release date: Mar. 1973
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,85]
producer: Jerry Yester
label: Asylum Records - nationality: USA
Track highlights: 1. "Ol' '55" (4,5 / 5) - 2. "I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love With You" (5 / 5) - 4. "Old Shoes (& Picture Postcards)" - 6. "Martha" - 7. "Rosie" (4 / 5) - 9. "Ice Cream Man" - 12. "Closing Time" (instr.)
Studio album debut by Tom Waits (aka Thomas Alan Waits, born Dec. 7, 1949 in Paloma, CA, USA) released on Asylum and the only Waits album to be produced by Jerry Yester.
Although the album has near-mythic status, well, I didn't hear the album until sometime in the 90s at a time when Waits' music was becoming interesting. The album is obviously a must for Tom Waits' fans, but probably also for fans of modern vocal jazz.
The first two tracks are... pure enjoyment and show Waits at his best.
Already here he has established his persona - a man in his 40s who has lived his life in pubs, who has strolled around with several broken relationships behind him and who has strong ties to the beat generation of the 50s and especially to Jack Kerouac. Look at the cover - it's a 23-year-old Tom Waits!
