Swordfishtrombones  

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Swordfishtrombones (1983) is an album by Tom Waits. It was the first album that Waits produced himself and is marked as such by a sense of artistic freedom that would increasingly characterize his later work.

Swordfishtrombones is one of his more experimental albums. It changed the directon of Waits, moving away from the traditional piano-and-strings ballad sound of his 1970s output towards a number of styles largely ignored in pop music, including primal blues, cabaret stylings, rumbas, theatrical approaches in the style of Kurt Weill, tango music, early country music and European folk music as well as the Tin Pan Alley-era songs that influenced his early output. He also recorded a spoken word piece, "Frank's Wild Years," influenced by Ken Nordine's "word jazz" records of the 1950s. Apart from Captain Beefheart and some of Dr. John's early output, there was little precedent in popular music.

Track listing

All tracks written by Tom Waits.

1. "Underground" – 1:58
2. "Shore Leave" – 4:12
3. "Dave the Butcher" (instrumental) – 2:15
4. "Johnsburg, Illinois" – 1:30
5. "16 Shells from a Thirty-Ought-Six" – 4:30
6. "Town with No Cheer" – 4:22
7. "In the Neighborhood" – 3:04
8. "Just Another Sucker on the Vine" (instrumental) – 1:42
9. "Frank's Wild Years" – 1:50
10. "Swordfishtrombone" – 3:00
11. "Down, Down, Down" – 2:10
12. "Soldier's Things" – 3:15
13. "Gin Soaked Boy" – 2:20
14. "Trouble's Braids" – 1:18
15. "Rainbirds" (instrumental) – 3:05

Personnel

• Tom Waits – vocals, piano, harmonium, Hammond B-3 organ, synthesizer, chair, freedom bell
• Randy Aldcroft – trombone, baritone horn
• Ronnie Barron – Hammond organ
• Eric Bikales – organ
• Anthony Clark Stewart – bagpipes
• Greg Cohen – acoustic bass, bass
• Victor Feldman – marimba, bass marimba, snare, Hammond B-3 organ, bass drum, bass drum with rice, snare drum, brake drum, african talking drum, dabuki drum, conga, tambourine, bells, shaker, bass boo bams, bell plate
• Richard Gibbs – glass harmonica
• Carlos Guitarlos – electric guitar
• Stephen Taylor Arvizu Hodges – drums, glass harmonica, cymbals, parade drum, parade bass drum
• Dick (Slyde) Hyde – trombone
• Bill Reichenbach – trombone
• Joe Romano – trumpet, trombone
• Clark Spangler – synthesizer program
• Fred Tackett – electric guitar, banjo guitar
• Larry Taylor – acoustic bass, electric bass
• Francis Thumm – glass harmonica, metal aunglongs