Heartattack And Vine

I suppose that if you wanted to, you could get broad about it and argue that any song written in the last hundred years is based on The Blues. But even if that were true, it doesn't promise that the performer of the song is rooted in them. The Blues are real, and for a performer to do them well, there is a level of honesty required that is missing in at least 60% of Pop singers. The Blues, like Folk music, is storytelling at its most basic level, and your narrator is responsible for making the story credible. So the songs need to sound lived in, because often, the story being told is not their own. The really good songwriters are storytellers, and they populate their songs with a engaging cast of characters that are often gifted with a spectacular set of personal issues, but that's what makes them interesting. The singer will then inhabit those characters as an actor would, and bring them to life for better or worse.

Tom Waits

At his core, Tom Waits is a bluesman. Although he's had many musical adventures over the last 40 years or so that have intersected several different genres, sometimes simultaneously, there's no mistaking that The Blues is what informs Waits' writing more than anything else. Longtime fans know this, but for those who are new to the Tom Waits experience, it's a lot like visiting that cool, jazzy part of town that quickly turns into a boulevard of bad decisions with its shadowy alleys, suspect inhabitants, dodgy hygiene, and bankrupt morals. Waits very definitely has the storytellers gift for breathing life into the damaged, broken hearted, or even unsavory people who inhabit his songs. His guttural singing voice is the sound of beaten down souls, 24 hour diners and rain soaked city streets. Waits can play the role of an observer, but is always the storyteller.

A host of popular performers have covered Tom Waits' songs, including Bruce Springsteen, Rod Stewart, The Ramones, The Bullet Boys, The Blind Boys Of Alabama, and lots of others. Many of us first heard the songwriting of Tom Waits back when The Eagles covered his song "Ol' 55" on their 1974 album "On The Border". Although it certainly provided him with much needed songwriting royalties at the time and ever since, Waits has been critical of the Eagles version of the song, admitting that he was "not that particularly crazy about it". Waits elaborated by saying their version "was a little antiseptic". But we're not featuring that song today. No, my friends, we're going a bit deeper into the blues. The 'sketchy part of town' blues.

There's any number of Waits' songs I could have chosen today, but this one just struck me right. The story being told is in the abstract, but is easily imaginable. I get the strong impression that Waits' blues inclinations are strongly influenced by Howlin' Wolf. Like several of his contemporaries, I find that Waits isn't always his own best interpreter, but most times, he hits right on the mark. The music and the lyrical imagery are a perfect marriage. This recording is one of Waits' most startling songs, and likely served as proof as to why using spit screens on vocal microphones was a good idea. Let's take an uneasy stroll on down to "Heartattack And Vine". Mind your wallet.

John Hammond

As I mentioned earlier, the songs of Tom Waits have been covered by many other musicians over a lot of years. But no one had taken on the idea of doing an entire album of Waits' material until fellow veteran bluesman John Hammond did so back in 2001. Hammond's album, "Wicked Grin", his 35th, was both a departure and a natural choice of subject matter.

Throughout his career, Hammond has been careful about not taking the well-worn path of performing what are now Blues standards, if not cliches, in order to maintain his own voice in the genre. But after all that time, you'd think he'd start to get a bit complacent and just knock out another album of cover versions. But "Wicked Grin" served as an important recharging of the creative batteries by partnering Hammond with Waits, who produced the album, along with an empathetic crew of musical sidemen, which resulted in a summit meeting of kindred spirits. "Wicked Grin" wasn't planned as any sort of tribute album. By all accounts, it happened naturally, which is often the best way.

Tom Waits, John Hammond & Charlie Musselwhite

Hammond said in a 2001 interview, "This was a very spontaneous album. There were no rehearsals. We went in cold as a band and gelled almost immediately. The plan was not to record Tom's songs at all, even though he was producing, but I was hoping that there might be one of his songs that we might do. So he suggested one. That was the first tune we recorded ("2:19"). It was done live in one take. We all looked at each other and said, 'Tom, do you have another one?' It was truly dynamic and inspired."

Throughout "Wicked Grin", Hammond's vocal delivery is more relaxed than Waits' often manic, whiskey-ravaged growling, which has merit for Waits, but it serves Hammond well to avoid overt imitation. His take on "Heartattack And Vine" sounds more like the jaded veteran police detective making observations of a crime scene, rather than the freaked out wino who stumbled upon it. Granted, Waits was an actor playing a part in his version, as he is in many of his songs. But Hammond is very much in the first person, making notes as if he's seen this mess a hundred times before. That's not complacence. It's beat down weariness; an essential element of the Blues.

John Hammond Sr. & Aretha Franklin, 1961

It's worth noting that Hammond is the son of the legendary Columbia Records producer and talent scout, John Hammond, who was also a civil rights activist and music critic from the 1930's to the early 1980's. Hammond Sr. was instrumental in kicking off numerous musical careers, including those of Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Benny Goodman, Charlie Christian, Billie Holiday, Count Basie, Big Joe Turner, Pete Seeger, Aretha Franklin, George Benson, Leonard Cohen, and many others. His last signing was Stevie Ray Vaughan. Hammond is also largely responsible for securing the historical importance of Robert Johnson's music, and its revival in the 60's. Hammond narrowly missed securing Johnson himself for a Carnegie Hall appearance in a Blues revue in the 30's due to Johnson's untimely passing.

It is likely that because of this lineage, rather than in spite of it, that John Hammond Jr. was driven to become as authentic an interpreter of The Blues as possible. Not being true to the muse as an artist was never an option, lest there be any negative squawking about Hammond Jr. being successful only because of his Dad. I saw John Hammond Jr. bravely play a solo acoustic set opening for Kansas at Villanova University in 1975. He quickly silenced and drew in a rowdy beer-soaked crowd that was primed for some hearty Prog-Rockin'. Hammond got a standing O for his efforts. The years have demonstrated that he has succeeded admirably in his art, and his Father is no doubt proud of what he has achieved.

"Wicked Grin", along with the many other recordings of John Hammond, is available in the Blues section of your local well-curated shop of musical wonderment, or at The Big A. His early work on the Vanguard label is exceptional, but Hammond is one of those uncommon artists that has amassed an extensive catalog where the duds are rare.

Tom Waits is best known for his earlier recordings on the Asylum label, so I will direct the newbies to the relative safety of the excellent and thorough, yet still economical domestic release, "Used Songs: 1973-1980", which contains both "Heartattack And Vine" and my personal favorite Waits track, the hilarious and groovin' "Step Right Up". Tread carefully from there on, and bring a flask of cheap whiskey.