Tom Waits - Nighthawks at the Diner

As tour guide on a trip through the midnight-to-dawn streets of Los Angeles that the beautiful people never see through the smoked-glass windows of their limos, Waits details the lives of hipsters, down-and-outers, and lost causes in latter-day beat poetry and small-jazz-combo arrangements. This live album from 1975 almost has the quality of standup comedy, but the routines are richer and more carefully drawn. Check out the vivid detail, low humor, and hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold emotionalism Waits brings to songs such as "Nighthawk Postcards," "Putnam County," and a memorable reading of trucker poet Red Sovine's "Big Joe and Phantom 309." --Daniel Durchholz Amazon.com essential recording

waits in his element

i'll put it plain and simple if your a waits fan then you need this album. this is waits at his most charismatic telling stories and jokes while delivering beautiful music its a wonderful experince. September 11, 2007

Something different for the evening

This is unlike any other Tom Waits album. It was recorded live with a Jazz Quartet backing him, now I can hear you thinking immediately this is going to be dreadful - its not.
In fact its astonishing, there are no long solos, the backing quartet just provide a swinging backdrop for Waits to weave his unusual brand of story telling.
Sometimes very funny, occasionally sad and always lyrically interesting, Waits scats/talks and sings in his distinctive growl.
You might want to hear this first, before purchasing, as I concede it's not going to be everybody's cup of tea.
However it has remained my favourite Tom Waits album for decades now, despite Swordfishtrombones etc.
March 18, 2007

Classic Waits at his sardonic best

Waits's sense of humor shines on this album, delivered almost as a stand-up comedy act (with jazz quartet, of course). His hilarious comentary and recitations provoke some genuine belly-laughs (I doubled over in spots). Yet his lyrics retain the beautiful artistry that he has become known for.

The songs vary from the hilarous ("Better Off Without a Wife") to the mysterious (his rendition of Red Sovine's "Phantom 309") to the beautifully tragic ("Putnam County"). He offers up tributes to love ("Nobody") and tributes to barrooms ("Warm Beer and Cold Women"). Throughout, Waits banters with the crowd, which becomes a staple of his performance on here--his chatter with the audience actually becomes part of the music on the album. The result is a comedy album that isn't comedy, a jazz album that isn't jazz...but whatever it is, it's absolutely brilliant. January 10, 2007

One of the greatest live albums, ever.

Who has the guts to release a live album that is composed of songs that don't appear on studio release albums by the artist? I can't think of one though I'm sure they exist.

First, it was a double album. That was a feat by itself.
Second, it's so natural to have this smokey piano lounge set committed to vinyl and now cd, Tom's music fit like a glove as a live release. His between song banter is delightful and has been a hallmark of his live shows throughout his career. The guy's a comedian, intelligent and successfully creates and maintains a character that's interesting, fun and ya can't, I can't, tell if it's him or not, though it's quite likely similar to Woody Allen's screen character that is simply not his real life self, maybe just a cousin.

This is another album that's perfect for night, in fact, late night driving.

'Emotional Weather Report' is so perfectly ended. A real coup. This song takes you someplace and leaves you off somewhere else. A pure pleasure. His word ability shining here.
'On A Foggy Night' another journey he takes us on.
'Eggs And Sausage (In A Cadillac With Susan ....)'. It's funny, as great as he is with language and imagrey, with bringing something into sharp focus by a turn of a phrase, each time, at least on his 70's albums, that he talks about waitresses, it just don't swing. I don't know what it is but his clever word work just gets off the track for that bit of life he tries to convey and leaps back on for each and every one of his other image making phrases. Funny. Odd. Surprising.
'Better Off Without A Wife' is such the coolest song. Should this be played at weddings (probably not) or bachelor parties (probably).
'Warm Beer And Cold Women'. Almost howlin' at the moon time.
'Nobody'. Man, is this a classic or what? I still get misty eyed whenever I hear this song. From the heart. Love song man.
'Big Joe And Phantom 309'. Story telling at its peak. Yes, someone else wrote it he tells us but he sings it like it came right outta him. Beautiful, evokative. Trippy man.

Dont' have this album? And yer lookin' at TOM WAITS CD's on Amazon.com? Get it man. You cannot fail. This will please and delight, yourself and others, virtually everyone who hears it 'cept, uh, I dunno. BARRY MANILOW and JOURNEY fans, I'm pretty sure.

What's it like when you still dig an album 30 years later? A testament to an artist who can create a work that is not crippled by the passing of time, whose work continues to please and amaze and calm and delight, long after the first introduction. Long after baby. chrisbct@hotmail.com March 25, 2006

Here's the lowdown Brown. This is the scoop Betty Boop.

This is it. Bebop poetry at its best. Early Waits in all his resplendent glory, rapping on everything from "green gabardines" to "dangerous veal cutlets" and "a yellow biscuit of a buttery cue ball moon rollin' maverick across an obsidian sky." This is a mind boggling live performance from 1975, featuring Waits in top form, channeling Ferlinghetti, Lenny Bruce, the Beats, Lord Buckley, and filtering it through a salacious, strepy voice. Waits may not be a singer, but he's a master of rhythmic diatribe, often utilizing Ken Nordine-style word-jazz and scat phrasing. As a result, most of his "tunes" sound like poetic breath control exercises. What Waits' voice does to words is unbelievable. It slices and dices them, syllable by syllable, garbles their vowels, sucks them down to the bare consonant, molds them into a bolus of half-human sound, and spits them out like pieces of teeth from the mouth of a broken prize fighter. His lyrics linger in the listener's memory like the brown haze of an urban smog ignited by approaching twilight. Let's face it, the dude is a genius.

"Nighthawks at the Diner," while not Waits' best album, is at least a great early representation of his stage act. It is as important to understanding his roots as Randy Newman's live 1971 album is to that singer's history. It veers from hilarious and profound to maudlin and dull, then back again. The intro and outro are the highlights of the evening. In the middle it gets boozy. And the less he "sings," the better the performances are. This is closer to a comedy album with jazz backing than a straight musical album. I guarantee you've never heard anything like it. And once you've heard it, you'll never hear anything like it again.

And now, as Waits himself puts it, "It's time to make like a hockey player and get the puck out of here....Time to make like a bakery truck and haul buns." January 22, 2006

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