For many years I had an ambivalent relationship with Tom Waits. Beat Generation revivalist or Carny huckster? Jazzbo pretender or theatrical joker? The moment of revelation—conversion, even—came from an unlikely source.
In 1988 A&M Records released a fascinating compilation entitled Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films. Amongst left-field gems from Sun Ra and Sinéad O’Connor, Tom Waits weighed in with a rip-snorting version of “Heigh Ho (The Dwarfs Marching Song)” from Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs. Imagine Quasimodo’s barbershop quartet performing in a foundry; it was like nothing this side the Tropic of Sanity. As I stomped around the room heigh-ho-ing with gusto I realised, grinning from ear to ear, that Tom Waits was in fact all those characters mentioned earlier. And all are on display on Rain Dogs, his eccentric 1985 triumph.
Opening with “Singapore”, a song that sees a vocal combo getting drunk in a seedy South East Asian bar, things become both stranger and more familiar on “Clap Hands”. The marimba (played by esteemed percussionist Bobby Previte) and rolling basso profundo drums underpin a hummable tune. Then guitarist Marc Ribot leaps in with a thrillingly deranged solo and you are grinning again. That is the joy and wonder of Rain Dogs. Elegant tunes are dressed in Op Shop rags, memorable melodies are assaulted by junkyard percussion. Meanwhile Ribot’s jagged guitar lines cut like a saw-tooth blade, paradoxically grounding the music in a pleasantly unsettling way. Oh, our ears say, hear the guitars? This must be rock music… though certainly not as we know it. Pounding polkas, terrifying tangos, a twisted calypso tune, a brief spoken word piece, even a couple of short instrumentals. This rain dog is a damp but magic mongrel whose snarl offers a rasping welcome to strange and vivid world.
Through it all runs the woozy story-telling of Tom himself; a gravel throated warbler of twisted fairytales and cautionary capers. “Diamonds and Gold” is a fine example, a triple time song sweetened by some gentle Ribot guitar. That this is followed by one of the most straightforward songs on the LP, “Hang Down Your Head,” is a kind of relief, an exhalation reinforced by the lilting “Time” that ends side one.
Speaking of accessible songs, Rain Dogs also includes the sublime “Downtown Train”, later covered by Rod Stewart. That’s the thing about Waits: you have to mine the tunes, dig for the brilliance, sweep away the rust and dust to reveal the glint of rough diamonds. “Union Square” sounds like nothing so much as a rockin’ party thrown by Bruce Springsteen’s disreputable uncle, but I bet you’ll want to hear it again immediately, especially when I tell you that the deliciously ragged guitar part is provided by Keith Richards.
Given the nineteen tracks and fifty-four minutes encased by these grooves, there is certainly spadework to be done, but it is worth the effort. In fact I would suggest that entering this clanking, grubby, subterranean world is not a descent into darkness but a winding passageway through which to wend our way before emerging, startled but renewed, into sunlight that sparkles just that bit brighter than it did before. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself rummaging in the garage for a hammer and an old piece of steel pipe so you can clang along with the next spin of the record. Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, Tom Waits, he knows.
Written November 2023. Reposted with kind permission of Discrepancy Records.
vinylconnection.com.au 
Stay Awake was an interesting album and Waits was definitely the hi-light.
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One kind of hoped that all of it would have been as arresting and innovative as Tom’s track. Sailor V, as the French observe.
Thanks GR.
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Listening to Jockey Full of Bourbon as I type this! Rain Dogs is an absolute gem. I love all the cuts, but JFOB and Downtown Train are my favorites. (And I’ll shamelessly promote my own blog post on the latter several years ago). In addition to being a sui generis musician, he’s a terrific actor as well (see Robert Altman’s Short Cuts). This sentence of yours is fabulous: “I would suggest that entering this clanking, grubby, subterranean world is not a descent into darkness but a winding passageway through which to wend our way before emerging, startled but renewed, into sunlight that sparkles just that bit brighter than it did before.”
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Forgot to mention that you’re the only other person I know that bought a copy of Stay Awake! And I bought it because of the Waits cut. 🙂
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Surprisingly, Stay Awake received a vinyl re-issue for its 30th anniversary (2018). I had a single LP version as well as the CD, but culled the vinyl as the sound quality was appalling. It’s a long album—sixty-six minutes, over half-an-hour per side!—and the compression was very obvious. I missed out on snaring the 2LP re-issue, but am probably happy enough with the CD.
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Hey JDB, I’m betting you’ve heard that John Hammond Jr record he did with Waits, with all the Waits covers, right? I love the “Jockey” take on that recording. Agree, Bruce’s writing is pretty lush on this tribute to Tom!
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Wicked Grin! Good album. I do like Hammond’s take on “Jockey”…the accordian is an interesting addition. But there’s a kind of sinister twanginess that makes Waits’ version extra special. And I like how he almost whispers the lyrics.
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Sinister twanginess is precisely it. And the whispering on Clap Hands too. I can almost forgive the muddled production even, adds to the drama or spookiness of it, foreboding!
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Bill, I just revisited my own post on Tom Waits’ Downtown Train (back in – gasp! – 2013)…and was reminded that it was you who pointed me in the direction of Wicked Grin in the first place! ☺️
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That’s nuts! I discovered it in the year 2001 I think, and have a beautiful sense memory of doing so in the south of France at Easter time if you can believe that! I love the combination of music and memories, a personal soundtrack of sorts. Enjoy the day my friend! And thanks for this!
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I’m afraid my relationship with Tom Waits is still ambivalent. But I guess it’s mainly because I know next to nothing about his music, so just like with German Krautrock, you’re way ahead of me, Bruce!
At least I’m familiar “Downtown Train” and knew the original before I heard Rod Stewart’s cover – a song I actually like despite Waits’ peculiar voice, which makes John Mellencamp look like an opera singer! 🙂 It seems to be one of the more accessible songs on this album, as is “Hang Down Your Head”, based on sampling it.
I think Tom Waits’ music takes time to explore and appreciate. I will earmark this album to further explore it.
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Mule Variations is a good ‘in’ for digging Waits but the 80’s trilogy of this, Swordfishtrombones and Franks Wild Years is some heady stuff.
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Cool, thanks, will check it out!
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Perhaps when you enter your Beat Generation phase, Christian! 🙂
Some of the early ‘drunk bar pianist’ material is good too. I have a fondness for Blue Valentine as well as the albums mentioned by steveforthedeaf.
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Thanks, Bruce, looks like there’s lots to explore!
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I’ve been a fan of Tom Waits since Cold Cold Ground and even enjoyed the tribute act at Chapel on Chapel some years back. Yet I’ve not listened widely and am glad you’ve picked this one for review. It’s surely worth a listen.
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I think bringing a jazz sensibility to this and Swordfishtrombones will stand you in good stead for an enjoyable rainy afternoon listen, DD. Enjoy!
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Rain Dogs is one of my absolute favourite records of all time. I’m talking top ten. It blew my hair back in a big what when I first heard it. Still does. A veritable classic.
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It is sonically startling, isn’t it? And with so much diversity (and content) it doesn’t get tired. Thanks for dropping by.
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I bought ‘Rain Dogs’ and SRV’s ‘Soul to Soul’ on the same day (a Saturday) back when they were released. Those particular purchases stand out because I got a little inebriated and left the albums at a friends place. He listened to them before I did and absolutely hated the Waits record. His opinion did not roll over to me. The album has been listened to on my music machine(s) a lot. So has the ‘Stay Awake’ collection. So much goodness on that record from Wait’s and a bunch of others. Willner could do no wrong with CB.
(CB’s inebriated ways continued for a few more years. Miss placing and losing various items of clothing. glasses, hats. automobiles. And that’s just the short list.)
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Yeah, a big hand for eclectic tastes in music, CB! 👏🏻
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PS. My partner had a pair of sock, some years back. They said, “I’m on the gin and tonic diet. So far I’ve lost three days.”
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I’ve lost a few days on the “gin and tonic diet” along with a few other cocktail diets. The only thing I’ve lost since giving up those “diets” is my ability to dance. You should have saw me Bruce. Fred Astaire like.
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LOL. No footage on youtube, CB?
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No footage but the legend has grown around watering holes world wide.
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I believe you.
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Absolutely!
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Rain Dogs is my favourite Waits album. I think we discussed before that you’d heard some of his late 1970s records, which I think are a bit of a career lull. Worth trying swordfishtrombones.
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It’s on the ‘to be played’ shelf, Graham!
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It’s kind of like Rain Dogs’ little brother. Not as long and not quite as good, but still very good.
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Hmmm … I smell a rat here Bruce, you’re always very ambivalent-verging-on-negative about Mr Waits in my experience.
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Epiphanies happen, Joe. I’m now dressing like a Beat poet and gargling whiskey to roughen up my voice. True story.
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Hmm.
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