Innocent When You Dream: Tom Waits: The Collected Interviews

Innocent When You Dream: Tom Waits: The Collected Interviews

by Mac Montandon (Editor)

Synopsis

'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 Pomona, 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 called The Heritage. Existing on a diet of whiskey, cigarettes and beat writing, he now added folk and jazz to his formative influences. In 1969, Captain Beefheart manager Herb Cohen discovered him auditioning at the Troubadour -- 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 (Ironweed, The Cotton Club, Short Cuts, Dracula, Down By Law and Coffee and Cigarettes). Waits has never written an autobiography, has notoriously played fast and loose with the truth, but in lieu of any authorised book 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.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 416
Publisher: Orion
Published: 19 Jan 2006

ISBN 10: 0752873946
ISBN 13: 9780752873947
Book Overview: Tom Waits is a legendary figure in American music: in terms of length of career and critical acclaim he is third behind Bob Dylan and Neil Young. Waits' fanbase is large and devoted: having not played in the UK since 1987, his first gig in London in 17 years was sold out in hours last November. Tickets (initially priced at 69) were selling for 450 by the time of the gig. All of Waits' back catalogue remains in print; his contemporary records sell more than the early ones. Despite his current popularity there is very little else in print on Waits at the moment. Features US and UK interviews from the likes of Elvis Costello, Jim Jarmusch and Luc Sante.

Media Reviews
'Waits is always great company, as well as good copy, and his maverick voice and distinctive worldview are a delight to behold' METRO 'a well-chosen selection spanning Waits' 30-something years as a recording artist' GUARDIAN 'entertaining, illuminating, fascinating and often very funny book' -- David Cheal DAILY TELEGRAPH 'Splendid compilation...this mesmerising collection of writings and interviews from the past 30 years' NEW STATESMAN 'Coming after the three or four risible Waits biogs published thus far, 'Innocent When You Dream' is a welcome relief - a weighty dissection of Waits' life and work in the form of collected articles, reviews and poetry' TIME OUT 'No official autobiography of Waits exists, so this is as close as you'll get to one' SUNDAY BUSINESS POST (DUBLIN)
Author Bio
Mac Montadon is a US writer. In the 90s he lived a Waitsian existence in Los Angeles. His favourite Tom Waits album is 1976's Small Change.