Innocent When You Dream: The Tom Waits Reader

by Mac Montandon

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Tom Waits in his own words: a collection of three decades' worth of interviews with Tom Waits 'I've never met anyone who made it with a chick because they owned a Tom Waits album. I've got all three, and it's never helped me,' Tom Waits. Born, seemingly, in the back of a taxi cab outside a hospital in California, in December 1949, the young Tom Waits graduated through the jobs of janitor, dishwasher and cook to the position of doorman at a small L.A. club. Existing on a diet of whiskey, show more cigarettes and beat writing, he now added folk and jazz to his formative influences. In 1969, Captain Beefheart manager Herb Cohen discovered him - and five years later he released his first album, Closing Time, a record soaked in equal parts bourbon and melancholy. His drunken bohemian persona kicked in after this ('The Piano Has Been Drinking, Not Me'), and his familiar hoary rasp ('a voice that could guide ships through dense fog'), tales of losers, outsiders, hobos, dingy bar-room joints and seedy diners became the stuff of cult legend, covered by the likes of the Eagles, championed by Elton John, and instantly recognisable from a thirty-year career that has seeped through music (over 20 albums), theatre and film. Waits has never written an autobiography, has notoriously played fast and loose with the truth, but this collection of interviews is practically Tom Waits in his own words. Witty, enigmatic and currently fired up about the state of America (his latest album 'Real Gone' has been his most successful yet), Innocent When You Dream is a must-have for any Waits fan. show less

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5 Works 795 Members
Mac Montandon has written for the New York Times, New York, Spin, Salon, and Details, among other publications. He is the editor of Innocent When You Dream: The Tom Waits Reader. Mac lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two daughters. He can be reached at www.jetpackdreams.com.

Common Knowledge

Original publication date
2005

Classifications

Genres
Music, Nonfiction, Biography & Memoir
DDC/MDS
781.64092Arts & recreationMusicGeneral principles and musical formsTraditions of musicWestern popular music {equally instrumental and vocal}Biography And HistoryBiography
LCC
ML420 .W13 .A5MusicLiterature on musicLiterature on musicHistory and criticismBiography
BISAC

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Languages
English, Finnish
Media
Paper
ISBNs
6
ASINs
1