TOM WAITS – GLITTER AND DOOM LIVE

My introduction to Tom Waits came via Big Time, his last live album released in 1986, something for which I am eternally grateful. Glitter and Doom Live is only Tom’s third live album over a 40 year career, and carries the sort of gravitas that that should imply. Compiled over 11 performances but sequenced by Waits himself to have the feel of one show, these 17 songs are well selected given the multitude of choices. While recent work like Trampled Rose features, the back catalogue selections are like hand-picked gems. Hearing that voice utter the line “I look good without a shirt on,” still brings a smile to my face and Going Out West appears here, alongside the brilliant Get Behind the Mule and Dirt in the Ground. The band, it almost goes without saying, is top notch – Vincent Henry, Seth Ford Young, Omar Torres and Patrick Warren – with an appearance by young Sullivan Waits an saxophone and clarinet. What has been removed, and then compiled all together on a second disc is Tom’s legendary story-telling. This 35 minute disc Tom’s Tales is worth listening in its own right but some of the feel of a Waits live performance has been missed on disc one by the removal of these choice tales from their rightful place amongst the tunes. Another live Tom Waits album, another Lucky Day.

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