Tom Waits for No Man

 This one qualifies as really obscure Tom Waits memorabilia.  Back in 1979, Waits was involved in a animation experiment called Tom Waits for No One.   The five minute short features a Waits singing “The One That Got Away” to a sultry stripper.  It was never released to the general public.  You can read extensively about the piece at the Tom Waits Supplement.  In any case, an animation cell from the short work is available for auction via Ebay.  The auction ends tomorrow 6:49 PM PDT.

Thanks to the recalcitrant Hank S. for the heads up, though he might not appreciate it.

Duke Robillard’s Fender that he played during the Orphan’s Tour is now for sale on his website:

Fender nocaster relic Tele. Great sounding tele with slight distressing. Big round neck, 6150 frets. wired for pickups in series plus standard 3 way with 4 position switch. This is the tele Duke used on his Tom Waits tour. With original style vintage case - $2000

Source: DUKE’S PERSONAL GUITARS FOR SALE

A few weeks back I posted a link to some classic Tom Waits photos on Everyone I Shot Is Dead. Well, your comments prompted the artist, Deborah Chesher, to follow up with some more great shots, this time from the Troubadour from August, 1975. The last shot is a true classic.

She is also putting together a book of rock and roll photos also titled Everyone I Shot Is Dead. The book will open with a photo of Tom Waits.

Update: Sorry, I got a bit confused on the book. There are actually two different releases. The first is a book entitled Everyone I Shot is Dead is a collection of stories and photos of musicians photographed by Deborah Chesher who are no longer with us. Additionally, she will be releasing a series of prints of which Tom Waits will be one. Sorry for the confusion.

Tom Waits has donated an autographed jacket to a celebrity auction being run by the ACLU of Southern California.  The corduroy Levis jacket features an inscription from Waits that reads, “To the new owner: I raised a lot of hell in this jacket, but it’s a lucky one. My wife wants me to get rid of it cause its all ripped up. May the new wearer wear it well”.  The auction winner will also win a signed copy of the Zoetrope: All Story magazine Waits put together last year.

The auction is being run on Ebay.com and at the time of posting, the winning bid is $500.  The auction will end on September 26th, 2006 at 10:00 PDT.

 Stylus Magazine has put out a Top 10 list about the Nightmares of Tom Waits which is really about all of the really odd visuals from the songs of Waits:

“It’s one of those dreams where everyone you never wanted to see again, showed up,” Tom Waits once told an audience in his 1988 concert movie, Big Time. “It’s Uncle Phil. Shit, I owe him money! ” He spoke of the street corner Ninth and Hennepin, as a place where “all the donuts have names that sound like prostitutes,”with a flophouse where “all the rooms, they smell like diesel,” and “you take on the dreams of the ones who slept there.” Waits describes it all in his famous growl that’s oiled in cheap bourbon, L.A. smog, and scars from endless nights of hollering at the devil in SRO hotel rooms. And somehow he still makes you wish you were there with him.

Source: Top Ten Nightmares of Tom Waits - Staff Top 10 - Stylus Magazine

 Minneapolis based Zenon Dance Company will feature music by Tom Waits, among others, during their upcoming concert November 16 through the 26th:

Choreographer cavalcade. For the 24th year, Zenon presents cutting edge work by local and national modern dance choreographers. But the real excitement comes from watching this remarkable ensemble of dancers absorb every kind of movement guest choreographers throw at them with breathtaking aplomb. This concert features a work by New York hottie Sean Curran; one by the sublimely eclectic Cathy Young to music by Tom Waits, Nine Inch Nails and Joe Williams; and a premiere by the dynamically intense Wynn Fricke. Southern Theater, Minneapolis. Tickets: 612-340-1725.

Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | 09/10/2006 | Eight dance shows to move your soul

Last year I reported that Tom Waits was participating as a judge in the International Songwriting Competition.  Well, he’s back again for 2006.  They are now accepting entries, all of which must be in by October 16th.

Jarlath came across a book called The Many Lives of Tom Waits on Amazon.co.uk a few months back. It’s written by Patrick Humphries who previously penned the Tom Waits bio Small Change: A Life of Tom Waits. However, this appears to be a new book on considerably longer in length and is probably a brand new effort. Amazon states that the book will be released on November 1st.

Jarlath found some great old pictures of Tom Waits back when he was opening up for Frank Zappa. Thought you might like to take a look.

Ben L. on the Raindogs Mailing List found a Tom Waits themed cafe in Taiwan. Actually, it looks way too clean to really be Tom Waits themed, but it’s a start. A few dozen invading Raindogs ought be able to beat the place into a suitable level of squalor. If nothing else, they probably have a great jukebox. Anyone out there visited the place?

In other celebs loving celebs news, Shane MacGowan, former lead singer of The Pogues, says he spent one of the best nights of his life drinking with Mr. Waits:

Hard-drinking rocker SHANE MacGOWAN made a longtime drinking friend in reclusive singer TOM WAITS after the pair embarked on a booze-fuelled binge nearly 20 years ago.

THE POGUES frontman MacGowan has since always tried to get together with gravel-voiced Waits when the Irish band visited America because of a night he spent drinking with him after a gig in 1986.

He says, “I love him, we all love him, and I was incredibly lucky to see him do FRANK’S WILD YEARS in Chicago. We met him in this theatre bar after.

“That was one of the best nights I’ve ever had. Someone was playing the piano but it was far from refined!”

[Via: SHANE M - MacGOWAN SPENT BEST NIGHT EVER WITH WAITS]

It must be said that Mr. Waits finds admirers from all corners of the spectrum.

According to a recent interview, Steve Vai, big haired rock guitarist extraordinaire, counts Tom Waits as his favorite artist:

I listen to Tom Waits, my favorite artist, but his style of music isn’t for everybody. But the people who love it, really love it.

[Via: Secrets Of Steve Vai | News @ Ultimate-Guitar.Com]

This is one of those obscure references, but I liked the idea. I currently use the completely random process of loading up my MP3 player (yeah, I don’t have an IPod, so my Treo 650 must suffice) which often leaves me with compilations that can be considered grating. The Rough Guides Book of Playlists offers an alternative by listing what it thinks the greatest playlists for any music enthusiast. It includes several Tom Waits tracks as well as biographies of the many artists included in the lists. Published by Rough Guides, more famous for there travel books, this is any interesting concept for a trip through the audible world.

I found the following brief notice about a movement to find “PodSafe” music for the multitudes of Postcasters out there:

But the PodSafe Music Network (www.music.podshow.com) is only one part of the PodShow’s auspices. “[PodSafe]’s a place for podcasters to go find music for their shows,” Butler said. PodSafe makes artists usable for airplay in all podcasts, which is something akin to a Creative Commons license. Butler’s new agreement brings tracks by big-league artists like Bad Religion, Merle Haggard, Tom Waits, the Dropkick Murphys, Elliott Smith, and NOFX into the world of podcasting. Punk label Fat Wreck Chords and Saddle Creek Records, home to indie-emo phenoms Cursive and Bright Eyes, also signed on to PodSafe at Butler’s behest, though many indie labels continue to balk at authorizing music for PodSafe usage.

[Via: San Francisco Bay Guardian | Arts and Entertainment]

According to the PodSafe site, Epitaph(the parent label of Anti-) has made the following four Tom Waits songs safe for Podcasting:

• Alice
• Another Man’s Vine
• Hold On
• How’s It Gonna End

I was unable to find out if there is any licensing costs for these songs, but at least it’s nice to know that there is some cool tunes to put in those podcasts.

The cast of the Chicago production of Wicked included a Tom Waits tune during their Hurricane Katrina benefit performance on November 14th of last year:

Cast members preformed favorite show tunes, comic sketches and dance numbers, including a special presentation of Tom Waits’ song “New Orleans”, visually backed by projected images of Habitat for Humanity’s current rebuilding efforts.

[Via: Chicago WICKED Benefit Raises $22,000 for Habitat for Humanity (BroadwayWorld.com)]

The event raised $22,000 for Katrina rebuilding efforts.