Happy birthday

On December 7, 1949, Thomas Alan Waits was born to Jesse Frank Waits and Alma Johnson McMurray.

Women singing Waits

Dualtone Music Group is releasing an album with Waits covers by female singers, such as Aimee Mann and Patty Griffin. Come on up to the house: Women sing Waits is out November 22.

Tracklist:

• Joseph - Come on up to the house
• Aimee Mann - Hold on
• Phoebe Bridgers - Georgia Lee
• Shelby Lynne & Allison Moorer - Ol’ 55
• Angie McMahon - Take it with me
• Corinne Bailey Rae - Jersey girl
• Patty Griffin - Ruby’s arms
• Rosanne Cash - Time
• Kat Edmonson - You can never hold back spring
• Iris Dement - House where nobody lives
• Courtney Marie Andrews - Downtown train
• The Wild Reeds - Tom Traubert’s blues

RIP Larry Taylor

Canned Heat's management published a statement bass player Larry Taylor has died.

Larry Taylor played, amongst others, with Canned Heat and The Monkees. Tom Waits fans know him from his contributions to many Waits albums, ranging from Heartattack and Vine to Bad as Me, as well as numerous live shows.

From the statement Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan posted on TomWaits.com:

‘The eloquence of his talent is evident in the many recordings and live show bootleg videos and TV performances that featured his musical muscle.’

Tom Waits narrating animated short The moon's milk

This one had eluded me, but you might be interested in The moon's milk, a stop motion animated short by Ri Crafword and narrated by Tom Waits.

 More about the kickstarter project at TheMoonsMilk.com


The Moon's Milk from Ri Crawford on Vimeo.

The Replacements box set including Tom Waits collaborations

Rhino is releasing a box set with material by The Replacements which includes five tracks featuring Tom Waits.

Dead man's pop lists Lowdown monkey blues, If only you were lonely, We know the night (rehearsal), We know the night (full band version), I can help and Date to church (Matt Wallace mix).

The 4 cd / 1 lp box set costs 79,98 US dollar and will be released on September 27. 

Tom Waits in zombie movie

Tom Waits plays Hermit Bob in the The dead don't die, Jim Jarmusch's upcoming zombie movie.

The dead don't die also stars Adam Driver, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Chloë Sevigny, Steve Buscemi, Caleb Landry Jones, Selena Gomez, Danny Glover and Iggy Pop. The film is set to premiere at Cannes this coming May (according to World of Reel) and should be in theatres on June 14.

Matt Mahurin book coming

The book Tom Waits by Matt Mahurin is set for release next October.

Photographer and illustrator Matt Mahurin has worked with Waits for more than 30 years and shot pictures for the artwork of the Mule Variations and Alice albums.

This book includes diverse images, a foreword by Waits, an essay by Mahurin on their longtime collaboration, and 20 original paintings, drawings, photographs, and digital images inspired by Waits's song titles.

Find it on Amazon et al.