More discussions of Waits's unreleased recordings brings us to the 1980s, featuring several demos, a bunch of covers, and significant collaborations with other musicians, both big and small. Highlights this week include his contribution to a poetry documentary, a live Ewan MacColl cover, and his evening of collaborations with The Replacements.
Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Purple Avenue / Empty Pockets, live recording, Expo Theatre, Montreal Canada (3 July 1981)
Purple Avenue, Punishing Kiss, Ute Lemper (2000)
Once Upon A Town / Empty Pockets, One From The Heart OST, Tom Waits (1982)
Smuggler's Waltz / Bronx Lullaby, from Poetry In Motion, dir. Ron Mann (1982)
Poetry In Motion (expanded version), documentary, dir. Ron Mann (1982?)
Frank's Wild Demos, bootleg, Tom Waits (1986?/2006)
The Black Rider Demos, bootleg, Tom Waits (1990-1992/2011)
Yesterday is Here (demo), unreleased recording, Frank's Wild Demos (1986?)
Carnivalins, unreleased recording, Frank's Wild Demos (1986?)
Vegas Theme, unreleased recording, Frank's Wild Demos (1986?)
Downtown Train (alt take), NME's Big Four 7" EP, Tom Waits (1986)
Downtown Train, Rain Dogs, Tom Waits (1985)
Harlem Shuffle, Dirty Work, The Rolling Stones (1986)
Harlem Shuffle, alt. long version, unreleased, from Dirty Work sessions (1985)
I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Knew (About Her), live recording, Beverly Theatre, Los Angeles CA, Tom Waits with Elvis Costello and Lou Reed, w. Cecil Null (4 October 1986)
I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know, Memories, The Davis Sisters (1953)
I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Knew (About Her), Self Portrait, Bob Dylan (1970)
Papa's Got A Brand New Bag, live recording, Massey Hall, Toronto Canada, w. James brown (7 October 1987)
Papa's Got A Brand New Bag Part 1, single, James Brown and the Famous Flames (1965)
Mack The Knife, live recording, Freie Volksbuhne, Berlin Germany, w. Bertolt Brecht / Kurt Weill (8 December 1987)
Die Moritat von Mackie Messer (Mack The Knife), from the film Die 3 Groschenoper (The Threepenny Opera), sung by Bertolt Brecht, w. Brecht & Weill (1928/9)
Mack The Knife, That's All, Bobby Darin (1959)
Big Rock Candy Mountain, from the film Ironweed, dir. Hector Babenco (1987)
Once More Before I Go, from the film Candy Mountain, dir. Robert Frank and Rudy Wurlitzer (1988)
Date To Church, single b-side, The Replacements / Tom Waits (1989)
Date To Church - Matt Wallace Remix, Dead Man's Pop, The Replacements / Tom Waits (1989/2019)
Lowdown Monkey Blues, Dead Man's Pop, The Replacements / Tom Waits (1989/2019)
If Only You Were Lonely, Dead Man's Pop, The Replacements / Tom Waits (1989/2019)
If Only You Were Lonely, single b-side, The Replacements (1981)
I Can Help, studio outtake / Dead Man's Pop, The Replacements / Tom Waits, w. Billy Swan (1989/2019)
I Can Help, I Can Help, Billy Swan (1974)
3oclockreep, digital release, The Replacements (2008)
We Know The Night - Rehearsal Version, Dead Man's Pop, The Replacements / Tom Waits (1989/2019)
We Know The Night - Full Band Version, Dead Man's Pop, The Replacements / Tom Waits (1989/2019)
Take It As It Comes, live recording, Wiltern Theatre, Los Angeles CA, w. The Doors (31 December 1988)
Take It As It Comes, The Doors, The Doors (1967)
Pennies From Heaven, live recording, Wiltern Theatre, Los Angeles CA, w. Arthur Johnston and Johnny Burke (31 December 1988)
Pennies From Heaven, single, Bing Crosby and the Georgie Stoll Orchestra (1936)
Dirty Old Town, live recording, Wiltern Theatre, Los Angeles CA, w. Ewan MacColl (31 December 1988)
Dirty Old Town, Black And White, Ewan McColl / Peggy Seeger (1983)
Dirty Old Town, I Know My Love, The Dubliners (1968)
Dirty Old Town, Rum Sodomy and The Lash, The Pogues (1985)
Hound Dog, live recording, Wiltern Theatre, Los Angeles CA, w. Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller (31 December 1988)
Hound Dog, single, Big Mama Thornton (1953)
Hound Dog, single, Elvis Presley (1956)
Roy Orbison and Friends - A Black & White Night, concert film, Cinemax (1988)
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