Tom Waits – Used Songs (1973-1980)

With his trademark rasp, Tom Waits has a voice that leaves no one feeling neutral. As a friend put it in the early 1980s: “You listen to him sing and you want to clear your own throat.” No one questions his songwriting, though, as artists ranging from Tom Russell and Nanci Griffith to Bruce Springsteen and the Blind Boys Of Alabama have recorded his songs.

The 16 selections on Used Songs are drawn from the seven albums he released on Asylum and create an after-hours soundtrack for time spent in a bar, in a diner or on the streets. If the paintings of Edward Hopper came with sound, these songs would be playing.

“Ol’ 55” captures the romantic afterglow of a departing lover following a late-night encounter as dawn turns to daylight. As the opening track on Closing Time, his debut album, it served as a calling card that this was a singer-songwriter with something extra with his mix of folk, blues and jazz.

“(Looking For) The Heart of Saturday Night”, the title track of his second album, is the flip side of “Ol’ 55”, dealing with the anticipation of romance. It’s a minimalist masterpiece with just an acoustic guitar and bass and Jim Gordon using his knees and feet for percussion.

“Jersey Girl” may be the best song of its kind that Springsteen never wrote, with its sha-la-la chorus. “Step Right Up”, a jazzy send-up of product hucksters and late-night commercials, has lost none of its charm in the 25 years since its release, and ought to be required playing before any television infomercial.

There’s no “San Diego Serenade”, “Pasties And A G String” or “Emotional Weather Report”. It’s only a matter of time, however, until Waits, now 52, gets the box set treatment. Until then, Used Songs serves as a good introduction to the first phase of his career.