Wild Years: The Music and Myth of Tom Waits (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Updated to include Tom Waits's most recent endeavors-albums Real Gone, Blood Money and Alice, and movies Coffee and Cigarettes and Domino-Jacobs's biography of the man with the gravely voice draws on a 30-year career, a lot of interviews and Waits's microphone banter to show "the irony of Tom Waits's career is that after he found happiness, love, and sobriety, his music became more and more experimental." Waits appears here with all the trappings of an iconic figure, including the self-mythologizing: Jacobs quotes Waits heavily, but warns that the musician's words are often of questionable accuracy. With over 30 images capturing Waits in his many different roles, a discography (including covers) and a list of Waits's guest appearances, Jacobs's biography will find a welcome audience in fans of Waits's music.
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Product Description

Newly updated to include his critically acclaimed post-millennial work, this look at Tom Waits—both the reality and the myriad myths—reveals the man behind the curtain. A tale of how a self-taught, drunken hipster in roach-killers and a dirty beret has influenced a generation of musicians with his sound, warmth, and willingness to take chances, this biography shows how he has moved between sideshow barker and evocative troubadour with ease, recording almost 20 albums that range from cabaret to movie soundtracks. Waits encapsulates the wink-and-nudge of a Vaudevillian and the rhythm and heart of a beatnik, and his fans span a similarly wide spectrum, drawn in by his candor and humor. But off stage, he has resolutely protected his private life even as he and his wife-collaborator, Kathleen Brennan, publicly experiment with innovative recording techniques and instrumentation. A complete discography, as well as a look at Waits' film and theater careers, rounds out this exploration of a great, self-styled, genre-hopping enigma—the poet laureate of the streetlit American night.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Ecw Press; 2nd edition (May 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1550227165
• ISBN-13: 978-1550227161
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #44,058 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

78 of 78 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Examining the Music of a Private Man, February 26, 2002

By	Susan Hickey "Singed Cat" (Atlanta GA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Wild Years: The Music and Myth of Tom Waits (Paperback)

Waits' fans are no strangers to paradox -- his music, steeped in its own history yet undeniably original, deeply textured as corrugated steel yet with a compassionate heart that doesn't quit, songs that reveal humanity's every weakness, and in doing so somehow redeem it. His music revels in its own originality without falling prey to self-indulgence.

So it shouldn't have surprised me that Tom Wait's biographies have been as badly written, speculative, and poorly directed as his music has been insightful and original. From his early years Waits portrayed the piano playing drunk, the street poet, the loser with dreams, and seemed to love using that voice to speak to the press. Interviewers were treated to long yarns about his life, loves and friends, yarns spun from a humorous imagination by a private man. Books trying to build on this paper foundation have fallen flat as last night's beer, and if some fans (and reporters) were annoyed by his evasions and stories, more were entertained by the them, and willingly accepted Waits as the character he portrayed, a seedy addition to American mythology.

Waits is not the first artist to use a stage persona as a privacy screen, but he was one of the most successful. It is my opinion that this avoidance was not so much a personal aversion to the limelight, but a desire to proect his music from himself. To that end, he only revealed the parts of himself that supported his music, and, like any good thespian, hid the machinery with the scenery.

Finally, someone got the point. Jay S. Jacobs writes about Waits from a thoughtful perspective unseen in previous biographers. Guiding us with a wink and a smile past the many myths and tall tales, Jacobs brings us backstage to the artist without knocking down his front door. Those looking for juicy details and scandalous stories will be disappointed-- the basics of his private life are related only in context of his musical career. Jacobs makes no attempt to analyse or interpret Waits' personality.

That being said, those looking for a portait of Waits the artist will be amply rewarded. The details of his career are recorded here as nowhere else; details of projects he's worked on, creative decisions and how they related to his goals and situation at the time, inspirations for songs both factual and fantastic, interviews with producers and musicians he has worked with broaden our view. Here too we see that the easygoing streetpoet is defended by an uncompromising artst who picks his fights carefully: his refusal to sell his music rights to sell products; his lawsuit against Frito Lay; his legal action against police officers who mistook him for someone they could abuse.

With each successive project, with each professional decision, we are given a block-by block construction of a remarkable career, which fell short (or steered clear?) of the commercial fast track in favour of a more winding road to a more unique, enduring and (I suspect) satisfying destiny.

I know that Waits himself does not approve of projects directed at his life; nevertheless as a musician I am deeply grateful to Jacobs for giving us biography. In the past I was moved and shaken by his music; now I am proud to count him as a role-model.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific bio on Tom!, January 23, 2001

By	Louis Hirshorn (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wild Years: The Music and Myth of Tom Waits (Paperback)

I've always kind of wondered what makes Tom Waits tick, and I think this very well written book gave me as good a view as I'm likely to get. It covers all the basics, the drinking, the family, the childhood, the dives, the music, the movies, etc. It also opens up the fact that Waits seems to be a surprisingly introspective man, who puts his art before anything else. If nothing else, the book is worth reading because the man is such an original thinker and wordsmith. "Wild Years" seems to capture that originality and truly appreciates the body of work that Waits has put together. This book helps to explain the subtle mystery that is Tom Waits.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very good biography, February 8, 2001

By	Debbie Wagner (Boulder, Co.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wild Years: The Music and Myth of Tom Waits (Paperback)

I just finished reading both 'Wild Years' by Jacobs and 'Tom Waits' by Carroll (strangely that one is credited to Staunton on here). This was by far the better of the two books. It did a great job of covering Waits' music and acting and also gave you a sense that you knew the guy. I'd really recommend you read this book, if you like Waits or even if you were just curious about him.