Mutual Admiration Society: Tom Waits and the Ramones

It’s not very often you have musicians cover each other. When it happens, it’s a special kind of mutual admiration. The first exchange I always think of is from two of my favorite artists. Each takes the other’s song and puts his own stamp on it.

Tom Waits recorded “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up” for his Grammy Award winning album Bone Machine. It’s a simplistic song, only featuring two guitars (one electric, one acoustic) and a bass. At the beginning of the song, we get the feeling that the song is told from the perspective of a young child, who understands what the pains of being an adult are all about.

When I see the price that you pay
I don't wanna grow up
I don't ever wanna be that way
I don't wanna grow up

Seems like folks turn into things
That they'd never want
The only thing to live for
Is today...  

However, by the time we get to the end of the song, we find out the narrator has grown up too fast for his liking.

Three years later, the Ramones recorded their final album, Adios Amigos. Their version of “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up” was the opening track. If you didn’t know better, you’d swear that this was a Ramones original song. The guitars were rearranged to make the song more Ramones-esque and the lyrics sounded like something that Joey would have written.

Waits would later return the nod on his 2006 three-disc releases, Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards when he covered “Danny Says”, which was Joey Ramone’s favorite song that he recorded.

Joey had written the love song for his then girlfriend, Linda Danielle. The song tells the tale of having to do just one more show for a tour, one in Idaho, right before the band leaves LA. The band’s road manager, Danny (who is based off of their real manager, Danny Fields) tells him that they have to do an appearance at a record store and a radio interview before their 5:02 sound checks. Joey is looking forward to the end of the tour, and it is clear that he would rather be surfing and being hanging out with his girlfriend.

Hangin’ out in 100B
Watchin’ “Get Smart” on TV
Thinkin’ about you and me and you and me

Then she dumped him and married bandmate Johnny Ramone. That’s cold.

When Waits got a hold of it, he slowed the song down. Instead of the song feeling like an upbeat “can’t wait to be with you tomorrow,” tune, it’s a sad song, almost filled with doubt. I wonder if Waits considered the real life ending when he recorded it, or if was a memorial to both Joey and Johnny.    

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The Last 3:55 – “Layla” by Derick and the Dominos

It’s amazing how half of a song can be the polar opposite of the other. This is the case of the Derick and the Dominos song, “Layla”. At first, the song went by almost unnoticed. While the name Eric Clapton was known because of his ties with the Beatles, Yardbirds, and Blind Faith, however, nobody knew that Clapton was a part of the Dominos. It wasn’t until two years later when it was rereleased under his name did it receive air play, and only the first half of the song was featured on the radio.

The first part was written by Clapton (and Duane Allman…who is not credited). The song gets the title from a Persian fable (based on a true story) about a poet, Qays ibn al-Mulawwah ibn Muzahim, who was madly in love with a woman named Layla. Her father refused Qays request for her hand in marriage. She was rushed to the alter to marry another man. Heartbroken, Qays fled the village and went insane. This was how Clapton felt about his best friend’s wife. There has been much written about Clapton and Pattie Boyd, so I won’t really go into great detail about their tenuous marriage and how they got together.

Clapton single-handedly destroyed the song in 1992 when he performed it for MTV’s Unplugged series. Gone were the recognizable dueling guitar riffs from Allman and Clapton and the pain in Eric’s voice, beggin’ darling please. It was replaced with half-assed singing and an acoustic guitar presentation that was the auditory equivalent to watching paint dry. I guess as his passion for Pattie waned, so did the passion in the song.

However, to me, the best part of the song is the last 3:55--the second movement. That bit of the song (which many people mistakenly think was written by Clapton) was composed by Domino drummer Jim Gordon. This beautiful, yet simple, melody has a hopeful feel to it, rather than pining for unrequited (at the time) love. Each section of the movement ends with an arpeggio of the preceding treble chord.

The movement finally got the attention it deserved when it was featured in Goodfellas. It does seem unfortunate that it is known only for that. Anytime you hear the second movement in a TV show or movie, you automatically know that you're about to see a spoof of Goodfellas.

When I hear this part of the song, I imagine myself on a tropical beach. I’m sitting on an outdoor patio at night, surrounded by torches that illuminate the sky. This melody is playing while the warm breeze greets me and a cold beer.

Much like the poet of the song's namesake, Jim Gordon’s tale ended in madness. Gordon was an accomplished percussionist and had played with many artists including Randy Newman, Jackson Browne and Tom Waits, and he was the percussionist for the Muppet Movie Soundtrack. In the late ‘70s, he stated the he was hearing voices, including his mother’s, telling him to harm and starve himself. Mis-diagnosed as alcohol related effects, his condition worsened. In 1983, to make the voice stop, he brutally murdered his mother.  Although he was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, it was too late for his legal team to use the insanity defense.  He is currently serving time in the California Penal System. Several of his friends, fans  and well wishers have continued to petition the state to move him to a psychiatric facility. 

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The Mix CD Axiom

There have been many guidelines posted on the internet on the dos and don'ts for making a Mix Tape/CD. Some of these are good tips, but most of these lack a certain touch. This humble post is not exactly the Marquees of Queensbury Rules of making mix CDs, but it can make the difference between a good mix, and a classic playlist (not to brag, but I have put together some awesome CDs in the past). Here is a list of rules that I have come up with over the years.

Article One: The Purpose of the Mix
You need to figure out why you are putting together the mix. Is this something you're putting together to impress a girl? Are you trying to expand somebody's musical horizons? What feeling are you trying to convey? Once you have figured this part out, you need to come up with some appropriate songs.

Article Two: Know Thy Listener
You have to remember, if the mix is for someone else, they must like the music. Period. If not, your intended purpose will not be realized. This is where a lot of people go off the rails. The tendency is to load it up with songs that you like. While it's true that you need to have at least an appreciation for what's included, you have to ask the question, "will the person listening like this". This requires a lot of recon. When talking about music, listen for what that person likes, and go from there. If you're listening to a radio station or another CD, judge the other person's response to a certain song. You don't have to make this a compilation of someone's favorite songs, but use noted favorites to sketch the playlist. If your target likes Talking Heads, then they may like Bell X1.

An 80 minute CD holds anywhere between 17-22 songs, so you are going to have to come up with 25-30 songs as a candidate list. Once you have the list, you must rank the songs for impact. There should be 5 or 6 cornerstone songs that have the highest ranking. These are the best songs in the list, and they should contain the heart of your motive. The others are filler songs (not to say that these are throw away songs, but ones that establish the ebb and flow of the mix). Once you have the nominees…

Article Three: Playlist Structure
To make a great mix, one must apply the Hornby Law of Playlist Structure. In the Nick Hornby novel High Fidelity, the story's protagonist, Rob Gordon states that you have to start of the Mix Tape (it was written in the 90s after all), you must start off with a great song, and then kick it up a notch. After the second or third song, you have to cool it off to prevent burnout. This is the same strategy that a distance runner would employ during the race. You need to get off to a good start, but you need to slow down at some point, or else you'll find the finish line. It sounds silly, but it's true. So your skeleton for an 18 song playlist should look like this…

Opening Track: A Corner Stone Song. This one should be a familiar song for the listener. For example, if one of your goals is to turn somebody on to the Neko Case song "People Got a Lot of Nerve", don't lead off with Neko Case. Put something that the person will know, and most likely enjoy. The purpose of this song is get your listener's attention. If you lead off with a song that your audience won't like, then your weeks of work may end in 7 seconds. Make sure that the song or artist is well known, but not overly popular. You run the risk of boring your listener if your opener isn't unique enough. If you must insist on opening with a U2 song (which I would NEVER recommend), don't make it "Vertigo" or "Even Better than the Real Thing". Use something like "When Love Comes to Town" or their version of "All Along the Watchtower"

Song 2: Another Corner Stone Song. I usually like to reserve the strongest song of the CD for this position. In many cases, it's the song I've designed the mix around, although that song may be moved to another place because of the ebb and flow. This song need not be upbeat, but have some sort of power behind it. Song 2 should not be a ballad, unless it's for someone you're already dating.

Song 3: A Cornerstone. This song should serve as the transition into the Filler Songs.

Song 4-15: Filler Songs (see Article Four for expanded coverage)

Song 16: The Transition Cornerstone Song. This is the lead in to the grand finale.

Song 17: This should be a song much like the opening track. One of the stronger songs, but specifically
geared to set up the last song.

The Closer: The Signature Song. This is the last chance to impress your listener. This is the no holds barred song. Whatever you want to say in a mix CD, this is where you do it. Every track leads up to this song. Example: Years ago, I closed a mix for a girl with the song "Better Be Home Soon" by Crowded House. Not only does this song beg to be at the end of any CD, the underlining theme was "please figure out what you want, because I'm planning to move on soon" (which eventually I did).

Article Four: The Fillers
Remember that the term Filler is used because of a lack of a better term. Think of these as the middle relievers of your playlist. It still needs to be solid in order to make it a great CD. The last thing that you want to do is to lose the listener's attention. Filler songs should maintain the same feeling that the cornerstone songs have.

Article Five: Transitions and Sequence
While it's true that you want your cornerstone songs to flow together, it is especially critical that your fillers transition well. If you are going to put a song that is unfamiliar to the listener, place it next to a song that has a similar sound. For example, D really likes Landon Pigg's "Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop". Knowing this, I decided to add Nick Drake's "Place to Be" right after Landon for the mix CD Chevelure. They both are slower acoustic guitar centric songs, and just flow together. Resist the urge to go directly from a slow song to a hard upbeat song. Bridge that gap.

Do not jolt the listener by abutting two vastly different songs back to back. Never play "Black Friday Rule" by Flogging Molly back to back with "Caravan" by Van Morrison. I don't care if they are both Irish, those two songs don't belong together.

Another transition strategy is to group songs written by the same artist. It's no secret that I am a huge Tom Waits fan, and I have on more than one occasion put several songs written by Waits together.

It is also fun to have common bonds link songs together. Again, on several occasions, I have put Diana Krall back to back with Elvis Costello (or as she calls him, her husband).

Article Six: Other Rules and Guidelines
Never use the same artist twice in the same CD. You may also not use a variation of the same artist on the same disc. For example, you may not use "Who Are You" by the Who and "Slit Skirts" by Pete Townshend in the same playlist.

Although it is not a concrete rule, you should not use the same cornerstone song for different mixes.

Titles should be clever, and should have something to do with the theme of the mix. If not, it should at least be an inside joke with the person for whom you have made the disc.

Never repeat the name of a mix.

Never reveal the contents of the playlist to the target person until that have listened to the entire CD. If the intended listener recognizes a song before listening to the whole thing, the temptation will be for that person to skip ahead to that song.

Always write liner notes to the CD. Mark the significance of certain songs, or write why you chose to make the mix.

Never make a mix shorter than 72 minutes. It's just a waste of space.

Anthology X1 - The Demon Barber of Seville

This is the 11th edition of the “Anthology Series” (as described in the December 26th blog entry). The original series (Anthologies 1-6, “From DNA to 26”) was completed in May 2000. Since then, a new chapter has been added every two years.

“Anthology X1 – The Demon Barber of Seville” is the music that has been the backdrop and inspiration to my life from 2008-2009.

Here are some of the songs that are missing…

Canon in D – Sharp Jimmy and the Dammit Five
Matter of Time – Los Lobos and Elvis Costello
Jump Into the Fire – Harry Nilsson
The Rainbow Connection – Willie Nelson
Thanksgiving – Poi Dog Pondering
Norwegian Wood – Jeremy Messersmith & Zach Coulter

The Andy Dufresne List of the 00s Part 2: The Top 10 of the First 10

Happy New Year! We continue the Andy Dufresne List, already in progress.

10. Super Theory of Super Every Thing – Gogol Bordello (2007)
The first time I heard this song was in July 2007. D was in town as she was prepping to move to Minnesota (because in the summer, it seems like a good idea). We were on Lake Street on the way back to my apartment when we heard this Ukrainian goofball talking about the first time he had read The Bible. This was not our first exposure to lead singer Eugene Hutz.

If you have ever seen the movie Everything Is Illuminated, he plays the role of Alex, the not so premium translator for Jonfen in Odessa. In fact, when we heard this (not knowing that Hutz was "singing"), D said "Wow, that sounds like 'Alex'!"

9. Paranoid Android (Live) – Brad Mehldau (2000)


In the interest of full disclosure, I never really bought into the whole "Thom York is a genius" philosophy. I liked Pablo Honey and The Bends, and then Radiohead went down the rabbit hole. I always felt that the first release from their third album was a little disjointed. I was never convinced that "Paranoid Android" was actually a good song that was just poorly recorded. Fast forward to 2000 when a jazz pianist named Brad Mehldau grabbed a hold of it, shook it up, and laid it out in a stunning 9:23 make good for everyone who wanted this to be a great song, and were let down by the author.

8. If I Ever Leave This World Alive – Flogging Molly (2002)
Any song from the album Drunken Lullabies could have made this list, but If "I Ever Leave This World Alive" has the edge over the title track, "What's Left of the Flag" and "Rebels of the Sacred Heart". The song speaks of a very close friendship that starts as an acoustic number. After the second bridge, the song picks up to a rockin' tribute that out Pogues the Pogues.

7. Skinny Love – Bon Iver (2008)
When I first heard this song, I was really getting into Beck's Sea Change CD. I was re-introduced to "Lost Cause" and exclaimed that it was his best work. A week later, I heard "Lost Cause" again on the Current, and they played it back to back with this new song called "Skinny Love" by some guy from Wisconsin. Not only was I floored at the pure genius of the playlist, but I was also taken by the structure of the song. I immediately went home and bought it on Amazon. Since then, it's been one of the songs that I play whilst I am working on the second novel.

6. Up From The South – The Budos Band (2006)
I first heard about this band was after I read an article in the Star Tribune about the 2007 SXSW music fest in Austin. The writer of the piece said that one of the highlights for him was this funk/soul band from Staten Island called the Budos Band. Starving for some new music, I looked them up on iTunes, and previewed the first song on their self entitled CD. In 30 seconds, I was sold on the bass, rhythm, and brass. I promptly bought the songs and listened to it over and over again. The song was fast tracked on the VBC, and became a staple of the playlist. You may have heard it, as it was featured on a commercial for the NFL Network.

5. In The Sun – Joseph Arthur (2000)


This is probably not the only list in which this song has appeared. This beloved song (as my friend, Andie, likes to call it—"the God Song") has appeared in such films as The Bourne Identity and Saved and television shows including The L Word and Scrubs (it has also appeared in Grey's Anatomy, but since I mentioned it was in Scrubs, it's assumed that "GA" grabbed a hold of it too, as it has ripped off the half hour comedy show countless times). It's been covered by Peter Gabriel, Michael Stipe and Howie Day. The song is usually noted for the line "May God's love be with you", however, it certainly not a spiritual song. In fact, it takes the position of the agnostic ("I'm not even sure if there is anyone who is in the sun will you help me to understand").

4. Time – Tori Amos (2001)


Strange Little Girls wasn't what I would call a solid effort for Tori Amos. Again, it's not an original concept; an entire album of covers. Annie Lennox and Shawn Colvin had already done this, and Tori had made a career of doing awesome covers. I don't think I had a great appreciation of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" until I heard her take on it. So why do this album? Why risk the reputation with an unconventional line up (I'm still trying to figure out why she did Eminem's "97 Bonnie and Clyde"). She was already the queen of the covers, she had nothing to prove. On first listen, I was about to give up in this album until track 7 played. At the time, I was still immersing myself in the Tom Waits catalogue; digesting songs slowly, but I was not well versed yet. Although I didn't recognize the song at first, I recognized that it had to be Tom's work. I sat back, smiled, and played the song again and again. To date, it is the only cover of a Waits song that I like better than the original.

3. Your Ex-Lover is Dead - Stars (2005)
I usually don't buy a CD just by hearing it at a record store, but it has happened a few times (this is how I came to own a Me First and the Gimme Gimmes CD). I was rifling through the Elvis Costello stack at Cheapo Records when I heard this song that started off imitating a small chamber orchestra. It then shifted gears with a rhythm guitar riff that crawled out of a Lou Reed song book. As I had received some news about an ex-lover (that she was moving out of town), I was struck by a particular passage (which I quoted in a Episode 2 of the Neil Casey series).

There's one thing I want to say, so I'll be brave
You were what I wanted
I gave what I gave
I'm not sorry I met you
I'm not sorry it's over
I'm not sorry there's nothing to save

After I caught my breath, I asked the guy behind the counter what this was. He preceded to hand me a copy of Set Yourself On Fire by Stars, a band out of Montreal. As soon as I got home, I listened to the entire album twice in a row. Without a doubt, it's one of my top CDs of the 2000s. Hands down.

2. The Way it Is – Nicole Atkins (2007)


What the hell is it about New Jersey and its talent pool. You have Sinatra, Springsteen, and this young lady from Neptune City (which is the title of her 2007 CD). If you have ever asked yourselves the question "If Chrissy Hynde and Roy Orbison ever has a love child, what would she sound like?" you would have your answer. My first introduction to "The Way it Is" was when I was auditioning songs at the VBC. Nicole is agonizing over a guy who clearly isn't into her as she is into him. Simply beautiful.

1. Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) – Arcade Fire (2004)


As with many songs that I have obsessed over, this story starts off with Todd saying "you've got to hear this song." Thus was the case for another band from Montreal when I was on a return trip to WTTS. There really isn't much I can say about this song. At this point words fail me to explain why this song hit me so hard. It just—fits.

Honorable Mention: It Keeps Rainin' – Robert Plant and the Lil' Band O' Gold (2007), Don't Know Why – Norah Jones (2002), List of Demands – Saul Williams (2004), Baby Please Don't Leave – Buddy Guy (2000), Happy As Can Be – Cut Off Your Hands (2009), Blitzed – The Raveonettes (2007), Fresh Feeling – Eels (2002)

And The Nominees Are – Anthology X1: The Demon Barber of Seville

It started in early 2000. I was helping my friend Todd move when he threw down the proverbial gauntlet as he tossed me a six CD wallet filled with store sampler discs.

"I bet that you can't fill this wallet with the music of your life," he challenged.

Todd and I had recently discussed the Robert Fulgham book Words I Wish I Wrote. The passage in question revolves around Fulgham's thoughts on a soundtrack of a person's life (incidentally, Todd has written on this topic as well).

If your life were made into a movie, and that movie had an appropriate soundtrack, and I went to a record store to buy a CD of the music, what would be on it? What mood would it leave me in when I played it? The questions necessarily impose limitations. The music must fit on a single CD; choices must be made. No defense of choice is necessary. It's assumed the selections will be idiosyncratic, combining some music in the common realm with bits and pieces of melody patched together from who knows where. The music of the soundtrack of a life will not be original, but it has passed into us, left its sound in the jukebox of the mind, become part of us, and we will likely pass it on.

"Six CDs", I scoffed. "No problem."

"There are rules," Todd said.

"Sure."

"It must be chronological as an autobiographical work."

"OK. Easy enough."

"And you can't use the same artist twice in one CD, or variations of the same artist. For example, you can't have the Beatles and solo Lennon or Wings on the same disc."

"You bastard!"

To make things more difficult, the challenge was to make six CDs, not tapes. In 2000, that capability was very new to me, and I had yet to put together a successful mix CD. Keep in mind, this was in an era before iTunes for Windows, so it's not like I could rip a CD and just keep a playlist. I had to approach this as I did with a mix tape. I had to write down all of the nominated songs on a legal pad, and mark the significance (not part of the wager, however it was good for a defense, just in case Todd demanded me to show my work upon completion).

Another obstacle was that most of the songs that I wanted to include were archived on cassette or vinyl, so I would have to make more than 50 digital copies of songs…in real time.

From conception to end, the project took three months, 96 songs, and ten 74 minute CDs (I had several false starts and disc errors). This was the beginning of what I called the Anthology Project. The first six volumes were titled From DNA to 26. The first three were completed in April 2000, and the last three were finished in June 2000. Since then, I have added four new volumes (which have all been a two disc set), one every two years. I have also reissued the first nine volumes two years ago, adding a bonus track per CD to take advantage of the 80 minute CD capability.

Yes, I am a music geek.

As tradition would dictate, the list of nominations concludes the day after Christmas every odd year. I'd then spend the next week reviewing every song, and making cuts from the list. Then I would burn the CD and release the track list on the day after New Year's Day of an even year.

As this is not a mix CD, but rather a chronicle, this collection falls out of the rules of the Mix CD Axiom (rules that Todd and I came up with a long time ago, which I have modified over the years…it will be the feature of a future post in 2010).

I'm debating whether or not to post the previous 10 playlists. Until I figure that out, here are some fun facts about the project thus far.

• Each volume opens with the Fox Fanfare performed by Helm and Heik (available on iTunes), followed by Robert Fulgham reading the excerpt about the soundtrack (From the audio book of Words I Wish I Wrote). However, the line about the soundtrack fitting on one disc has been edited out (for obvious reasons).
  
• There are 243 actual songs on 14 CDs.
  
• Van Morrison and Elvis Costello are tied for the most songs (5). Tom Waits, Tori Amos, and Bruce Springsteen are second (4).
  
• William Shatner appears twice, which is once more than The Rolling Stones, ELO, The Smiths, Louis Armstrong, and John Lennon.
  
• Fittingly, more songs reference Todd (16) than anyone else, and he is referenced on the most volumes (5). D has the record for most songs per volume (8 songs on Anthology X).
  
• Only one other person has all ten volumes (besides me). I gave D a copy when we got engaged. I figured that if she wanted to spend the rest of her life with me, she was entitled to the backstory.
  
• No song is repeated, or ever will be. An alternate version or a cover may appear.
  

There are 47 songs that have been nominated in the past two years. It runs at 3:04:17, and needs to be edited to 2:38:30. Some songs deal with loss and death, while others signify pure joy. Three weddings are referenced and new friends and old ones are honored in this list. And The Nominees for Anthology X1 – The Demon Barber of Seville are…

z - One Week – Barenaked Ladies
Zip Gun Bop – Royal Crown Review
z - Remember The Rain – Brad Terry & Lenny Breau
z - All The Time – Johnny Mathis
z - Fever – Buddy Guy
Falling Slowly – The Swell Season
Blitzed – The Raveonettes
z - Mother Mary – Foxboro Hot Tubs
Mercy – Duffy
z - Skinny Love – Bon Iver
z - Don't Stand So Close To Me – The Police
Where Is My Mind? – The Pixies
St. James Infirmary – Cab Calloway
z - The Way It Is – Nicole Atkins
She's My Best Friend – The Velvet Underground
My Way – Gary Oldman (From Sid and Nancy)
Janine – Soul Coughing
z - Never Going Back Again (Live) – Lindsey Buckingham
z - Ring The Bells – James
I Found a Reason – Cat Power
Trash – New York Dolls
Breath Me – Sia
You're Going To Make Me Lonesome When You Go – Madeleine Peyroux
Sad Professor – REM
z - The Great Defector – Bell X1
z - A Thousand Eyes – Crystal Antlers
z - Canon In D – Sharp Jimmy and the Damn It Five
American Wedding – Gogol Bordello
Percussion Gun – White Rabbits
Matter of Time – Los Lobos and Elvis Costello
z - Jump Into The Fire – Harry Nilsson
I Put a Spell On You – Screamin' Jay Hawkins
Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop – Landon Pigg
House of the Rising Sun – Nina Simone
z - Straight To The Top (Vegas) – Tom Waits
z - Happy As Can Be – Cut Off Your Hands
z - 40 Day Dream – Edward Sharp & The Magnetic Zeros
F.N.T. – Semisonic
The Rainbow Connection – Willie Nelson
z - Never Forget – Dropkick Murphies
I'll Follow The Sun – Glen Phillips
z - I and Love and You – The Avett Brothers
Take Me Home – Holly Cole
Sloop John B. – Joseph Spence
Thanksgiving – Poi Dog Pondering
z - Grass – XTC
Norwegian Wood – Jeremy Messersmith and Zach Coulter
z – Already Guaranteed a Spot

Non Christmas-Christmas Music Volume 2 – Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis

It's a little bit of holiday cheer…well, sort of. Tom Wait's signature holiday song really has little to do with Christmas (as the title of this post would indicate).

As Waits is known for his unique prose that are often quite poetic, and yet would make Thoreau blush and maybe even pray, this song is quite simplistic. The plot of the story of the song is the title, "Christmas Card From a Hooker In Minneapolis". This is the inside message of a Christmas card sent to a man named Charlie from an unidentified woman. It's unclear what the relationship between the woman and Charlie is, but you kinda get the sense that Charlie is the poor shlum who has undying feelings for this woman (she is quite aware of it) and has a history of bailing her out of trouble, no matter how much she has screwed up.

The Amsterdam Hotel, on the corner of 9th and Hennepin, could have been a home to a hooker that sent out a Christmas Card.

The only reference to Christmas in the piece is in the title. The song would have a totally different meaning if were titled "Letter From a Hooker In Minneapolis". In fact, some who live in the City of Lakes claim that the song has very little to do with Minneapolis. In the song, the woman states that she lives above a dirty book store on 9^th and Euclid. There is no 9^th and Euclid in Minneapolis. However, there is a 9^th and Hennepin (which is a title to a song Tom would record 7 years later). In the late 70s (when this song was written), 9^th and Hennepin was a seedy part of downtown. If there was a dirty book store, that would be a good location to have one. Since then, that stretch of Hennepin has become the city's theater district.

As the story opens, the woman tells Charlie that she has a man who is a musician. She's with child, and they are about to start a family. The musician is unphased by the fact that he is not the father. She lets on that things are going well for her (except that someone stole her record player). As the song closes, she has her moment of honesty. She says that there is no guy that is taking care of her, and she's in jail. She hints to Charlie that she needs a large sum of money to pay off her lawyer. She butters him up by telling Charlie that there's a possibility that she will be out of the pokey on Valentine's Day.

Several years ago, Neko Case did a cover of this song for a Tom Waits tribute CD. It's strange to say this, but it's almost wrong to hear a female sing this song. Part of the charm of the song is Wait's gruff voice belting out "Charlie I'm Pregnant" to open the song. It's just wrong to hear it otherwise.

Glitter and Doom – Tom Waits

It was May 2001 when I became a huge Tom Waits fan. My friend Todd let me borrow Beautiful Maladies and told me to listen to a song called "Clap Hands". Within 3 minutes, I was hooked for life. I then started on a holy quest to acquire most of his albums. About a year later, there were two new Waits releases, Alice and Blood Money. I really liked them both (but had a preference to Blood Money), and couldn't wait to get more. A few years later, I laid hands on his latest release, Real Gone, to which I was a fan of immediately. I was getting spoiled. There had been 3 new CDs in 2 years. I thought that this was a prolific trend that I could get behind.

However, I had to wait until 2006 before another release came out. Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards was not a new studio release. It featured outtakes and songs that I had already had copies of (like "Book of Moses" from the Skip Spence tribute album, and his interesting interpretation of "Heigh Ho"). Not that the release was a waste of time and/or money. I was thrilled with his cover of The Ramones "Danny Says" (which will be in a future post) and "Sea of Love". But I wanted something new, from Alpha to Omega.

Earlier this month, I was happy to learn that there would be a new Waits CD coming out today. Although this is not a studio album, I'm happy to add to my mounting collection of Waits MP3s. Glitter and Doom is a compilation of songs recorded from his 2008 world tour, one that did not include a stop in Minneapolis (Not feeling the love Tom). To make up for his limited tour, Tom had offered a free sample of the CD, featuring the first eight tracks from the new CD. While any purchase is going to put on hold for a few weeks, I have been going through the gratis sample to great delight. I am quite taken with the live version of "Singapore", a favorite of mine from Rain Dogs. He leads off the CD with "Lucinda", an Orphans original, which serves well as an opening song for any show. So far, my favorite is "Get Behind the Mule", originally from Mule Variations.

A word of warning. This is advanced Waits that requires some prerequisites. If you are not familiar with his work, this is not what you want to use to get started. Anytime I want to start someone on Waits, I recommend Heart Attack and Vine, which is a good Waits starter's kit. It's a merger of his earlier "Piano Bar" era, and you start to hear the ground work for his later shift that becomes more apparent in Swordfish Trombone. Depending on which sound of his you like better, you have the option of either working backwards or forwards. Plus, the title track of the album has one of my favorite lines "There ain't no devil, it's just God when he's drunk".

Vegas III, In Review

Usually, I would get excited about going to Las Vegas. I pepper my blog with Pre-Vegas themed entries (such as Top 5 Vegas Movies, and Vegas Tips). That is if I know if I am going in advance. I found out about the latest and third trip to the real city that never sleeps about an hour and a half before takeoff. I had plans with my fiancée to celebrate her birthday (Thursday), wander around the Uptown Art Fair (Friday), and see one of my favorite bands, Flogging Molly, at the Irish Fair (Saturday). But first, we were going to pick up a friend of hers from high school at the airport on Wednesday night.

When we get there, I spotted my best man and one of my poker buddies. Confused, I asked the natural question.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"You're going to Vegas."

"I'm not going to no Vegas. I'm not packed."

"Yeah, you are," D said as she popped the trunk and pulled out my suitcase, and my computer bag (which I still want to know how she did that without me knowing). "It's your bachelor party."

It slowly started to dawn on me that D's plans for a weekend were not only a cover, but prevented me from making other plans. There was no friend of hers at the airport; it was just to get me to drive out there with her. So three friends of mine (and one we'd meet with out there) flew away to the Ian Shane preferred vacation spot. Lots of things were going on for the trip, so I'll just give you the Reader's Digest condensed version of the trip.

-Had a great room at the Luxor, however I found it amusing that they were trying to brand themselves as the "green" casino by installing energy efficient lights and a requesting that we re-use towels to save water. Keep in mind that this is the casino that has 7 high powered lights that shoot a beam into the air for no real reason.

-Playing poker in Vegas is not as scary as you would think. The prevailing logic is that the best of the best go there to play. It's poker Top Gun, and if you are a middle of the pack kind of player (which I am), then you'll lose quickly and you won't have any fun. The truth is that you're not going to find Dan Harrington playing a $52 dollar buy in tournament at the Lux, or a 1-2 no limit game. The fact is poker rooms are usually populated with drunken rubes and first timers. These are the people who watched maybe one or two WSOP tape delays and thought "This is easy. Anybody can do this." The way they play makes you believe that they would be more than willing to give you their money directly, but since poker room rules prohibit such acts of charity, they'll limp into a pot with a pocket Jack/4. If you play a patient game (which I admit, I didn't the last night there…fatigue was starting to set in.) you can walk away with a bit of money. I was up 100 bucks in 45 minutes in 1-2 no limit the first time I played.

-I don't care what the "How to Play Blackjack" books say about odds, when a dealer shows a six, nine times out of ten, the under card is a five, and the dealer will pull a face on the draw. Conversely, when you have an 11 and you double down, you'll draw a two 90% of the time.

-Never, never, NEVER play roulette. It's a game specifically designed to draw in newbies and rubes who think that they can beat the odds.

-Girls who wear the "Las Vegas Hottie" T-shirts aren't fooling anyone.

-Las Vegas is Spanish for "The Buffet". Which if you are looking for a great place to have a reception dinner after your Vegas wedding, it's not a bad place to be. You're paying 26 bucks a person, and you let the guests decide what they want. You don't have to painstakingly go through menu options. As long as your jerky guests don't do the annoying clinking of the glass to get the bride and groom to kiss, then you're welcome anytime.

-Pound for pound, I still say that Fremont is the place to be. I love the old school Vegas. We played poker at the Fitz, and it was the highlight of the gaming portion of the trip (although it may be the highlight because I finished better than everyone else in the party, and sixth out of 33 entrants).

-Trip highlight was the Diana Krall show at the Palms. The show was great, and her version of "Jockey Full of Bourbon" was lights out. If there's a Tom Waits song being performed by someone other than Waits, then it damn well better be Diana.

By the time we got on the plane, I was ready to leave that wretched place, and looking forward to the next time I go.