Tom Waits Discography
The discography of the American rock musician Tom Waits spans five decades.
It consists of 17 studio albums, 3 live albums, 7 compilation albums, 23 singles, 2 soundtracks, and 1 box set. Waits has also released one video album and 16 music videos.
| Tom Waits discography | |
|---|---|
 Waits performing in 2008 | |
| Studio albums | 17 |
| Live albums | 2 |
| Compilation albums | 7 |
| Video albums | 1 |
| Music videos | 16 |
| Singles | 23 |
| Soundtrack albums | 2 |
| Box sets | 1 |
Waits's debut release was the 1973 single "Ol' '55", which was the lead single for his debut album Closing Time (1973). He began recording in 1971, but these first sessions would not be released until the beginning of the 1990s. For most of the 1970s he recorded for Asylum Records. After cutting his first soundtrack album for the Francis Ford Coppola musical film One from the Heart, Waits signed with Island Records for the 1980s.
The release of Bone Machine in 1992 brought him a Grammy Award, after a less prolific decade. After Island Records, Waits moved to Anti/Epitaph for Mule Variations, an album that won him a second Grammy. Since the mid-1980s, he has collaborated with his wife Kathleen Brennan. His latest studio album, titled Bad as Me, was released in 2011.
As of 2011, according to Nielsen Soundscan, Waits has sold 4.6 million albums in the United States.
Discography
Albums
Studio albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Sales | Certifications (sales thresholds) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | AUS | AUT | FRA | GER | IRL | NLD | NOR | SWE | UK | ||||
| 1973 | Closing Time | — | — | — | — | 44 | 29 | — | — | — | — |
| |
| 1974 | The Heart of Saturday Night
| 201 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| |
| 1975 | Nighthawks at the Diner
| 164 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| |
| 1976 | Small Change
| 89 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| |
| 1977 | Foreign Affairs
| 113 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1978 | Blue Valentine
| 181 | 42 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| |
| 1980 | Heartattack and Vine
| 96 | 31 | — | — | — | 81 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1983 | Swordfishtrombones
| 167 | — | — | — | — | — | 48 | 18 | — | 62 |
| |
| 1985 | Rain Dogs
| 181 | 49 | 26 | — | — | — | 23 | 12 | 5 | 29 | ||
| 1987 | Franks Wild Years
| 115 | 83 | 24 | — | 49 | — | 21 | 13 | 17 | 20 |
| |
| 1992 | Bone Machine
| 176 | 41 | 22 | — | 42 | — | 31 | 15 | 38 | 26 | ||
| 1993 | The Black Rider
| 130 | — | — | — | — | — | 68 | — | — | 47 | ||
| 1999 | Mule Variations | 30 | 13 | 7 | 22 | 4 | — | 12 | 1 | 7 | 9 |
|
|
| 2002 | Alice
| 33 | 26 | 3 | 27 | 10 | 5 | 16 | 3 | 13 | 20 |
|
|
Blood Money
| 32 | 25 | 5 | 36 | 9 | 4 | 21 | 4 | 12 | 21 |
|
| |
| 2004 | Real Gone
| 28 | 27 | 11 | 39 | 19 | 9 | 10 | 2 | 9 | 16 |
|
|
| 2011 | Bad as Me
| 6 | 11 | 5 | 28 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 10 |
| |
Soundtrack albums
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 1982 | One from the Heart (with Crystal Gayle)
|
| 1992 | Night on Earth
|
Live albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | AUT | FRA | GER | IRL | NLD | NOR | SWE | UK | ||
| 1988 | Big Time
| 152 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 36 | 84 |
| 2009 | Glitter and Doom Live
| 63 | 30 | 91 | 61 | 44 | 36 | 5 | 46 | 76 |
Compilation albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS | AUT | NOR | NZL | UK | ||
| 1981 | Bounced Checks
| 75 | — | — | 24 | — |
| 1984 | Anthology of Tom Waits
| — | — | — | — | — |
| 1986 | Asylum Years
| — | — | 40 | — | — |
| 1991 | The Early Years, Volume One
| — | — | — | — | — |
| 1993 | The Early Years, Volume Two
| — | — | — | — | — |
| 1998 | Beautiful Maladies – The Island Years
| — | — | 18 | — | 63 |
| 2001 | Used Songs 1973–1980
| — | 63 | 18 | — | — |
Box sets
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Sales | Certifications (sales thresholds) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | AUS | AUT | FRA | GER | IRL | NLD | NOR | SWE | UK | ||||
| 2006 | Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards
| 74 | 59 | 15 | 46 | 26 | 25 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 49 |
|
|
Singles
Retail singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BEL | FRA | |||
| 1973 | "Ol' '55" | — | — | Closing Time |
| 1974 | "Blue Skies" | — | — | non-album single |
| 1975 | "San Diego Serenade" | — | — | The Heart of Saturday Night |
| 1976 | "Step Right Up" | — | — | Small Change |
| 1979 | "Somewhere" | — | — | Blue Valentine |
| 1980 | "Jersey Girl" | — | — | Heartattack and Vine |
| 1983 | "In the Neighborhood" | — | — | Swordfishtrombones |
| 1985 | "Downtown Train" | — | — | Rain Dogs |
| 1987 | "Hang On St. Christopher" | — | — | Franks Wild Years |
| 1988 | "16 Shells From a Thirty-Ought-Six" (live) | — | — | Big Time |
| 1992 | "Goin' Out West" | — | — | Bone Machine |
| 1999 | "Hold On" | — | — | Mule Variations |
| 2006 | "Lie to Me" | — | — | Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards |
| 2011 | "Bad as Me" | — | 50 | Bad as Me |
| "Back in the Crowd" | 123 | — | ||
Promotional singles
| Year | Single | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 1975 | "(Looking for) The Heart of Saturday Night" | The Heart of Saturday Night |
| 1985 | "Tango Till They're Sore" | Down By Law |
| 1993 | "Heartattack and Vine" | Heartattack and Vine |
| "I'll Shoot the Moon" | The Black Rider | |
| 2002 | "Alice" | Alice |
| "God's Away on Business" | Blood Money | |
| 2004 | "How It's Gonna End" | Real Gone |
| "Make It Rain" |
Other appearances
Studio
| Year | Song(s) | Album | Album type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | "What Keeps Mankind Alive?" | Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill | tribute | Kurt Weill cover |
| 1988 | "Heigh Ho (The Dwarfs Marching Song)" | Stay Awake | cover of song from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs | |
| 1989 | "Sea of Love" | Sea of Love | soundtrack | Phil Phillips cover |
| 1990 | "It's All Right with Me" | Red Hot + Blue | charity | Cole Porter cover |
| 1996 | "Fall of Troy" and "Walk Away" | Dead Man Walking | soundtrack | original songs |
| 1997 | "Little Drop of Poison" | The End of Violence | ||
| 1999 | "Books of Moses" | More Oar: A Tribute to the Skip Spence Album | tribute | Skip Spence cover |
| "On the Road" | Jack Kerouac Reads on the Road | anthology | Jack Kerouac adaptation, with Primus | |
| 2000 | "Putting on the Dog" and "It's Over" | Liberty Heights | soundtrack | original songs |
| "Rains on Me" | Free the West Memphis 3 | charity | with Chuck E. Weiss | |
| 2001 | "Long Way Home" and "Jayne's Blue Wish" | Big Bad Love | soundtrack | original song |
| 2002 | "Bend Down the Branches" | For the Kids | charity | original song, previously featured in 1998 film Bunny |
| 2003 | "The Return of Jackie and Judy" | We're a Happy Family: A Tribute to Ramones | tribute | Ramones cover |
| 2004 | "King Kong" | The Late Great Daniel Johnston: Discovered Covered | Daniel Johnston cover | |
| 2013 | "Shenandoah" | Son of Rogues Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs & Chanteys | various artists | with Keith Richards |
| 2016 | "The Soul of a Man" and "John the Revelator" | God Don't Never Change: The Songs of Blind Willie Johnson | tribute | Blind Willie Johnson covers |
Live
| Year | Song(s) | Album | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | various tracks | Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night | |
| 1998 | "Fall of Troy" | Rare on Air, Volume Four | |
| 2007 | "Way Down In The Hole," "God's Away On Business," "Lost In The Harbor," and "Diamond In Your Mind" | Healing the Divide: A Concert for Peace and Reconciliation | with Kronos Quartet |
Featured artist and guest spots
| Year | Song(s) | Album | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | "Your Sweet and Shiney Eyes" | Home Plate | Bonnie Raitt |
| 1979 | "Waitin for Waits" | Hollywood Madness | Richie Cole |
| 1986 | "Harlem Shuffle" | Dirty Work | The Rolling Stones |
| 1989 | "Silent Night" | SOS United | SOS Children's Villages |
| 1989 | "Date to Church" | I'll Be You single | The Replacements |
| 1991 | "Tommy the Cat" | Sailing the Seas of Cheese | Primus |
| 1991 | "Thousand Bing Bangs" and "The Movie" | Devout Catalyst | Ken Nordine |
| 1991 | "Little Man" and "I'm Not Your Fool Anymore" | Mississippi Lad | Teddy Edwards |
| 1992 | "Adios Lounge" | Beautiful Mess | Thelonious Monster |
| 1993 | "Tramp and Tom Waits With Full Orchestra" and "Coda: Tom Waits With High Strings" | Jesus Blood Never Failed Me Yet | Gavin Bryars |
| 1998 | "River of Men" and "World of Adventure" | Fishing With John | John Lurie |
| 1999 | "Coattails of a Dead Man" | Antipop | Primus |
| 1999 | "Do You Know What I Idi Amin?" and "It Rains on Me", and co-produced album | Extremely Cool | Chuck E. Weiss |
| 2000 | "Helium Reprise" | Helium | Tin Hat Trio |
| 2000 | "I'll Tell Why That Is" | Beatin' the Heat | Dan Hicks |
| 2001 | "Buzz Fledderjohn" and "Fannin'", and produced album | Wicked Grin | John P. Hammond |
| 2001 | "Dog Door" | It's a Wonderful Life | Sparklehorse |
| 2001 | "Mahfouz" | Witness | Dave Douglas |
| 2002 | "What's He Building in There"" | Hullabaloo Soundtrack | Muse |
| 2002 | "Diamond in Your Mind" | Don't Give Up On Me | Solomon Burke |
| 2003 | "Go Tell It on the Mountain" | Go Tell It on the Mountain | The Blind Boys of Alabama |
| 2004 | "Kitate" | The Ride | Los Lobos |
| 2005 | "Going Fetal"" | Blinking Lights and Other Revelations | Eels |
| 2006 | "Morning Hollow" | Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain | Sparklehorse |
| 2007 | "Pray" | Traineater | The Book of Knots |
| 2008 | "Waitress" | When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold | Atmosphere |
| 2009 | "Spacious Thoughts" | The Spirit of Apollo | N.A.S.A. |
| 2010 | "Tootie Ma Was a Big Fine Thing" and "Corrine Died on The Battlefield" | Preservation: An Album to Benefit Preservation Hall & The Preservation Hall Music Outreach Program | Preservation Hall Jazz Band |
| 2011 | "Ghost to a Ghost" and "Fadin' Moon" | Ghost to a Ghost/Gutter Town | Hank Williams III |
| 2018 | "Bella Ciao" | Songs Of Resistance 1942 - 2018 | Marc Ribot |
Other
- 1987 Smack My Crack: "The Pontiac", spoken-word piece
- 1993 Born to Choose: "Filipino Box Spring Hog", earlier release of Mule Variations song
- 2007 People Take Warning! Murder Ballads and Disaster Songs 1913–1938, by various artists: Waits wrote the introduction for this 3 CD reissue anthology produced by Christopher King and Henry "Hank" Sapoznik
- 2011 Hard Ground by Michael O'Brien: contributed poems to accompany photographs of homeless people in Austin, Texas taken by Michael O'Brien
Music videos
| Year | Title | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | "The One That Got Away" | John Lamb |
| 1983 | "In the Neighborhood" | Haskell Wexler |
| 1985 | "Downtown Train" | Jean-Baptiste Mondino |
| 1987 | "Blow Wind Blow" | Chris Blum |
| "Temptation" | Betzy Bromberg | |
| 1990 | "It's All Right with Me" | Jim Jarmusch |
| 1992 | "Goin' Out West" | Jesse Dylan |
| "I Don't Wanna Grow Up" | Jim Jarmusch | |
| 1999 | "Hold On" | Matt Mahurin |
| "Come On Up to the House" | Anders Lövgren | |
| "What's He Building?" | ||
| 2002 | "God's Away on Business" | Jesse Dylan |
| 2004 | "Top of the Hill" | Chris Blum |
| 2006 | "Lie to Me" | Danny Clinch |
| 2011 | "Satisfied" | Jesse Dylan |
| 2012 | "Hell Broke Luce" | Matt Mahurin |
Video albums
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 1988 | Big Time
|
References
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