Tom Waits is probably best known to most people as the man with the voice rougher than sandpaper. His voice characterizes his work and makes it very difficult for the more casual listeners to get into it. Indeed, his gravelly voice was once described by the MusicHound Rock Album Guide as sounding like “it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months and then taken outside and run over with a car”. As a result for those who listen to Waits, they either love him or hate him. Within his voice, his music and his lyrics, they either find something significant or nothing at all.
For myself, Waits had been praised left, right and centre by a lot of people I knew. Not realizing that his work steadily became darker and quirkier with the passage of time, I got a hold of “Beautiful Maladies” and to be honest was not at all impressed by him. I had jumped into the deep end, and without any knowledge of his past work and the persona he had constructed for himself, I had nothing to keep me afloat. There ended my delving into the world of Waits until a friend gave me a copy of a couple of his songs, including “Tom Traubert’s Blues”. I was intrigued. It was unlike anything I had ever heard before and I wanted more. Where better to start than at the beginning of his career?
“Closing Time” was released in 1973, ironically the same year as legend Bruce Springsteen released his first album “Greeting From Asbury Park”. Perhaps Waits would have been more successful in his early years had artists like Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen not been discovered. At that time, Cohen was at the heights of his popularity and it would have been forgivable not to be open to discovering the poetry that was Waits. Waits was realistic. No long-winded metaphors, no cheap sentiments, no fake romanticism, just poetry so realistic it almost hurt. Some commented that Waits somehow managed to “evade clichés, or at least make even the clichés seem right”.
For those who are more familiar with his later work, “Closing Time” is miles away from it, both in terms of content and in terms of the state of Waits’ voice at the time. His vocals on this album are almost “clean”. Indeed, “Closing Time” has been described as his “freshest vehicle of self-expression.” Nevertheless, it is mature and it is this maturity that is important, because it must be remembered that Waits was only 22 at the time. In the track “Martha”, Waits tells story of a man who calls up his old lover 40 years later to tell her he still loves her. The song is full of imagery and sentiment, and the fact that a guy in his twenties can communicate an old man’s genuine and sincere feelings with so much emotional power is amazing. It, in itself, serves as evidence of Waits’ capability both as a musician and a storyteller.
Waits’ debut album isn’t flashy. In fact, it’s beauty lies in its simplicity. It is probably the friendliest Tom Waits album you could buy, and is an excellent introduction to his work. It has been described as being an “immensely natural and humble album”, but do not be fooled because, typical of Waits, these songs are of late-night loneliness. An album written for anyone who has had their heart broken and has lived the ensuing days in a bar. It’s a beautiful blend of blues and jazz with a hint of country thrown in for good measure. However, unlike his later work, in “Closing Time” his songwriting certainly could not be described as being eccentric. Yes, he still portrays the world that lies on the other side of the tracks, the world of freaks, drunks and nobodies, but he presents it in an almost less imposing way than on his later albums. “Closing Time” marks the beginning of the surfacing of the sound of the “shifting, unruly chaos that lurks beneath the plastic, smoothed out surface of American life”, and announces the arrival of a talented songwriter whose “self-conscious melancholy can be surprisingly moving”.
Is it worth it? Is it advisable to buy an album released 23 years ago, by a man who many politely refer to as ‘bit strange’? Yes. Yes it is. “Closing Time” is significant if only to offer the listener a chance to catch a glimpse of Tom before the Tom Waits persona took over. A chance to see behind the surreal, larger than life “Tom Waits” character that is clearly a role. Yet, by creating this role Waits underlines what we should already understand. That “art” is something apart from the one who makes it. He himself once said that: “The stories behind most songs are less interesting than the songs themselves.” Indeed, the myth-laden smokescreen of tall tales and storytelling acts as a safeguard, ensuring that family, music and an ever-inquisitive public can peacefully co-exist. Many would consider an album such as “Closing Time” to be the beginning and end of their artistic growth. Fortunately, Waits didn’t, and with each passing album came some aspect of growth in his style, in his lyrics, in his voice. In fact, the overall change is so remarkable that for those who only know his later work, the side of Waits portrayed in “Closing Time” may leave them bewildered. It is light years away from Waits’ schizophrenic Eighties’ period, and there is no way that you could predict the bizarre twists and turns of his career when listening to these simple tunes. It is a record that strips away the artistic garments that have been piled upon poetry in the past. The album is a return to basics, and an album that I shall be certain to return to again and again. Waits makes you realize that sometimes, being the most conventionally popular artist is not necessarily the best thing to be. He shows you that within the ugliness of life, there exists a beauty that does not fade simply because it’s just that little bit harder to see.
Tom tells a story that once when his children were young they asked him why he didn’t have a straight job like everyone else. He answered them this way: “In the forest, there was a crooked tree and a straight tree. Everyday the straight tree would say to the crooked tree, ‘Look at me. I’m tall, I’m straight and I’m handsome. Look at you. You’re all crooked and bent.’ They grew up in that forest together, and one day the loggers came. They saw the crooked tree and the straight tree and they said ‘Just cut the straight trees and leave the rest’. So the loggers turned all the straight trees into lumber and toothpicks and paper, and the crooked tree is still there, growing stronger and stronger everyday.”
Quite a fitting way to describe the man himself, don’t you think?
1 comment:
A great write up Zena can't wait to listen to the album.
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