Biographical Info from the
Bone Machine Press Kit

Although it's been nearly 5 years since Tom Waits' last album of entirely new material, he has been quite busy. Aside from acting in eight movies, producing his highly regarded and rather theatrical concert film (and album), "Big Time," he wrote the songs and music for the Robert Wilson production of the opera, "The Black Rider" (William Burroughs did the libretto), which was premiered by the Thalia Theater Company in Hamburg, Germany in 1989 (and is now in repertory performance in Hamburg, and touring the world.) He is also composing songs and music for another Wilson/Thalia operatic production---"Alice in Wonderland," due to premiere in Hamburg this December.

Waits has hardly been absent from performing or recording. He contributed two pieces to Ken Nordine's 1992 word-riff opus, Devout Catalyst, sang a song and made a video for the Red Hot & Blue AIDS benefit album, made a guest appearance on Primus's lates release, Sailing the Seas of Cheese, sang two songs on tenor sax great Teddy Edwards' album, Mississippi Lad, and just recently organized (and performed at) a fund-raising concert for victims of the Los Angeles unrest, with help from Chuck E. Weiss and the Goddamn Liars, Fishbone and Los Lobos.

Tom Waits has been recording songs for 20 years now. His first album, Closing Time, was released in 1973. Aside from the two operatic scores mentioned above ("The Black Rider," incidentally, will be his next recording project), he has written two film scores: Francis Ford Coppola's "One From The Heart" (1980), which was nominated for an Academy Award for best original score, and Jim Jarmusch's just-released "Night On Earth." He wrote the theme song to Ralph Waite's portrait of skid row, "On The Nickel," in 1980, and contributed two yet-unreleased songs for the film "Street Wise," a 1985 documentary about street kids in Seattle. Including soundtracks, Bone Machine is Waits' 14th album.

Waits' songs have been recorded by, among others, Bruce Springsteen ("Jersey Girl"), Rod Stewart ("Downtown Train"), Marianne Faithfull ("Strange Weather"), the Bullet Boys ("Hang On St. Christopher"), Bob Seger ("Blind Love," "New Coat Of Paint"), and Dion ("Heart Of Saturday Night," "San Diego Serenade.") Artists including Los Lobos have cited his influence as a songwriter.

The acting career of Tom Waits began with a small part in Sylvester Stallone's "Paradise Alley" in 1978. He has since had roles in Coppola's "The Outsiders" (1983), "Cotton Club" (1984); Jim Jarmusch's "Down By Law" (1986); Ironweed (1987), Robert Frank's "Candy Mountain" (1988); "Cold Feet' (1989), "Queens' Logic" (1990), "The Bearskin" (1990, released only in Europe), "The Fisher King" (a cameo, 1991), and "At Play in the Fields of the Lord" (1991.) Waits played the lead in a stage production of the musical he wrote with his wife Kathleen Brennan, "Frank's Wild Years," performed by Steppenwolf Theater Company in Chicago in 1986. He will act the plum part of "Renfield" in Coppola's upcoming "Bram Stoker's Drakula."

The Waits story is probably best understood by listening to the albums. They are, in order:

Closing Time---His 1973 debut LP was hailed by critics for the inventiveness of the songwriting, the beauty of the melodies, and the promise of things to come. The Eagles recorded its leadoff track, "Old '55," and many still consider "Midnight Lullaby" to be one of Waits' great songs.

The Heart of Saturday Night---Regarded as a great leap forward from Closing Time, this 1974 work was still comparatively embryonic material. It was also critically endorsed, and lauded for the poignance of songs like "San Diego Serenade," "Shiver Me Timbers," and the pithy ode to the American night, its title song, "The Heart of Saturday Night."

Nighthawks At The Diner---This 1975 live double-album brought attention to Waits, correctly or otherwise, as a beat storyteller given to stroking his goatee, smoking a lot, and singing anthems to alienation and hash browns (over easy.) "Eggs and Sausage" is still regarded as a minor Waits classic.

Small Change---Although Waits has remarked that it's difficult for him to listen to some of his earlier albums, there is no denying the enduring potency of this completely remarkable 1976 record. Backed by the late Shelly Manne, Jim Hughart (bass), and Lew Tabackin (sax), Waits hit his first great stride with Small Change. He recently opened his fund- raising concert for unrest-ravaged Los Angeles with the title track ---a story of untimely and unnecessary death.

Foreign Affairs---On this 1977 work, Waits worked with orchestra arranger on what can legitimately be called a symphonic poem, "Potter's Field," and sang a witty and tender duet with Bette Midler, "I Never Talk To Strangers."

Blue Valentine---Waits managed another tour-de-force of songwriting excellence in 1978, maintaining a very difficult album-a-year pace. "Kentucky Avenue,", remains an arresting bit of poetry about a crippled child. The musically kinetic little drama, "Romeo is Bleeding," the title track, "Blue Valentines," and "Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis" became concert staples for Waits, who was almost perpetually on tour in the 70s.

Heartattack and Vine---Waits Played a lot of electric guitar on this more R&B-oriented 1980 record, which yielded a song that eventually became part of Bruce Springsteen's repertory, "Jersey Girl." The album also included Waits' poetic title song from Ralph Waite's film, "On The Nickel." The album had a grittier edge than anything previous; Waits seemed to be pushing himself stylistically, perhaps as much out of restlessness as artistic drive.

One From The Heart---For eighteen months beginning in 1980, Waits worked with Francis Ford Coppola on what the director termed his "lounge operetta." Waits composed and wrote according to Coppola's descriptions of the movie, rather from a prepared script. With Crystal Gayle sharing the vocals, Waits Academy Award-nominated soundtrack album came out in 1982.

Swordfishtrombones---This 1983 critically hailed work was a breakthrough for Waits. It was far more abstract than anything he's done before, musically and thematically, featuring everything from calliopes to Balinese metal aunglongs. Waits said he tried to "listen to the noise in my head and invent some junkyard orchestral deviation" to create a "demented journal of exotic design." While a precursor of even larger experiments in noise-making, the album somehow also yielded one of his most affecting songs, "Soldier's Things."

Raindogs---This 1985 LP was the second part of what Waits has come to regard as a sort of trilogy, beginning with Swordfishtrombones. It pushed the tentative forays of its predecessor further, notably in the new ways Waits began to manipulate his voice (including using a megaphone; Waits described his pipes at this point in his career as "the right horn for my car.") It was also critically lauded, and is one of the richest collections of Waits songs on one record. A landmark recording. (A "raindog," incidentally, is a dog befuddled by the rain erasure of canine territorial markings; this is a phenomenon Waits observed during two years in New York City in the mid-80s.)

Frank's Wild Years---Dubbed "un operachi romantico in two acts," this 1987 work was made of the songs from Waits' stage musical of the same name, co-written with Brennan. The show was a parable, Waits said, a story of one accordion player's redemption and baptism. The album rivals Raindogs for its rich array of songs and textures. Styles ranged from Edith Piaf-ian melodies to what Waits termed "Jerry Lewis going down on the Titanic".

Big Time--A mostly live concert album released in 1988 along with a concert film of the same name, it also featured two new studio tracks: "Falling Down," and "Strange Weather." Critics loved both the album and the film.

Night On Earth---The soundtrack to the just-released Jim Jarmusch film features three songs by Waits and Brennan: "Back in the Good Old World (Gypsy)," "Good Old World (Waltz)," and "On The Other Side Of The World,"---and fourteen instrumental tracks by Waits.