Heartattack and Vine

Heartattack and Vine is the seventh studio album by Tom Waits, released on September 9, 1980,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and his final album to be released on the Asylum label.

"On the Nickel" was recorded for the Ralph Waite film of the same name. It was used as the theme song for the 1985 "The Atlanta Child Murders" miniseries. "Heartattack and Vine" was later recorded by Screamin' Jay Hawkins. In 1993 this version was used without Waits' permission in a Levi's commercial, for which Waits took legal action and won a settlement.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Jean-Luc Godard used "Ruby's Arms" in his 1983 film First Name: Carmen. Bruce Springsteen performed "Jersey Girl" live (and was joined onstage by Waits to sing it on August 24, 1981), including it in his retrospective Live/1975–85.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Reception

Though critical of the album in many respects, including Waits' vocal delivery and the "morbid pathos" of the ballads, Stephen Holden of Rolling Stone wrote that "Tom Waits finds more beauty in the gutter than most people would find in the Garden of Eden," and referred to him as a "unique and lovable minor talent."<ref name="RS"/>

The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Legacy

Waits saw Heartattack and Vine as a transitional record, one that marked a turning point for him and pointed toward further musical experimentation. The album, he told Record Magazine in 1983, “was me trying to avoid using a knife and a fork and a spoon. It wasn’t 100 percent successful, but it’s usually the small breakthroughs that give you a tunnel to laterally make some kind of transition. The title track was a breakthrough for me, using that kind of Yardbirds fuzz guitar, having the drummer use sticks instead of brushes. Small little things like that. More or less putting on a different costume.” <ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Track listing

All songs written by Tom Waits.

Personnel

• Tom Waits – vocals, electric guitar, piano
• Bob Alcivar – string arrangement, orchestral arrangement, conductor
• Ronnie Barron – Hammond organ, piano
• Roland Bautista – electric guitar, twelve-string guitar
• Greg Cohen, Jim Hughart, Larry Taylor – bass guitar
• Victor Feldman – percussion, chimes, glockenspiel
• Plas Johnson – tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone
• Michael Lang – piano
• "Big John" Thomassie – drums
• Jerry Yester – orchestral arrangement, conductor

Charts

Chart (1981)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)<ref name=aus>Template:Cite book</ref>	31
United States (Billboard 200)<ref>Whitburn, Joel; Joel Whitburn’s top pop albums, 1955–1996; published c. 1996 by Record Research Inc. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, Template:ISBN</ref>	96

External links

• Heartattack and Vine (Adobe Flash) at Spotify (streamed copy where licensed)