Waits recording Swordfishtrombones at Sunset Sound in Hollywood, 1982
CLARE O’CALLAGHAN
TRACKING his new album at Sunset Sound in Hollywood, for the smoky Hong Kong blues of “Shore Leave”, Waits records the sound of a metal chair being dragged across a linoleum floor and adds it to the mix. For another texture on the same song, he scatters rice on a bass drum placed flat, hits it hard and records the patter of the rice falling back onto the skin.