Blue Valentine (album)

Last updated
Blue Valentine
Blue Valentine.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedSeptember 5, 1978 (1978-09-05)
RecordedJuly 24–August 26, 1978
Studio Filmways/Heider Recording, Hollywood, California
Length49:32
Label Asylum
Producer Bones Howe
Tom Waits chronology
Foreign Affairs
(1977)
Blue Valentine
(1978)
Heartattack and Vine
(1980)
Singles from Blue Valentine
  1. "Somewhere"
    Released: August 1978

Blue Valentine is the sixth studio album by singer and songwriter Tom Waits, released on September 5, 1978, on Asylum Records. [1] It was recorded over the course of six sessions from July to August 1978 with producer Bones Howe. Rickie Lee Jones is pictured with Waits on the back cover. [2]

Contents

Production

Blue Valentine was recorded in six sessions from July 24 to August 26, 1978, at Filmways/Heider Recording, Hollywood, California. Production was by Bones Howe, with second engineers Geoff Howe and Ralph Osborne. Disc mastering was by Terry Dunavan.

All the songs were written by Tom Waits apart from the opening track, "Somewhere", from the Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim musical West Side Story .

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [3]
Christgau's Record Guide B [4]
Classic Rock 7/10 [5]
Mojo Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [6]
Pitchfork 8.3/10 [7]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [8]
Record Mirror Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [9]
(The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [10]
Spin Alternative Record Guide 5/10 [11]
Uncut Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [12]

Don Shewey of Rolling Stone found that Blue Valentine "is as solid a record as Waits has made", and that its best songs "rank high among the sentimental sagas that contain Tom Waits' strongest writing." [13] Reviewing in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau wrote that "Waits keeps getting weirder and good for him. As sheer sendup, his 'Somewhere' beats Sid Vicious's 'My Way' his way. But I'm not always sure he understands his gift—these lyrics should be funnier. And 'Romeo Is Bleeding,' easily my favorite among his Chandleroid sagas of tragedy outside the law, is more effective on the jacket than when he underlines its emotional resonance in song. That's not weird at all." [4]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Tom Waits, except "Somewhere" (music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim).

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Somewhere" (from West Side Story )3:53
2."Red Shoes by the Drugstore"3:14
3."Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis"4:33
4."Romeo Is Bleeding"4:52
5."$29.00"8:15
Total length:24:47
Side two
No.TitleLength
1."Wrong Side of the Road"5:14
2."Whistlin' Past the Graveyard"3:17
3."Kentucky Avenue"4:49
4."A Sweet Little Bullet from a Pretty Blue Gun"5:36
5."Blue Valentines"5:49
Total length:24:45

Personnel

Charts

Chart (1978)Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report) [15] 42

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI) [16] Gold100,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Related Research Articles

<i>Swordfishtrombones</i> 1983 studio album by Tom Waits

Swordfishtrombones is the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter Tom Waits, released in 1983 on Island Records. It was the first album that Waits self-produced. Stylistically different from his previous albums, Swordfishtrombones moves away from conventional piano-based songwriting towards unusual instrumentation and a somewhat more abstract and experimental rock approach. The album peaked at No. 164 on the Billboard Pop Albums and 200 albums charts.

<i>Hearts and Bones</i> 1983 studio album by Paul Simon

Hearts and Bones is the sixth solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was released in 1983 by Warner Bros. Records.

<i>One from the Heart</i> (album) 1982 soundtrack album by Tom Waits and Crystal Gayle

One from the Heart is a soundtrack album of Tom Waits compositions for the Francis Ford Coppola film of the same name. It was recorded from October 1980 to September 1981. It was during this period that Waits met his wife Kathleen Brennan, an employee at the studio where it was recorded. While the film was released in February, the soundtrack album release was delayed until October of 1982 due to a dispute between Columbia Records and Coppola's Zoetrope Studios.

<i>Small Change</i> (Tom Waits album) 1976 studio album by Tom Waits

Small Change is the fourth studio album by singer and songwriter Tom Waits, released on September 21, 1976 on Asylum Records. It was recorded in July at Wally Heider's Studio 3 in Hollywood. It was successful commercially and outsold his previous albums. This resulted in Waits putting together a touring band - The Nocturnal Emissions, which consisted of Frank Vicari on tenor saxophone, FitzGerald Jenkins on bass guitar and Chip White on drums and vibraphone. The Nocturnal Emissions toured Europe and the United States extensively from October 1976 till May 1977.

<i>Heartattack and Vine</i> 1980 studio album by Tom Waits

Heartattack and Vine is the seventh studio album by Tom Waits, released on September 9, 1980, and his final album to be released on the Asylum label.

<i>The Heart of Saturday Night</i> 1974 studio album by Tom Waits

The Heart of Saturday Night is the second studio album by singer and songwriter Tom Waits, released on October 15, 1974, on Asylum Records. The title song was written as a tribute to Jack Kerouac. The album marks the start of a decade-long collaboration between Waits and Bones Howe, who produced and engineered all Waits' recordings until the artist left Asylum.

<i>Nighthawks at the Diner</i> 1975 studio album by Tom Waits

Nighthawks at the Diner is the third studio album by singer and songwriter Tom Waits, released on October 21, 1975 on Asylum Records. It was recorded over four sessions in July in the Los Angeles Record Plant studio in front of a small invited audience set up to recreate the atmosphere of a jazz club. The album peaked at 164 on the Billboard 200, the highest place Waits had held at the time, and was certified silver by the BPI in 2010. It has received critical acclaim for its successful mood-setting, capturing of the jazz-club atmosphere and characterization.

<i>Foreign Affairs</i> (Tom Waits album) 1977 studio album by Tom Waits

Foreign Affairs is the fifth studio album by singer and songwriter Tom Waits, released on September 13, 1977, on Asylum Records. It was produced by Bones Howe, and featured Bette Midler singing a duet with Waits on "I Never Talk to Strangers".

<i>Emotional Rescue</i> 1980 studio album by The Rolling Stones

Emotional Rescue is the fifteenth studio album by English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 23 June 1980 by Rolling Stones Records. Following the success of their previous album, Some Girls, their biggest hit to date, the Rolling Stones returned to the studio in early 1979 to start writing and recording its follow-up. Full-time members Mick Jagger (vocals), Keith Richards (guitar), Ronnie Wood (guitar), Bill Wyman (bass) and Charlie Watts (drums) were joined by frequent collaborators Ian Stewart (keyboards), Nicky Hopkins (keyboards), Bobby Keys (saxophone) and Sugar Blue (harmonica).

<i>Made in the Shade</i> 1975 greatest hits album by The Rolling Stones

Made in the Shade, released in 1975, is the third official compilation album by the Rolling Stones, and the first under their Atlantic Records contract. It covers material from Sticky Fingers (1971), Exile on Main St. (1972), Goats Head Soup (1973) and It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (1974).

<i>Broken Blossom</i> 1977 studio album by Bette Midler

Broken Blossom is the fourth studio album by American singer Bette Midler, her second album release in 1977 and her fifth on the Atlantic Records label. Just as Midler's three previous studio albums Broken Blossom includes songs from a wide variety of genres, ranging from Edith Piaf's signature tune "La vie en rose", Phil Spector-esque covers of Billy Joel's "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" and Harry Nilsson's "Paradise" and hard rock like Sammy Hagar's "Red", to a jazzy duet with Tom Waits, "I Never Talk to Strangers", and a rendition of "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes", originally from Walt Disney's 1950 film version of Cinderella. The album reached No. 51 on Billboard's album chart.

<i>Borboletta</i> 1974 studio album by Santana

Borboletta is the sixth studio album by the American Latin rock band Santana. It is one of their jazz-funk-fusion oriented albums, along with Caravanserai (1972), and Welcome (1973). Non-band albums by Carlos Santana in this style also include Love Devotion Surrender (1973) with John McLaughlin and Illuminations (1974) with Alice Coltrane, Jack DeJohnette and Jules Broussard. The guitarist leaves much room to percussion, saxophone and keyboards to set moods, as well as lengthy solos by himself and vocals. The record was released in a metallic blue sleeve displaying a butterfly, an allusion to the album Butterfly Dreams (1973) by Brazilian musician Flora Purim and her husband Airto Moreira, whose contributions deeply influenced the sound of Borboletta. In Portuguese, borboleta means "butterfly".

<i>West Side Story</i> (Oscar Peterson Trio album) 1962 studio album by Oscar Peterson Trio

West Side Story is a 1962 studio album by Oscar Peterson and his trio. The album features jazz interpretations of seven songs from the film West Side Story.

<i>Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky)</i> 1973 studio album by Aretha Franklin

Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky) is the nineteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Aretha Franklin.

<i>Used Songs 1973–1980</i> 2001 compilation album by Tom Waits

Used Songs 1973–1980 is a compilation of songs from Tom Waits's Asylum Records years.

<i>Anthology of Tom Waits</i> 1985 compilation album by Tom Waits

Anthology of Tom Waits is the first "best of" compilation of Tom Waits recordings, with tracks taken from his albums for Asylum Records.

"Somewhere", sometimes referred to as "Somewhere (There's a Place for Us)" or simply "There's a Place for Us", is a song from the 1957 Broadway musical West Side Story that was made into films in 1961 and 2021. The music is composed by Leonard Bernstein with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.

<i>Dont Stop the Carnival</i> (Sonny Rollins album) 1978 live album by Sonny Rollins

Don't Stop the Carnival is a live album by jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins, recorded at the Great American Music Hall and released on the Milestone label in 1978, featuring performances by Rollins with Mark Soskin, Aurell Ray, Jerome Harris and Tony Williams with Donald Byrd joining on five tracks.

"Romeo Is Bleeding" is a song written and performed by Tom Waits, and released on his 1978 album Blue Valentine. The lyrics make frequent use of Spanish, including phrases such as "Hey Pachuco!", "Dáme esa pistola, hombre!", "Hijo de la chingada madre!", and "Vamos a dormir, hombre". Waits also makes a reference to gangster movie-star James Cagney, previously mentioned in "Invitation to the Blues" on Small Change.

<i>West Side Story Bossa Nova</i> 1963 studio album by Bill Barron Orchestra

West Side Story Bossa Nova is an album by saxophonist Bill Barron featuring bossa nova versions of tunes from the Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim musical West Side Story which was recorded in 1963 and first released on the Dauntlesss label.

References

  1. "Releases". Anti-. p. 1. Archived from the original on March 8, 2018. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  2. Fuller, Arthur (6 Oct 1979). "The Trouble with Tom". The Globe and Mail. p. F5.
  3. Ruhlmann, William. "Blue Valentine – Tom Waits". AllMusic . Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  4. 1 2 Christgau, Robert (1981). "W". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor and Fields. ISBN   0-89919-026-X . Retrieved March 21, 2019 via robertchristgau.com.
  5. Johnston, Emma (May 2018). "Tom Waits: Reissues". Classic Rock . No. 248. p. 98.
  6. "Tom Waits: Blue Valentine". Mojo . No. 200. July 2010. p. 76.
  7. Deusner, Stephen M. (March 24, 2018). "Tom Waits: The Asylum Era". Pitchfork . Retrieved March 24, 2018.
  8. "Tom Waits: Blue Valentine". Q . No. 73. October 1992. p. 101.
  9. Hall, Philip (December 15, 1978). "Tom Waits: Blue Valentine". Record Mirror . p. 15.
  10. Coleman, Mark; Scoppa, Bud (2004). "Tom Waits". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp.  854–55. ISBN   0-7432-0169-8.
  11. Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. 1995. pp. 428, 429.
  12. Gill, Andy (December 2011). "What Is He Building in There..?". Uncut . No. 175. pp. 52–53.
  13. Shewey, Don (March 22, 1979). "Blue Valentine". Rolling Stone . Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  14. Hoskyns, Barney (2010). Lowside of the Road: A Life of Tom Waits. Random House. p. 208. ISBN   978-0-7679-2709-3.
  15. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 331. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
  16. "British album certifications – Tom Waits – Blue Valentine". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved November 11, 2023.