September 1st marks forty years since Tom Waits’ transformative creative breakthrough, Swordfishtrombones, was released into the wild, ushering in a new and critically acclaimed era for Waits and his longtime songwriting and production partner, Kathleen Brennan. “On Swordfishtrombones, Waits has made a breakthrough – he’s found music as evocative as his words. Waits’s grumble of a voice now bounces off a peculiar assortment of horns and percussion and organ and keyboards, as if he’d led a Salvat

516K views · 14K reactions | Tom Waits performs "Goin Out West" during the Dead Man Walking benefit concert, March 29th, 1998. Artists from the film's soundtrack, including Eddie Vedder, Ani DiFranco, Lyle Lovett, and Steve Earle gathered at The Shrine Auditorium in LA for a night of music benefiting Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation. You can watch Waits' full performance on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vjdow93A2KU | Tom Waits | Facebook