The artist Tom Waits said was a “rite of passage” to meet
The biggest names in rock music often get where they are by being curious characters as much as talented artists, and Tom Waits is certainly no exception to this.
Throughout his career, Waits’ approach to music, storytelling and songwriting has been unconventional, often rooted in avant-garde sensibilities, surrealism and creating uncomfortable environments for the listener to dive into and make sense of. However, it’s not just in his musical output where this has been apparent, and his demeanour and attitude towards life has always carried with it a bounty of slightly off-kilter observations.
That being said, Waits is far from being the only celebrated icon of rock music to have had a mystifying aura that surrounds him, and many of those who would have influenced his work have presented themselves as peculiar characters, almost playing caricatures of the rockstar persona. The tortured and incorrigible artist that is Tom Waits is only what we see on the outside, and much like his idols, there are genuine human beings on the inside who exude a realness like the rest of us.
In terms of their musical output, there are some definite similarities between Waits and The Rolling Stones, and the American songwriter has spoken on several occasions about how they directed him down the path he ended up taking. Possessing a distinct looseness and almost stumbling over their songs, what both acts have done is take the dark underbelly of the world they inhabit and portrayed them in ways that the rest of the world can see and try to understand, but these exuberant and larger-than-life personalities weren’t all just for show, they were actually exhibiting their truest selves.
Meeting someone as revered as Keith Richards would have been a delight for many, but Waits cites it as being one of the most incredible experiences of his career, and an honour to have him show an interest in his work. In 1987, a couple of years after the release of his seminal Rain Dogs album, he had the pleasure of encountering Richards at one of his shows, something that he would never have expected to have happened, and one that showed him both how true to life perceptions of Richards could be, but also how ordinary he could be at the same time.
“He’s part of the earth,” Waits later explained to the LA Times of his encounter with the Stones’ guitarist. “I was expecting a big entourage like a Fellini movie, you know – people that don’t speak English, a lot of fur. And they just tumbled out of a limo. He comes in laughing, shoes all tore up.”
Despite having his perceptions challenged, he was still in awe of the fact that Richards wanted to come to his show. “If he doesn’t feel it, he’ll walk away,” he continued. “I was just flattered that he would come. It’s kind of like a rite of passage or something.” It may have been a total chance encounter that hadn’t been pre-arranged, but one that no doubt lives strong in Waits’ mind to this day, and the fact that it led to a strong musical bond in the years after would have been a substantial bonus.
