Closing Time: Day 1

So, the real problem with the idea behind this blog is that there are several albums which I am not listening to for the first time, or for even remotely the first time. Some Tom Waits albums have been staples of my listening habits for years, so that when I listen to and blog about those albums, I'm not really giving "first thoughts" and "initial standouts" but am, in fact, bringing a host of predispositions and long-time favorites to this space.

Whether that in itself is a problem, I suppose, is questionable, but I do fear that it might make the blog a little uneven, from week to week. I will not, for instance, say "holy shit this track just blew me away" at any point during a week in which I am working on a TW album that is familiar to me. I will almost certainly say that (or something similar) on a regular basis otherwise.

Can you see where this is going today? You guessed it, I have heard 1973's Closing Time before. My first proper introduction to TW's music, freshman year at college, came by way of a mix-tape which a friend gave me¹ which contained two songs from CT: "Ice Cream Man" and "I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love With You." I hadn't listened to the rest of the album at the time, but in the delayed run-up to this blog's launch, I found myself listening to that album over and over, wary of moving on into later TW's stuff, but afraid also of losing my momentum. Long story short, I have heard this record many times. Try not to dwell on it.

Closing Time (1973):

Initial thoughts:

For the first time in a while, I'm wishing I had better speakers. I mean, they're perfectly adequate, but I can tell I'm missing some of the low end, and even in a short time I'd forgotten how beautiful "Ol' 55" is. Turning it way up is out of the question due to the presence of Gabor, my downstairs neighbor. This is a young person's record. By which I mean it was obviously written by a young person, not that it's for young people. It is all about beaten down old men, but all the emotions are so acute and clean, with none of the muddiness that you hear in Dylan's later stuff (also about old men, but with so much moral ambiguity which isn't present on this record). It's an album full of recklessness. I think today a young person would be ridiculed or marginalized for writing something with so little cynicism. Or, at least, I think I might ridicule them.

TW has won at least one grammy in the Folk Music category (actual number of grammys might be worth looking into), and usually I tend to think that's unfair both to folk musicians and to TW. "Old Shoes (& Picture Postcards)" is evidence to the contrary. It's a folk song of the highest order, the kind of campfire sitting, universal but specific, I-IV-V thing that makes songs like "Oh Susana" and "Dinah Blow Your Horn" stick around for decades.

The early 70's was a heyday for saxophones in rock music, one which I am kind of glad has passed, but the sax on this record has a nice, mild buzz to it, just enough to not take over the song. The fact that it is limited to a couple songs certainly helps...holy shit, I can't believe how amazing the end of midnight lullaby is. I've even heard it before, commented on it to my girlfriend, it doesn't matter, god it's beautiful, the light squealing guitar behind "Papa's gonna buy you a mockingbird." ugh. just amazing.

My friend Phil taught me to play "Rosie" on the guitar the way he plays it. That was awesome of him, I love this song. I can hit every note in this song except the crucial one. I remember trying to play "Ice Cream Man" with my college roommates and one of them saying "that's just 'Hit the Road Jack.'" In retrospect, that's fucking awesome, right? Could you pick a more amazing progression to lift? It's so minimalist and bluesy and minor and sticking that incredibly precise, super-creepy-ice-cream-truck music on either end of a two minute double entendre, love it.

Even at this stage TW seems to have a multitude of voices at his command. Obviously he has yet to develop his monster bark, notably present in later works, but he still has a surprising range of voices which he seems comfortable singing in. I'm thinking here of "Grapefruit Moon," particularly, and the difference between it and "Ice Cream Man"/"Little Trip to Heaven" the songs which precede it immediately.


Standout Tracks:

I can see that this is going to be difficult, but I promise, scouts honor, that I will never just say "the whole album." That's bush league stuff.

• "Old Shoes (& Picture Postcards)" - Hands down my favorite track at the moment, just beautiful and simple and sweet and everything you want off of an album like this.
• "Ol' 55" - What a way to kick off an album. From the count off to the quiet-but-louder-each-time guitar walk-downs on the chorus. Just fantastic.
• "Rosie" - Fun to sing, fun to play, fun to listen to, just a winning song.
• "Closing Time" - A great end-cap to this record, it's easy to forget what an accomplished pianist TW was already at this point in his career, this is a beautiful song.

That all for now folks, more throughout the week or as things occur to me.

-K

1Sorry about the non-linked footnotes, I'm working on that. This friend, named Ben Terris, is a very talented young man in what I would call the larval phase of his journalistic career. Google him.