Blue Valentines (Tom Waits) - Robert Harsch, keys & vocal

Up late after a rare night out, listening to music in bars... nothing like this bluesy rubato number from Tom Waits' 1978 album, "Blue Valentine"... but I was inspired, anyway.
Besides, I'd spent a few days experimenting with lighting, and if I didn't record this soon, the watered-down diet root beer in the rum bottle & rocks glass would start to grow things.
So here is a one-pass "live" to video recording of Tom Waits' "Blue Valentines"....
... plus a bit of Rodgers & Hart for good measure.

A note on lyrics: I got mine from Amsco Publications' "Tom Waits Anthology" (1988), and hadn't heard the original recording in years (got a cassette tape in a box somewhere). There are two notable differences in verse 2: Tom sings, "And it's the ghost of your memory - Baby, it's the thistle in the kiss..." and, "It's the tattooed broken promise I gotta hide beneath my sleeve."
There are other lyric discrepancies in this book. I think it was edited by Lady Mondagreen.
("Skew Smee while I kiss this guy.")

The props in the tableau:
* Face/hand Mask Sculpture - 1-piece carved wood from Korea, which I bought from a German woman in Missoula, MT.
* Seiberling Safety-Tire promotional ash tray, vintage 1950s or '60s.
* Djarum Black clove cigarettes from Indonesia. I do not smoke these (and don't recommend it to anyone); I just wanted a sleek, sexy-looking cigarette burning in the ash tray with a lonely wisp of smoke floating up out of frame, and clove cigarettes stink slightly less than the regular ones. Of course, the cigarette stopped burning just as I started this take, so I didn't get that wispy smoke element.
* Greyhound lighter cover I found by chance at a gas station in Lusk, Wyoming.
* Sailor Jerry's Spiced Rum bottle featuring the tattoo art of Sailor Jerry; borrowed this & rocks glass from my neighbor, added fake "booze". The song refers to tattoos & whiskey, so I figured a rum bottle with tattoos was close enough.
* Tiny Guitar carved from wood from The Joint Effort in Missoula.
* The glass bottle contains sand from a Mandala created by Tibetan Buddhist Monks in Montgomery, Alabama.
* Pretty scented candle that reminds me of Jupiter - adds some light & shadow-play and helps counter-act the cigarette odor.
* The star of the show is the fiber-optic nightlight behind the mask, which I got a yard sale for $1.50. It's held up by a C-clamp balanced on a small stone jewelry box.

~Robert Harsch

Korg T1 88-key (weighted action) Music Workstation; Program A-15: Vibraphone
Yamaha AW16G used as a mixer/processor, recording straight to cheap web-cam software, c. 4 frames per second.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• blue
• valentines
• tom
• waits
• robert
• harsch
• vocal
• keyboard
• synthesizer
• korg
• T1
• vibraphone
• live
• recording
• improvisation
• tableau
• art
• basso9x13

[Joe22c]

Outstanding work. 

[Basso9x13]

@Joe22c - Thank you very much!

~R

[grifftibbs]

this song resonates a cold, nostalgic charm for me and means a lot. You did it justice, well done sir.

[Basso9x13]

@grifftibbs - Than k you very much!

~R

[Stringsticks]

Great job man.

[Basso9x13]

@Stringsticks - Thank you!!

~R

[Basso9x13]

@Unit3325 - Thanks muchly! Look for another Waits cover later this month!

~R

[Basso9x13]

Thanks much!

Tom's version is so visceral, even though I never try to imitate him, when you try to stay true to the spirit of the song, that rasp seems to sneak in on its own. The fact that it was late at night & I'd had a few G&Ts in a smoky bar adds to it, too.

~R

[Basso9x13]

Thank you very much!

Tom has written so many wonderful songs; there are a few more I may get around to covering.

~R

[wordsbackwards]

Fantastic!!! Being an obsessive Waits fan I always find it interesting to see peoples covers, yet Tom Waits impersonators I find almost embarrassing to watch. This isn't like that at all and I think you have done a really interesting cover, you've maintained that real sense of dreariness in the original whilst adding your own artistic flair! I love the anonymous lighting set up too, it works beautifully. Being a musician I find videos like this really inspirational, and a breath of fresh air.

J