Blue Valentine is the sixth studio album by American rock musician Tom Waits, released in September 1978 on Asylum Records. The album was recorded over the course of six sessions from July to August 1978 with producer Bones Howe.
The woman pictured with Waits on the back cover is Rickie Lee Jones, another singer/songwriter with whom he was having a relationship at the time. This album peaked on the Australian charts in late 1978 at #42.
Track listing[edit][]
All tracks written by Tom Waits, except where noted.
Side one
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Somewhere" (From West Side Story) | Music: Leonard Bernstein; lyrics: Stephen Sondheim | 3:53 | |
2. | "Red Shoes by the Drugstore" | 3:14 | ||
3. | "Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis" | 4:33 | ||
4. | "Romeo Is Bleeding" | 4:52 | ||
5. | "$29.00" | 8:15 |
Side two
No. | Title | Length | |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Wrong Side of the Road" | 5:14 | |
2. | "Whistlin' Past the Graveyard" | 3:17 | |
3. | "Kentucky Avenue" | 4:49 | |
4. | "A Sweet Little Bullet from a Pretty Blue Gun" | 5:36 | |
5. | "Blue Valentines" | 5:49 |
Personnel[edit][]
- Vocals – Tom Waits
- Electric guitar – Tom Waits, Ray Crawford, Roland Bautista, Alvin "Shine" Robinson
- Bass – Scott Edwards, Jim Hughart, Byron Miller
- Piano – Da Willie Gonga (George Duke), Harold Battiste, Tom Waits
- Organ – Charles Kynard
- Tenor saxophone – Herbert Hardesty, Frank Vicari
- Drums – Rick Lawson, Earl Palmer, Chip White
- Congas – Bobbye Hall Porter ("Romeo Is Bleeding")[1]
- Orchestra – Bob Alcivar