I picked up a second biography on the unparalleled Tom Waits at my favorite rare book shop. From my research it appears I've secured the two best titles examining one of the most cryptic and mythic figures in rock history. These titles are
Innocent When You Dream: The Tom Waits Reader by Mac Montandon and
Lowside of the Road: A Life of Tom Waits by Barney Hoskyns.
I'd previously walked into a tiny, overstuffed used bookshop just outside of NYC some years ago where I found
Lowside as well as a biography on Sun Ra and one on Captain Beefheart, and I regret not grabbing all three, but money was tight at the time. Perhaps I'll reclaim them one day.
Innocent When You Dream is a collection of interviews, album reviews, and conversations with people like Elvis Costello and Roberto Benigni. I'm really looking forward to exploring it.
