Small Change cover

Released 50 years ago

Small Change

Tom Waits · 1976

50 min · 11 tracks · blues · jazz

A smoky dive bar ambiance captures the raw, introspective storytelling of life's misfits and lost souls.

Is this for you?

Good fit if you like

  • introspective storytelling moments
  • dynamic emotional journeys
  • smoky, atmospheric ambiance
  • wave-like pacing experience

Where this album fits

Career context
Released on September 21, 1976, 'Small Change' was Tom Waits' fourth studio album, following the critically acclaimed 'Nighthawks at the Diner.' At this point in his career, Waits had begun to solidify his unique voice that blended jazz, blues, and a theatrical narrative style, marking a significant evolution from his earlier folk-inspired sound.
Stylistic neighbors
Leonard Cohen· Nick Cave· Captain Beefheart

Tracklist

Best experienced from track one — press play and let it unfold.

  • 1 Tom Traubert’s Blues (Four Sheets to the Wind in Copenhagen) 6:39
  • 2 Step Right Up 5:43
  • 3 Jitterbug Boy (Sharing a Curbstone With Chuck E. Weiss, Robert Marchese, Paul Body and the Mug and Artie) 3:44
  • 4 I Wish I Was in New Orleans (in the Ninth Ward) 4:53
  • 5 The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me) (An Evening With Pete King) 3:40
  • 6 Invitation to the Blues 5:24
  • 7 Pasties and a G‐String (at the Two O’Clock Club) 2:32
  • 8 Bad Liver and a Broken Heart (in Lowell) 4:50
  • 9 The One That Got Away 4:07
  • 10 Small Change (Got Rained On With His Own .38) 5:07
  • 11 I Can’t Wait to Get Off Work (and See My Baby on Montgomery Avenue) 3:17

Reference: Wikipedia · MusicBrainz · Wikidata