Maps of Music

Nighthawks at the Diner (1975)

Where the lyrics of Nighthawks at the Diner take you, and where it was really made.

This 'live' album was recorded in a Los Angeles studio, with tables, a bar and the manager's friends filling the room.

Key places

Recorded at Record Plant Los Angeles (1975)

Recording site Record Plant Studios — The album was recorded here on 30 and 31 July 1975 before an invited audience, with tables and a bar set up in the room. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Nighthawks at the Diner: third studio album by Tom Waits
• Released 21 October 1975 on Asylum Records
• Recorded before a small invited audience at Record Plant Los Angeles, 30 and 31 July 1975
• Made to recreate the atmosphere of a jazz club
• Peaked at 164 on the Billboard 200, the highest position Waits had reached at the time

Background

• Title inspired by Edward Hopper's 1942 painting Nighthawks
• Working title was 'Nighthawk Postcards from Easy Street', shortened to Nighthawks at the Diner
• Nighthawks at the Diner is also the opening line of 'Eggs and Sausage (In a Cadillac with Susan Michelson)'
• Cover designed by Cal Schenkel, evoking the mood of the painting
• Producer Bones Howe wanted a live feel and brought out the jazz side of Waits

Recording

• Recorded at Record Plant Los Angeles on 30 and 31 July 1975
• Band: Michael Melvoin, Jim Hughart, Bill Goodwin and Pete Christlieb, with Waits on vocals, piano and guitar
• Herb Cohen handed out tickets to friends; a bar was set up and potato chips were placed on the tables
• Waits turned to face the band and read the classified section of the paper while they played

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

Tracklist

Disc 1

Disc 2

Sources: musicbrainz.org

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

• Peter Watts, in the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die chapter: although it could be dismissed as an entertaining conceit, the fake nightclub atmosphere possibly captures the appeal of early Waits even better than the two albums before it
• AllMusic reviewer Mark Deming: the album could be called overdone, but this kind of material makes its impact through an accumulation of miscellaneous detail
• Deming also positively noted Waits' addition of comedy and acting into the set

Reappraisal

• Generally well received by critics
• Some consider it the best album of his early career
• Rhapsody named it album of the day on 18 November 2010; staff writer Nate Cavalieri noted Waits' meticulous persona

Records

• Billboard 200: peaked at 164, the highest position Waits had held at the time
• BPI certified silver in 2010
• Next album Small Change became his highest charting album with Asylum Records; he parted company with Asylum in 1981

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Waits opens the album by calling the venue Raphael's Silver Cloud Lounge.
• During 'Nighthawk Postcards (From Easy Street)', Waits ad-libs lines from 'That's Life', a Frank Sinatra hit.
• Jim Hughart recalled that Waits had nothing on paper, so the band spent four or five days in a rehearsal studio memorizing the material.
• Bones Howe recalled that the opening act was a stripper named Dewana, and that the band played bump-and-grind music before the show.
• The track 'Big Joe and Phantom 309' is a version of 'Phantom 309', composed by Tommy Faile and recorded by Red Sovine on his 1967 album.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

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