TV

Tom Waits: Live at Premio Tenco San Remo Italy Nov 22 1986

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

 

L’altra America (1986)

Television concert documentary from the San Remo Festival (Club Tenco), Teatro Ariston.
With Greg Cohen on upright bass. Aired on Italian television by RAI DUE. Rebroadcast in 1988.

“I’m not big on awards. They’re just a lot of headlights stapled to your chest, as Bob Dylan said. I’ve gotten only one award in my life, from a place called Club Tenco in Italy. They gave me a guitar made out of tiger-eye. Club Tenco was created as an alternative to the big San Remo Festival they have every year.

It’s to commemorate the death of a big singer whose name was Tenco and who shot himself in the heart because he’d lost at the San Remo Festival. For a while, it was popular in Italy for singers to shoot themselves in the heart. That’s my award.”
– Tom Waits 1987 (Source: “Tom Waits, 20 Questions”. Playboy magazine via Tom Waits Library) Continue reading “Tom Waits: Live at Premio Tenco San Remo Italy Nov 22 1986” →

Tom Waits On The Tube TV Oct 16 1985

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

“The Tube”
Channel 4 Television
October 16th 1985

Around this time Tom Waits played 8 Times in London
from Oct 16- 1985 – Oct 24 -1985 . at Dominion Theatre.

Hosted by Jools Holland and Paula Yates. From Tyne Tees TV Studio 5, Newcastle/ UK. Performs: “16 Shells From Thirty-Ought Six”, “Cemetery Polka”, “Walking Spanish” and “In The Neighborhood”. Rebroadcast in 1994 by Tyne Tees. Shortened version rebroadcast December, 2004 in “The Best of The Tube” (info from Tom Waits Library) Continue reading “Tom Waits On The Tube TV Oct 16 1985” →

Tom Waits: Two Classic Concerts London 1979 and Chicago 1975 – No Visitors After Midnight

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

First we get a BBC television concert documentary, Tonight In Person, filmed at the BBC television Theatre in London/UK (aired July 26, 1979, probably taped earlier in the spring). Shortened version rebroadcast in 1998 in “Later on… Tom Waits” aka “Later With Jools Holland”, presented by Jools Holland. Producer: Serena Cross
Executive Producer: Mark Cooper. BBC, 1998 for UK-Arena.
There is a download for an audio bootleg of the performance over at Aquarium Drunkard.

“The concert might be regarded as a straight taping of a live show but it also included elements that were more theatrical and seemed to be incorporated into the show as if it were an in-studio taping, a bit like when standup comedians bring in an audience for something that is understood by everyone present to be a recording of a TV special. That’s how this program feels, anyway, it doesn’t feel like a regular concert.”
– Dangerous Minds

The second show is a PBS television show on Tom Waits and Mose Allison. Chicago/USA (aired December 22, 1975, probably recorded November 3, 1975).
With Kenny Soderblum on alto sax
Jim Atlas on upright bass.

Great opening opening number, Tom Waits does an a capella performance of “Eggs and Sausage” that is both soulful and dramatic. He is sitting at the counter of a diner, smoking. We see waitresses, bored patrons, sizzling burgers. Het is the snapping his fingers and slapping his leg. Finishing the song, he turns to a waitress and asks for another cup of coffee.

His voice is more mellow on the 1975 concerts and it’s lovely to get such an early document of Waits as a performer.

Both shows are essential for all Tom Waits fans, enjoy!

Continue reading “Tom Waits: Two Classic Concerts London 1979 and Chicago 1975 – No Visitors After Midnight” →

Tom Waits: Fishing with John (TV episode) 1992

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

 

Fishing with John (1992)

Tom Waits as himself on a fishing trip with John Lurie. Lurie and Waits fish for red snapper in Jamaica. Tom periodically becomes grumpy. A game of cards on dry land makes Tom feel much better. Waits catches a fish and puts it in his pants.

Fishing with John is a 1991 television series conceived, directed by and starring actor and musician John Lurie, which earned a cult following. On the surface, the series resembles a standard travel or fishing show: in each episode, Lurie takes a famous guest on a fishing expedition. Since Lurie has no expert knowledge of fishing, the interest is in the interaction between Lurie and his guests, all of whom are his friends. Nothing particularly unusual actually happens, but the show is edited and narrated in a way to suggest that Lurie and his guest are involved in dramatic and even supernatural adventures.

Continue reading “Tom Waits: Fishing with John (TV episode) 1992” →

Tom Waits: Songs After Closing Time – Denmark TV Concert 1976

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen




This is the pro-shot of a rare concert from Tom Waits at the Danish TV Channel in 1976, Sange efter lukketid/Songs After Closing Time also known as Elephant Beer Blues – Songs After Closing Time.

The whole show (songs and words) is subtitled in Danish. Tom is standing in the bar with a Carlsberg Elephant Beer (a very strong beer), hence the alternative title, while giving a good long rant along a jazzy tune. He then moves over to the piano and the real concert starts.

00:00 – Elephant Beer Blues (Incl. “Ghosts Of Saturday Night”, “Gee Baby Ain’t I Been Good To You” and others)
09:24 – New Coat of Paint
12:05 – Warm Beer Cold Women
18:21 – Emotional Weather Forecast
24:39 – Bad Liver And A Broken Heart
27:10 – Semi Suite
30:44 – Spare Parts I

DR TV Studios (Copenhagen, Denmark).
June 1976:

Continue reading “Tom Waits: Songs After Closing Time – Denmark TV Concert 1976” →

April 18: Van Morrison – The Legendary Concert @ Shrine Auditorium, LA 1973 (Video)

Posted on by Egil Mosbron

Four songs in colour: I´ve Been Working, Caravan, Gloria & a 9 minute Cyprus Avenue. With The Caledonia Soul Orchestra in top form and Van in a black stetson, this US TV broadcast is legendary among Van fanatics. And rightly so.
-Brian Hinton (Celtic Crossroads)

Don Kirschner’s Rock Concert
Shrine Auditorium
Los Angeles, California
Broadcast Date: April 18th 1973

Continue reading “April 18: Van Morrison – The Legendary Concert @ Shrine Auditorium, LA 1973 (Video)” →