When I’m painting, my preference of background music is usually classical, new contemporary music or jazz. But if I just want to listen, one of my favorite soulful balladeers is Tom Waits – especially his early work from the mid 1970’s that reeks of heartbreak and romance and hopefulness.
A true original, Waits was one of the first popular American musicians to use saxophone, trumpet, violin and cello in his arrangements. And the piano always holds first place. Here, a small homage to old Tom Traubert and his blues.
Michael Ochs archives/Getty Images.
Photo below – Circa 1976, Dallas, TX– Tom Waits in a cafe in Dallas, Texas. –Image by © Philip Gould/CORBIS
Michael Ochs archives/Getty Images.
A couple of Hollywood glamour shots by the excellent photographer Cynthia Macadams:
 
Rickie Lee Jones and Waits, circa 1979, Indigo Ranch Studios in Malibu, CA. Photo credit Jenny Lens and the Tom Waits Library, a site that offers a wealth of information on the musician’s life and music.
Tom Waits – one of my all time favorites and what great photos of him!
Some of the photos were so glamorous – especially Ms. Macadams’. I met him once in the late ’70s and he was charming, if a bit disgruntled with his record label at the time.