(Credits: Far Out / Press)

Sometimes, the path of inspiration is clear. For some artists, it’s easy to see exactly where they’ve found their sound as if every song is a puzzle made up of pieces from every album they’ve loved and every artist they’ve admired. That’s especially true of artists who sit in a neat genre box as part of a lineage of rock, folk or indie artists. But Tom Waits isn’t one for easy labels.

His inspirations are much harder to pin down as an artist that changes with the wind, moving through so many different eras and phases. Like the very essence of sound itself, Waits travels on the airwaves like a vibration of the music that came before him.

With every new album, Tom Waits moved in a dramatic new direction. Simply hitting shuffle on his artist profile feels like being met with several different people. There is the crooning, balladic Waits of his debut album or The Heart Of Saturday Night. Then, when the thousands of cigarettes caught up with him, there’s the gruff, strained voice on Small Changes.

His relationship with Kathleen Brennan in the 1980s brought about a different sound again, this time wading into avant-garde waters. From then on, he’s been diving deeper and deeper. Godspeed to anyone who, in a first attempt to get into the art of Waits, lands directly on dark, creepy cuts from the 1990s onwards — a heavy introduction. 

Moving from rock ballads into dark, sonic productions has been quite a journey. Clearly, somewhere between his origins in the 1970s and today, Waits’ musical influence must have shifted, inspiring him to push his music further and further into the left field.

As expected, his tastes are as vast as his discography. In interviews throughout his career, he’s shared his love for artists across a whole spectrum of genres and styles. When asked to pick a selection of his favourite numbers, he quickly emphasised the transient nature of such a list: “If you ask me tomorrow, the list would change, of course.”

Some of them are obvious as he named Bob Dylan’s ‘Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands’ as one of his favourite songs, stating, “For a songwriter, Dylan is as essential as a hammer and nails and a saw are to a carpenter.” The Rolling Stones also make an appearance with the unique pick of ‘I Just Wanna See His Face’, an extended jam with very little form. Waits collaborated with Keith Richards on his 1985 album Rain Dogs, so he was clearly impressed and influenced by the band.

There are plenty of well-known names on the list, which might come as a surprise considering the more challenging directions he moved in. Ike and Tina Turner, The Shirelles and Roy Orbison all make appearances, representing his poppier tastes. On the rock side of things, The Kinks, Janis Joplin, The Pogues and Howlin’ Wolf all helped to soundtrack Waits’ life.

But naturally, the list of his favourite songs is as expansive and complex as his own music. He moves directly from classic rock and roll songs, into selections like Gershwin’s second prelude, ‘Mass In E Minor’ or soundtrack scores like ‘Theme from Once Upon A Time In America’. With no rhyme or reason to his selections, no script genre preferences and seemingly no stone left unturned, Waits instead has simply been getting inspiration from a whole host of places. He once said, “My reality needs imagination like a bulb needs a socket,” and clearly, he’s been looking for that spark wherever he can find it.

A selection of Tom Waits’ favourite songs:

• ‘96 Tears’ – ? and the Mysterians
• ‘All Shook Up’ – Elvis Presley
• ‘Almost Blue’ – Chet Baker
• ‘Auld Lang Syne’ – Traditional
• ‘Autumn Leaves’ – Frank Sinatra
• ‘Ball and Chain’ – Big Brother and the Holding Company
• ‘Boris the Spider’ – The Who
• ‘Bring it on Home to Me’ – Sam Cooke
• ‘Bring Me A Little Water Sylvie’ – Lead Belly
• ‘Can’t Stop Loving You’ – Ray Charles
• ‘Cause Of It All’ – Howlin Wolf
• ‘China Pig’ – Captain Beefheart
• ‘Come In My Kitchen’ – Robert Johnson
• ‘Crawling King Snake’ – The Doors
• ‘Danny Boy’ – Tradtional
• ‘Deportee’ – Woody Guthrie
• ‘Dirty Old Town’ – The Pogues
• ‘El Paso’ – Marty Robbins
• ‘Empty Bed Blues’ – Bessie Smith
• ‘Fairytale of New York’ – The Pogues
• ‘For What it’s Worth’ – Buffalo Springfield
• ‘Georgia On My Mind’ – Ray Charles
• ‘Good Time Charlie’s Got The Blues’ – Elvis Presley
• ‘Greensleeves’ – Traditional
• ‘Harlem Shuffle’ – Bob & Earl
• ‘Hava Nagila’ – Traditional
• ‘Hello Walls’ – Willie Nelson
• ‘Hound Dog’ – Elvis Presley
• ‘I Just Want To See His Face’ – The Rolling Stones
• ‘In Dreams’ – Roy Orbison
• ‘Like A Fool’ – Ike and Tina Turner
• ‘Just Like A Woman’ – Bob Dylan
• ‘Lean Back’ – Fat Joe
• ‘Louie Louie’ – The Kingsmen
• ‘Mass in E Minor’ – Traditional
• ‘Moon River’ – Andy Williams
• ‘Nessun Dorma’ – Aretha Franklin
• ‘Night Train’ – James Brown
• ‘Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing’ – Buffalo Springfield
• ‘Ode to Billie Joe’ – Bobbie Gentry
• ‘Oh Holy Night’ – Tradition
• ‘Pathetique Sonata’ – Beethoven
• ‘Prisoner of Love’ – James Brown
• ‘Pump It Up’ – Elvis Costello
• ‘Raglan Road’ – Luke Kelly
• ‘Red Right Hand’ – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
• ‘Restless Farewell’ – Bob Dylan
• ‘Ringo’ – Lorne Green
• ‘Rite of Spring’ – Stravinsky
• ‘Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands’ – Bob Dylan
• ‘Same Thing’ – Willie Dixon
• ‘Second Prelude’ – Gershwin
• ‘Shenandoah’ – Traditional
• ‘So Lonesome I Could Cry’ – Hank Williams
• ‘Soldier Boy’ – The Shirelles
• ‘Sophisticated Lady’ – Duke Ellington
• ‘Strange Fruit’ – Billie Holiday
• ‘Substitute’ – The Who
• ‘Summertime’ – Ella Fitzgerald
• ‘Sunday Mornin’ Coming Down’ – Kris Kristofferson
• ‘Theme from Once Upon A Time In America
• ‘Theme from Rawhide’
• ‘This is a Man’s Man’s Man’s World’ – James Brown
• ‘Train Kept-a-Rollin’ – The Yardbirds
• ‘Trouble Man’ – Marvin Gaye
• ‘Wade in The Water’ – Traditional
• ‘Walk Away Renee’ – The Left Banke
• ‘Waltzing Matilda’ – Traditional
• ‘Wang Dang Doodle’ – Howlin Wolf
• ‘Who’ll Stop The Rain?’ – Credence Clearwater Revival
• ‘Without a Song’ – Frank Sinatra
• ‘You Really Got Me’ – The Kinks
• ‘You Win Again’ – Bee Gees
• ‘You’ve Really Got a Hold On Me’ – Smokey Robinson

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