Tom Waits Reissuing Anti Records Albums (2017), incl. Orphans (2018) Plus Elektra Back Catalogue *

Thanks. Much appreciated! Gonna pick up the remaster ( I do not own this on vinyl)

 

Just getting into Tom Waits, after reading a special issue magazine on him. I had already heard Frank's Wild Years, and decided to "get back on the bus" with "Swordfishtrombone".
Just playing it in my car to make sure I "get it". I don't like all the songs, but I see what he is doing. Can't help but think of Beefheart's stuff. Guess they are both from the "Beat" school.
Waits seems more Jazz/Salvation Army Band, and a little less abstract than Beefheart. Which album(s) next?

 

-Raindogs
-Bone machine
-Mule variations

 

Including those above, I love Real Gone. Just the imagery in Don't Go Into That Barn is worth it.

 

Has anyone given the CDs a listen? I've got the originals already and am wondering if I should bother picking the new ones up aside from the Real Gone remix.

 

FYI check out Tom Waits Facebook account, they say If you already have a copy there is no need to buy the new ones! They just wanted to re-stock them and make sure the new ones sound as good as the old ones (Real Gone is another story). Still sounds odd to me....

 

That would make sense if it weren't for Table Top Joe from Alice featuring an all new trombone, whereas the original version doesn't have one. Makes you wonder if they've tinkered with anything else.

 

Interesting...

 

Please don’t mention Table Top Joe again. Everytime I read the song title I get a 2 day earworm.

 

WAITS MEGATON
(sadly no word of Island releases, but its a start)

Tom Waits (ANTI-) on Twitter

ANTI is re-releasing Tom Waits' entire 1970's Elektra Asylum catalog. 'Closing Time' is out 3/09 and available for pre-order at http://found.ee/Waits_Store . The rest of the catalog will be available throughout 2018.

 

Hunh that's interesting. I have them all in original and early pressings, but will be nice to go into a record store and see a full Tom Waits section for a change.

 

I'm getting a bit worried now about Tom. He seems to be looking back rather than forward, remastering and re-releasing his back catalogue personally, which in his career he has just gone forwards.

Read into that whatever you want, but he hasn't really been seen a lot since 2015

 

I am guessing the Rhino Reissues cut by Chris Bellman are out of print now. I have the Closing Time and it sounds great. I wonder how these will stack up. Nice to see Heartattack and Vine listed there. Even though its a cd an lp cannot be far behind.

 

Sweet!

 

The Bellman cuts are great so I wouldn’t bother upgrading those, I imagine it will prob be the same mix for those first 4 albums but I’m looking forward to getting remastered quiet pressings of Blue Valentine & Foreign Affair. Might even sell my original pressings of those two and Heartattack & Vine now and use half the cash for the remasters and the rest for something else. Those pressings go for a decent amount and my copies have some crackle and pop so based on the quality of the recent remasters I’d happily swap them. Provided, there’s no “additions” to the mix #hoistthatrag

 

Excited to see "Heartattack & Vine" is getting a reissue. It's the only Waits 70's release that I don't have in my collection.

 

The remix is really something. I'm usually a bit dubious given recent experience, but they really opened it up. I'm torn because the muck and mire mix of the original is really part of it's charm and evokes that vision of Tom sitting on the toilet spitting mouth beats into a tape recorder, but I think the new mix brings out the quality of the songs more and there are some real corkers to be had. I reckon I will just have to make room on the shelf for both of them...

 

They need to tack this onto Heart Of Saturday Night as a "bonus" track or find some way to release it on cd.

 

You betcha. The remix is now my go to Real Gone version. And I really, really love the original mix.

 

I'm interesting in getting the Closing Time. I remember the total fiasco of the initial pressings of the remastered vinyl. It worried me so much that I never picked it up in the store or on Amazon.ca because I couldn't figure out what was the "fixed" pressing, and what wasn't. Probably just me. I'd have been more than happy with a Bellman cut, and hope it is in fact the same mastering...

 

I bought Closing Time & Heart Of Saturday Night last year from a seller on Discogs, who sent me the Bellman remasters and the original pressings they’d replaced so I sold the original pressings on ebay and the money I got covered the cost of the original purchases. I clearly advertised them and didn’t get any complaints so they couldn’t have been that bad.

 

I've held off from buying the remastered Heart of and Nighthawks for the same reason...confusion over what to get.

Am I correct in thinking the 'bad' remasters were all pressed on red vinyl and that the Bellman replacements are on normal black wax?

 

This sounds right from what I remember, though someone else may remember better.

 

Nope, they replaced the first red edition with replacement reds. I turned the unlistenable originals into decorative bowls and bookends.

 

Should’ve sold them, I got £15 per disc. They weren’t actually unlistenable.

The Bellman’s are also red vinyl but the easy way to tell the difference is that the Bellman’s have CB etched in the inner groove.