite albums of all time, so it’s incredibly enjoyable getting to see live performances from that era, with his live band tailored to that unmistakable, drunken-tent-show-carnival-stomp-on-Broadway sort of sound... thanks so much for posting the performance!
@@lovensnugs2385 Oh, definitely- "theatric" might be one of the best adjectives to describe that period of his work. And actually, from what I understand, Rain Dogs, along with Frank's wild years and one other record (the name for which I'm forgetting at the moment and will never forgive myself, haha) were actually conceived as a trilogy of musical theater pieces- that is, if Mr. Waits is to be taken at his word, at least as far as those specific interviews in which he explained as much are concerned... Granted, by "musical theater", he was more specifically referencing German avant-garde theater, which is exactly as weird as you would expect. Still, I'm quite confident that no avant-garde German performance artist, theater-based or otherwise, ever rocked, swung, and swayed quite so foot-stompingly hard as he does on Rain Dogs, and that's just truth...🤘
@@lovensnugs2385 swordfishtrombones! Bah! How do I blank on THAT album title?!? smh. I guess this long day has caught up with me, haha... but yes, I may be mistaken, but I believe that swordfishtrombones, rain dogs, and Frank's wild beers comprise the theatrical trinity of albums
Caught the rain dogs tour in Edinburgh,mid 80’s.mind bending.What a band.Saw the tour before that.Just him and a piano.Which had def been drinking.Sat night in Scotland,it was fantastic..
I discovered Tom from a Primus song...Tommy the cat. He did the voice so I had to check him out...never heard of him till I heard that song! Amazing artist!
As a fellow Primus fan, you might be interested to know Les Claypool guested on a couple of Tom Waits tracks in studio. Check out The Earth Died Screaming, Hoist That Rag, and Big in Japan. I know for sure he did those three. Apparently Waits digs Claypool enough that he named Purple Onion one of his favourite albums too.
I saw this cat in NYC, round about 77 or 78. As a prop he had an old city lamppost which he leaned up against as sang and chain smoked. The theater was one big cloud. A whole lotta smokin’ going on. Leon Redbone was the lead off act. His accompanist was a tuba player. Good times. Good memories. The ones I can remember anyway.
There's more than this in the vaults; the original broadcast had ; Frank's Wild Years (performed in a mock bar-room, not on the live stage) 16 Shells Cemetery Polka In the Neighbourhood (faded out over end credits) A compilation programme a few years back broadcast the whole 'Neighbourhood' and a more recent dig around the vaults programme uncovered 'Walking Spanish', but that was marred by the host talking over it. Some accounts hold that the band performed around half an hour after the broadcast closed, so is there any chance someone could dig around again, and perhaps make a full broadcast, without intrusion from annoying TV hosts?
Tom Waits lived down the road from my Uncles family in Camp Meeker CA back in the late 80s to the early 2000s I believe... it was 1998 when I saw him drive by(the only close encounter I had)..he used to terrorize my cousins when they were rollerblading LOL...my Aunt new him best because she was his kids elementary to middle school teacher. Primus lived up the hill from there as well and most likely why he done some collabs with Claypool. I also think that sorta steampunkesque personal rubbed off on Les from Tom.
does anyone know where i can find the 'Franks Wild Years' Tom did, which was the intro sequence in a pub over the road which was at the beginning of this episode of The Tube? that and this version of 16 Shells are definite in my book, ive hunted for DECADES!!
I plugged sixteen shells from a thirty-ought-six And the black crow snuck through a hole in the sky So I spent all my buttons on an old pack mule Oh, and I made me a ladder from a pawn shop marimba I leaned it up against a dandelion tree Leaned it up against a dandelion tree Leaned it up against a dandelion tree Oh, and I kicked that mule to the top of the tree Kicked that mule to the top of the tree And I blew me a hole about the size of a kick drum I cut me a switch from a long branch elbow I'm gonna whittle you into kindlin' Black crow, sixteen shells from a thirty-ought-six Whittle you into kindlin' Black crow, sixteen shells from a thirty-ought-six Well, I slept in the holler of a dry creek bed And I tore out the bucket from a red Corvette Tore out the bucket from a red Corvette Lionel and Dave and the Butcher made three Oh, you got to meet me by the knuckles of the skinnybone tree With the strings of a Washburn stretched like a clothesline Oh, you know me and that mule scrambled right through the hole Me and that mule scrambled right through the hole I'm gonna whittle you into kindlin' Black crow, sixteen shells from a thirty-ought-six Whittle you into kindlin' Black crow, sixteen shells from a thirty-ought-six Now I hold him prisoner in a Washburn jail That I strapped on the back of my old kick mule Strapped it on the back of my old kick mule Bang on the strings just to drive him crazy Oh, I strum it aloud to rattle his cage I strum it aloud just to rattle his cage Strum it aloud just to rattle his cage Strum it aloud just to rattle his cage Oh, I'm gonna whittle you into kindlin' Black crow, sixteen shells from a thirty-ought-six Whittle you into kindlin' Black crow, sixteen shells from a thirty-ought-six ---- Cemetery Polka Uncle Vernon, Uncle Vernon, independent as a hog on ice He's a big-shot down there at the slaughterhouse Plays accordion for Mr. Weiss Uncle Biltmore and Uncle William Made a million during World War Two But they're tightwads and they're cheapskates And they'll never give a dime to you Auntie Mame has gone insane She lives in the doorway of an old hotel And the radio is playing opera All she ever says is go to hell Uncle Violet flew as a pilot And there ain't no pretty girls in France Now he runs a tiny little bookie joint They say he never keeps it in his pants Uncle Bill will never leave a will And the tumor is as big as an egg He has a mistress, she's Puerto Rican And I heard she has a wooden leg Uncle Phil can't live without his pills He has emphysema and he's almost blind And we must find out where the money is Get it now before he loses his mind Uncle Vernon, Uncle Vernon, independent as a hog on ice He's a big shot down there at the slaughterhouse He plays accordion for Mr. Weiss
Te ame siempre Tom, mi alcohólico favorito( aparte de mi alcohólico personal que también te amaba) allá nos encontraremos. Quizá este Hank... abrazos y salud!
Tom waits was great! He sort of filtered away after he stopped drinking. That’s what got him to that place. Like a talent but unrestrained which set him apart from a normal person. He obviously made the right choice, but punters got on board with what he was as a drunk
Since it's "16 shells from a thirty ought six", shouldn't the title read "30.06"? (edit: I see there are at least 2 others here had the same thought. Glad I'm not the only pedant).
It's not that Tom Waits doesn't give a shit - it's just that his giveashit's still in the shop and they haven't gotten around to fix it yet cause ---they don't give two shits in a mitten!
In the early 90s I was a teen and some older alcoholic guy in the flat across the road would drink and play Tom Waits loud. I said to him: "what the heck is wrong with this singer?" After a few more weeks I went over the road with some blank tapes and said: "dude, can you tape me some of those crazy guy's albums?". Then I'd play the tapes & my teen friends would say: "dude! What's wrong with this guy?"
I assume this brilliant cycle continues
I was that alcoholic. Tom waits, bukowski, and R&R had me on the ropes. Someone was kind enough to bring me to the hospital when I was cooked, can’t drink anymore but at least my brain is wrecked.
He is just alive....!
@@maxwellmortimermontoure7274 may I ask what r and r is?
This comment is perfect. I couldn't believe what I was hearing when my uncle would play this when I stayed at his place as a teenager
If I didn’t know who Tom Waits was and simply heard this recording I’d have thought the guy singing HAD to be the absolute baddest man on Earth…and I wouldn’t have been wrong. Waits is a fucking national treasure.
just a small correction: planetary treasure. He belongs to no one nation, nothing less than the whole human race though I think it's safe to say also interplanetary
Absolutely no one is like Tom Waits. I've been listening to his music since the early 1970s, and he just gets better and better and is fearless in experimentation. When he went to Island Records in the mid-80s and did the Rain Dogs and Swordfishtrombones LPs, I was completely blown away. You are right. National Treasure.
I live on earth in (2023) while Tom Waits lives on a different planet in a different time frame and sings from a different universe. you just gotta love him - no doubt!.
I drove 200 miles to see him in 1985. Marvellous concert in Edinburgh
Music to mesmerise rattle snakes. Absolutely brilliant.
He should make a song with lyrics out of comments like yours 😁
Not only is Tom a great songwriter and totally unique singer, he’s an incredibly gifted performer. You really need larger than life charisma to pull off this act with the suit and the fedora and the weird movements and make it look cool and not dorky.
He's fn hot AF here
So damn sexy
I want to shake his hand. Absolutely badass
‘Swordfishtrombones’ was the ultimate product of Tom meeting Kathleen. That relationship opened up the musical elements that enabled his major transition to a fully realized and totally unique artistic persona. Bringing in musicians like Marc Ribot blew the lid right off! Biff’s engineering approach was a perfect fit. After that, Tom was a one man musical genre.
Kathleen gave that man the kind of drive he needed. I definitely feel like without her he might not have exercised his genius.
every single incarnation of waits, from closing time to bad as me, wipes the floor with pretty much any artist you can think of. true genius
Got to say I don’t listen to real gone and Bad as me very much
Back at the end of the 80's my late highschool English teacher introduced me Tom Waits (and Charles Bukowski!) outside of the curriculum and it completely changed my trajectory as a teen. Top 40 radio was utter garbage after hearing something as innovative and masterful as the music, voice & artistry of Tom Waits. NOTHING like him before or since.
(R.I.P. & thx, Mr. Chappell)
Learned recently that Ralph Carney, the sax player, is the uncle of Pat Carney of The Black Keys
L'exceptionnel monde original et sensible de Tom Waits...
Absolute genius.
This is one of my favorite Tom Waits songs but I always forget the title. He's a big shot down at the slaughterhouse, play's accordion for Mr. Weiss
Cool to see a young Ribot in that Waits video. I think it's Greg Cohen on upright bass. He's gone on to play and record with tons of musicians as part of that NY Downtown jazz/avant garde scene. What a great live performance of Swordfish era tunes. That band is killer.
Knitting Factory, late '90s/early 2000s. All the local "stars." Good stuff.
I want to live in that place that Tom Waits resides in.
you mean on the corner of Bedlam and Squalor or on a beautiful ranch in northern California?
There’s no return...
it's a junk yard.
@@woodprogrammer On the road to Burma Shave
Rain Dogs has long been among my favorite albums of all time, so it’s incredibly enjoyable getting to see live performances from that era, with his live band tailored to that unmistakable, drunken-tent-show-carnival-stomp-on-Broadway sort of sound... thanks so much for posting the performance!
It's the only album I know that can seamlessly go from east European polka to country and western.
I love this album some of his other albums make me think of Broadway musicals like The Lumineers, The Lumineers 2012 album
@@lovensnugs2385 Oh, definitely- "theatric" might be one of the best adjectives to describe that period of his work. And actually, from what I understand, Rain Dogs, along with Frank's wild years and one other record (the name for which I'm forgetting at the moment and will never forgive myself, haha) were actually conceived as a trilogy of musical theater pieces- that is, if Mr. Waits is to be taken at his word, at least as far as those specific interviews in which he explained as much are concerned... Granted, by "musical theater", he was more specifically referencing German avant-garde theater, which is exactly as weird as you would expect. Still, I'm quite confident that no avant-garde German performance artist, theater-based or otherwise, ever rocked, swung, and swayed quite so foot-stompingly hard as he does on Rain Dogs, and that's just truth...🤘
@@lovensnugs2385 swordfishtrombones! Bah! How do I blank on THAT album title?!? smh. I guess this long day has caught up with me, haha... but yes, I may be mistaken, but I believe that swordfishtrombones, rain dogs, and Frank's wild beers comprise the theatrical trinity of albums
@@alexschrodt yes that the album, The Black Rider, as well
That makes total sense bc it reminds me of vaudevilleish musical theater! I love it!!!!
This performance is 💯 👏🏽👏🏽👍🏽👌🏽
Caught the rain dogs tour in Edinburgh,mid 80’s.mind bending.What a band.Saw the tour before that.Just him and a piano.Which had def been drinking.Sat night in Scotland,it was fantastic..
this is PURE GOLD.
Amazing musicianship and totally mesmerizing performance from Tom!
Don't forget the rest of the band! Marc Ribot at his finest here!
Back when, these 2 albums sealed the deal. I was going to hang out in Tom's alternate universe as much as possible...
WHAT AN AMAZING PERFORMANCE ! ! !
This dude is so talented
I discovered Tom from a Primus song...Tommy the cat. He did the voice so I had to check him out...never heard of him till I heard that song! Amazing artist!
As a fellow Primus fan, you might be interested to know Les Claypool guested on a couple of Tom Waits tracks in studio. Check out The Earth Died Screaming, Hoist That Rag, and Big in Japan. I know for sure he did those three. Apparently Waits digs Claypool enough that he named Purple Onion one of his favourite albums too.
@@stevenx2523 thanks a million bro...I surely will
I didn't know the Claypool Waits connection thanks
Brilliant performance. No one else can be like Tom!
.......!!!! SALUDOS DESDE CIUDAD nezahualcoyotl estadoDE MÉXICO 🙌🌵🌴🍻🎸🍾🎉🥑🌶️🖤⚒️🛠️⛏️ BARRIO OBRERO ⛏️🔧🗜️⚙️..
This is the most fantastic music of all time.
Wow. Drama and Art.
So good
In the neighborhood +walking Spanish were also performed, remember watching it live ,October 85.
I saw this cat in NYC, round about 77 or 78. As a prop he had an old city lamppost which he leaned up against as sang and chain smoked. The theater was one big cloud. A whole lotta smokin’ going on. Leon Redbone was the lead off act. His accompanist was a tuba player. Good times. Good memories. The ones I can remember anyway.
a music box on fire... poof
I was at that show. Foreign Affairs had just come out.
Ha ha! Those kids on The Tube in '85 wouldn't have a clue what Tom was about! Hilarious. Thanks for sharing. x
I watched this live on TV and thought what's this! So different and was my intro to Tom Waits, thanks to the Tube.
I was there and and in awe
The best clip on the internet.
Saludos cordiales desde ciudad Nezahualcóyotl Estado de México 🌵🌴🍻🎸🎉🌶️🥑💞💞😂😂
Bought this album when it first came out! Vinal! WooF!!🐶🐶
One of my top 5 favourite artists of all time. I adore his music.
16 Shells, boy have I been waiting for this. Great song from a great album.
What a line up, Marc Ribot and Ralph Carney both ready to get weird with it!
Tom Waits is a National Treasure....
Madness HA HA ❤ dam you Tom 😂
There's more than this in the vaults; the original broadcast had ;
Frank's Wild Years (performed in a mock bar-room, not on the live stage)
16 Shells
Cemetery Polka
In the Neighbourhood (faded out over end credits)
A compilation programme a few years back broadcast the whole 'Neighbourhood' and a more recent dig around the vaults programme uncovered 'Walking Spanish', but that was marred by the host talking over it.
Some accounts hold that the band performed around half an hour after the broadcast closed, so is there any chance someone could dig around again, and perhaps make a full broadcast, without intrusion from annoying TV hosts?
swordfish trombones is stil my favourite album
damn how the years flew by...
This is so rock n roll, thank goodness he's in the Hall of Fame
marc ribot on guitar!
Magic
Cemetery sounding tooo Good.🤍
Had this stuck in my head all day - now it's gone. Thanks, Tom - and youtube.
100% Excellent!!!
Tom Waits, Donald Fagen, American originals we can be proud of.
Tom Waites, is Music.
Tom Waits lived down the road from my Uncles family in Camp Meeker CA back in the late 80s to the early 2000s I believe... it was 1998 when I saw him drive by(the only close encounter I had)..he used to terrorize my cousins when they were rollerblading LOL...my Aunt new him best because she was his kids elementary to middle school teacher. Primus lived up the hill from there as well and most likely why he done some collabs with Claypool. I also think that sorta steampunkesque personal rubbed off on Les from Tom.
steampunkesque persona*** scuse me
So wonderful
Love it
Jeg liker å synge. Men når jeg prøver å synge denne sangen, Vil min stemme bli ruinert for alltid!! Love him thoug
im ready for a hamburger...
damn! nice solo!
T-E-R-R-I-F-I-C ! ! !
holding onto that groove on the edge of heart attack and vine, oh mercy
для 1985 это просто очень круто !!!
I didn't recognize Marc Ribot until his solo.
It's 30 oOhhhh Sixxx. As in Springfield 30-06
does anyone know where i can find the 'Franks Wild Years' Tom did, which was the intro sequence in a pub over the road which was at the beginning of this episode of The Tube? that and this version of 16 Shells are definite in my book, ive hunted for DECADES!!
Seriously? A pan tie liner commercial? Where is that 30 odd six when you need it? Never interrupt me when I am listening to Tom!
im tellin ya..two lips shhht
I can see why Tom Waits and Les Claypool get along, I just wish they'd do a full project together just one time.
I plugged sixteen shells from a thirty-ought-six
And the black crow snuck through a hole in the sky
So I spent all my buttons on an old pack mule
Oh, and I made me a ladder from a pawn shop marimba
I leaned it up against a dandelion tree
Leaned it up against a dandelion tree
Leaned it up against a dandelion tree
Oh, and I kicked that mule to the top of the tree
Kicked that mule to the top of the tree
And I blew me a hole about the size of a kick drum
I cut me a switch from a long branch elbow
I'm gonna whittle you into kindlin'
Black crow, sixteen shells from a thirty-ought-six
Whittle you into kindlin'
Black crow, sixteen shells from a thirty-ought-six
Well, I slept in the holler of a dry creek bed
And I tore out the bucket from a red Corvette
Tore out the bucket from a red Corvette
Lionel and Dave and the Butcher made three
Oh, you got to meet me by the knuckles of the skinnybone tree
With the strings of a Washburn stretched like a clothesline
Oh, you know me and that mule scrambled right through the hole
Me and that mule scrambled right through the hole
I'm gonna whittle you into kindlin'
Black crow, sixteen shells from a thirty-ought-six
Whittle you into kindlin'
Black crow, sixteen shells from a thirty-ought-six
Now I hold him prisoner in a Washburn jail
That I strapped on the back of my old kick mule
Strapped it on the back of my old kick mule
Bang on the strings just to drive him crazy
Oh, I strum it aloud to rattle his cage
I strum it aloud just to rattle his cage
Strum it aloud just to rattle his cage
Strum it aloud just to rattle his cage
Oh, I'm gonna whittle you into kindlin'
Black crow, sixteen shells from a thirty-ought-six
Whittle you into kindlin'
Black crow, sixteen shells from a thirty-ought-six
----
Cemetery Polka
Uncle Vernon, Uncle Vernon, independent as a hog on ice
He's a big-shot down there at the slaughterhouse
Plays accordion for Mr. Weiss
Uncle Biltmore and Uncle William
Made a million during World War Two
But they're tightwads and they're cheapskates
And they'll never give a dime to you
Auntie Mame has gone insane
She lives in the doorway of an old hotel
And the radio is playing opera
All she ever says is go to hell
Uncle Violet flew as a pilot
And there ain't no pretty girls in France
Now he runs a tiny little bookie joint
They say he never keeps it in his pants
Uncle Bill will never leave a will
And the tumor is as big as an egg
He has a mistress, she's Puerto Rican
And I heard she has a wooden leg
Uncle Phil can't live without his pills
He has emphysema and he's almost blind
And we must find out where the money is
Get it now before he loses his mind
Uncle Vernon, Uncle Vernon, independent as a hog on ice
He's a big shot down there at the slaughterhouse
He plays accordion for Mr. Weiss
You know them songs real well !
I always thought the line was I’m gonna will you into killing - the actual lyric is much more poetic
To imagine seeing him in this era…..sploosh
Waits as good as he gets
Waking up in the middle of the night, drunk and hungover, a hurricane threatening the house, etc.
Something about this music comes straight from hell... pretty sure that's where I'm headed... and you if you listen to this. Prepare to burn...
30 ought 6, not 30.6.....means 30 caliber, 1906 rifle bullet , standard of US Forces till from 1906 till 1957
Te ame siempre Tom, mi alcohólico favorito( aparte de mi alcohólico personal que también te amaba) allá nos encontraremos. Quizá este Hank... abrazos y salud!
Halo Tom where in America do you live,like to meet you.
It's 30.06. Thirty-ought-six!
can anyone tell me what that tele is? it looks like some kind of ESP? not sure
he doesn't sings, he roars
so?
@@shayanrasti7955 so i love him
@@mabul513 one of the best 5 singers of all time, along with captain beefheart and tim buckley
Is that Marc Ribot on guitar?
Yes.
Tom waits was great! He sort of filtered away after he stopped drinking. That’s what got him to that place. Like a talent but unrestrained which set him apart from a normal person. He obviously made the right choice, but punters got on board with what he was as a drunk
Make more music . I dont know why but it makes us happy. 👣🗣👤
How could he do this
Great American
I’m looking for Tom waits Christmas album?
That would be awesome.
I always listen to Blue Valentine album during Christmas time.
You are never as cool as Tom Waits.
Is it me or does anyone enjoy this version so much more that the album version
who is the guitar palyer???
30.06
It's funny watching the people dancing to the first song but they don't know what to do with themselves on the second on they're all just mortified.
😘🎩
Да, это вам не джазовые "стандарты" запиливать!
The ones trying to dance to that crack me up.
This is catchy as fuck
To put advertisement in the middle of this, or any song is FUCKED UP.
Mr. Shiznit
John hammond did him proud
Since it's "16 shells from a thirty ought six", shouldn't the title read "30.06"? (edit: I see there are at least 2 others here had the same thought. Glad I'm not the only pedant).
Rain dogs and swordfish trombones could have been a double album just like rubber soul and revolver could have been a double album
Nit pick but it’s 30.06
muito louco.
A true artist and not a CIA plant like Frank Zappa
The Shiznigit
It's not that Tom Waits doesn't give a shit - it's just that his giveashit's still in the shop and they haven't gotten around to fix it yet cause ---they don't give two shits in a mitten!
3:27 folks were actually dancing. I'm trying to imaging what would happen if you'd expose today's kids to a live performance like this.
Industrial rock still gets some play
They'd still dance, just with more modern moves.