Here's something you might be interested in.
A new Tom Waits single, “Bad As Me” comes from the same-named new full-length due October 25, his first studio recording of all-new songs in seven years. He’ll also voice a character in the upcoming animated musical The Monster of Nix.
For the new music, Waits worked with his wife and longtime co-writer/producer Kathleen Brennan. Bad As Me will also be available in a deluxe version with three bonus tracks and a 40 page book of lyrics and photos taken by Waits. A vinyl album version will include the LP AND a CD version, along with a 12-page book.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeTja7JXK9A
Waits was ten years old when his family moved to National City. He learned piano at a neighbor's house, and later bought a 1955 Buick Roadmaster on the Mile of Cars, for $125. His first guitar, a Gibson, cost $12. His first band of note was the R&B group the System. He's a 1968 graduate of Chula Vista's Hilltop High,
From 1965 to 1968, he worked at Napoleone's Pizza. He was a dishwasher and cook, often working until four in the morning, nearby to Iwo Jima Eddie's Tattoos and Phil's Porno Palace. He's claimed the menu is tattooed on his chest. Waits later wrote of "working for Joe and Sal" in the songs "Can't Wait To Get Off Work" and "Ghosts of Saturday Night - After Hours at Napoleone's Pizza Parlor."
Waits moved to L.A.'s Tropicana Hotel in 1971 and began his recording career.
In late 2010, reissues of his first four albums on 180-gram vinyl were released. In addition, Waits collaborated with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band to release a limited edition 78 RPM vinyl recording of “Tootie Ma Was a Big Fine Thing” and “Corrine Died On the Battlefield.”
For 2011, in addition to being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, he published a book of poetry in March. Hard Ground features Waits’ words alongside photographs of the homeless taken by award-winning photographer Michael O’Brien. According to University of Texas Press, the book is “a portrait of homelessness that impels us to look into the eyes of people who live on the hard ground and recognize our common humanity.”
A limited first edition chap book of his poem “Seeds on Hard Ground” was launched exclusively through his website, to raise funds for homeless services. The poem is a lyrical ballad in the voices of those who walked, fell, or were pushed to the margins of society. Waits is donating proceeds of the poem, limited to 1,000 copies each in North America and Europe, to Redwood Food Bank, Sonoma County’s Homeless Referral Services and Family Support Center.
His seventies relationship with Rickie Lee Jones was detailed in a Spring 2011 issue of British music magazine Mojo, issue #212.
A book Tom Waits on Tom Waits: Interviews and Encounters published in August 2011 by Chicago Review Press features over 50 interviews from print and broadcasts, beginning with his 1973 album Closing Time and progressing through 2006’s Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards.
A new Tom Waits single, “Bad As Me” comes from the same-named new full-length due October 25, his first studio recording of all-new songs in seven years. He’ll also voice a character in the upcoming animated musical The Monster of Nix.
For the new music, Waits worked with his wife and longtime co-writer/producer Kathleen Brennan. Bad As Me will also be available in a deluxe version with three bonus tracks and a 40 page book of lyrics and photos taken by Waits. A vinyl album version will include the LP AND a CD version, along with a 12-page book.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeTja7JXK9A
Waits was ten years old when his family moved to National City. He learned piano at a neighbor's house, and later bought a 1955 Buick Roadmaster on the Mile of Cars, for $125. His first guitar, a Gibson, cost $12. His first band of note was the R&B group the System. He's a 1968 graduate of Chula Vista's Hilltop High,
From 1965 to 1968, he worked at Napoleone's Pizza. He was a dishwasher and cook, often working until four in the morning, nearby to Iwo Jima Eddie's Tattoos and Phil's Porno Palace. He's claimed the menu is tattooed on his chest. Waits later wrote of "working for Joe and Sal" in the songs "Can't Wait To Get Off Work" and "Ghosts of Saturday Night - After Hours at Napoleone's Pizza Parlor."
Waits moved to L.A.'s Tropicana Hotel in 1971 and began his recording career.
In late 2010, reissues of his first four albums on 180-gram vinyl were released. In addition, Waits collaborated with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band to release a limited edition 78 RPM vinyl recording of “Tootie Ma Was a Big Fine Thing” and “Corrine Died On the Battlefield.”
For 2011, in addition to being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, he published a book of poetry in March. Hard Ground features Waits’ words alongside photographs of the homeless taken by award-winning photographer Michael O’Brien. According to University of Texas Press, the book is “a portrait of homelessness that impels us to look into the eyes of people who live on the hard ground and recognize our common humanity.”
A limited first edition chap book of his poem “Seeds on Hard Ground” was launched exclusively through his website, to raise funds for homeless services. The poem is a lyrical ballad in the voices of those who walked, fell, or were pushed to the margins of society. Waits is donating proceeds of the poem, limited to 1,000 copies each in North America and Europe, to Redwood Food Bank, Sonoma County’s Homeless Referral Services and Family Support Center.
His seventies relationship with Rickie Lee Jones was detailed in a Spring 2011 issue of British music magazine Mojo, issue #212.
A book Tom Waits on Tom Waits: Interviews and Encounters published in August 2011 by Chicago Review Press features over 50 interviews from print and broadcasts, beginning with his 1973 album Closing Time and progressing through 2006’s Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards.