Tom Waits – Blue Valentine (1978)

For a long time, while I was growing up, Tom Waits was one of those names that I had heard many times, but I didn't really know what his music was like. I had maybe heard a song or two from his 80's and 90's albums and I had not been that impressed. It wasn't until I borrowed some of his early albums from the library that I fell in love with his music. The early albums, roughly made in the 70's, are amazing. They have some blues, some jazz and some rock. Waits' voice is more or less clear only on the first two albums. After that, his vocals became super raspy. It works alright when you've gotten used to it, but it took a bit of getting used to in the beginning. Blue Valentine, in my opinion, is the best Tom Waits album with the raspy voice. It's filled with dark blues songs that you want to listen to in the dark corner of a bar while sipping smokey whisky.

I remember clearly when I bought this album. I was on a holiday in Lisbon for the new years eight years ago. On my travels, I often try to find a good record shop or two. In Lisbon, this proofed to be quite difficult. There weren't that many record shops in the whole city and the couple I found had a minimal selection available. Then I found this second hand shop upstairs in an old school shopping centre. It was one of those small places that had been filled with second hand vinyl records. I found this album along with Hatful of Hollow by The Smiths, both with a very affordable price.

The album starts with a fairytale-like song Somewhere that I could imagine hearing at the end of a Disney film if it didn't have Tom Waits' raspy vocals. Red Shoes by the Drugstore is a very typical Tom Waits song with some very dark sounds and scary atmosphere. This style was later on taken on by Nick Cave in his songs. Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis is one of my favourite songs from this album. It's a great late night blues song where Waits is just playing the piano to accompany his heartbreak songs. It would be a dream to see Waits perform songs like these at a small jazz club somewhere, but that's not really going to happen anymore. Romeo Is Bleeding is a great swingy blues with amazing saxophone and organ improvisation. $29.00 is a long song with just storytelling on top of a very basic blues song. But this is something that Tom Waits really does well. Wrong Side of the Tracks is another blues song with wavy groove. Whistlin' Past the Graveyard is another jewel on this album. The intensity of the song is amazing and the catchy groove in the chorus is just phenomenal. Kentucky Avenue is a great example of Waits' songwriting skills. He can make amazingly beautiful piano ballads that get amazing depth from Waits' lyrics and voice. The last song on the album, Blue Valentines, is a beautifully smokey jazz ballad with heartbreaking melody.

I have this album on a beautiful vinyl with a glossy cover. There's something amazing about placing the needle on this record and hearing the song Somewhere starting from the midst of subtle scratching. It's like listening to music is in movies. I don't have that many other Tom Waits albums because it's been so difficult to find them on vinyl with affordable prices and this is the kind of music that you simply can't own in any other format besides vinyl.

Listen to the album on Spotify.