Waits, Tom: Blue Valentine (CD)

Remastered and reissued on Anti. Blue Valentine (1978) is a big departure from earlier Waits albums. Trading the piano for the guitar, Waits is getting rawer and bluesier and the title track is a great example of this.

Waits is in transition here, so you also get a stunning orchestrated rendition of Gershwin’s 'Somewhere', and the beautiful piano ballad, 'Kentucky Ave.', but you also get the juke joint swagger of 'Romeo Is Bleeding' and 'Whistlin’ Past the Graveyard'. This is also the record that contains one of Waits’ most popular songs ever, 'Christmas Card from A Hooker in Minneapolis'.

1. Somewhere (From "West Side Story")
2. Red Shoes By The Drugstore
3. Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis
4. Romeo Is Bleeding
5. $29.00
6. Wrong Side Of The Road
7. Whistlin Past The Graveyard
8. Kentucky Avenue
9. A Sweet Little Bullet From A Pretty Blue Gun
10. Blue Valentines