En el Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Vídeos piratillas, sí, pero de momento es lo que hay.

Neil Young:

"I don't have a TelePrompTer. I don't have any notes. I don't have any real … thoughts. I'm kind of blank. But I will say that this next man is undescribable and I'm here to describe him, or I'm going to try to describe what he does and why he's here. I can't tell you much about his life, because I don't really think that matters in the scope of things. This man is a great … he's sort of a singer-actor-magician-spirit-guide-changeling kind of performer. And I've seen him standing in the middle of dust [indecipherable] and I thought I saw little sparkle things coming out from him, and I looked down while he was singing and I said, "This man is performing and I'm seeing maybe three or four of him up there, and they all seem to be waiting for the other ones to finish so that they can come in." And one of them was whistling at me and one of them was singing in Tom's kind of voice, and then the Eagles covered it."

Tom Waits:

I just want to know if there's a key-chain version that I can keep with me just in case I hear someone say, "Pete, take the cuffs off. I think he's a Hall of Famer." Thank you for the kind words, Neil. I'm honored to be honored. And, gee, I don't know where to begin. Songs, uh, are really just interesting things to be doing with the air. I love working with tunes. I love music, but we really want music to love us. Neil was saying the other night, he said, "When there's a song approaching it's kind of like there's an animal in the room, and you don't want it to run off." You know, how did it get in?

I was, uh, fifteen and I snuck in to see Lightnin' Hopkins. I put white-out in my hair and I drew on a mustache and I put on an overcoat and I stood there and I said, "Ticket for one." Amazing show. Every time he opened his mouth, that orchestra of gold teeth was just devastating. And then I saw him leave the show and he walked through a door and slammed the door behind him. And on the door, it said, I swear to God, "KEEP OUT. THIS ROOM IS FOR ENTERTAINERS ONLY." And I knew at that moment that I had to get into show business as soon as possible. So, uh, that was a real big one for me. And I've had the pleasure and the privilege of playing with a lot of great musicians over the years. Some of you are here and some of you are not here. Some of us are on the wrong side of the dirt, as they say. But any day on this side of the dirt is a good day, for me and for all of us.

Let's see, what else? They told me I should talk for quite a while, but I don't intend to. I fully do not intend to. I'd like to thank my family. They know me and they love me anyway. My wife and her incandescent light that has guided me and kept me alive and breathing and sparkling. And my kids who, well, they taught me everything I know. Or maybe they taught me everything they know. I don't know. They taught me a lot.

Okay, I did the bit about the door and the club. Um, the first time I went onstage, my face felt like it was made of plaster and if I smiled, it would crack off, and I thought, "This is such an interesting [Christian?] experience" and somehow wanted more of it. They say I have no hits and I'm difficult to work with, and they say that like it's a bad thing. [crowd cheers] The only thing I really can compare this to is I was given the key to the city of El Paso several months ago. It was a really kind offer. They told me there's only one key to the city, but I found out later there were a whole lot of them, and they fit nothing. So, I'm just hoping there are some fringe benefits that go along with this baby. Thank you very much. This has been very encouraging.

"This is just like the piano my mom got me. She couldn't afford it, but she threw a brick through a window and got that piano. She only got seven years for it. She was a good mom, from jail."

Elton John: "If Jackson Pollock could sing, he would be Tom Waits."

Setlist completo de la gala:

Alice Cooper - "I'm Eighteen"

Alice Cooper - "Under My Wheels"

Alice Cooper ft. Rob Zombie - "School's Out"

Tom Waits - "Make It Rain"

Tom Waits - "Rain Dogs"

Tom Waits - "The House Where Nobody Lives"

Tom Waits - "Get Behind The Mule"

Judy Collins - "Both Sides Now"

Dr. John - "Right Place, Wrong Time"

Dr. John ft. John Mayer - "Such A Night

Leon Russell ft. John Mayer - "Delta Lady"

Leon Russell - "A Song For You"

Darlene Love ft. Bruce Springsteen - "Zip-A-Dee Doo Dah"

Darlene Love ft. Bruce Springsteen - "Today I Met The Boy I'm Gonna Marry"

Darlene Love ft. Bruce Springsteen and Bette Midler - "He's A Rebel"

Neil Diamond - "Cherry Cherry"

Neil Diamond - "I Am... I Said"

Neil Diamond - "Sweet Caroline"

Neil Diamond - "Sweet Caroline" (again)

All-Star Jam #1 (Lloyd Price, Elton John, Dr. John, Leon Russell, John Densmore) - "Stagger Lee"

All-Star Jam #2 (Elton John, Leon Russell, Neil Diamond, Alice Cooper, Darlene Love, Bette Midler) - "Da Doo Ron Ron"

1 Tom waits outfit. Hat by Dobbs. Jeans. Boots. Denim jacket.
2 Animation cell 1979 Tom Waits for No One.
3 Tenor banjo 1920.
4 Megaphone. 2008 25 watt.
5 Promotional bank 1976. Promo for Small Change.
6 A Conversation with Tom Waits. (Album) released in conjunction with Swordfishtrombones
7 Get Behind the Mule. Handwritten lyrics.

John Hammond: "Es inspirador cuando estás cerca de un tío que tiene tanto talento"

John Hammond habla de sus colaboraciones con Tom Waits en esta entrevista de Gene Meyers para el diario de North Jersey.

Gene: Tú no escribes muchas canciones. Pero te he escuchado decir que trabajar con Tom Waits te inspiró para empezar a escribir más temas propios.

John: Es inspirador cuando estás cerca de un tío que tiene tanto talento y que tiene esa facilidad para escribir canciones que te emocionan.

Gene: Cómo conociste a Tom Waits?
John: Fue telonero mío en 1974, en Arizona.Hizo un concierto alucinante. Yo no quería salir después que él, pero tuve que hacerlo. Al final vino al backstage y se presentó y me dijo “tío, soy fan tuyo desde que estaba en el instituto”. Eso me dejó helado, y nos hicimos amigos. Mi mujer, Marla, habló con su mujer, Kathleen, sobre la idea de que Tom me produjese un álbum. Así es como nació Wicked Grin. Fue muy dinámico, y es el disco que más ha vendido de todos los que he hecho.

Gene: Además de Wicked Grin, también has versioneado Cold Water, y en tu último disco has incluido Get Behind the Mule.
John: Sí, casi todas las noches incluyo una o dos de sus canciones. Las amo. Lo clavan, y tienen una base de blues… tienen todo el sentimiento, y la forma que tiene Tom de ver la vida.

Booker T. y Joe Bonamassa versionan canciones de Tom Waits

Una leyenda del soul y un joven bluesman versionan en sus últimos discos canciones de Tom Waits.

Según informa Mondosonoro, Booker T. Jones, una leyenda de la música estadounidense gracias a su brillante pasado en Booker T. & The MG’s, su participación en infinidad de referencias del sello Stax y por formar parte de la banda de artistas como Otis Redding, Ray Charles o Neil Young, vuelve a la primera plana de la actualidad con el que será su primer trabajo en solitario en veinte años. Potato Hole, que verá la luz el próximo 20 de abril, aparece de la mano de Anti. Junto a él, participan ni más ni menos que Drive By Truckers y Neil Young. Además de colaborar en el disco, los miembros de Drive By Truckers serán la banda de acompañamiento de Jones durante los próximos meses. Además de temas propios, Jones se atreve con canciones de Outkast o Tom Waits (Get Behind the Mule).

Por su parte, el bluesman Joe Bonamassa ha incluido una versión de Jockey Full of Bourbon en su último disco, The Ballad of John Henry.