TOM WAITS Swordfishtrombones 1983 UK ISLAND 1st PRESS w/LYRIC INNER Nr MINT
£
53
$
70
£ 53
Sold For
Jul 11, 2014
Sold Date
Jul 1, 2014
Start Date
£ 20
Start price
9
Number Of Bids
Great Britain
Country Of Seller
eBay
Auctioned at
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Description
TOM WAITS Swordfishtrombones 1983 UK ISLAND 1st PRESS w/LYRIC INNER Nr MINT
TOM WAITSSwordfishtrombones
UK ISLAND (ILPS 9762) FIRST PRESSING (October 1983)
SUPERB COPY - ONCE PLAYED AND LIKE-NEW
PRESSED WITH THE FIRST ISSUE 'MIDNIGHT' ISLAND LABELS
MATRIX: ILPS 9762 A-4U - 1 - 1 - / ILPS 9762 B-1U - 1 - 5 - JS KENDUN
THE RECORD IS HOUSED IN GLOSSY SINGLE SLEEVE
COMPLETE WITH THE ORIGINAL ISSUE LYRIC INNER SLEEVE
Between the release of Heartattack and Vine in 1980 and Swordfishtrombones in 1983, Tom Waits got rid of his manager, his producer, and his record company. And he drastically altered a musical approach that had become as dependable as it was (to him, now) unexciting.
Swordfishtrombones has none of the strings and much less of the piano work that Waits' previous albums had employed; instead, the dominant sounds on the record were low-pitched horns, bass instruments, and percussion, set in spare, close-miked arrangements (most of them by Waits) that sometimes were better described as "soundscapes."
Lyrically, Waits' tales of the drunken and the lovelorn have been replaced by surreal accounts of people who burned down their homes and of Australian towns bypassed by the railroad -- a world (not just a neighbourhood) of misfits now have his attention.
The music can be primitive, moving to odd time signatures, while Waits alternately howls and wheezes in his gravelly bass voice.
He seems to have moved on from Hoagy Carmichael and Louis Armstrong to Kurt Weill and Howlin' Wolf (as impersonated by Captain Beefheart).
Waits seems to have had trouble interesting a record label in the album, which was cut 13 months before it was released, but when it appeared, rock critics predictably raved: after all, it sounded weird and it didn't have a chance of selling.
Actually, it did make the bottom of the best-seller charts, like most of Waits' albums, and now that he was with a label based in Europe, even charted there - thanks to "The Tube' exposure.
Artistically, Swordfishtrombones marked an evolution of which Waits had not seemed capable (though there were hints of this sound on his last two Asylum albums), and in career terms it reinvented him.
Side 1: Underground / Shore Leave / Dave The Butcher / Johnsburg Illinois / 16 Shells From A 30.6 / Town With No Cheer / In The Neighbourhood
Side 2: Just Another Sucker On The Vine / Franks Wild Years / Swordfishtrombone / Down Down Down / Soldiers Things / Gin Soaked Boy / Trouble Braids / Rainbirds
LABELS: NEAR MINT
Clean, unmarked labels with just one spindle trace per side
VINYL Visual: MINT
Both surfaces are unmarked and shine like new
VINYL Audio: NEAR MINT
Only once played prior to my play-check, which found little to fault - just the (very) occasional one-off tick/pop inherent in many of these early '80s pressing (no reason for them on the vinyl surfaces) but nothing I found in the slightest intrusive - top copy
SLEEVE: NEAR MINT
Apart from some light shop creases to the extremities the cover is as crisp, sharp and unworn as the day it was made
INNER SLEEVE: NEAR MINT
Again, practically untouched - no seam splits, just some soft creasing to the bottom corner
POST & PACKING:
A PROTECTIVE POLY SLEEVE, NEW INNER SLEEVE WITH ANTI-STATIC LINER, QUALITY BOX (NOT ENVELOPE) MAILER AND AMPLE STIFFENERS ARE ALWAYS USED TO ENSURE THAT YOUR RECORD ARRIVES SAFELY
UK: FREE (2nd Class Recorded Delivery)
UK: £9.00 (Royal Mail Special Delivery Next Day by 1pm)
EUROPE: Airmail: £14.00 (International Signed For delivery)
INTERNATIONAL: Airmail: £17.00 (International Signed For delivery)
I will combine postage for items purchased within any 10 day period.
However, at the end of each 10 day period, all outstanding items will need to be paid for in full and will be posted to you.
Any items purchased after payment will be included in the next 10 period.
I am continually adding new items which may be of interest to you and it is impractical for me to allow payment to be postponed indefinitely in the expectation that you might wish to bid on future items. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation
Guarantee: The record is unconditionally guaranteed and I will offer a complete, no quibble refund upon return of the item should you not be pleased with it in any way I will email you when payment has been received to let you know when the item will be posted. Please leave feedback upon receipt of the item so that I know you have received it safely. Thanks 566 (GS 6.7.1 (566))
