Title: WNEW FM: Vin Scelsa's Idiot's Delight Source: audio tape aka "Nighthawks In The Studio". Transcription from tape by "Pieter from Holland" as published on the Tom Waits Library Date: Recorded MediaSound Studios NYC. December 14, 1976. Aired December 18, 1976 on WNEW-FM. Rebroadcast March 24, 1996 WNEW-FM. Key words: Ralph Ebler, Cleveland, California, Joe Marlelongo, Waltzing Matilda, Musical influences Picture: Vin Scelsa at WNEW (date unknown)

WNEW FM: Vin Scelsa's Idiot's Delight

Tom Waits: vocals and piano.
Ralph Ebler (Edler?/ Adler?): percussion.
Interviewer/ production supervisor: Vin Scelsa

[Waits and Ebler start intro to "Emotional Weather Report"]

VS: [with a jazzy voice] Good evening... This is Vin Scelsa... The man at the piano is Tom Waits... Ralph Ebler at the drums. It's a December's night in New York City... Tom and Ralph and I kinda find ourselves sequestered in the deep bowels of a recording studio of 8th Avenue here in New York... Me and Tom and Ralph and... a couple of bottles of beer... Old... [Waits starts singing]... Hey Tom!

[Waits/ Ebler: "Emotional Weather Report"]

VS: Okay! Okay... How are you Tom?
TW: [growling and mumbling and lighting a cigarette] Oh eh under the circumstances... Just came eh... got here eh this afternoon from ehm Cleveland/ Ohio. I was in Cleveland for a couple of days⁽¹⁾. Every now and then you just have to go to Cleveland. Whether you like it or not [laughter from Scelsa]. Huh, huh. Eh....
VS: Tom is in New York to do a couple of nights down at the Bottom Line⁽²⁾. Is New York one of your favorite cities?
TW: Yeah, I like it here, yeah...
VS: I've heard stories about you hanging out eh on 42nd Street near the Avenue here in New York.
TW: Who me?!
VS: Yeah, yeah. I've heard stories...
TW: It's my twin brother!
VS: I've heard stories from people who are involved with your record company. Who wanna wine you and dine you when you come to town. And all you wanna do is hang out in cheap bars on 8th Avenue.
TW: Oh no...,must have had the wrong guy. No I eh... first time I came to New York, I guess about five years ago. Maybe five/ six years ago, I'm not sure. I played at Max's, Kansas City and opened a show for Charlie Rich⁽³⁾ ...
VS: Really?
TW: ... for a week, yeah.
VS: That's a strange show, and a strange place for that show isn't it?
TW: It had its moments, it had its moments, yeah. It was alright.
VS: You're from California?
TW: Yeah. Yeah, I grew up in Los Angeles [starts playing intro to "Jitterbug Boy"]. Yeah... I've been on the road doing clubs for a while now...
VS: The setting in for a lot of your songs is that kind of sprawling, blight, that some people refer to as Los Angeles. Some of the characters and some of the streets and some of the places...
TW: Aha...
VS: You use that a lot don't you, the environment in your songs?
TW: Yeah, 'cos eh everybody needs a different climate eh you know eh to write. I guess... You know... Yeah I write about stuff eh... like that yeah...
VS: Can you do a... can you do a California song for us?
TW: ... ... ... ... A California song huh?
VS: Yeah a California song. For the folks in New York on a cold December night.
TW: Oh eh, I don't know let's see eh... Ahmmm... Ahm... [plays intro to "Invitation To The Blues"]... Well, some things are not necessarily indigenous only in Los Angeles or California. You know eh, it depends on eh what/ where you go... Aaahhh let's see.... Ehmmm I can do you a little story here. This is eh, about running into an old partner after a long time eh... Let's see here eh... I was gone for eh quite a while on the road doing clubs and eh, I ran into a cat named Joe Marlelongo⁽⁴⁾. I used to take out his sister. I used to take out both of his sisters. I mean individually... yeah... And eh... I ended up at a place called the Tiki Room eh one night and eh Joe showed up... But eh, it was kind of a eh time to reminisce, and eh...

[Waits: "Sight For Sore Eyes"]

TW: Well, this was a little bit of California I guess. Uh... I don't know... [starts snapping fingers]. This is even more... I don't know... Eh... This is a merchandisable ehmm commodity number here eh...

[Waits/ Ebler: "Step Right Up"]

VS: What... Tom, what makes, what makes some of, some of your songs poems like that? You know eh kinda rap-poems. Kinda Jive kinda poems. And some of your songs are songs with eh... real beautiful melodies you know? Is it subject matter? Is it the fact that they're kind of a love song or a lost love song? Is it a song with a melody? And eh, and the going'-out-of business-sales song is a song with finger snapping...
TW: I guess you can eh handle that, you know eh, any one of a numbers of different ways. But I just thought that eh... There's something that's inherently rhythmic about a barker or a used car salesman or a, you know eh pitch man carney cat. You know eh there's always a rhythm there, you know eh, to hold your attention. You know?
VS: Is it a road rhythm too like eh that, the one you do called "Diamonds On My Windshield" .
TW: Aha...
VS: That's kind of a... That's, you feel the...
TW: Yeah? [starts playing intro to "Eggs And Sausage"]
VS: The wipers going back and forth across the windshield ...
TW: Yeah... But eh there's always a couple of different ways to approach any type of a tune. Ideally you might have eh... I could have done "Step Right Up" like a ballad, but I don't think it would have fit, you know eh, I just don't think it would have fit. And eh... Yeah, I don't think it would have fit. And eh... Eh... This is about a restaurant... And eh... Actually, originally this particular place was eh nothing more then a men's room but they decided to knock out a wall and build on, you know?⁽⁵⁾ And eh...
RE: [laughing] How many rooms?!
TW: Huh, huh. Three walls, that's all they had!

[Waits/ Ebler: "Eggs And Sausage"]

[tape cut]

TW: [Plays into to "Jitterbug Boy"] This is a song about eh... a cat I met at eh Pennsylvania station eh real late one night and eh... his name's Rocky... It seems there's always a guy named Rocky at Pennsylvania station... or any station for that matter. If there isn't you know eh, they usually have a (...?...) and rent one. And eh... The guy'd been everywhere, done everything. I was going to Philadelphia. He said: "Man, I'm going to Philadelphia." He said: "I'm gonna take a train." I said: "Well you know eh, don't take a train, let the train take you.". Huh, huh...

[Waits/ Ebler: "Jitterbug Boy"]

TW: Huh, huh... Yeah, eh that's one... Ahum... Ahm... Ahum. [lights a cigarette]. Well, let's see here eh... I eh... ehm. I'm gonna do a thing about cars eh. This is kind of a, sort of a mutational eh sub cultural eh automotive eh Southern California fascination with the internal combustion engine. Maybe we do something here eh.. [starts snapping fingers] This is about a eh... I don't know eh, it seemed like getting my drivers license when I was a kid, was like ehm... You know eh, certainly a major event, you know eh. I mean it was almost as important as puberty. You know eh, so eh... Well the first car I ever had I bought for $125 from a guy eh who was leaving town, and he had to let it go and it was like eh, real sentimental to him, you know eh? It was a Buick Roadmaster and eh he said: "Well, turn it over." [imitates starting engine trouble]. Well I said: "Well, I give you $100 for it." Huh, huh... And eh, so this is a little bit of eh... little piece here about driving in the rain... No wipers, and a glove compartment full of moving violations. You know? Huh, huh...

[Waits/ Ebler: "Diamonds On My Windshield"]

TW: Arghmm... Huh, huh. That's Ralph Ebler on drums here!
VS: [laughing] Alright!
TW: The drum! Thankya!... Aahm, let's see here...

[Waits/ Ebler: "San Diego Serenade"]

TW: We're now rollin'. Don't stop...Ehm... I don't know, ehm...
VS: Tom Traubert?⁽⁶⁾ Wanna get into that?
TW: ... I could do that, yeah.
RE: You don't want me on that do you?
TW: Better do it alone Ralph. I'm gonna be able to eh slow down and eh all that...

[Waits: "Tom Traubert's Blues"]

VS: [apparently touched by the song] That's so nice...
TW: Well, thank you.
VS: That's really nice... ... Do we... Do we know eh the origin of "Waltzing Matilda"? Did someone actually write that or is that just one of those old folk things that goes back and...
TW: Oh, you mean the original?
VS: The Australian song "Waltzing Matilda" yeah...
TW: Well, I believe it was a 1903 eh... Yeah I think it was 1903, and eh what happened was eh...Originally I believe it was a poem, it was a poem and eh... And it eh was put to music and became the unofficial national anthem of eh Australia I believe. A Matilda is a eh backpack. So "Waltzing Matilda" just means, really just to take off, you know? Like blow town, you know? And eh, you know, that's what the song means, maybe. Mmmm let's see here...

[Waits/ Ebler: "New Coat Of Paint"]

VS: That's a good opening song when you're doing a radio show, late at night. You know?
TW: Oh yeah? [lights a cigarette]
VS: "New Coat Of Paint" sure... You consider yourself a jazz-singer?
TW: I don't know eh...
VS: I mean in terms of eh, the kinds of eh vocalists that you like to listen to... Who are they? Mose Allison? People like that?
TW: Yeah sure eh, I love Mose Allison, I like eh Oscar Brown jr. a lot. You know? Lord Buckley, and eh William F. Buckley, that's his bastard brother... Huh, huh...
VS: [laughs] Getting close to Christmas time. It'll be time to bring out the Lord Buckley rendition of the tale of Scrooge. The Christmas carol...
TW: Oh yeah that's really...
VS: Which is kind of similar to the kinds of things that you do [Waits opens a beer can]. You know it's a song. At times you can take Lord Buckley's raps and almost write them down in musical notation. Can't you?
TW: Yeah, he has that quality to his voice. I mean he was a real mad and piteous(?) storyteller, yeah definitely... And eh left behind a legacy, you know? A legacy or two. A wooden legacy. Yeah, I love Lord Buckley. I don't know, I like Clarence "Frog" McHenry, I don't know. I like eh Charles Bukowski and eh Hubert Selby jr., Nelson Algren and Mickey Spillane and Broderick Crawford, Wally Cox and eh I like eh Parnelli Jones, Andy Granatelli⁽⁷⁾...
VS: How about Jimmy Cagney?
TW: Yeah I like Jimmy... Eh.... JAMES Cagney!
VS: James.
TW: We weren't close enough for me to refer to him as 'Jimmy'. Huh, huh... I don't know, ehm.
VS: Sometimes when I listen to your records I get the same kind of feeling that I get eh sitting home on a rainy Sunday afternoon watching a 1942 great B(...?...), like a white flick on the tube, you know eh?
TW: You got black & white huh? You finally got rid of the color and finally decided: Well...
VS: [laughs]
TW: ... why wait until you're old enough to... You finally got a black & white, what the hell.

[tape cut]

[Waits/ Ebler: "The Piano Has Been Drinking"]

TW: Now we better adjourn. It's time to adjourn... Oh let's see here. About to do something else here... This is about a job eh. Had a lot of different jobs. You know, wages. Wages for days. I was working as a janitor custodian at a mortuary... But eh, I had a lot of different kinds of jobs. I was holding down three at the same time. I was driving a cab, working as a liquor, liquor store eh, eh custodian. And I was a labor organizer at a maternity ward. So I was kinda busy... But eh, it was always nice to eh get off work...

[Waits: "I Can't Wait To Get Off Work"]

VS: Tom Waits, on a December's night here in New York...
TW: Yeah, December...
VS: Thank you man...
TW: Okay, yeah. Nice to be here, thank you.
VS: Goodnight.
TW: Okay, goodnight.

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ Cleveland: those would be the performances at the Agora Ballroom 3-7 December, 1976. Further reading: Performances

⁽²⁾ Bottom Line: the Bottom Line Club, New York 16-18 December, 1976

⁽³⁾ Charlie Rich: Waits also mentioned Rich in his 1975 song Putnam County: "The radio spittin' out Charlie Rich, sure can sing that sonofabitch..." Born in Forrest City on December 14, 1934, to a poor Arkansas family. Charlie "The Silver Fox" Rich was a multi talented artist, bridging Jazz, Blues, and Rock, in a more versatile way than many other artists. "I didn't dig country" Rich would say. As he struggled to find his musical niche, the bluesy "Don't Put No Headstone On My Grave" brought Rich underground fame. Rich with his famous grey streak of hair, recorded "Big Boss Man", and "Behind Closed Doors" in 1973. After making over $2 million in 1975 alone (the time Nighthawks was recorded ), Rich settled into a quiet Memphis suburb. An interesting moment came when Charlie was presenting the Country Music Association's Entertainer of the Year Award. As Rich opened the envelope, he discovered to his horror that John Denver had won. Rich set fire to the award on stage, in a rage of fury and disbelief, later attributed to a painkiller reaction. Like Jerry Lee Lewis, Rich is haunted by a deeply religious upbringing which is at odds with his Rock n' Roll profession. Charlie's son Alan is an outstanding keyboard session man for major Rock bands today. Personal quote: "I really don't like happy music. I don't think it says anything." It is said Waits has opened shows for Rich in the late 60's. Waits opened for Rich: April 18 - April 23, 1973.

⁽⁴⁾ Joe Marlelongo(?)/ Montelongo(?): First mention of this (fictional?) character. In the years ahead Waits would often refer to Joe and his sister Suzy (wearing Angora sweaters) as an intro/ outro to "I Wish I Was In New Orleans": "I used to know this girl named Suzy Marlelongo. Her brother's name was Joe Marlelongo, Joe always wanted to kill me... (Sydney March 1979)

⁽⁵⁾ Men's room: One of the jokes Waits seems to be very satisfied with, as he kept on using it in the years ahead. This one was even recycled for the 1999 VH1 performance (that's 23 years later).

⁽⁶⁾ Tom Traubert's Blues: As a matter of fact Patterson's version was first sung on 6 April 1895. Further reading: Tom Traubert's Blues

⁽⁷⁾ Cox, Jones, Granatelli: Waits throwing in arbitrary names to see whether the interviewer gets it. Wally Cox was some 60's/ 70's nerdy television personality. Jones and Granatelli were both famous American race car drivers.

⁽⁸⁾ Be My Guest: Tom Waits. TOM WAITS recorded December 14, 1976 Mediasound Studios aired on December 18 (?), 1976 on WNEW-FM. "Nighthawks On The Radio" by Vin Scelsa: This appearance has been bootlegged many times and, since the advent of the internet, it has appeared in various forms of varying quality on many fan websites. This is the original recording, recorded at Mediasound Studios in New York on December 14, 1976. Tom's album Small Change had recently been released. He was in New York to play a series of gigs at The Bottom Line. Since we had no piano at the WNEW-FM studio we decided to go to an outside studio to pre-record the segment. The only people present in the studio (aside from the engineer) were Tom, me and the local promo rep from Elektra Records, a guy named Ralph Ebler. It turned out that Ralph was a drummer, so Tom enlisted him to play the snare drum that happened to be sitting in the studio on a couple of tunes. My recollection is that Tom played an acoustic upright piano. I suppose it could have been a baby grand. It was a long time ago. I sound so much (embarrassingly) younger than I do now, which makes sense...but Tom, who is 2 years younger than me, sounds so much older than he does now! It was the "persona" of the wizened hipster barfly which he so beautifully captured during his early years, especially on his 1975 live album Nighthawks At The Diner. It was that title which caused me to name this session "Nighthawks On The Radio." I played this tape for the first time several days later on my show on WNEW-FM. I've played it - in its entirety or segments - a few times over the ensuing years, on several NY radio stations. Here's the entire complete performance. All songs are live in studio performances by Tom Waits. No recordings were played. Tom Waits (live) Intro riff with Vin / Emotional Weather Report Tom Waits (live) A Sight For Sore Eyes Tom Waits (live) Step Right Up Tom Waits (live) Invitation To The Blues Tom Waits (live) Jitterbug Boy Tom Waits (live) Diamonds On My Windshield Tom Waits (live) San Diego Serenade Tom Waits (live) Tom Traubert's Blues Tom Waits (live) New Coat Of Pain Tom Waits (live) The Piano Has Been Drinking Tom Waits (live) I Can't Wait To Get Off Work Tom Waits (live) Closing credits riff with Vin (Source: WFUV 90.7 FM from Fordham University: Vin Scelsa's 'Be My Guest' Playlist Interviews and performances from Idiot's Delight guest appearances)