Standards II

There are a lot of Tom Waits covers, out there, for a lot of reasons.  Guy's got great stuff, that's one of them, and despite his peculiar disposition and distinctive, grumbly way a lot of it is accessible and flexible.

A lot of the Waits covers out there, though, are pretty awful.  Which seems strange, given how accessible and flexible the songs are, and how many people (not me, but apparently everyone near me, whenever I put Tom Waits records on) would rather not deal with those vocal chords and the caveman/junkyard percussion.  Two problems:  Waits' manner informs a lot of his songs with character the way, say, Dylan's wheeze doesn't; and Waits' presence imbues his work with an artiste's integrity.  People covering his work need to both bring a lot of self, to it, and have earned the right to do so.

(shudder) Rod Stewart.  Just thought I'd throw that one out there.  (shudder)

Bruce Springsteen with Tom Waits - Jersey Girl (Live at L.A. Sports Arena, 8/24/81) (mp3)

There are people who think "Jersey Girl" is a Springsteen song, and heck, why shouldn't it be?  Just mention the Garden State in a tune and the man gets, like, a ten percent tariff.  (Southside Johnny's a wholly-owned subsidiary of Boss, Inc.; Chuck Barris owes back taxes for "Palisades Park.")  Waits' original version, on Heartattack and Vine, is fully orchestrated, and even has E Street-friendly glock parts.  Tom Waits doesn't use a fucking glockenspiel.  Tom Waits uses a marimba, motherfuckers.

When the hell else does Tom Waits "Sha la la?"

The only thing that keeps this from being an actual Springsteen song is its positivity.  And Bruce happily pissed all over that by adding an awkward, depressing verse about how "uninspired" his girl is at her job, how they've got to drop their "brat" off with her moms before heading out to a place "where the dancing's free."  Suddenly we're on a cheap date with a spent working mother.  It's amazing we don't wind up a flaming wreck on the Parkway.  Sha la la!

"Didja know that my dreams come true when I'm walking down the street with you?"  Why you have to go and mess with that, buddy?

(Note that while at The Boss' party, Waits defers and uses "girls" instead of "whores.")

Anyway, point:  Springsteen's got the identity, and the blue-collar cred, to more than take over the tune.  On this old bootleg (and yes, there's a distracting flaw a couple minutes in, and the sound blows out at the end (which it should, shouldn't it?) - if you've got a better version, e-mail it to me...) from a concert where Waits did a walk on, Springsteen even gets the song name wrong in the intro.  But he does it in such an aw, shucks, kind of way that... Fine, it's called "Jersey Girls," now, what the hell.

What's remarkable about the performance (Beyond the fact that it actually happened; you don't see ol' Tom playing a lot of basketball arenas) is just how dominant Waits' vocals are.  That voice is lived-in, not run-down.  It's thick, and expressive.  And he's swinging with the entire arm, here.

When the two of them harmonize on the chorus, you're pretty much guaranteed to put out.

Holly Cole - Jersey Girl (Tom Waits cover)(mp3) (buy)

In 1995, Canadian Jazz Chanteuse Holly Cole (unofficial myspace) put out a full CD of Waits covers called Temptation.  They didn't all work, but a good enough number of them did that I tend to include it when I cycle through Waits' own records.  It's probably a good thing to keep on the brain in the face of this oncoming bit of high-profile somethingorother.

Cole's basic solution is to go spare.  By underplaying everything, she doesn't need to create a character so much as survive the exposure.

Her "Jersey Girl" gets a particularly feminine read.  Waits is all promises and bleeding heart, while Cole... waits for it.  Crisp, cool.  Just listen to those "sha la las."  Waits' are slobbery, doggy; Cole's are calculated, catty, cool.  There's a flirty, tonguey "Laaah" at the 2:08 mark, just to let you know she's interested.

Holy Cole - Little Boy Blue (Tom Waits cover)(mp3) (buy)

Holy Cole - The Briar and the Rose (Tom Waits cover)(mp3) (buy)

The song choices on Temptation aren't so much interesting as eclectic, and sometimes the ballads are... well, ballady.  Too many just can't pull off that Clown on Black Velvet aesthetic.

Here are a pair of songs originally found on soundtracks.  "Little Boy Blue's" a nifty hepcat number from Coppola's One From the Heart; Cole doesn't have to do much beyond remember the words.  Really, holy shit, someone dig up Peggy Lee and hand her a lyrics sheet.  "Everything's Canada Dry" is one of those lines you wish you were cool enough to pull off in a conversation.  You're not, Daddy-O, so just sit back and get a load of someone who is.

"Briar" is from Waits' Black Rider, a theater collaboration with Robert Wilson and William Burroughs and holy crap that's some pedigree, there.  His recorded version features organ, clarinet, viola and bass... and manages to sound like Tom Waits rambling on from behind an accordion.

Another problem Waits-coverers have is that, when The Man sings his songs we'll often forgive his missteps.  He can get longwinded.  He does go on.  Interpreters may find themselves with a verse or two more than they really need/we really want.  (And, again, Bruce:  You need more?)  But "Briar" is one of those remarkable improvements-on-the-original, and that's all due to Temptation's secret weapon, pianist Aaron Davis.

Davis buys into the minimalism that makes most of the record work, teasing fills, shaping tones without ever calling attention to himself.  You can hear him on "Jersey Girl," giving the sha-la-la tune a dry run before Holly and her girls pucker up around it; later he breaks it down, in whole notes no less.  And he wrote the horn parts for "Briar."  Perennial PBS pledgedrivers The Canadian Brass do the tooting, but it's a noble, perfectly spaced arrangement.  The little "Loch Lomond" quote trails off nicely.

Cole's still recording - there's a new record out, apparently - though I've heard nothing of hers since this covers CD.  Canada's got itself one low-key jazz chanteuse already, and that one's blonder and more fuckingElvisCostelloer.

tags: tom waits  bruce springsteen  holly cole  

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