It’s been 20 years since Tom Waits released the albums Alice and Blood Money. To celebrate, he’s re-issuing them on vinyl on October 7, as well as sharing unreleased live cuts of some of the songs, including “All The World Is Green” and “Fish And Bird” today.
“During the ‘70’s, too many of my songs were drowning in strings,” Waits said about Alice. “I didn’t want to hear another blasted violin. So, we found string players who felt the same way about their instrument, formed an odd, skeletal chamber orchestra and tried to avoid all the old familiar phrases where strings love to play.”
He added about the other LP, “Blood Money is flesh and bone, earthbound. The songs are rooted in reality: jealousy, rage, the human meat wheel…They are more carnal. Kathleen and I are well suited to this material. She is hilarious, blasphemous and ominous. I like a beautiful song that tells you terrible things.”
Waits started re-issuing his catalog in 2018, with his 1973 debut record Closing Time, as well as 1974’s Heart of Saturday Night, 1975’s Nighthawks at the Diner, 1976’s Small Change, 1977’s Foreign Affairs, 1978’s Blue Valentine, and 1980’s Heartattack & Vine.
Listen to Waits’s London performance of “All The World Is Green” above and “Fish And Bird” below.
