Lowside of the Road: A Life of Tom Waits
by Barney Hoskyns
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Book Summary Information
Author: Barney HoskynsEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-05-19
ISBN: 0767927087
Number of pages: 640
Publisher: Crown Archetype
Book Reviews of Lowside of the Road: A Life of Tom Waits
Book Review: A Serious Critical Work
Summary: 5 Stars
Well, ooh... okay, here it is. It is not a gossip biography but a book on Tom Waits' work, as a song-writer, singer, musician, producer, on-and-off actor. It's a work full of paradox as Waits does not want a biography written, but if there is one written, this is at least the type of book he must accept, one that shows that he is sort of a meta-musician, a real master of songs and traditions. The writer is in a very difficult position because if he gets you to identify with Waits you will hate the writer. Actually, the book does give you some insight into Waits' life, as you learn that his father left the family when he was ten, Waits struggled with adapting to the communal freedom of the Sixties (he, in a way, did not participate), and that he finally found his role as both an intellectual (I mean thinking, and responsible) musician and very playful performer. With lots of "sweating" rockers around, many thought his show was fake, and Hoskyns makes several attempts to describe how difficult it was for Waits to demonstrate that his music was scenic, visual, related to more than songs, without making listeners think they would not have to listen. Waits has been fiercely protecting his private life, most of the time, and even more since he met Kathleen Brennan. Hoskyns, again, is in dire straits here as he thinks this is right, and he even gets the counter-point: how Waits, finally, does find his political voice fighting phonyness and being "private" in public - so close to Hollywood, sometimes getting a kick from it, but turning against the pornographic family show that has become the custom, pseudo-revealing your "intimate" life and thus killing your work. Because nobody needs your work if they think they know you. There are many non-readers, non-listeners, and they are being served. Waits is no part of that, and to some degree, Hoskyns is the loser here, because he is both a listener and a reader, and his book is not for the mainstream audience anyhow.
As for Waits' big turn away from Elektra, away from swing, into rhythmic music and bizarre arrangements, Hoskyns gives much credit to Kathleen Brennan, too much I think, regarding the fact that he knows very little about her. He pictures Kathleen as saving Tom's life (he finally gets sober which might be the reason we still have him around), getting control of his musical production, and having a family with kids who actually play with him - on stage! - as they are beyond age 15. Which can mean a lot, and one might not like that too much, but then, it obviously means that Tom Waits is a rock star with a family, I mean ONE FAMILY and not five of them. Still, I think that Hoskyns is too generous with accepting all those credits for Brennan, and the trick is that when the book closes he confesses that he likes Waits' earlier work better! So he's all caught up in that paradox of life and music, interpreting both. Brennan gets all the credit but without her Waits' music was better?
Still, it is a good book, with phantastic quotes, unlikely observations, actually going through the recordings of every single album, describing who did it and why, and which song came out and how they relate to others. This is what critics do. It is a bit of a pity that Waits kept musicians from talking to the writer, as Hoskyns is not distracting us but getting us closer to the sounds, the feel, the energy. It does become clear how Waits is singular.
Of course, you can never get all the details, and some of Waits' musical life takes place in Europe. What if you cannot read Danish or German? Just one example: "Kommienezuspadt" is for Hoskyns "a piece of cod-German gibberish that Waits invented" - actually, it is an almost accurate rendition of "Komme nie zu spät", meaning "Never be tardy". I would have liked to get more to know about the Kurt Weill thing, about Waits connection to European traditions, musique concrete; even Astor Piazolla's name does not turn up, the connection to modern tango being rather obvious. - Hoskyns, as many British writers, is so very good exactly writing about North America.
Of course, with a great critical work you have a thousand reasons to say that you're of a different opinion - that is what critical works are for. Does it get you much closer to the man Waits? Well, not that you'd want to know him personally after reading the book. Not me, at least. But you would want to know all of his work, understand every song, and enjoy the sighs and coughs in between. This is what this book is about. It also contains some very nice black-and-white photographs, some old, some taken of former locations and witnesses as they are now. I read it within two weeks, listening to Waits' music in between. I now hear better. (Ulf Erdmann Ziegler, writer, Germany)
Summary of Lowside of the Road: A Life of Tom Waits
With his trademark growl, carnival-madman persona, haunting music, and unforgettable lyrics, Tom Waits is one of the most revered and critically acclaimed singer-songwriters alive today. After beginning his career on the margins of the 1970s Los Angeles rock scene, Waits has spent the last thirty years carving out a place for himself among such greats as Bob Dylan and Neil Young. Like them, he is a chameleonic survivor who has achieved long-term success while retaining cult credibility and outsider mystique. But although his songs can seem deeply personal and somewhat autobiographical, fans still know very little about the man himself. Notoriously private, Waits has consistently and deliberately blurred the line between fact and fiction, public and private personas, until it has become impossible to delineate between truth and self-fabricated legend.
Lowside of the Road is the first serious biography to cut through the myths and make sense of the life and career of this beloved icon. Barney Hoskyns has gained unprecedented access to Waits?s inner circle and also draws on interviews he has done with Waits over the years. Spanning his extraordinary forty-year career from Closing Time to Orphans, from his perilous ?jazzbo? years in 1970s LA to such shape-shifting albums as Swordfishtrombones and Rain Dogs to the Grammy Award winners of recent years, this definitive biography charts Waits?s life and art step by step, album by album.
Barney Hoskyns has written a rock biography?much like the subject himself?unlike any other. It is a unique take on one of rock?s great enigmas.
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