Maps of Music

Closing Time (1973)

Where the lyrics of Closing Time take you, and where it was really made.

The debut album was recorded in the same Hollywood studio where Buffalo Springfield, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and the Doors had previously recorded.

Key places

Main sessions at Sunset Sound in Hollywood (1973)

Recording site Sunset Sound — The main recording sessions for Closing Time were held here in spring 1972 with Jerry Yester producing. The studio had earlier hosted Buffalo Springfield, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and the Doors. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Closing Time is the debut album by Tom Waits
• Released 6 March 1973 on Asylum Records
• Produced and arranged by Jerry Yester, a former member of the Lovin' Spoonful
• First of seven major Waits releases on Asylum
• Predominantly folk-influenced, though Waits intended a jazz, piano-led album
• Mild success in the United States after release, with no chart entry

Background

• Waits began his musical career in 1969, playing Monday nights at The Troubadour in West Hollywood
• Early setlists consisted mainly of Bob Dylan covers, with some songs that later appeared on this album
• Moved from San Diego to Los Angeles in early 1972 to focus on his career
• David Geffen discovered him performing at The Troubadour and negotiated with his manager
• Waits signed to Asylum Records within a month

Recording

• Pre-production tape recorded at Yester's residence in early 1972
• Main sessions at Sunset Sound Recorders in Hollywood, spring 1972
• Sessions took ten days in total, recorded from ten to five every day
• Nine songs completed in the first sessions, then a second session at United Western Recorders
• Title track was the only song recorded in full
• Waits and Yester disagreed over direction: Waits wanted jazz, Yester favoured folk
• Final recordings mixed and mastered at Wally Heider Studios in San Francisco

Cover

• Art designed by Cal Schenkel
• Front cover shows Waits leaning on a bar-room piano with rye, beer, cigarettes and an ashtray
• Back cover is minimal, a photograph of Waits staring into the camera
• Both photographs taken by Ed Caraeff

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Artist

Career

• Tom Waits, born Thomas Alan Waits on 7 December 1949 in Pomona, California, is an American singer-songwriter, musician, music director and actor.
• Known for his gravelly voice, cynical texts and theatrical stage presence, he blends blues, jazz, bluegrass, vaudeville and country with rock.
• His lyrics portray the bizarre and overlooked people and places, while his work also shows romanticism and humour.
• Debuted in Los Angeles in 1971 after signing with manager Herb Cohen; the album Closing Time (1973) received good reviews, and the Eagles' cover of Ol' 55 brought success in 1974.
• Mid-1980s albums Swordfishtrombones, Rain Dogs and Frank's Wild Years featured eclectic instrumentation, marking a less conventional period after leaving Asylum for Island Records.
• Worked with his wife Kathleen Brennan on musicals such as The Black Rider with William S. Burroughs, and moved toward theatre alongside a parallel acting career.
• Acted in films by Francis Ford Coppola, Jim Jarmusch, Robert Altman and Terry Gilliam; composed the score for Coppola's Coup de cœur.
• Won Grammy Awards for Bone Machine (1993) and Mule Variations (2000); inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011.
• Has consistently refused to license his music for advertising and won lawsuits against several companies that ignored this.

Sources: fr.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Rolling Stone: critic Stephen Holden called it a remarkable debut album
• Holden described Waits as a boozier, earthier version of Randy Newman
• Holden noted that the persona on the album is Waits's own, sardonic, vulnerable and emotionally charged
• Village Voice: Robert Christgau said the jazz-schooled piano and drawling delivery exploit an honest sentimentality
• Los Angeles Times: Robert Hilburn gave a mixed review, saying the songs sometimes sag but other times show potential
• Overall reaction from the American music press was positive, though coverage was limited
• International coverage was minimal, with UK promotion no more than a featured advert in the NME

Reappraisal

• AllMusic: William Ruhlmann held the album in high regard in a retrospective review
• Ruhlmann described the lovelorn lyrics as sentimental without being penetrating
• Ruhlmann also noted Waits's gift for gently rolling pop melodies
• In 2000 the album was voted number 880 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums
• Cover versions helped it reach a wider audience, including the Eagles' version of Ol' '55 on On the Border

Records

• Did not chart upon release
• Peaked at number 28 in the Irish Albums Chart in 2000
• Certified Silver in the UK in 2004 with shipments of over 60,000 copies
• Certified Gold in the UK in 2012 with shipments of over 100,000 copies

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Ol' '55 was the only single, and the single put the same song on both sides of the record
• The first national tour ran April to June 1973 and coincided with the album's release
• Seiter contributed backing vocals to the recording of Ol' '55 and came up with a harmony line
• Elektra Records reissued the album in Europe on a limited edition CD in 1999
• Other songs from the album were covered by Tim Buckley and Bette Midler

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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