Track Listing

1. Ol' 55
2. I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love with You
3. Virginia Avenue
4. Old Shoes (& Picture Postcards)
5. Midnight Lullaby
6. Martha
7. Rosie
8. Lonely
9. Ice Cream Man
10. Little Trip to Heaven (On the Wings of Your Love)
11. Grapefruit Moon
12. Closing Time

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2043 in Music
• Brand: Tom
• Released on: 1990-10-12
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .19 pounds

Amazon.com essential recording
It starts with a sunrise, it ends with "one star shining," and in between Closing Time contains an honest year's worth (1973, to be exact) of sweet, melodic, vintage Tom Waits--minus some of the vocal growl and thematic grit of his later stuff (but you can see it coming). Waltzes, lullabies, blues, jazz, you name it. Driving songs and drinking songs, even an honest to gosh country tune: "Rosie." There are torchers ("Lonely"), scorchers ("Ice Cream Man"), and back-porch senior citizen love songs ("Martha"): "Those were the days of roses/Poetry and prose, and/Martha, all I had was you and all you had was me." Other standouts are "I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love with You" (guess what--he does!) and "Grapefruit Moon," in which Waits croons: "Every time I hear that melody, something breaks inside." Hang on to your hearts and hats, folks. --Dan Leone

Customer Reviews

Tom's Early Masterpiece
This is the album for all those who think they hate Tom Waits. Perhaps his most easily accessible album, Closing Time is a tour-de-force for anyone who's had their heart broken and lived the ensuing days (months, years . . . ) in a bar. The lyrics display Waits' way with words (too many "w's" there, I know) and wedding them (whoops!) together with music that is as perfect a fit as Goethe is to Schubert. Anyone who doesn't get a bit teary at "I hope that I don't fall in love with you" - or "Rosie" must have ice coursing through their veins.

Timeless
This great, great album, arguably the best of Waits career, has been in my Top 10 since the day I first heard it. If anything, it has edged higher up my personal chart as the years have gone by.

Once upon a time it was a great late night drinking album, one my friends and I would listen to on cassette while driving from DC to Baltimore and back on a Saturday night. Later, during a phase I'll only mysteriously hint at, because that will give me a cool, artistic aura that drives chicks crazy, it was a late night drinking LP for me and me alone. Still later, it was a great CD to sing along to as I tried to get my newborn son to sleep. He still likes these songs.

There is so much great music here that I won't even waste your time with a track-by-track review. My personal favorites are "Old Shoes(& Picture Postcards" and "Grapefruit Moon," but this is a near-perfect record, from open to close. Anyone who saw Bette Midler's teary version of "Martha" on Saturday Night Live a few generations ago could see the effect Waits songwriting had on his L.A. contemporaries.

By the way, Waits version of "Ol' 55" proves that the Eagles, who covered it on their first LP, could kill even the greatest of tunes.

A booze-soaked love letter
It's 2:00am and that bottle of Jack is paying you back, whispering loneliness. You think back to the girl you once loved - the girl you lost. You know you shouldn't think of her, but it's as if the memory itself is what drives you.

Tom Waits gave us a nice collection of tunes with this album. "Martha" is beautiful. "Lonely" is what it is. It's funny... Mention Tom Waits to most people, and - if they even know who he is - they'll just see him as this Charles Bukowski guy with a hoarse voice. The early Tom Waits gave us some of the most beautiful ballads. He paints a picture that few (Springsteen, Nick Cave are the only ones that come to mind) could ever rival. His work is infused with poetic grace; his is a drunken ode to melancholy.

This album, like "Frank's Wild Years", is a perfect introduction to his music. Check it out...