Tom Waits is an inimitable musician with a unique style, signature voice with a hoarseness and a special manner of performance. Over 50 years of his creative career, he has released many albums and starred in dozens of films.
This did not affect his originality, and he remained as before an unformatted and free performer of our time.
While working on his works, he never thought about financial success. The main goal is to create an “eccentric” world outside of established canons and trends.
Childhood and creative youth Tom Waits
Tom Alan Waits was born December 7, 1949 in Pomona, California. The rebel from the cradle was born a few minutes drive from the maternity hospital.
His parents are ordinary teachers working at a local school, and his ancestors are Norwegians and Scots.
When the boy was 11 years old, his parents separated, and Tom and his mother were forced to leave for southern California. There he continued to receive his primary education at the San Diego School. Already at a young age, he began to write poetry and became interested in playing the piano.
At a young age, I read Jack Kerauka and listened to Bob Dillan. He did not forget about the classics and admired Louis Armstrong and Cole Porter. The creativity of idols formed an individual taste, which included jazz, blues, and rock.
He was not a diligent student of the class and after graduation, without hesitation, he got a job in a small pizzeria. Then he will dedicate two songs to this stage in his life.
Before taking off in his creative career, Waits served in the Coast Guard and worked as a nightclub security guard in Los Angeles.
The singer often recalls that time, because it was then that he wrote down the empty “chatter” of visitors in his notebook. Random snippets of phrases with echoes of music prompted him to the idea of self-performing.
Music by Tom Waits
The original presentation of creativity was immediately appreciated, and Tom quickly signed his first contract with producer Herb Cohen.
In 1973, the musician recorded the first album Closing Time, but it was not popular. A small defeat has another side - independent critics took a closer look at the performer and predicted him for a bright future.
Over the next year, the singer released 7 albums that are associated with the philosopher-drunkard, which testifies to the corresponding lifestyle in cheap motels and with an eternal cigarette in the mouth.
Smoking influenced the "sanding" voice, which became the hallmark of the musician. In 1976 came the release of Small Change. Thanks to this turn of events, he received a decent fee and was very popular.
Despite this, Tom continued to tell about vagrants and losers to the accompaniment of saxophone and double bass. In 1978, success was consolidated with the Blue Valentine disc, which still contains many obscene lines and action-packed stories.
In the 1980s, the presentation changed significantly - new themes and instruments appeared. The turning point was associated with great feelings that swept over the man.
He met love - Kathleen Brennan, who improved her lifestyle and creative style. In 1985, he released the album Rain Dogs, and the editors included it in the list of 500 outstanding records of all time.
In 1992, the anniversary (10th) release of Bon Machine was released, thanks to which he received his first Grammy award, and in 1999 he was nominated as "Best Contemporary Folk Album".
Waits' discography includes 2 dozen records, the last of which was released in 2011 and became expected by fans. Keith Richards and Flea participated in her recording.
In the same year, he gained fame and got into the Rock and Roll Hall, where influential and significant personalities are destined to get.
Acting activity of the artist
Back in the late 1970s, the guy was interested in movies. At the same time, he was looking for himself as an actor and composer for films.
Directors Jim Jarmusch and Terry Gilliam have collaborated on films such as Outlaw, Coffee and Cigarettes, and Mystery Train. So a strong friendship began, where Jim shot video clips for a friend, and he wrote movie soundtracks.
In 1983, Francis Ford Coppola (a well-known Hollywood classic) noted the composer's talent and invited him to play a role in the film Cast Away. Then they met more than once in the work on the films "Dracula", "Rumble Fish".
The man still does not leave the cinema and in the list of films with his participation you can see: "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs", "Seven Psychopaths", "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus".
Thomas Alan's personal life
The meeting with Kathleen turned the life and inner world of the actor. Before their romance, he had women, but no one could understand his creative soul.
Unaware of the meeting, he considered himself a person with a diseased liver and a broken heart, and she was able to change everything. They met in 1978 when Tom tried his hand as an actor for the film Hell's Kitchen, and his future wife was a screenwriter.
Now they have three creative children - Casey, Kelly and Sullivan. The family lives in a cozy house in Sonoma County (California).
Unexpectedly for everyone, Waits became an exemplary family man who preferred to spend time with his family in a house filled with laughter and noise. Tom has given up excessive drinking.
Kateley is its producer and co-writer of many songs. But the most important thing is that the spouse is the main ally and objective critic, whose opinion remains important and invaluable to him.
