Reviews (page 8 of 9)
Een verfijndere bakken tappen van een dronken zwerver? Wel goeie contrabas
I love Tom Waits. The 70's Tom Wait was a development of Tom Waits the persona, while his later work was more musically creative and incredibly eclectic. Both are equally compelling to me. Because this is live, we get to meet the burgeoning persona with a live audience to play off. His backing band is superb and helps to flesh out the character that inhabit his songs. Yes, the small audience were invited rather than paying customers, but that doesn't change the power of the set. Essential listening for me.
You can smell the stale beer and wafting cigarette smoke listening to this album. It transports you to an old jazz club at 3am. I understand why people might not like this, but it’s the perfect material for Tom Waits’ gravelly voice.
This was bad. Maybe if you were there you’d be charmed by his presence. Just a total slog all the way through for me.
Yeah this is spoken word alright. I’ll pay my respects to the great jazz in the background, but to be honest, it’s the worst mix between a podcast and a song. It’s not music and shouldn’t be classified as such. The “singer” sings at some points in the album, so why can’t he just sing the whole damn thing? If I wanted to listen to a smoker with lung damage spouting nonsense to a bunch of other smokers with lung damage, I would go to a homeless camp.
This is an audiobook, and not a particularly good one. I was expecting more from Tom Waits, since everyone talks so highly of him, but I could not stand this one.
Nobody's that stroooooong
I appreciate the concept of the album, but sounded like an old man ranting for me.
Listening to this, I kept reaching for the non-existent drink and cigarette that were conjured up on the imaginary table in front of me by the atmosphere this album created. Even when I didn't get the 1975 Los Angeles references, the audience's delighted reactions made me share in the enjoyment. I loved the storytelling feeling of this, with Tom Waits' always amazing turns of phrases, e.g. "Just like a bastard amber Velveeta yellow cab on a rainy corner." His piano and guitar, and the rest of the jazz ensemble were wonderful. For being a longer album, and a live album, this held my rapt attention as I enjoyed the whole show.
I wasn't expecting an album like this from Tom Waits. It was delightful. I very much appreciated his laugh (when he amused himself). I do hope that this is his natural laugh and not the laugh of some character he was playing...
Well, I was apprehensive about what could possibly follow the perfection that is Lou Reed's Berlin, and seeing our fourth Tom Waits album had me wondering how this one was going to stand out from the others. I shouldn't have worried. The 1001 Generator had my back. Nighthawks at the Diner is an intimate night in mid 70s Los Angeles with a performer who is doing precisely what he was meant to do. The songs themselves are wonderful but so is the interstitial patter, poetic and musical enough that it was likely scripted and rehearsed but seemed completely spontaneous. Waits often laughs at his own jokes and had me laughing out loud, when I wasn't tearing up. Really fantastic, start to finish.
I listened to this without reading the wikipedia article and thought I was listening to a live album at some cool nightclub wishing I was there. It was a real surprise to discover this is a studio album with a small invited audience designed to simulate a jazz club. No wonder it sounds so good. Really fantastic. The band sounds amazing. The recording crystal-clear. Tom sounds perfect. The audience interaction perfect and natural. They really succeeded at setting the mood for this recording. It’s quite a feat. I love listening to this. There are laugh-out-loud moments, arresting moments, and a lot of near-perfect moments. And a jazz remake of Phantom 309? I’m stunned.
Not a fan of this one.
I saw this and thought fucking christ another fucking Tom Waits album? I just got another one a few days and I hated it and I saw this was an 76 minutes long and felt fuck me. But you know what? it wasn't utter shit! His voice isn't grating and the jazz atmosphere is something I really dig. I've been to enough jazz clubs to appreciate what was done here and his voice was actually pleasant to listen to. I really, really enjoyed this album. Given how much I've hated him in the past this was a very welcome change.
It’s just Tom waits talking with jazz in the background 5/5
Hipster beat poet meets jazz. His banter was amusing and the jazz was jazz but not my style
Good, fun and nostalgic vibe album. You feel immersed in the pub with some good beer.
4.4 - A convincing send up of an intimate jazz lounge performance with droll storytelling and impressive piano playing. The Bukowski-Waits connection is most apparent here with plenty of LA-based references, very similar to Bukowski's semi-autobiographical "Hollywood."
I was feeling the jazzy vibes.
I learned from this album that I really don't like Tom Waits' laugh.
Could not get thru
I wish I was cool enough to figure out what’s going on here
Normally, I don't like background noise on a studio album, and although the laughter was a little much from time to time, it just works well in this "jazz club" setting. I did enjoy the whole jazz feel of the album and I can picture myself listening to this with a nice peated whisky on a cold sunday afternoon. Love the bass and the saxophone sounds! In the end of the album, when the nice jazz sound was lost a bit, I did get bored. Last song did get me enthousiastic again.
Came in expecting to hate the jazz club gimmick but I quite liked this.
Pretty cool laid back jazzy album that when played in a jazz bar would be a lovely evening
I like the unique style, but the audience is distracting and after half an album it's been enough
Musically I really like it. It succeeds in setting the jazz club vibe but sometimes the audience is a bit too present.
It is more a comedy show, the jazzy vibes take you on a journey. Not really suitable during the study or on the background. Very oldschool bar vibes, very enjoyable when you are doing activities that do not require attention
Not my usual thing but clearly fantastic. Like sitting with the most interesting stranger you've met in a bar of late night cafe. A collection of stories really.
<.....>
This is a pretty charming album, learned to love the raspy voice. I wouldn’t say I quite felt the atmosphere it was going for, but enjoyed it. 4/5 Favourite tracks: On a foggy night, Eggs and sausage, Warm beer and cold women, Spare parts I
This was kinda weird. A lot of Tom Waits talking but it was like a night at a show.
Прослушано! Не знаю что и написать, вроде мелодично но много разговоров и прочего. Все это должно придавать альбому колорит, но я не понимаю ни слова.
This is more of a comedy folk album with some songs in between more than a musical album. Sometimes funny sometimes witty and all the time sounding like he needs a cough drop. His voice is rough but the music is okay and the style is unique. If you like folk you may like this. I find it ok. 4.9/10
I usually can't really get into Tom Waits and this was no exception
Jazz en directo. Estaría mejor si no se pasara la mitad de la grabación hablando.
Always a pleasure listening to Tom and seeing what new territory he will explore. While interesting, I found this album less captivating. Too much chatter over the songs and not much to offer from them either.
Again great musicianship by Waits but due to the Genre and the live recording style, it's just 3 stars from me
Very warm and atmospheric
There's something really alluring, but also freewheeling and unsettled about this album. It's like wandering into a really great conversation where it takes you a minute to figure out the joke. But once you get there, it's so much fun. The musicianship is on point, and Tom Waits leans into his world weary persona with humor and heart. His vocal quality is really excellent here as well, and he probably never sounded more personable on record. What a blast. Fave Songs: Eggs and Sausage (In a Cadillac with Susan Michelson), Better Off Without a Wife, Warm Beer and Cold Women, Nobody, Spare Parts I (A Nocturnal Emission), Nighthawk Postcards (From Easy Street)
no idea. 3? 4? i love jazz
not for me even considering Martha from his first album is in the pantheon...but Better Off Without a Wife is probably my favorite. Kinda like Putnam County, Nobody.
2/15, 13%
This is the first Tom Waits album I had. I didn't buy it - since I had no clue what a Tom Waits was - and don't remember who gave it to me. I need to find out and thank them since it is one of my ATF albums. The first words Tom slurs are " An inebriated good evening to y'all". This perfectly sets the stage for what is to come. There are some classic songs like "Better off Without a Wife" with the timeless lyrics "she's been married so many times she has rice marks all over her face". As good as the song is, it plays second fiddle to the intro which has such classic lines as: "maybe you whistled it but ya lost the sheet music!"; "by about 2:30 in the morning you end up taking advantage of yourself";and "makin the scene with a magazine". I can't think of a better album about drunken debauchery. I expect the songs came to him without much effort and were simply songs about what happened last week. "Eggs and Sausage" and "Warm Beer and Cold Woman" are two other classics both of which also have excellent intros. Warm Beer . . . includes the line: "I kinda reached the end of an emotional cul de sac one evening." and also includes the moniker "Last Ditch Attempt Saloon" that I've borrowed umpteen times to describe watering holes around the world. The line " . . . getting a lot of verbal and visual insubordination . . ." is another one I've borrowed repeatedly. The best song on the album is Putnam County. This bad boy would never make it onto any respectable list of all time greatest songs, but it's at the top of my list. With lines like "swizzle stick legs jackknifed over naugahyde stools" and "mixed feelings over mixed drinks" it should be on everyone's GOAT list.
I like the idea of the album – of Tom playing in a “club”, telling stories at the piano and drifting seamlessly into the song without missing a beat. It seemed a bit contrived to me, so I looked up a few YouTube live performances from that time and he delivered some of the same songs with different lead-in rambles and even tweaks to the lyrics. His signature gravelly voice can be arduous to listen to when he goes for the high notes but the jazzy backdrop, especially the sax and piano, is a nice contrast. I found that even when the songs didn’t grab me, the endings made it feel like I’d listened to something epic.
Waits is certainly an American original, there really isn't anyone else out there like him. The simulated jazz club with a studio audience works pretty well in this case as the crowd is engaged and responsive to his bawdy humour and story-telling. The musicians are also top-notch, in particular the piano and bass players. My only complaint about this album is that it's a bit long, and if it was cut down it would have been just right.
It’s part spoken word genius part excellent improv jazz. This works for me more often than it misses. It’s an odd, but satisfying journey through the mind of a mad man. One that works well as a live album.
This was really pretty bad. The song “Warm Beer and Cold Women” didn’t live up to its title, but was the best track on the album. Still not enough to pull it from the dumpster it lives in.
I actually like the sound of this better than the last Tom Waits album I listened to, but it doesn't evoke the same visceral reaction. Fantastic, 4.5.
Jazz com vocal poderoso desenvolve um ambiente de jantar no inverno.
5 without talking
Modell "sympathischer Typ spielt locker ein Konzert" ist nie verkehrt
Welcome to the 5th Tom Waits album served to me here, proving once and for all that there are only 12 musicians to ever produce music in this world (at least according to the procurers of these facilities). The nice thing about Tom Waits, as opposed to his fellow 11, is that each of his albums are quite different than one another. And while I can't say I like the majority, there are exceptions, and this jazzy one definitely "errs" towards the positive side of things. That pretend jazz club atmosphere reminds me of some of the best live music experiences I've ever had, in both style and ambience.
Crusty drunken romance by the dark master of street storytelling. It's either a live recording pretending to be a studio album or maybe the other way around, but it's all an act. A little overlong, but really riveting most of the time.
I like the music, and I actually don’t mind the spoken word this time, but I would never add these types of songs to my playlist because to me they’re not really songs I guess. It kind of reminds me of the highwayman song from over the garden wall if the highwayman didn’t sing. Because there weren’t really any melodies for the lyrics or refrains, these tracks all sounded the same to me, like just one big continuation or one big recording, which I normally don’t mind if it’s an album with actual songs. I like the story telling and I do like them, but just not as songs if that makes sense. So they get a higher rating than most because I like it. It sounds like I’m at his performance. I feel like this album would be really good to play on a rainy night in a high rise apartment overlooking the city while having a fancy dinner with your spouse. It sounds very fancy. Okay now there’s more singing. I actually really enjoy this album as a whole. It’s interesting how a lot of the songs have intros. This sounds really artsy to me, like only really sophisticated people would really appreciate it, and I feel like I’m too plain to really appreciate everything here. I do really like the vibe it gives off. I think that’s my favorite part of the album. The songs don’t have much replayability for me individually, but this is kind of taking me away and making me imagine the above situation on a rainy night and I think this would be perfect to play in certain situations, just not all the time. It really reminds me of Over the Garden Wall. I really like the storytelling. Good vibe/atmosphere, but that’s about it.
Excellent! felt similar to a jazz club atmosphere on an album.
Interesting album. Mostly just "spoken word" in the setting of a jazz club. I like it but another one of those albums where I don't know when I would actually sit down and listen from front to back or choose a specific time to pick a song to listen to.
Assez weird, mais bon la signature de tom waits est là et la musique est tres bonne. Il y a des momemts tres puissanrs dans cet album. 4
Tom Waits? More like Tom Pass. Not only is it him (not a fan), but a live album. My problem is seeing him as an actor first and I couldn't even get past the first song, talking about weather in a jazz club. Album cover matches him perfectly, just a guy wearing a chubbs hat in a diner with a lot going on.
I just know Alex is STEAMING over this one. If I ever find myself in the same room as Tom Waits, I think I'll give him a piece of advice that it seems no one previously did during his life: having a raspy voice is not a personality trait. What his albums seem to be are explorations of the boundaries of potential aesthetics that he can pull off. Technically yeah, it's music, and I can totally understand someone enjoying what he does, on this or any other album. But it's more gimmick and spectacle than it is music. "Guys, look: I did a whole album pretending to be some sleazy blues story teller guy in a smoke-filled diner, and guess what it's called?? Nighthawks at the Diner! You know, like the guy I'm being? And like the painting?" Brother, we get it. Admittedly, there was a track or two where the pretense was pierced by a decent bassline or melody that made me like the song. Honestly, I kinda do like this aesthetic, and I couldn't help but smile when it started. But the whole album is the same damn schtick for more than an hour......me personally, guy like this starts doing this bit while I'm trying to eat eggs at 2 in the morning, I'd leave the diner. Favorite tracks: Opening Intro, Intro to Foggy Night, Spare Parts I. Album art: What else do you expect? I mean I guess I'm a little surprised he didn't just literally use the Hopper painting for the cover. But it's certainly not false advertising. 1.5/5
Super!!
I'm not usually one for spoken word, but Tom adds a fun flair to this jazzy album.
This was a slog. Extra star for the audience patter
Food... Water... Atmosphere...
Saturday night better
Still not really getting this. Some ok bits but not enough
A failed experiment – an ode to the in-studio live album Mingus made – that's way too flabby, but there's moments of brilliance if you look. The ensemble is fucking great.
Interesting, but not varied enough to keep my attention
Is he singing or talking
i hate this and im not listening to the rest of it. i dont care enough about this guy or his music to listen to him monologue then hear a mid song afterwards. I think i would really enjoy this in a live setting (Like a diner lol) but im not willingly listening to this
Nothing legendary here, I’m surprised it’s included in this list. Drunk guy singing over a piano in a bar.
Not my thing - I like a song, or a melody, rather than piano twiddling whilst a tramp menaces me
This is the kind of gem I started this 1001 Albums thing to find. I’ve come across Tom Waits a few times and knew he was some sort of eccentric, folk-bluesy, spoken word type of artist. I hadn’t heard of this album however, and the concept is wonderful - recorded in a studio made up like a late night jazz spot, Waits becomes this sleazy master of ceremonies character, delivering lengthy rambling intros to each song, slur-singing his way through, lapsing into a sort of standup comedy. The faux-audience whoops and applauds and laughs along, and you’d be forgiven if you thought the whole thing was impeccably recorded fly on the wall audio from an actual jazz bar. The music is clichéd in an achingly endearing way, Waits’ lyrics are lewd and poetic. I read a few negative reviews complaining that Waits keeps almost forgetting that an album needs songs. To that I’d argue that you need to expand your conception of what an album can be.
Tom Waits is a visionary and a poet. I don't always "get" him, but I appreciate his uniqueness. I really enjoyed this album for the loose, jazz-lounge feel. 4 stars.
Funny ig
It's just fine. But the atmosphere is kinda sick so 3 stars.
Still don't get it. Rambling nonsense. Couldn't listen to all of it
this makes me feel sleepy in a good way. I enjoy listening to jazz and I don't often do it. the music is good, the band is killing it. I read that this was intended to feel as if you were in a jazz club, which I think they nailed the vibe. The spoken word in the intros can be tiring but i guess it adds to the jazz club atmosphere. I don't think I'll finish this album but I get the gist.
Not for me
So. Bloody. Good. Eight stars.
Incredible piece of mood setting
Tom Waits always gets a 5. A legend. This album is fun and stands out with its pseudo-club setting. As I always say with Waits: if you get it you'll love it, if you don't you may well hate it. I get why he isn't going to appeal to everyone. No snobbery intended.
Wholly unexpected. I was thoroughly entertained throughout the whole thing almost only based on Tom’s witty jokes and stories. He plays the jazz-cat character so well. The songs are kinda decent as well. 7/10
Poetry
The "sounds like a live recording but isn't" thing is interesting, but as a piece of music it really isn't for me.
Blues klinkt goed. Minder irritant live album
My last Waits review is erroneously abridged; Nighthawks, thankfully, is not. Two notes: The painting is great and there are much, much better examples of this kind of music out there. On that latter point, I was prepared to be highly annoyed: This is not even close to the best statement in the spoken word plus jazz idiom. I found the playing largely serviceable. But the package is funnier by far and more compelling than Sinatra, the liveness-but-not adding something. So Nighthawks at the Diner ends up threading some kind of needle. Listen to it; Listen to more jazz; Listen to more poetry. It'll turn out possibly.
irritante, toda musica é igual. rima country bem brega durante 2 minutos, um yeah no final e palmas.
Bem legal, relaxante. Você se sente no show. Melhor música: Eggs and Sausage
Tom Waits is one of my favourite artists of all time but this is not one of my favourite albums I'm afraid. I like this as the semi-live showcase for Tom's showmanship it is. His banter is amazingly funny and the jazz quartet he took in the studio with him are incredible. You can quote hundreds of lines from this album. Still, in the end, it's the music that counts and Waits has made better than the ones on this album. Bad? No, it's still Tom Waits. Just a little lower tier than most of his other work.
It is some jazz music with a guy speaking for about 75 minutes. It needed to end sooner. I skipped through some songs
Really enjoy the sound of this album. Recommended listening.
Intro tem um monólogo interessante (ver tradução). On a Foggy Night também. Basicamente monólogos.
It's jazz, I guess? Many of the tracks are film noir sketches between lush piano, bass, and drum numbers that highlight Waits' voice which sounds great on this live recording. The lyrics are poetic and very clever. "Purina checkerboard slacks" from Nighthawk Postcards (From Easy Street) recalls the funny parts of Alice's Restaurant but in a much hipper presentation. Evocative stories taking place in the gritty parts of LA. Cars, tough personalities, drugs and booze. This should have been a hip-hop album.
I am familiar with Tom Waits and his distinctive and unique voice. His stream of consciousness spoken word poetry style is his trademark. Before I started this I thought there would be no way that I would rate it above a 3, but I am pleasantly surprised as the album progressed. Funny sense of humor and eclectic word choices made for a fun listen. Would I add this album to my normal music playlist, probably not. But I am happy having had listened to it.
Jazz mientras Waits habla. No me ha hecho mucho. Ni fu ni fa.
Bastante rollo, pero canta bien y el estilo jazz me gusta.
Well this got old quick. More tuneful than others I've reviewed, even the spoken word bits) but the conceit (studio recording pretending to be a live club show) grates. The hero here is the bassist. A star for him.
Love old Tom Waits stuff.
I can hear how much Tom Waits loves himself in every single syllable and I really am not here for it.
Really didn't like this. Came across as spoken word poetry with jazz in the back ground and it all felt like a bit of a mess. The intros and the live audience didn't add anything for me. Apart from "Nobody" no track really stood out, or was enjoyable.
I like Tom Waits, but this album is so different. Not for me. Too much talking and bad jokes for me. 2/5
Wasn't looking forward to this after my last Tom Waits experience but he is definitely suited to the live album and corresponding crowd work. Still don't like his voice but his banter is good and there are a couple of hear string pullers/laugh makers in there.
I will say I liked this Tom Waits album more than the previous one we had. The whole jazz club atmosphere, the feeling you're in there with them. Waits really captured it. His singing was really heartfelt, and I guess not as... "Beefheart-felt." The tracks, well... I have this problem with how albums divide up tracks. This one particularly frustrated me, with the intros to the tracks being separate from the tracks was really... baffling. A lot of live albums also frustrate me in that the song starts on with the first note and not them saying "here's a song about blah blah blah, it's called xyz." That usually is on the end of the previous song. So if you have it on a shuffle of some sort, it's very jarring. And now this one has it so the intros are separate songs?! Ugh. Maybe it sounds like I'm nitpicking, but I just didn't get why so many intros were separate from the songs themselves, unless he was trying to make more tracks. And oh yeah, the "Big Joe and Phantom 309" track... it just annoyed me. Don't know why. It felt a little too beatnik. So yeah, I liked the album much more. Would I buy it? Probably not. The music was a vast improvement to the last one, though. I may pull it up again and listen to it. Maybe. The tracks thing, it just... annoys me.
Now this is how Tom Waits is supposed to sound, I think. Up close and personal, but as a smoky blues half-singer half-spoken word performer. And his improvised stand-up comedy (if you want to call it that) is impressive - not easy to do for professionals and he makes it sound natural. Intro to Better off Without a Wife was hilarious. His backing band is super cool and the whole atmosphere is captured well (slick). A key knock against the album is that it's all over the place. Like we're getting whatever comes to Waits' mind, regardless whether it fits with the last or next song or whether it is nonsensical. All sort of diner-related, but a little frenetic. Still, very cool concept.
Some Tom Waits I love and some I just can't get into. This album has such a cool, downtown jazz club feel to it (by design). Really enjoyed it.
De stem pakt me altijd weer. Tom Waits is een van de weinige artiesten die ik zeker nog ooit live wil gaan zien, maar ik denk dat hij niet veel meer op zal treden.
Laatste jaar met wisselend succes verwoede pogingen gedaan om in de mythe rondom deze man te geraken, maar dit helpt niet: Je had erbij moeten zijn waarschijnlijk.
Ik ben niet zo'n Waits adept, maar ik vond dit wel heel sfeervol. Alsof je aan de bar zit mee te luisteren.
Ik kan hier werkelijk helemaal niks mee.
Pfoe, het was werken om dit album in z'n geheel geluisterd te krijgen. Misschien moest ik dit ook niet luisteren terwijl ik me probeerde te concentreren.
I've always been fairly neutral on Tom Waits, don't really get him per se. Some white dude doing a Louis Armstrong schtick. I never listen to this one before and similar feelings as other works, I didn't hate and I didn't love it. This album in particular had the feel of a actor performance rather than a musician.
With enough time between listens this album is great. The gravelly voice, the poetic lyrics and delivery, the stand up bass… yeah.
Unlistenable. Fuck Tom Waits!
I didn't dislike it, and some parts of it I really liked. I like his voice. And Waits is quite funny! Will possibly listen to it again in the future. But not anytime soon.
Everybody who hated this listened before 11pm
This isn't really music. Felt more like a skit stretched out to the length of a play. Not entertaining at all.
Such a distinctive voice. Good mood to this album, bass playing is top notch
2/5 this is more a stand up comedy album than a song one
Tom Waits? Aren't you the same guy who made the oonga boonga music in "Bone Machine"? Wow. While he vividly simulates 10000 B.C. or whatever in "Bone Machine", he also succeed in doing the same with pubs and jazz clubs in this album. It's tempting to say "Hey! Why don't you just make real music? Look at your voice in the chorus of 'Better Off Without a Wife', it's pretty good." But I guess it will be a generic and an equally boring effort. Both "Bone Machine" and "Nighthawks at the Diner" are interesting yet boring. Not to mention looooooooong. But I enjoyed "Bone Machine" more, mainly because it has fun singles, while "Nighthawks" is basically 70 minutes of spoken poetry/story over a jazz track.
A really interesting album. Waits does a jazzy, spoken word/talking "live" performance complete with a nightclub atmosphere. Waits is brilliant, funny and very engaging spoken with his trademark gravelly voice. The music is low key and quite good. I really enjoyed it, but it might not hold up to repeated plays and he has better records.
OK. Not great.
It is great to hear Tom Waits interact with the room, tell stories and sings his songs. But I am just not a big fan of the live recording albums. Rather have a real studio recording or be there at the live show. Music is good, just not an album I enjoy.
This was the first Tom Waits album to do well. It captures the feel of a smoky jazz club with its live audience. Waits is a natural performer and certainly knows how to work a crowd. As always, his lyrics find themselves with the overlooked of society and the music is loose but well arranged. He has a unique ability to capture the profundity in the profane and this album hints at his best work yet to come.
I'm really surprised to see this one made the list. Tom Waits has long been one of my favorites, and I do appreciate his early material even though I don't love it as much as his albums from the 1980's and early 1990's. But Nighthawks at the Diner falls in a bit of a no-man's-land among his catalog. Clearly exploring new directions, but the material is emotionally detached in tone - none of the warmth of "Martha" or "Rosie". He hasn't become the chameleon that emerged on Small Change. The intro sections are amusing but feel they come from a different artist, and on the whole the songs feel kind of one-note (almost like someone heard "Step Right Up" and wanted it to be the basis for a whole album). It lacks the depth of heart and the variety of tone that make subsequent albums (event those as uneven as Heartattack and Vine) so compelling and worthy of repeated listens.
Tom Waits is such a crazy cat that I genuinely can't be certain whether there is a real audience or if it's a recording of an audience throughout the album. I'm about halfway through at this point and I'm enjoying it, it's very jazzy, spoken-word with "intros" to every song that are basically as long as the songs themselves and just Tom rambling about drinking, life, women, the weather, breakfast foods, drinking bleach, and whatever else comes to mind. I love this.
Classic Waits, enhanced by a live audience.
I think if I was at a bar having some kind of drink and this was live right in front of me this whole piece would be 6/5. But I'm not at a bar, I'm at my desk doing homework on a Friday night. That being said this album is probably not a very "streamable" type content which was what I'm looking out for so I'm gonna give it a 3.
Ok this is really good and funny. Makes me wish I could jam with piano like that.
Hmmm really don't know. could have given a 4 or a 2. Great gravelly voice, but the whole set up with audience laughing at his jokes doesn't work for me.
Very enjoyable
Funny, good low key jazz and THAT voice! Feels more like a comedy record, but good all the same. I like the poetry and entertaining. wouldn’t choose to listen to much again, but I get the quality.
Not my thing
No está nada mal. La sensación de estar en directo o en el mismo club es perfecta. No sé si se grabó también vídeo por que así sería aún mejor. Recomendable y entretenido pero sin deslumbrar.
Nighthawks at the Diner is the best of Tom Waits' jazz albums from the 1970s. It transports you to what feels like inside a jazz club, very moody and atmospheric. The lyrics are great, sometimes funny, and the piano is always on point. A great record, beaing "Eggs and Sausage (In a Cadillac with Susan Michelson)" the highest point of the journey.
Caught me by surprise. I love easy jazz, and great lyrics. His distinctive voice fits the music well...
Kinda interesting but not something I'd want to listen to again in a hurry. One particularly irritating feature of the record is the almost canned laughter during the song intros; a bunch of people laughing to things that are barely funny, in a kind of "we get this but you don't because you're not cool enough" way.
Jazz burlesque stand up poetry, LIVE!!
needs more gravel
Interesting album. It's not the kind of thing I'd listen to if I'm trying to relax, but it's definitely creative! It's like a musical comedy, which is fun. Entertaining
So Rowlf
What a storyteller
You see those low-life drunkards having their habits in your favorite bar downtown? Once in a while, you may happen to stumble upon one who is actually interesting, funny, and even surprisingly witty--all in all, a nice guy, if not a *totally* articulate one. With such good company, you can talk about anything without ever feeling any judgemental posture from the other side. Besides, the man is lucid enough to know he's anything but a role model, and he's not one to shy away from his own life mistakes. Which is refreshing. So if you're available, and in the right mood for this, you may elect to have a wild night out with the alcoholic daredevil, having all sorts of mishaps and adventures together as you crawl from one dive to the next. It's quite fun. The thing is, in the morning you probably won't remember much of what transpired the night before--and you might even regret having painted the whole town red, if only for that goddamn hangover you're having to put up with now. Oddly enough, this might not be the case with your new friend. Bump into him a few days later, and he'll remember everything that went down that night with a knowing smile. But the thing is, can you believe the guy? Can you? If *this* was the effect intended by Tom Waits for *Nighthawks At The Diner*, it is an unmitigated success. Recorded in a studio, but with a live audience of friends and acquaintances Waits had invited for the occasion, the album's fundamental conceit nicely sums up its author's main paradox: loose and unhinged and uncensored on the surface, but--if you dig just a little deeper--far more in control than what he first lets on. This release has the *feel* of a genuine live album recorded in a smoky jazz club--with a real audience hooting, clapping and laughing at Waits' wisecracks between the numbers. But to a certain extent, the whole thing is only a simulacrum, the auditory equivalent of a WWF tournament. It's hard to *believe* in it, just as it's hard to believe Waits was *genuinely* drunk during the performance, all actor-studio-level rants and inebriated stammerings aside. And even if Waits *was* under the influence, it's quite easy to tell how every slip of the tongue, every slur, ever mumble, were actually nothing but calculated moves, parts of an overall script Waits had in his head from the get-go. It's a great script, with chunks of it maybe improvised on the spot. But it's a script nonetheless. All of this ties in with general assessments many have made about Waits. According to his unofficial biographer Barney Hoskyns, \"Tom Waits is as much of a character created for his fans as it is a real man\", his \"persona of the skid-row boho/hobo\" being an \"ongoing experiment in performance art\". Admittedly, the line between performance and authenticity might be a little thinner than this somewhat simplistic explanation. Mick Brown, a music journalist from Sounds who interviewed Waits in the mid-1970s, noted that Waits \"had immersed himself in this character to the point where it wasn't an act and had become an identity\". But whatever the case may be, such a fundamental amibiguity is discernible in *Nighthawks At The Diner*. On the double album's first two sides, this trick, this illusion--if indeed there is one--holds up with some great effects overall. It's easy to suspend your disbelief while listening to Waits making an \"Emotional Weather Report\" about his sad mental state (and his appartment's state of disarray, too!). As it's easy enjoying his performance when he narrates a drunken road trip \"On A Foggy Night\". Those early cuts are more spoken than sung, yet the words are so good, the Bukowskian writing so rich and detailed, that it's easy to feel as exhilarated as the audience heard on tape. Funny lines abound, in and between the songs (the rant about masturbation is priceless, and so is the one about the suspicious food found in the nightly LA joints making up the scenery of most of the songs). After those singspeak cuts, \"Eggs And Sausage\" and \"Better Off Without A Wife\" show a slightly different side of Waits, one where he actually *sings*, and his vocals are just perfect, both raucous and melodic. The parts where he skats even prove he could have been just as impressive as a singer performing with a clear voice, even though it's an avenue he never really explored during his career. \"Eggs And Sausages\" is also very endearing as a composition, with its chorus made of the different food orders overheard by the narrator as he sits alone in the titular diner, having passing thoughts about the lover who left him. Of course, all of this--album title included--is a wink to Edward Hopper's painting *Nighthawks*, a wink also obvious in the album's centerpiece \"Nighthawks Postcards (From Easy Street)\", a long hard-bop dirge filled with memorable snippets and wasted bravura moments. The only difference is that the legendary mystery displayed by the painting is here replaced with a sense of ironic burlesque. The whole project is a parody in that sense, too, even without the fake concert affair. Unfortunately, by the second record in the lot, the whole thing blurs into a formless ensemble of less striking cuts, just like those memories of yesterday's wild night that don't make a shred of sense on the next day. The turns of phrase that you thought were so witty on the first songs start to wear a little thin. Waits' puns about the \"cracks of dawn\" shedding some unflattery light on the titular nighthawks are hilarious at first, but when you hear two or three variations of them on side 3 or 4, they becomes a little too familiar--as is the man's weird drunken obsession for \"swizzle sticks\" and \"naugahyde\" covering stools and armchairs. Make no mistake, the writing is still stellar on many moments. But it's hard to decide whether its obfuscating obliqueness on a whole is the result of it having drunkard narrators, or it just being penned by a lazy author who didn't even bother to organize the admittedly beautiful mess in his mind. Likewise, the jazz band behind is a more-than-competent crew. But nothing that they're playing is really standing out. Everything is flattened; piano, saxophone and upright bass solos come and go without leaving much of an impression; and if the groove sounds good, it still remains performative, unoriginal and safe throughout. There's one notable exception when the sax player expertly imitates the sound of a car whizzing by the narrator on a highway at some point. But such moments are too short, too far, and too few. The real last track stands out, though. It's a cover of country singer Tommy Faile's ghost story \"Big Joe And Phantom 309\", the sort of spooky tale drunks will tell to each other at the very end of the night, just as their inebriation has turned them all to easily-swayed children. As such, it's a nice capper for the album, right before Waits gives credits to his musicians over an utimate instrumental piece. Yet as focused as this last effort is, musically and thematically speaking, this track comes too late to make up for all the meandering moments right before it. *Nighthawks At the Diner* remains an interesting listen overall. But as an *essential one*, or as an entry point into Tom Waits' oeuvre, it is probably far from being the most obvious choice. That being said, very few things are *obvious* when it comes to Waits. There are layers over layers in his body of work, and some might look a little too opaque or quizzical for certain listeners. Sometimes, you don't really have a choice deciding who you are going to have fun with at the bar. You take the first tipsy guy or gal standing in front of the counter, and roll with it. [Number of albums left to review or just listen to: 986 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 5 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 6 (including this one, even though chances are that a *different* Tom Waits release will make the final cut) Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (as I think many others are more important): 4]
Had a rough start with this because I expected... you know ... Music! But as I adjusted, I really started to love it. (P.s. it obviously has music, but there are a lot of monologues too)
I can see the wide-ranging appeal, but this wasn't overly fantastic for me.
Again, the only way I would enjoy this is live. Otherwise, it's just not entertaining to me. It was kinda funny, but mostly annoying.
I'm down w/ Tom Waits, a fan actually, however this album just isn't really my thing. There's some humorous shit up in here but overall I simply prefer a little more music a little less chit chat ya know?
For me this is Tom Waits the way I like to hear him, jazzy arrangements that sometimes swing and sometimes torch (what's the verb for torch?). I love the banter between songs and to start and end the album. The album is closest in style to my favorite TW album; Small Change...which has my favourite song...Step Right Up. An easy 4.5 🌟 for me.
Jollekin fanille saattaa olla suuri mestariteos, mutta herran tuotantoon suuremmin perehtymätön ei oikein pääse tunnelmaan.
Tykkäsin levyideasta, täytyy vielä pari kertaa ainakin kuunnella
Standouts - Eggs and Sausage; Spare Parts I (A Nocturnal Emission); Spare Parts II and Closing A very unique sound I liked the jazz-infused instrumentals, and the vocals were engaging with the raspy singing and storytelling The stories in the song intros were fun I've heard of Tom Waits before (I'm pretty sure) but wasn't really familiar with him
I completely understand why someone may not like this album. If that someone is you, I just want to reassure you: It is okay to be wrong.
I think there is definitely something about the street level storytelling and mumbling delivery that does it for me.. I'm easily a Tom Waits fan now.
Calling this music would be wrong. What we have here is the embodiment of white trash. For the listener this album caters emotions like embarrassment and shame for the artist, who seems oblivious to how cringe his shit is. I was thinking, maybe this "art" just aged badly? But no, I'm certain this has never been anything else than shit. 0*
One of my least favorite Tom Waits' albums. I don't get it. 2/5
First time listening to Tom Waits on purpose. Did not disappoint and I will definitely listen to more
Aw man, I fucking love Tom Waits. The playful banter on the album, the smooth delivery, the humor sprinkled in...it's the perfect calming soundtrack for a Sunday. A crappy college friend of mine loved this album, but I won't hold that against Tom Waits. Though now, of course, I regret waiting on Waits. Unlike that friend, Tom Waits is a compelling personality and genuine talent. Fave track: Warm Beer, Cold Women. Bonus points to thi album for being funny and witty as hell. Felt like having a conversation with a cool whiskey-drinking bachelor uncle.
1975. Eggs And Sausage
Jazz is not my go to genre, but I always enjoy it when I listen to it. This record really gives me the feeling that I'm actually sitting in a bar with a cold beer and listening to Tom Waits play his tunes. Good stuff.
7/10
Well this is an annoying gimmick. I didn't really like Tom Waits to start with, but this whole world-weary jazzman in a smoky bar telling stories interspersed with the occasional song shtick... spare me. And the "audience" laughing at every little quip? please. either they're as pompous and artsy-fartsy as he is, or this is all fake. Oh, and it goes for 75min. 2/5.
Not bad for what it was, too long though
Interesting raspy spoken word mixed with jazz. It wasn’t particularly my thing but worth a listen.
I’ve never really liked Tom Waits, but this album is wonderful. Quite a joy to listen to, he really shines here.
It’s a really fun album that give a great live vibe, and really makes you feel like you are there. It would be a great show, but I didn’t really think there was a standout song. But, there’s a good thanksgiving sort of feeling, almost like Alice’s Restaurant
A warm late evening listen with a glass of scotch. It's primarily spoken word, focusing on Waits's vocals and storytelling to build a cozy jazz club atmosphere. Most of the time his vocals feel a bit uncomfortable to listen to, and other times the jazz feels dull. There tends to be some instruments I like on certain tracks, like the piano in "Putnam Country," but for the most part nothing sticks out as memorable. It's still performed well and I'd be impressed to see it live. I like Waits' jokes, but you kinda have to dedicate your whole hour and a half to listening to all the lyrics to actually get the jokes and full enjoyment, which specializes its function to an album you have to emulate as being a member of the audience, rather than playing it in the background. The jokes land, and everyone plays their part well. Favorite tracks: Eggs and Sausage, Better Off Without a Wife
Потрясающе
Feigning to capture the live Tom Waits experience - the rambling tales, the gags, the wordplay, the audience interaction - Nighthawks has beautiful and memorable musical moments - the band are terrific - but the replay value is limited. The jokes may have once been funny the first time but diminish with repeat listening which ultimately renders this album one to skip in favour either of The Heart of Saturday Night which precedes it or Small Change which follows.
7/10
Not for me
Album begint al snel te vervelen. Spoken-word is niet echt voor mij weggelegd...
Oh man, this is even worse than that other Tom Waits album you made me listen to. This is longer, less funny, the jazz is more generic and the singing/vocals/presentation is even more overacted and forced. 2/10
I do not understand the appeal of Tom Waits in general or this album in particular. Every track is essentially the same. Tom says, "Weeell. Mumble mumble grumble mumble, vague rhyme, mumble mumble, vague rhyme, grumble mumble. Yeah." And then the crowd applauds his pretentious, pseudo-intellectual bullshit. The real star of the show isn't Tom. It's the bass player who's working his fingers off trying to carry the whole album on his back. Jim Hughart is a beast of a player. He's the only person doing any significant amount of work and is the only reason this album got two stars from me. I almost gave the album an indifferent three stars but then Tom had a nice long monologue about masturbation and, well, he sort of lost me there. I spent the rest of the album just waiting for the damn thing to be over.
Not what I expected but had an interesting format of storytelling being emphasised over the music itself
This barely qualifies as music.
The ramblings of a crusty voiced mad man.
tfw trying to listen to jazz and some old nob is going on about some shit
Dog shit
I’ve always heard that Tom waits has a reputation for being divisive and I see where that comes from. I hated this album and all it had going for it was the jazz house vibe. Otherwise, all of the intros were boring and the actual songs were a slow, unenergetic version of jazz that sucks all the fun out of the genre
Not for me
Very differrent and I liked the journey of the entire album. No song stuck out to me.
I felt very cool listening to this, like I'm nostalgic for a time and place I've never experienced
It’s not without its merits
No me atrapo en lo más mínimo. El señor está hablando
Really enjoyed this. Lots of charisma. Probably better on vinyl, though
Прекрасен
I loved the atmosphere of this album. They assembled such a stellar band for this session. Loved it.
Stand-up & blues concert at one time? It’s Tom Waits!
Live spoken word jazz?
Ugh, this missed Tom Waits' birthday by like one day! UPDATE: This is fucking weird. I love it. UPDATE 2: "I gotta go see a man about a dog" is one of the best ways to end an album
At first I wasn't into this very much, but then I started to like it a lot more. The singing bits are so lovely
This used to be great. Now, not so much.
I actually already have listened to this one. In fact, I have it on vinyl. Its really a special album, and my introduction into Tom Waitts. The atmosphere of this album really makes you feel like your in some dingy diner late at night listening to the wise advice of some traveled troubadour. Truly a phenomenal album.
Not really my cup of tea (too "talkative") but nice overall
Cool album
the late night performance concept is cool, but the album itself was a total slog. Waits’s persona on this record feels very put-on, and the storytelling and comedy fell pretty flat for me. the album dragged on much too long and i don't really feel compelled to listen to any of these songs ever again, but at least there was some good bass playing. 3/10
7/10. I guess this album is so early in Tom Waits' career he hadn't figured out he could make his voice sound really raspy and awful yet. That said, I don't enjoy it lyrically as much either. Still I think the fake jazz club setting is kinda fun overall
I liked the live jazz club feel, though it was really long. 7/10
I thought it was just ok. First listen.
It was nice, and definitely created the jazz lounge atmosphere it was going far. Most of the songs weren't too exciting. I did like the speed pickup in "Spare Parts I (A Nocturnal Emission)."
This is the Apoclypse Now of ablums you need to hear! Maybe it was the rain coinciding with one of the opening tracks being a weather report but I was immediately hooked on the vibe of this album. Mostly amazing poetry but it was also funnier than most other comedy albums I've heard over the past few years. And the fact that it's all live was the icing on the cake. Someone once told me that Apocylpse Now is such a good movie but it's a shame you can't put it on all the time... You have to SET aside time to really soak it in, and that's how I feel about this album. Definately time well spent. A real treat from a geniuine and honest artist.
Tom Waits has a shitty voice. The whole album is monotonous from beginning to end and not any memorable song. Not my deal, sorry.
'm a fan of Tom Waits but not heard this one before. He's hilarious. No idea if it's really a live album or not but the crowd interaction ties it all together
Disco en plan intimista, sin mucha instrumentalización, de un compositor americano, con un estilo tranquilo y reposado, aunque con una voz rota. Canciones un tanto parecidas entre sí. No me ha emocionado especialmente.
Stari Tom je najbolji tom, preciznije 70te. Minimalno 3 albuma su stvorena za lagano pijuckanje uz kamin, ili samo šetnja po noći uz koje svjetlo na kućama, ulici.. Sve u svemu dosta dobar live nastup gospodina.
Like the concept and loose feel of the album. Although I did not love this album, i respect it and admired the musicality of Waits and the jazz band. Will save for late night listens
Really rather a splendid album.
Everything brilliant about early Tom Waits.
A live album. A live comedy album? There is definitely music here, but Waits does not hesitate to play the crowd instead of his guitar (or piano, or whatever). There are several Intro tracks, if that gives any indication of the length of this album. This is due to Waits mostly fucking around. Worth noting that I do not know Waits' music prior to this album, so it's a bit muddled on what's supposed to be a part of the song and what's Waits just fucking around. He does this a lot. His voice and personality lends itself to this though, making it a smooth album for the ears. The instrumentation is pretty good too, with nice blues/jazzy bits with the band. The songs I could leave, but Waits is a naturally-gifted performed. He just take to the stage so naturally. I can see why this live album makes the list, as it exists as a document of pure and simple entertainment at it's finest, but as music it's alright.
This...kind of kicks ass. I was not expecting that, but the jazzy, slow, relaxed feel works perfectly with the rasp and growl of Waits' rough voice. I really like this.
És el disc que millor capta el primer Tom Waits. Antiheroi passat d'alcohol però irredentment optimista, envoltat de sons de jazz-blues amb una audiència còmplice que li arropa de forma fantàstica les seves actuacions i les tonades amb la seva inconfundible veu cazallosa. No hi ha temes que sobresurtin, aquí tot és ambientació i reviure el clima d'una nit de copes i bona música a una taverna qualsevol, però impossible d'oblidar
Not really my style, but a fun listen.
Not my cup of tea.
Ни одной песни, который бы я проникся
Feels like a speak easy jazz club. No stand out performances but successful in creating the feel of a smokey 20s jazz club.
Just one listen through was enough
surprisingly nice for tom waits
Quite unlike any album I've heard before. Loved it. // Favs: — Score: Decent to Strong 3
Long but cool
Loved this album!
What the hell was that didn’t get it didn’t like it 1/5
Kind of like a live jazz lounge comedy act. Very specific. Not bad.
Love Tom
Kind of like marmite. Only for hard core fans of Tom Waits I think.
cool
Tom Waits n'a jamais dépassé les trois étoiles, même après ses nombreuses tentatives de retour sous différentes perruques et lunettes de soleil.
Spoken word. Not my favorite but has its moments.
Puh, Tom Waits Fan war ich noch nie und das Album hier aus meinem Geburtsjahr bestätigt das! Die rauchige Alkoholstimme bröselt so vor sich hin: das mag für einige Kult sein, ich kann damit nichts anfangen. Ich denke, Big Kev als Meister von Tom waits Songs bekommt das besser hin!
Absolute mastery of the piano and the audience. They are absolutely gagging for it and they get every bit of it and more. God it would be so great to be there. For what this is and for this perfect moment in time, for me it’s perfect. Turns out it was actually recorded in a studio, not in a real jazz club, which makes a helluva lotta sense as to why it sounds so liquid smoooth. This album has everything I love about TW within, the bukowski style turn of phrase storytelling and the soaring vocal melodies that bring a tear to my eye.
What a first selection - a double 'live' album. Not really been drawn to TW and previous listening has been cursory, despite my old school mate Rob talking him up big time. Paying a little more attention here there is some neat word play and comedy. You get used to the voice but it was a stretch here.
This isn’t something I usually go for but by the end of this album I was really into it and even sad it was over. I had this unhealthy urge to pour a whiskey and chain smoke throughout the listen.
moody and lovely
He's like an old rascally jazz motherfucker who's got some SHIT to say but coats everything in humor...except he’s only 25. This is a fun album to hang out with.
Hahaha no
The sort of atmosphere being evoked here (smoke filled club, moody lighting, disheveled raconteur-crooner, audience tittering as glasses chink) doesn’t actually exist in the real world. It exists only in fiction. In trying to recreate the natural rambling flow of a night in a no-good joint, Waits cannot escape the artifice of his creation. He gets so caught up in evoking the mood, and creating a “reality” that he forgets to imbue it with any actual songs.
unique album. it was funny.
Was actually pleasantly surprised at this one
Terrible, bobbins
Enjoyed it
Waits pulls off as his rambler in the corner concept brilliantly as far sonic textures and plausible performance goes. The audience banter, the desultory storytelling, the 'Oh yeah, I'm supposed to actually be playing this instrument' moments, the recording quality. It's a great atmosphere. But atmosphere is only half the egg--for arguement's sake, let's say the yolk. You've still got to bind it together, and at points this is so loose you can feel the yellow goo dripping down your arm and on to the floor (does this egg metaphor even work?) Basically, the weighting is wrong and however much I love the clever phrase-making, vocabularly showboating and cute aesthetics, those things are never gonna balance it. You simply don't feel compelled to hear enougg of these songs again, a bad sign for any album but especially one with so many. Worth saying that while the songs might not lure you back in, this does deepen the longer it goes on. I guess that's atmosphere for you.
I liked it at first, but the gimmick got old quick. The jazz instrumentals were great. The vocals were hit or miss.
Noman Hosni aura vraiment tout essayé, 2/5
Приятная болтовня под музычку
I've heard Tom Waits' first couple of 1970s albums, and his highly celebrated 1980s ones - but never checked out Nighthawks. To be honest, I'm not a massive fan of him. This one is interesting, because it was recorded by recreating a live jazz club atmosphere in the studio. As someone who dislikes live albums, I was surprisingly impressed by the results. Maybe it's the way the band plays and Waits acts up, knowing they've got a live audience there - but certainly there's an effortless atmosphere to the whole thing. The music is laid-back, blues-tinged, small-group jazz - good but unremarkable. Waits's vocals are the point of difference. He's a gruff, growling, inebriated, slurring showman. His blues-jazz singing is pretty good. His rambling introductions have a slight charm. He's very indebted to Beat poetry, with his setting to jazz of a bohemian, down-and-out persona, evoking the gritty details of American urban underbelly nightlife. Another 3.5 for me, but I can see why others might love this one.
Ja conhecia esse album. Eh um genero bem diferente do que eu gosto mas tem os seus meritos.
I've never been a Tom Waits fan. This is an interesting album, but can't say I enjoyed it much.
- nope
At first, I didn't know what to think about this album. Then I got to the third song and I definitely knew what I thought.
Meh
Didn’t care for it. Too much talking
Good ole Tom. Interesting album better than yesterday’s. Felt like I was listening to an audiobook or comedy skit. Weird guy.
Interesting. Not an album I’ll listen to again on my own, but it wasn’t horrible. Just more like musical standup at a local show, with some nice jazz accompanying it
According to wikipedia this was recorded live at a jazz club and the opener was a stripper.
I can't stand this voice but man the songs are great
Couldn’t finish it. It was wack
Brings back memories
I liked the storytelling. Relatable and relevant even today. I hate that I’m attracted to men like this.
.
where my lonely drifers at?? they were here all along. they've always been here.
good background music
great voice but i dont want to hear it
Very bad. The guy just told shitty stories
Lucky I had a lot of unpacking and tidying to do last night cos that felt never ending
Entertaining.
Tricky one. On the one hand of it wasn’t Tom Waits I might have turned off earlier, but I listened to the end. It was fun in parts, and I like the way they recreated a jazz lounge style atmosphere in the recording studio...but nothing really grabbed me and I don’t think I’d ever listen again as well as jazz not really being my sort of thing.
Tämä oli hauska ja tunnelmallinen levy, joka piti otteessaan pitkästä kestostaan huolimatta. Tässä pystyi hyvin kuvittelemaan klubin ja näkemään raspikurkkuisen viihdyttäjän kertomassa tarinoitaan yleisölle. Huumoriakin oli mukana. Ei hittibiisejä, mutta kokonaisuutena loistava!
Tom acompaña y reconforta.
Interesting. Heard of Tom Waits but never gave a listen. Some stuff was funny and good and other stuff I got lost in (in a bad way) overall decent.
Didn't know standup comedy and jazz could be fused together. 5/10
Good jazz vibes. Some funny lines in the spoken word stuff.
Bit whiney, but intriguing. Turned off after 30 mins tho
Couldn't get onboard with it.
Interesting
Absolutely delightful, young Tom live. Laughs, jokes, and so many jazz. Maybe all you need to listen this is a pack of cigarettes and a bourbon, maybe not.
Bastante rollo, pero canta bien y el estilo jazz me gusta.
Me sentí en un bar y lo sentí muy repetitivo en las canciones.
I didn’t like it. I felt dirty and smoky after listening to it. Not my style of music.
I just love the concept of this. And there's no one like Tom Waits. He does what he does so well.
Brilliant jazz spoken word/ sung style. Relaxing and hilarious, Tom Waits nails his characterization. Would have loved to hear the recording with those in the audience.
Boring. Nice, but boring
Me encanta sin entenderlo. Eso debe ser a hostia porque los del club se lo pasan en grande. Buen disco
Beat poems about diners truck drivers and suburbia
Music is smooth and buttery, vocals are rough and gravely. Somehow they fit together nicely. I liked this, but doubt I'll re-visit very often.
hate the opening intro oh no. All the songs are maybe this weird talky thing? I do not like. no thank you
3
Konstig jazz. Gillade inte alls.
A lot of talking in the introductions of songs. I think you have to be familiar with his sense of humor to appreciate the lyrics
I dig this. He so young here. Such a mood music. You can feel exactly where he’s singing about. Helps that it’s got my favorite style bass
A good live album in what sounds like a fairly intimate setting with an engaged audience. Not TW's best songwriting, but the album sets a nice nighthawk mood with the jazz and the iconic gravelly voice. My favorites are "Eggs and Sausage" "Better Off Without a Wife" and "Warm Beer Cold Women" because I feel they best capture what this album is about. "Nobody" is a gem too, and "Big Joe Phantom 309" is enjoyable when I'm in the right mood for it.
I have never liked Tom Waits voice, so it's a big surprise to give the first album of his I listened to a four. This guy is funny
This is a very solid listen. The live crowd feel adds to the vibe.
fun performance
I didn’t like it but may have been mild related
Mi vieja me dijo turun tun tun
really nice jazz and storytelling, kinda like a live album so it's best to listen to in order
When I started doing these, I thought about have a "will I look for it on vinyl," as part of my ratings. This one will for sure be one that I would love have in the background while hangout out with friends. I kind of rushed the Bob Dylan review (I was really trying not to skip a day with these, but I realize I will get more of out them if I don't rush) so I didn't mention that I found his lyrics to be strange to the point of opacity. Tom's lyrics, however, manage to be both brilliant, and understandable, which to me was a lot more enjoyable. As for the music itself, I remember someone mentioned to me years ago that Tom's early recordings were "lounge singer stuff," and I see now what they meant. This isn't something I would listen to in my car, but as the cover art suggests, it's the perfect soundtrack to midnight "eggs and sausage and a side of toast." My personal enjoyment: 4/5 Did it belong on this list: 5/5
Heavy jazz influence. Interacting/ storytelling with the audience while playing.
It's that first-phase Tom Waits jazz I thing, right? Clever and funny writing but maybe not much depth yet.
I had this on CD growing up and it fit nicely with my Kerouac/Beat obsession. His delivery of the spoken word parts definitely reminds me of Kerouac's readings with Steve Allen on piano - only with much more humor. Speaking of which this may be one of the best marriages of humor and music I've ever heard. Comes off as effortlessly natural and is a wonderful counterpoint to the slightly gritty and downtrodden world he presents here. And what rich imagery that just flows out if him. I always thought this was a genuine live recording, and in a way I suppose it truly is, just in a studio rather than an actual nightclub. I think the back and forth of the energy exchange with the audience actually makes this work much better than it would on its own. It adds to the atmosphere and probably the way be delivered his performance. A very interesting approach to recording an album.
Kind of a turning point for me within Tom Waits discography. This is the performance when he turns into the type of performer you hear from here onwards. This is as much of a mood-place as you can get. Instant smoky-jazz club. I want to live here. Every time I see a plate of eggs and sausage I think of Tom Waits now. I will say it's not an album I listen to much though, none of the songs are really best listened to in isolation, if I listen to this it's the entire album.