Happy 50th Anniversary to Tom Waits Small Change

Happy 50th Anniversary to Tom Waits, Small Change. 

Recorded direct to tape in Hollywood at Wally Heider's Studio 3, Waits' Small Change, to these ears, is clearly the best of his early, lounge lizard/Hollywood noir phase. RtBE may be biased though as this was the breakthrough album we needed with Waits, and still remains one of our favorites of his. 

Musically the piano leads the way, but there is smokey sax, soft drums and big bass booms when called upon. The late-night scenes unfold one after the other as Waits mixes his parables about down and out losers with optimism and humor. 

The hustling "Step Right Up" the yearning "I Wish I Was in New Orleans (In the Ninth Ward)" the fall down loaded "The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me) (An Evening with Pete King)"  the cinematic "Small Change (Got Rained on with His Own .38)" are all mini movies while the enchanting "Tom Traubert's Blues (Four Sheets to the Wind in Copenhagen)" kicks off the whole road show wonderfully. 

The strip club gets rocking with "Pasties and a G-String (At the Two O'Clock Club)" while the heartbreak leaks through on a few numbers on the B-side like "Invitation to the Blues", "Bad Liver and a Broken Heart (In Lowell)""The One That Got Away". Wrapping up with the sweet ditty "I Can't Wait to Get Off Work (And See My Baby on Montgomery Avenue)" ends things on an upbeat positive note. 

A great album, with possibly Elvira on the cover no less, Tom Waits Small Change is a pristine portal into the seedy underworld. 

On this day play it loud, here are a few songs to get you started: