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33 1/3 SERIES BOOK #53 - Tom Waits's Swordfishtrombones

Are Liner Notes Not Enough For You?

33 1/3 is a series of short books about the making of wide variety of albums, written by a diverse group of authors/artists with titles ranging from Aja by Steely Dan to Zeppelin IV. The series contains over fifty titles and is acclaimed and loved by fans, musicians and scholars alike. These are for the music nuts out there who appreciate fantastic design, and smart, fun writing. Each book in the series takes an important album and breaks it down in startling minutiae. We love these books…you will, too!

Two entwined narratives run through the creation of Swordfishtrombones and form the backbone of this book. As the 1970s ended, Waits felt increasingly constrained and trapped by his persona and career. Bitter and desperately unhappy, he moved to New York in 1979 to change his life. It wasn't working. But at his low point, he got the phone call that changed everything: Francis Ford Coppola tapped Tom to write the score for One From the Heart. Waits moved back to Los Angeles to work at Zoetrope's Hollywood studio for the next 18 months. He cleaned up, disciplined himself as a songwriter and musician, collaborated closely with Coppola, and met a script analyst named Kathleen Brennan - his "only true love".
 
They married within 2 months at the Always and Forever Yours Wedding Chapel at 2am. Swordfishtrombones was the first thing Waits recorded after his marriage, and it was at Kathleen's urging that he made a record that conceded exactly nothing to his record label, or the critics, or his fans. There aren't many love stories where the happy ending sounds like a paint can tumbling in an empty cement mixer.
 
Kathleen Brennan was sorely disappointed by Tom's record collection. She forced him out of his comfortable jazzbo pocket to take in foreign film scores, German theater, and Asian percussion. These two stories of a man creating that elusive American second act, and also finding the perfect collaborator in his wife give this book a natural forward drive.

About the Author:
David Smay has co-edited two books on music with Kim Cooper: Lost In the Grooves: Scram's Capricious Guide To The Music You Missed, and Bubblegum Music Is The Naked Truth.  He's a regular contributor to Scram, has an upcoming piece in Oxford American and has occasionally dithered about pop music on NPR, French Television and documentaries only shown at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, Texas.  But his best interview was with Ratso the punk rock puppet at Quimby's in Chicago.  He lives in San Francisco with his wife and two children, Emmett and Matilda.

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