Tom Waits
★★★★
The Heart Of Saturday Night
ANTI-. LP
Limited-edition, vinyl-only reissue for the record’s 50th anniversary.
IN LIEU of new music – which other major artist has been so conspicuously low-profile of late? – tuning in to Waits’ formative second album proves almost enough. It was label exec David Geffen’s idea to pair him with the more jazz-oriented Bones Howe, a shoo-in as producer once Waits learned he’d worked on Kerouac recordings, and a conduit to seasoned jazzers who’d help mould/soundtrack Tom’s articulate barfly. Jim Hughart’s double bass is gorgeous on the still folky title track, while Please Call Me, Baby and Drunk On The Moon’s sophisticated string and brass arrangements, and Diamonds On My Windshield’s Beat-poetry scansion speak of an artist in transition/transformation, new possibilities wreathed in blue-grey cigarette smoke. The cover image homage to Sinatra’s In The Wee Small Hours made sense, Waits tapping the lineage while portraying (odd) strangers in the night.