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Tom Waits: Blue Valentines

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Elektra Entertainment
Released: 1978
Time:
 49:37
Category: Progressive Rock
Producer(s): Bones Howe
Rating: *********. (9/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: www.anti.com
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2001.04.06
Price in €: 6,99



 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Somewhere [from "West Side Story"] (L.Bernstein/S.Sondheim) - 3:50
[2] Red Shoes by the Drugstore (T.Waits) - 3:11
[3] Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis (T.Waits) - 4:30
[4] Romeo Is Bleeding (T.Waits) - 4:50
[5] $29.00 (T.Waits) - 8:12
[6] Wrong Side of the Road (T.Waits) - 5:11
[7] Whistlin' Past the Graveyard (T.Waits) - 3:14
[8] Kentucky Avenue (T.Waits) - 4:47
[9] A Sweet Little Bullet [from a Pretty Blue Gun] (T.Waits) - 5:34
[10] Blue Valentines (T.Waits) - 3:50

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


TOM WAITS - Guitar, Electric Guitar, Piano, Vocals

HAROLD BATTISTE - Piano
RONALD BAUTISTA - Guitar, Electric Guitar
RAY CRAWFORD - Guitar, Electric Guitar
SCOTT EDWARDS - Bass
DAWILLI GONGA - Keyboards, Electric Piano
BOBBYE HALL - Conga, Percussion
HERBERT HARDESTY - Tenor Saxophone
JIM HUGHART - Bass
CHARLES KYNARD - Bass, Organ
RICKY LAWSON - Drums
BYRON MILLER - Bass
EARL PALMER - Drums
SHINE ROBINSON - Guitar, Electric Guitar
FRANK VICARI - Tenor Saxophone
CHIP WHITE - Drums

BONES HOWE - Engineer
GEOFF HOWE - Engineer
RALPH OSBORNE - Engineer
ZAL SCHREIBER - Mastering
BOB ALCIVAR - Conductor
RON CORO - Art Direction
TERRY DUNAVAN - Mastering
ELLIOT GILBERT - Photography

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


1978 CD Asylum 2-162
1978 CS Asylum TC5-162
1978 LP Asylum 162
1990 CS Asylum 162

Recorded at Filmways / Heider Recording, Hollywood, CA. on Jul.24,25 and Aug.10,17,23 and 26, 1978.



Two welcome changes in style made Blue Valentine a fresh listening experience for Tom Waits fans. First, Waits had altered the instrumentation, bringing in electric guitar and keyboards and largely dispensing with the strings for a more blues-oriented, hard-edged sound. Second, though his worldview remained fixed on the lowlifes of the late night, he had expanded beyond the musings of the barstool philosopher who previously had acted as the first-person character of most of his songs. When Waits did use the "I," it was to write a "Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis," not the figure most listeners had associated with the singer himself. The result was a broadening of subject matter, a narrative discipline that made most of the tunes story songs, and a coherent framing for Waits' typically colorful and intriguing imagery. These were not radical reinventions, but Waits had followed such a rigidly stylized approach on his previous albums that for anyone who had followed him so far, the course correction was big news.

William Ruhlmann, All-Music Guide



More hard-boiled tales from Tom Waits, who manages to sing lines like "Everyone I know is either dead or in prison" in a raw, whiskey-soaked rasp that sounds both comical and deadly serious. Waits doesn't break any new creative ground here, but continues to refine his down-and-out ham-and-egger persona. It's booze and broads, sex and violence, laughs and heartbreak. This 1978 album opens with an astonishingly desperate version of "Somewhere" (from "West Side Story"), performed like Louie Armstrong with a migraine. From there it's the usual Waits mix of crackpot wordplay and the cocktail lounge jazz likes of "Romeo Is Bleeding."

Steve Appleford, Amazon.com



Einmahl mehr erzählt Tom Waits ohne zu beschönigen seine Geschichten. Wenn er mit seiner rauhen, whiskygetränkten Reibeisenstimme Zeilen singt wie "Everyone I know is either dead or in prison", dann klingt das sowohl komisch als auch todernst. Was Tom Waits auf dieser Platte macht, ist nicht neu -- er kultiviert sein heruntergekommenes Image. Saufen und Weiber, Sex und Gewalt, Lachen und Herzschmerz -- darum geht es. Das erste Stück auf diesem 1978er Album ist eine erstaunlich verzweifelte Version von "Somewhere" (aus der "West Side Story"), die klingt, als hätte Louis Armstrong sie während eines Migräneanfalls gesungen. Danach kommt die für Tom Waits typische Mischung von verrückten Wortspielen und Cocktailbar-Jazz wie "Romeo Is Bleeding".

Steve Appleford, Amazon.de



...mindful that he was getting stuck in a retro groove, Waits switched from piano to electric guitar for much of BLUE VALENTINE....years of nicotine and alcohol abuse were taking their toll nicely on his voice...

Q Magazine (10/92, p.101) - 3 Stars Good
 

 L y r i c s


SOMEWHERE (from West Side Story)

There's a place for us
Somewhere a place for us
Peace and quiet and open air
Wait for us
Somewhere
There's a time for us
Someday a time for us
Time together with time to spare
Time to learn
Time to care
Someday, somewhere
We'll find a new way of living
We'll find a way of forgiving
Somewhere
There's a place for us
A time and a place for us
Hold my hand and we're half way there
Hold my hand
And I'll take you there
Somehow
Someday, somewhere


RED SHOES BY THE DRUGSTORE

She wore red shoes by the drugstore
as the rain splashed the nickel
spilled like chablis along the midway
theres a little bluejay
in a red dress, on a sad night

one straw in a rootbeer
a compact with a cracked mirror
and a bottle of evening in paris perfume

he told her to wait in by the magazines
he had to take care of some buisness it seems
bring a raincoat and a suitcase
and your dark eyes
and wear those red shoes

theres a dark huddle at the bus stop
umbrellas arranged in a sad bouquet
li'l cesaer got caught
he was going down to second
he was cooled
changing stations on the chamber
to steal a diamond
from a jewelry store for his baby
he loved the way she looked in those red shoes

she waited by the drugstore
cesaer had never been this late before
and the dogs bayed the moon
and rattled their chains
and the cold jingle of taps in a puddle
was the burglar alarm
snitchin on ceasar

now the rain washes memories from the sidewalks
and the hounds splash down the nickel
full of soldiers
and santa claus is drunk in the ski room
and it's christmas eve in a sad cafe
when the moon gets this way
there's a little blue jay
by the newstand
wearing red shoes

so meet me tonight by the drugstore
we're goin out tonight
wear your red shoes


CHRISTMAS CARD FROM A HOOKER IN MINNEAPOLIS

hey charlie i'm pregnant
and living on the 9th street
right above a dirty bookstore
off euclid avenue
and i stopped takin dope
and i quit drinkin whiskey
and my old man plays the trombone
and works out at the track

and he says that he loves me
even though its not his baby
and he says that he'll raise him up
like he would his own son
and he gave me a ring
that was worn by his mother
and he takes me out dancin
every saturday night.

and hey charlie i think about you
everytime i pass a fillin station
om account of all the grease
you used to wear in your hair
and i still have that record
of little anthony & the imperials
but someone stole my record player
now how do you like that?

hey charlie i almost went crazy
after mario got busted
so i went back to omaha to
live with my folks
but everyone i used to know
was either dead or in prison
so i came back to minneapolis
this time i think i'm gonna stay.

hey charlie i think i'm happy
for the first time since my accident
and i wish i had all the money
that we used to spend on dope
i'd buy me a used car lot
and i wouldn't sell any of em
i'd just drive a different car
every day, dependin on how
i feel

hey charlie for chrissakes
do you want to know the
truth of it?
i don't have a husband
he don't play the trombone
and i need to borrow money
to pay this lawyer
and charlie, hey
i'll be eligible for parole
come valentines day


ROMEO IS BLEEDING

romeo is bleeding but not so as you'd notice
he's over on 18th street as usual
looking so hatd against the hood of his car
ans putting out a cigarette in his hand
and for all the pachucos at the pumps
at romeros paint and body
they all seein how far they can spit
well it was just another night
but now they're huddled in the brake lights of a 58 belair
and listenin how romeo killed a sherif with his knife

and they all jump when they hear the sirens
but romeo just laughs and says
all the racket in the world ain't never gonna
save that coppers ass
he'll never see another summertime
for gunnin down my brother
and leavin him like a dog
beneath a car without his knife

and romeo says hey man gimme a cigatette
and they all reach for their pack
and frankie lights it for him and pats him on the back
and throws a bottle at a milk truck
and as it breaks he grabs his nuts
and they all know they could ve just like romeo
if they only had the guts

but romeo is bleeding but nobody can tell
amd he sings along with the radio
with a bullet in his chest
and he combs back his fenders
and they all agree its clear
that everything is cool now that romeos here
but romeo is bleeding
and he winches now and then and he leans against
the car door and feels the blood in his shoes
and someones crying in the phone booth
at the 5 points by the store
romeo starts his engine
and wipes the blood of the door
and he brodys through the signal
with the radio full blast
leavin the boys there hikin up their chinos
and they all try to stand like romeo
beneath the moon cut like a sickle
and they're talkin now in spanish about their hero

but romeo is bleeding as he gives the man his ticket
and he climbs to the balcony at the movies
and he'll die without a whimper
like every heros dream
just an angel with a bullet
and cagney in the screen


$29.00

little black girl in a red dress
on a hot night with a broken shoe
little black girl you shoulda never left home
theres probly someone thats still waitin up for you
its cold back in chicago
but in los angeles its worse
when all you got is $29.00 and an alligator purse

i see already that vulture in the fleetwood
with the shartruse hood
can see you're trying to get your bearings
and you say hey which ways the main stem
and where ever you say you're from
he'll say he grew up there himself
and he'll comeon and make you feel
like you grew up right next door to him
and you say take a left on central
and he throws it in reverse
cause you only got $29.00 and an alligator purse

and he'll come on like a gentleman
and you'll be a little shy
you say your ex old man was a sax player
he'll say baby i used to play bass for sly
and you say you like his cadillac,
say honey i got 2 or 3
he'll say sweetheart you're sure fortunate
that you ran into me
when you've done a dime in the joint
you figure nothin could be worse
and you got $29.00 in an alligator purse

well he got pharoh on the 8 track
you start smokin a little boo
you thinkin gettin out of chicago was the
best thing ever happened to you
but he ain't no good samaritan
he'll make sure he's reimbursed
lot more than $29.00 and an alligator purse

now when the streets get hungry, baby
you can almost hear them growl
someone's setting a place for you
when the dogs begin to howl

well the streets are dead
they creep up and ??? but it was left on the pole
they make... suckers always make mistakes
when they're far away from home
Chicken in a pot
Whoever gets their first
Gonna get himself 29.00
and an alligator purse

now the sirens just an epilog
the cops always get there too late
they always stop for coffee
on the way to the scene of the crime
they always try so hard to look like movie stars
they couldnt catch a cold
you only wasting your dime
and she's lucky to be alive
the doctor whispered to the nurse
she only lost a 1/2 pint of blood
$29.00 and an alligator purse


WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD

put a dead cat on the railroad tracks
when the wolf bains blooming by the tressel
and get the eyeball of a rooster
and the stones from a ditch
and wash em down with bilge water
and you say you'll never snitch
take the buttons from a yellow jacket
the feafrom a buzzard
and thr blood from a bounty hunters cold black heart
catch the tears of a widow
in a thimble made of glass
tell your mama and papa
they can kick your ass
poison all the water in the wishin well
and hang all them scarecrows from a sycamore tree
burn down all those honeymoons
put em in a pillow case
and wait next to the switch blades
at the amusement park for me
strangle all the christmas carols
scratch out all your prayers
tie em up with barbed wire
and push them down the stairs
and i'll whittle you a pistol
for keeping nightmares of the blinds
those sunabitches always seem to sneake up from behind
syphon all the gas from your daddys pickup truck
fill up johnnys t bird
i got a couple of bucks
put a little perfume and ribbon in your hair
careful that you don't wake up the hounds
tear a bolt of lightning
of the side of the sky
and throw it in the cedar chest
if you want to tell me why
bring the gear shift knob from a 49 merc
and lay down here beside me
let me hold you in the dirt
and you'll tremble as the flames
tear the throat out of the night
sink your teeth into my shoulder
dig your nails into my back
tell that little girl to let go of my sleeve
you'll be a woman when i catch you
as you fall in love with me
then with my double barrel shotgun
and a whole box of shells
we'll celebrate the 4 of july
we'll do 100 mph
spendin someone elses dough
and we'll drive all the way to reno
on the wrong side of the road


WHISTLIN' PAST THE GRAVEYARD

well i come in on a night train
with an arm full of box cars
on the wings of a magpie
cross a hooligan night
and i busted up a chifforobe
way out by the cocomo
cooked up a mess a mulligan
and got into a fight

CHORUS: whistlin past the graveyard
steppin on a crack
i'm a mean motherhubbard
papa one eyed jack

you propably seen me sleepin
out by the railroad tracks
go on and ask the prince of darkness
what about all thet smoke
come from the stack
sometimes i kill myself a jacket
suck out all the blood
steal myself a stationwagon
drivin through the mud

CHORUS

i know you seen my headlights
and the honkin of my horn
i'm callin out my bloodhounds
chase the devil through the corn
last night i chugged the mississippi
now that suckers dry as a bone
born in a taxi cab
i'm never comin home

CHORUS

my eyes have seen the glory
of the draining of the ditch
i only come to baton rouge
to find myself a witch
i'm-ona snatch me up a
couple of em every time it rains
you see a locomotive
probably thinkin its a train

CHORUS

what you think is the sunshine
is just a twinkle in my eye
that ring around my fingers
just the 4th of july
when i get a little bit lonesome
and a tear falls from my cheek
theres gonna be an ocean in
the middle of the week

CHORUS

i rode into town on a night train
with an arm full of box cars
on the wings of a magpie
cross a hooligan night
i'm-ona tear me off a rainbow
and wear it for a tie
i never told the truth
so i can never tell a lie

CHORUS


KENTUCKY AVENUE

eddie graces buick got 4 bullet holes in the side
charlie delisle sittin at the top of an avocado tree
mrs stormll stab you with a steak knife if you step on her lawn i got a half pack of lucky strikes man come along with me lets fill our pockets with macadamia nuts then go over to bobby goodmansons and jump off the roof hilda plays strip poker and her mamas across the street joey navinski says she put her tongue in his mouth dicky faulkners got a switchblade and some gooseneck risers that eucalyptus is a hunchback theres a wind up from the south let me tie you up with kite string and i'll show you the scabs on my knee watch out for the broken glass, put your shoes and socks on and come along with me lets follow that fire track
i think your house is burnin down
the go down to the hobo jungle
and kill some rattle snakes with a trowel
we'll break all the windows in the old anderson place
and steal a bunch of boysenberrys
and smear em on our face
i'll get a dollar from my mamas purse
and buy that skull and crossbones ring
and you can wear it around your neck
on an old piece of string

then we'll spit on ronnie arnold
and flip him the bird
and slash the tires on the school bus
now don't say a word
i'll take a rusty nail
and scratch your initials on my arm
and i'll show you how to sneak up
on the roof of the drugstore

take the spokes from your wheelchair
and a magpies wings
and tie em to your shoulders and your feet
i'll steal a hacksaw from my dad
and cut the braces off your legs
and we'll bury them tonight in the cornfield

put a church keey in your pocket
we'll hop that freight train in the hall
and we'll slide down the drain all the way
to new orleans in the fall


A SWEET LITTLE BULLET FROM A PRETTY BLUE GUN

it's raining it's pouring
and you didn't bring a sweater
nebraska will never let you come back home
and on hollywood and wine
by the thrifty mart sign
any night i'll be willin to bet
there's a young girl
with sweet little wishes
and pretty blue dreams
standin there and gettin all wet

now there's a place off the drag
called the gilbert hotel
there's a couple letters burned out in the sign
and it's better than a bus stop
and they do good buisness
every time it rains
for sweet little girls
with nothing in their jeans
but sweet little wishes
and pretty blue dreams

now it's raining it's pouring
the old mam is snoring
now i lay me down to sleep
i hear the sirens in the street
all the dreams are made of chrome
i have no way to get back home
i'd rather die before i wake
like marilyn monroe
and throw my jeans out in
the street and the rain will make 'em grow

now the night clerk he got a club foot
and he's heard every hard luck story
at least a hundred times or more
he says check out time is 10 am
and that's just what he means
and you go up the stairs
with sweet little wishes
and pretty blue dreams

now it's raining it's pouring
and hollywods just fine
swindle a little out of her dreams
put a letter in the sign
never trust a scarecrow
wearin' shades after dark
be careful of that old bow tie he wears
it takes a sweet little bullet
from a pretty blue gun
to put those scarlet ribbons in your hair
no that ain't no cherry bomb
4th of july's all done
just some fool playin' that second line
from the barrel of a pretty blue gun

no that ain't no cherry bomb
4th of july's all done
just some fool playin' that second line
from the barrel of a pretty blue gun


BLUE VALENTINES

She sends me blue valentines
All the way from Philadelphia
To mark the anniversary
Of someone that I used to be
And it feels just like theres
A warrant out for my arrest
Got me checkin in my rearview mirror
And I'm always on the run
Thats why I changed my name
And I didn't think you'd ever find me here

To send me blue valentines
Like half forgotten dreams
Like a pebble in my shoe
As I walk these streets
And the ghost of your memory
Is the thistle in the kiss
And the burgler that can break a roses neck
It's the tatooed broken promise
That I hide beneath my sleeve
And I see you every time I turn my back

She sends me blue valentines
Though I try to remain at large
They're insisting that our love
Must have a eulogy
Why do I save all of this madness
In the nightstand drawer
There to haunt upon my shoulders
Baby I know
I'd be luckier to walk around everywhere I go
With a blind and broken heart
That sleeps beneath my lapel

She sends me my blue valentines
To remind me of my cardinal sin
I can never wash the guilt
Or get these bloodstains off my hands
And it takes a lot of whiskey
To take this nightmares go away
And I cut my bleedin heart out every nite
And I die a little more on each St. Valentines day
Remember that I promised I would
Write you...
These blue valentines
blue valentines
blue valentines

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


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