ALBUM: Frank’s Wild Years (1987)
MVC Rating: 4.5/$$$$$
His voice sounds like Bob Dylan with a chest cold. His songs, full of muted horns, and simple piano tinkling, hearken back to Tin Pan Alley with a venture into beatnik culture.
From ‘Down in the Hole,’ which became part of the theme music of the acclaimed mini-series ‘The Wire:’ If you walk with Jesus, he will save your soul, got to keep the devil, down in the hole.
This lyric from I’ll Be Gone: Tonight I’ll shave the mountains, I’ll cut the hearts from pharoahs, I’ll pull the road off the rise, I’ll tear the memories from my eyes, And in the morning I’ll be gone.’
If you are intrigued by Joe Cocker singing jazzy Frank Sinatra style songs with enigmatic Dylan-like lyrics in a smoky San Francisco beatnik bar, Waits is your man.
My 1987 album on vinyl is kind of rare. You can pick this up on CD for $10 or $15 but the original 1987 press will likely set you back more than $50, at least.
You know who I thought of after listening to the album over several days. He sings like Louis Armstrong –the always hoarse ‘Satchmo.’