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Tom Waits artist page: interviews, features and/or performances archived at NPR Music
Recorded at Atlanta's historic Fox Theater on July 5, Waits delivers a stunning and epic two-and-a-half hour performance, including songs he says he's never attempted outside of the studio before. Backing Waits is a five-piece group featuring Seth Ford-Young (upright bass), Patrick Warren (keyboards), Omar Torrez (guitars), Vincent Henry (woodwinds) and Casey Waits (drums and percussion). "They play with racecar precision and they are all true conjurers," Waits says. "They are all multi-instrumentalists and they polka like real men."
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It's difficult to overstate Waits' importance and impact: With a career that spans more than 20 albums, he blends countless musical and theatrical styles, from classic jazz, blues and polka to rock and folk. Held together with his unmistakable voice, Waits' music is instantly recognizable and endlessly compelling.
()It's difficult to overstate Waits' importance and impact: With a career that spans more than 20 albums, he blends countless musical and theatrical styles, from classic jazz, blues and polka to rock and folk. Held together with his unmistakable voice, Waits' music is instantly recognizable and endlessly compelling.
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Known since the 1970s for his distinctive, gravelly voice, singer-songwriter Tom Waits has since given up whiskey for family life. But echoes of his hard-living ways can still be heard in his music.
()Since the 1973 release of his first album, Closing Time, Waits has won over fans with his original songwriting and distinctive, gravelly vocal style. His newest CD is Real Gone. (This interview was originally broadcast in 2002.)
()Since the 1973 release of his first album, Closing Time, Tom Waits has won fans over with his original songwriting and distinctive, gravelly vocal style. He has two new CDs out this month: Alice and Blood Money.
()Blues musician John Hammond has spent his entire career covering the works of great American songwriters like Chuck Berry, Willie Dixon and Mose Allison. For his latest project, Wicked Grin, Hammond selected twelve songs by Tom Waits. In an unconventional twist, he asked Waits himself to produce the record. Liane speaks with John Hammond about his friendship with Tom Waits and the recording sessions that yielded this CD.
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Tom Waits doesn't tour a lot, and when he does, tickets are hard to come by. But in this week's All Songs, you can hear an excerpt of the final performance of his recent tour, along with Celtic music from Cape Breton, and African-inspired sounds with a distorted twist in the music of NOMO. And lovers of great pop music won't want to miss new music by The Silent Years and Brendan Canning of Broken Social Scene.
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"Lie To Me" isn't the best song on Waits' overstuffed Orphans, but it's one of the most disarming ones, with a roar that can knock listeners sideways. That makes it a perfect tone-setter for the immense, thematically arranged outpouring that follows.
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Find out the number one album of the year as selected by NPR listeners. Count down the top ten CDs with All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen as he chats with reviewers Robert Christgau, Will Hermes, Meredith Ochs and John Richards.
()All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen counts down listener picks for the 10 best CDs of 2006, with reviewers Robert Christgau, Will Hermes, Meredith Ochs and John Richards. They also share some of their own favorites from the year and take comments from listeners. This program originally webcast live on NPR.org Dec. 5, 2006.
()The year's best pop music from Lily Allen; The quiet and contemplative Damien Rice; Chilling out with The Hold Steady; Three new CDs from Tom Waits; A tragic treasury from The Gothic Archies; Surreal sounds out of Kansas: White Flight; West Africa's Refugee All Stars.
()Below are the 20 most mentioned songs from both listeners and reviewers with randomly selected comments from some of those who picked them.
()Bob Boilen speaks with All Things Considered music reviewers Will Hermes, Tom Moon and Meredith Ochs about the most anticipated releases for fall 2004. Hear sneak previews from R.E.M., Brian Wilson's long-awaited album Smile, plus new music from Tom Waits, Elliott Smith and more.
()In this election year it seemed a good idea to put out a call for music about politics. What we wanted was satire; what we got were earnest and passionate songs that mostly bashed the incumbent president …
()The Tuku music of Oliver Mtukudzi; Classical guitarist John Williams; A Spanish classic from David Russell; The stunning and brash Arto Lindsay; One of two new CDs from Tom Waits; A great unknown from Dallas: Deadman; and Rock and roll crooner Bryan Ferry.
()Singer-songwriter Tom Waits' unique vocal style and devoted following has such appeal to advertisers that they have resorted to using sound-alikes when Waits turns down requests to use his original music. That has led the artist to take legal action.
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Esquire music critic Andy Langer previews this week's new album releases, featuring music from actress-turned-singer Scarlett Johansson, Green Day side project Foxboro Hot Tubs, bluegrass banjoist Abigail Washburn, and the Flobots.
()"Lie To Me" isn't the best song on Waits' overstuffed Orphans, but it's one of the most disarming ones, with a roar that can knock listeners sideways. That makes it a perfect tone-setter for the immense, thematically arranged outpouring that follows.
()Tom Waits' change in approach on Real Gone can make the new album a challenge to hear, but worth digging into. Hear critic Tom Moon.
()Music critic David Greenberger reviews Blood Money and Alice, two new releases — with different sounds — from singer-songwriter Tom Waits. The CDs are 2002 releases on the Anti- label.
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Gen-Xers love "In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel, while their parents prefer "At Last" as sung by Etta James. Those are two of the most popular tunes NPR listeners selected in a recent NPR.org online poll on Valentine's Day music. Hear the songs and read the stories behind them.
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