I Am a Tom Waits Fan
He Ain't Dyin'-he's Croonin'...
ok,you kids,don't get jealous,but Tom lives just a few hills over,somewhere north of san fransisco.He dwells on a beautiful ridge near Les Claypool and Mickey Hart-rock star alley,I call it.
The first time I met him in person was at the bus stop.His son is a teenaged skateboard enthusiast,he and a pal were heading down to the city to shred for the day-I was heading down to scrounge cheap records.I saw the man,very short in stature,then I heard the unmistakeable VOICE!shivers,ohmygawsh,ohmygawrsh,it's really him-go introduce yerself and say somethin'intellegent...do not say"I'm a really big fan"...those were,of course,my opening words.damn.then I followed up with"my sister wants to marry you but I told her you were already taken..."which at least elicited a chuckle...then I blundered along some more with something along the lines of "as a musician I want to thank you for the many years of inspiration".DUH.at least I didn't pester him with something along the lines of,dude-we should jam...I did request an autograph,he graciously mumbled"I dunno what you're gonna do with it..."oh,put it on the wall of fame-next to Bo Diddley,or give it to my kid sister(which I eventually did,what a fella)
I run into him occasionally at shows,pawnshops,music stores and gas stations,but we haven't spoken much-it's hard to keep the swooning fanboy gleam out of my eye,and I don't wish to pester such a cool cat-but seriously,someday we should jam,broham.My friend saw him backstage once at Elvis Costello's show,her first impression was along the lines of-who let that homeless guy in here?then she heard the VOICE and was reduced to fangirl puddles...can't judge a book,and all that jazz.
It's also nice to hear him include local dive bars like the Pink Elephant(all roads lead to the pink)Red's Recovery Room,and characters like my old buddy Billy Bones in his songs,few other writers and performers will ever have the grit and honesty he unfailinly puts forth in his work,he never ceases to amaze this listener.
ok,you kids,don't get jealous,but Tom lives just a few hills over,somewhere north of san fransisco.He dwells on a beautiful ridge near Les Claypool and Mickey Hart-rock star alley,I call it.
The first time I met him in person was at the bus stop.His son is a teenaged skateboard enthusiast,he and a pal were heading down to the city to shred for the day-I was heading down to scrounge cheap records.I saw the man,very short in stature,then I heard the unmistakeable VOICE!shivers,ohmygawsh,ohmygawrsh,it's really him-go introduce yerself and say somethin'intellegent...do not say"I'm a really big fan"...those were,of course,my opening words.damn.then I followed up with"my sister wants to marry you but I told her you were already taken..."which at least elicited a chuckle...then I blundered along some more with something along the lines of "as a musician I want to thank you for the many years of inspiration".DUH.at least I didn't pester him with something along the lines of,dude-we should jam...I did request an autograph,he graciously mumbled"I dunno what you're gonna do with it..."oh,put it on the wall of fame-next to Bo Diddley,or give it to my kid sister(which I eventually did,what a fella)
I run into him occasionally at shows,pawnshops,music stores and gas stations,but we haven't spoken much-it's hard to keep the swooning fanboy gleam out of my eye,and I don't wish to pester such a cool cat-but seriously,someday we should jam,broham.My friend saw him backstage once at Elvis Costello's show,her first impression was along the lines of-who let that homeless guy in here?then she heard the VOICE and was reduced to fangirl puddles...can't judge a book,and all that jazz.
It's also nice to hear him include local dive bars like the Pink Elephant(all roads lead to the pink)Red's Recovery Room,and characters like my old buddy Billy Bones in his songs,few other writers and performers will ever have the grit and honesty he unfailinly puts forth in his work,he never ceases to amaze this listener.
56-60, M
