“Folkabilly” singer Nanci Griffith will feature three Tom Waits covers on her upcoming album of “torch songs”, Ruby’s Torch. The album will feature her renditions of “Ruby’s Arms”, “Grapefruit Moon” and “Please Call Me, Baby”. The album will be released on November 14th and will be followed up with a nationwide cabaret tour.
Israeli jazz singer Efrat Alony features a rendition of Waits’ “Take it With Me” on her latest album Unarmed and Dazed. The album also features a cover of The Beatles’ “She’s Leaving Home”.
I know I’ve been posting a bunch tonight, but I needed to do some catching up. In any case, I found this (albeit 7 months late) cool video cover of Waits’ “Back in the Good Old World” performed by none other than the ultimate trader, art work genius and all around interesting fellow Pascal Fricke (AKA WaitsWatcher). I thought it would be a good way to sign off for the night so enjoy:
Eccentric musician and former member of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Kid Congo Powers, has a very unusual cover of Waits’ “Virginia Avenue” on his latest album Solo Cholo. The track is available for sample and purchase at Emusic. The whole album is available for purchase at his label’s site, New York Night Train.
Update 10/1/2006: This track originally appeared on New Coat of Paint: Songs of Tom Waits
Mr. Waits always seems to be very popular among the Broadway set. A new show entitled Looking for the Heart of Saturday Night will feature James Naughton performing the music of Tom Waits among others:
Two-time Tony Award winner James Naughton will appear in Looking for the Heart of Saturday Night as a “Monday Night Live” fundraising event at La Jolla Playhouse Oct. 23.
Broadway performer, Annie Golden, will bring her song cycle show Velvet Prison to Ars Nova in NYC on September 20th. The performance will feature songs from Tom Waits.
[Via: PlayBill News]
OK, this post is really only for all of the hardcore Oklahoma Tom Waits fans, of which I may be the only one. In any case, there is a young jazz harpist in town named Jessica Tate. I saw her a couple of weeks back in Maker’s Cigar Bar. During the performance, she played a very good but odd performance of “Blue Valentines”. If you are in the area, you might try to find one of her rare performances.
Pearl Jam covered “Picture in a Frame” during their show last night in Milan. You can view the setlist and buy the whole show here.
Update (9/16/2006): There is a video now available on YouTube of the performance (quality’s not great, but you’ll get the idea):
Thanks to the Eyeball Kid for the heads up.
The HBO series, The Wire, is continuing to use the Waits tune “Way Down in the Hole”. Previous seasons used performances by Blind Boys of Alabama and the Neville Brothers. This year’s season will use a cover performed by Baltimore middle-school students.
Via: Hooked on ‘The Wire
Glen, on the Raindogs Mailing List, found this very interesting bluegrass cover of “Cold Water” performed by Railroad Earth. It’s track #2 on the play list. The rest of the show is great too.
Madeleine Peyroux, who scored a moderate hit with her track “Don’t Wait Too Long” in 2004, is back on a new album called Half the Perfect World. The album features her rendition of Waits’ “The Heart of Saturday Night”. You can listen to a short sample here: Windows Media/Real Audio. The album will be released on September 12th.
Dave Alvin features a cover of Blind Love on his most recent album West of the West. You can hear a short sample of this track here. Mr. Alvin previously contributed a cover of Ol’ 55 of the Tom Waits tribute album Step Right Up: The Songs of Tom Waits.
Sally Dworsky, who is a frequent guest on Prairie Home Companion has included a cover of Broken Bicycles on her most recent album, Start it All Over. Her brother Richard Dworsky, also a Prairie Home Companion regular, appears with her on the album.
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.
The DVD follow up to this year’s Blood and Feathers: Live from the Café Carlyle disk by German cabaret diva Ute Lemper also features her cover of Grapefruit Moon. In the past Lemper has also covered “The Part You Throw Away” on her fantastic disc Punishing Kiss. Both covers are well worth checking out.
Thanks to Mitch on the Raindogs mailing list.
Update (17:49): Duh, and of course she also covered “Purple Avenue” on Punishing Kiss as well. Thanks Sarah.
