Only one songwriter could be covered by the Ramones ("I Don't Want to Grow Up") and the Eagles ("Ol' '55"). Beginning with his first album in 1973, Tom Waits has carved out a unique place in rock and roll. His music mixes Chicago blues, parlor ballads, beat poetry, pulp-fiction parlance and — when you least expect it — heart-breaking tenderness. His enormously influential live shows combine elements of German cabaret, vaudeville and roadhouse rock. After establishing a successful early style as a wry singer-songwriter, Waits went through a dramatic expansion with Swordfishtrombones (1983). Disregarding musical borders and commercial considerations, he ...