Small Change (1976)

Small Change (1976)

“Wasted and wounded/ ’tain’t what the moon did/ God, what am I paying for now?” So begins Small Change, Tom Waits’ first great album. By now Waits’ voice is fully formed, his no-count narratives and Bohemian shimmying a defiantly love-it-or-hate-it, take-it-or-leave-it proposition. Jazz sympathies hinted at before are now flaunted ; Waits even quotes “As Time Goes By” at the top of “Bad Liver and Broken Heart.” But dismiss Small Change as po-faced traditionalism at your own peril; this amalgamation of Waits themes and preoccupations contains a bounty of truly great songs: “The Piano Has Been Drinking” transcends the novelty of its Shel Silverstein-like lyrics by making the titular instrument sound as if it’s drunkenly hiccupping throughout – you can almost smell the belch of a Rob Roy; “I Wish I Was In New Orleans” one-ups even Shane MacGowen for soused balladry; and “I Can’t Wait To Get Off Work (And See My Baby On Montgomery Avenue)” ends the album triumphantly with a seemingly autobiographical litany of work-night woes eased by the anticipation of romance. Four songs featuring a rapping Waits simply stringing together street salesman and auctioneer clichés over zippy jazz accompaniment dull the album’s impact somewhat, but Small Change resonated: it would be the first Tom Waits album to enter the top 100 Billboard chart.