I found a forum that hates Tom Waits more than our own.

[bsman]

When I first heard them I scratched my head as it did not make any sense. With bands during the late 60's ie: Bloodrock, Grand Funk, Black Sabbath and then you hear Greatful Dead....Huh?? ?? ??

Of course, the bands you name are a very small slice of the late 60s rock pie. If you were to say rather: With bands during the late 60's ie: The Band, Little Feat, The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, CS&N, CCR, and then you hear Greatful Dead and you say "Of course, that makes total sense."

 

[dmn23]

I don't think this forum hates Tom Waits.... we just love teasing you about your Bro-crush more.

The Grateful Dead hate is real though.

 

[Modern Saint]

Of course, the bands you name are a very small slice of the late 60s rock pie. If you were to say rather: With bands during the late 60's ie: The Band, Little Feat, The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, CS&N, CCR, and then you hear Greatful Dead and you say "Of course, that makes total sense."

Was just name referencing as the other names you mentioned don't seem soooo - LOUD.

 

[davebols]

did Tom Waits do a song called ol' 55? I think it was good if I remember. Some other band did it too, can't remember that ether or ither

 

[Gary Blanchard]

Tom Waits is one of those artists that will be better known for his songs than his performance. Peter, Paul, and Mary did a lot to promote Bob Dylan in his early days; they presented them in a way that was palatable to a mass audience. There are a good number who then went back to hear Dylan do them and came to like him. I think Tom Waits songs are not as "poppish" as Dylan's, and have a harder time making that transition.

 

[Kerouac]

did Tom Waits do a song called ol' 55? I think it was good if I remember. Some other band did it too, can't remember that ether or ither

He wrote it, Eagles covered it and made him a bundle.

 

[Grant Gross]

What exactly is wrong with Tom Waits? I'd take him over 90 percent of what I hear on the radio these days.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

I'm no Tom Waits hater. Perhaps small doses go down easier, but still, gotta love him.

 

[mongooz]

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3676839

Of course, most of them are teenage boys and wouldn't know good music if it was a wet dream. cop0

i don't hate tom waits.....i just don't worship him.

 

[Jbird]

I guess they had no intention of becoming a death metal band in the 60's

They should've hired Doro Pesch to sing for them back then

 

[platypus]

I love Tom Waits music!
I can do without ever hearing the Grateful dead again.

 

[cuffdc]

I love me some Tom Waits.

 

[Gary Blanchard]

I'd say the Eagles hate here may outweigh both Tom Waits and Grateful Dead hate.

 

[Dogsinplastic]

Ron Stewart did Downtown Train but that wasn't exactly a good cover...

Awful shit that cover. Stewart is 95-99% miss for me. There are a handful of solid tunes and his best stuff is covers, but not Downtown Train.

 

[Dogsinplastic]

It really is no different than someone disliking another artist. Everyone has different tastes and for me my dislike for Tom Waits is his voice. Now @Kerouac covered a Tom Waits song for one of the recordingfest and it was great. With that said if another artist covered his material, I may have better appreciation for it.

Yes, vocal timbre is a very personal thing. I didn't understand Waits when dad played him when I was a kid because of the voice. I have grown to appreciate it though. But I have the same feeling you mention other people doing covers when it comes to Dylan and Cohen. It's not that they're bad singers, but Leonard in particular doesn't grab me as a singer. Lou Reed isn't a great singer, but his stuff sounds best when he sings it, that's how I feel about Tom.

Definitely not for everyone, but that's a part of his appeal for some folks.

 

[Modern Saint]

Definitely not for everyone, but that's a part of his appeal for some folks.

There it is and well said D-dude!!!

The same goes for many other artists as well.

 

[Tig]

Yes, vocal timbre is a very personal thing. I didn't understand Waits when dad played him when I was a kid because of the voice. I have grown to appreciate it though.

^This is my experience as well.

 

[tgk03]

It really is no different than someone disliking another artist. Everyone has different tastes and for me my dislike for Tom Waits is his voice. Now @Kerouac covered a Tom Waits song for one of the recordingfest and it was great. With that said if another artist covered his material, I may have better appreciation for it.

There are some abysmal covers out there. Some really good ones too. A few people have done whole albums dedicated to his songs:

There's Wicked Grin by John Hammond. Here's one cut:


And Temptation by Holly Cole is a great one. A sample:

 

[Help!I'maRock!]

I like Tom Waits and The Grateful Dead.

Fuck the Eagles.

 

[Dogsinplastic]

There are some abysmal covers out there. Some really good ones too. A few people have done whole albums dedicated to his songs:

There's Wicked Grin by John Hammond. Here's one cut:


And Temptation by Holly Cole is a great one. A sample:

That's another thing that helped deepen my appreciation of Waits, his work with John Hammond, Jr. I've seen Hammond a handful of times, all more than 20 years ago...but I've been a fan from the first time I heard his version of Pretty Thing (one of my earliest musical memories).