Monday, June 27, 2011

Tom Waits

Tom Waits is an eclectic singer-songwriter and composer born in 1949.  His distinctive voice has become renowned as his trademark 'growl', consisting of a rather raspy, gravelly folk styling.  His songs feature extensive vamping - with blues and jazz incorporated , vaudeville experience.  His melodic songwriting incorporates a lot of melodic, major key tonality.

Throughout his career, he has built up a distinctively unique music persona unlike any other.  His cult following persists, even after having had little support from radio and music video venues.

He has been nominated for several major music awards, has won a Grammy, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame earlier this year.
Tom Waits performing in Prague, 2008

Most of his songs have been remixed and covered by more popular bands, thus giving Tom Waits a lot of indirect attention.  He is steadfast in his refusal to allow his songs to be featured in commercials, and often jokes about artists who do.  After winning a law-suit against Frito-Lay in 1988, he became the first artist to successfully sue a company in regards to an un-permitted impersonator. 

To date, he has released over 23 albums and has been signed with numerous record companies.  Today, he continues to parlay his success the way that musicians were meant to;  with a steady following of fans who genuinely love the music that he loves to create.

P.S. The song has a 30 second intro before the music actually starts.  Hang in there!

35 comments:

  1. i love his music!! I'm putting this video on my favorites!

    ReplyDelete
  2. excellent song... i love tom waits!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Tom Waits is underated in my opinion, his style is so smooth.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Tom waits is a genius, plain and simple.

    ReplyDelete
  5. dude the ads are messing up my computer, i'm keep getting pop ups whenever i click something. ope happened again :(

    ReplyDelete
  6. Nice post about an awesome man.

    ReplyDelete
  7. He's one of the greats! Not a bad actor too.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I've listened to quite a bit of his music, really is quite amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Well... I liked this guy. Japan...

    ReplyDelete
  10. I'm pretty big in japan, myself.. don't tell tom i said that!

    ReplyDelete
  11. It's just a classic. Thanks for good article :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. He's awesome and unique.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Gonna be looking for this on spotify :> awesome

    ReplyDelete
  14. dude the music featured here is excellent

    ReplyDelete
  15. Tom Waits is crazy man. Love his stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Definitely diggin it, thanks for the link! +Followed for life, http://cryptozen.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  17. Great guy this one
    Gonna follow this blog for more!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Classic stuff! Awesomely eccentric collection ya got here!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Great songs,i never heard from him before!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Waits is such a badman! A unique voice for our generation.

    ReplyDelete
  21. nice post, interesting blog, I following and went on your advertisement

    ReplyDelete
  22. Good music. Love the beat.
    If you dont mind, you have too many popups and I am not able to go to comment section in Uncle Samurai.

    ReplyDelete
  23. You should get a radio slot... play some good music, for once.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Love this! your blog is great:)
    +follow

    ReplyDelete
  25. Just one word: AMAZING.

    Keep posting my friend.
    I love this blog

    ReplyDelete