Now, to mark the 50th anniversary of its release, the album is being reissued on October 2. Pre-order the vinyl re-release here, and check out a clip of him performing ‘The Piano Has Been Drinking’ on Martin Mull’s late-’70s TV show Fernwood Tonight below.
Upon the album’s release, Waits explained how his evolving style could be traced back to working the door at a local nightclub and eavesdropping on people in diners late at night.
“I got a job as a doorman at a night club in L.A., and I listened to all the acts from the door,” he said around the time of the release. “I heard bluegrass, comics, folk singers, string bands.
“At the same time, I was picking up people’s conversations in all-night coffee shops—ambulance drivers, cabdrivers, street sweepers. I did research there as an evening curator, and I started writing—gingerly. I thought at some point I’d like to forge it all into something meaningful and give it dignity.”
