Tom Waits

Tom Waits (read more)

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Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949 in Pomona, California) is an American , composer, and actor.

He started his career in the early 1970s as a singer in spit ‘n’ sawdust bars. Initially, he was deeply influenced by the beat generation (poets like Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs). He could not make a living from his music, although he was well accepted by the critics. The people at that time didn’t like his classical bar music, pre-rock and styles reminiscent of musical genres of the 50s and 40s, such as , , and .



Waits has a devoted cult following and has influenced subsequent songwriters, despite having little radio or music video support. In fact, his songs are perhaps best known to the general public in the form of cover versions by more visible artists, such as the Eagles, Bruce Springsteen, and Rod Stewart.

Although Waits’ albums have met with mixed commercial success in his native United States, they have occasionally achieved gold album sales status in other countries.

Lyrically, Waits’ songs are known for atmospheric portrayals of bizarre, seedy characters and places, although he has also shown a penchant for more conventional and touching ballads.

While opening for Frank Zappa, the audience catcalled and refused to listen to him. It appeared that Wait’s classical and Zappa’s Rock were a less than a perfect match. Waits’ voice back then was soft, warm and clear. He sang songs about the losers on the streets: alcoholics, junkies, prostitutes and social outcasts.
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