Tom Waits The Early Years, Vol. 1 Mint Vinyl you can occasionally hear trains

you can occasionally hear trains going by in the background

The new release

No Said Date is a response to that: taking those shiny commercialized elements down to a more grounded level

Bassist John Ector’s “Big Spliff” has a most memorable theme that had me smiling all the way through

and they are collected here on More From The Levee

Tom Waits The Early Years, Vol. 1 Mint Vinyl you can occasionally hear trainsRecorded in Los Angeles, California between July & December 1971. While it's a fascinating, ultimately satisfying listen, THE EARLY YEARS provides reassuring proof that Waits didn't start out as a genius. These 1971 demos of a 21 year old Waits show a huge talent still in an embryonic state. All the elements of his artistry were solidly in place; the blues, jazz and beat poetry influences, the Hoagy Carmichael Irving Berlin compositional sensibility,