Swordfishtrombones

Infobox Album |
Name = Swordfishtrombones
Type = Album
Artist = Tom Waits


Released = September 1983
Recorded = August 1982 Sunset Sound, Hollywood
Genre = Experimental
Length = 40:31
Label = Island
Producer = Tom Waits
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:1jnsa9wgb23g link]
*Q Rating|5|5 [http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=60098643&loc=109&sp=1&queryType=music 10/92, p.100]
*Robert Christgau (A-) [http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=Tom+Waits link]
Last album = "One From the Heart"
(1982)
This album = "Swordfishtrombones"
(1983)
Next album = "Rain Dogs"
(1985)

"Swordfishtrombones" is an album by American singer-songwriter Tom Waits, released in September 1983 (see 1983 in music). It was the first album that Waits produced himself and is marked as such by a sense of artistic freedom that would increasingly characterize his later work.

Stylistically different from his previous LPs, "Swordfishtrombones" moves away from the piano and string orchestra arrangements of the late seventies replacing them instead with unusual instrumentation and a somewhat more abstract songwriting approach.

"Swordfishtrombones" peaked at #164 on Billboard's Pop Albums and Billboard 200 albums chart.

In 1989, Spin Magazine named "Swordfishtrombones" the second greatest album of all time.

"Town with No Cheer" was covered by actress Scarlett Johansson on her album of Waits covers, Anywhere I Lay My Head.

"Soldier's Things" was covered by singer Angela McCluskey and her band Tryptich on their album, "Curio".

Track listing

All tracks written by Tom Waits.

#"Underground" – 1:58
#"Shore Leave" – 4:12
#"Dave the Butcher" (instrumental) – 2:15
#"Johnsburg, Illinois" – 1:30
#"16 Shells from a Thirty-Ought-Six" – 4:30
#"Town With No Cheer" – 4:22
#"In the Neighborhood" – 3:04
#"Just Another Sucker on the Vine" (instrumental) – 1:42
#"Frank's Wild Years" – 1:50
#"Swordfishtrombone" – 3:00
#"Down, Down, Down" – 2:10
#"Soldier's Things" – 3:15
#"Gin Soaked Boy" – 2:20
#"Trouble's Braids" – 1:18
#"Rainbirds" (instrumental) – 3:05

Personnel

* Tom Waits - Vocal (1,2,4,5,6,7,9,10,11,12,13,14), Chair (2), Hammond B-3 Organ (3), Piano (4,15), Harmonium (6,8), Synthesizer (6), Freedom Bell (6)
* Victor Feldman - Bass Marimba (1,2), Marimba (2,10), Shaker (2), Bass Drum with Rice (2), Bass Boo Bams (3), Brake Drum (5), Bell Plate (5), Snare (5,11), Hammond B-3 Organ (7), Snaredrum (7), Bells (7), Conga (10), Bass Drum (10), Dabuki Drum (10), Tambourine (11), African Talking Drum (14)
* Larry Taylor - Acoustic Bass (1,2,5,7,9,11,13,14), Electric Bass (10)
* Randy Aldcroft - Baritone Horn (1,7), Trombone (2)
* Stephen Taylor Arvizu Hodges - Drums (1,2,5,11,13), Parade Drum (7), Cymbals (7), Parade Bass Drum (14), Glass Harmonica (15)
* Fred Tackett - Electric Guitar (1,5,13), Banjo Guitar (2)
* Francis Thumm - Metal Aunglongs (2), Glass Harmonica (15)
* Greg Cohen - Bass (4), Acoustic Bass (10,12,15)
* Joe Romano - Trombone (5), Trumpet (8)
* Anthony Clark Stewart - Bagpipes (6)
* Clark Spangler - Synthesizer Program (6)
* Bill Reichenback - Trombone (7)
* Dick (Slyde) Hyde - Trombone (7)
* Ronnie Barron - Hammond Organ (9)
* Eric Bikales - Organ (11)
* Carlos Guitarlos - Electric Guitar (11)
* Richard Gibbs - Glass Harmonica (15)