Franks Wild Years
Studio album by
Tom Waits
ReleasedAugust 17, 1987
Recorded
Length55:34
LabelIsland
ProducerTom Waits
Tom Waits chronology
Rain Dogs
(1985)		 Franks Wild Years
(1987)		 Big Time
(1988)
Singles from Franks Wild Years
  1. "Hang on St. Christopher"
    Released: August 17, 1987
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[2]
Los Angeles Times[3]
Mojo[4]
Q[5]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[6]
Uncut[7]
The Village VoiceB[8]

Franks Wild Years is the tenth studio album by Tom Waits, released 1987 on Island Records. Subtitled "Un Operachi Romantico in Two Acts", the album contains songs written by Waits and collaborators (mainly his wife, Kathleen Brennan) for a play of the same name. The shared title of the album and the play is an iteration of "Frank's Wild Years", a song from Waits' 1983 album Swordfishtrombones.

The play had its world premiere at the Briar St. Theatre in Chicago, Illinois, on June 22, 1986, performed by the Steppenwolf Theatre Company.

Various versions of "Way Down in the Hole" were used as the theme music for the HBO series The Wire, including Waits' original version for the second season. The songs "Temptation" and "Cold Cold Ground" were used in Jean-Claude Lauzon's film Léolo (1992). "Cold Cold Ground" was also used in the series Homicide: Life on the Street. "Temptation" and "Straight to the Top (Vegas)" featured in the film Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005), and "Innocent When You Dream" featured in the film Smoke (1995).[9] The song "If I Have to Go" was used in the play, but released only in 2006 on Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards. The theme from "If I Have to Go" was used under the title "Rat's Theme" in the documentary Streetwise as early as 1984. "Yesterday Is Here" appears in "The Night Shift", the second episode of the 2023 mystery drama series Poker Face.[10]

Critical reception

The album ranked number 5 among "Albums of the Year" for 1987 in the annual NME critics' poll.[11]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Tom Waits, except where noted

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Hang on St. Christopher" 2:46
2."Straight to the Top (Rhumba)"Waits, Greg Cohen2:30
3."Blow Wind Blow" 3:35
4."Temptation" 3:53
5."Innocent When You Dream (Barroom)" 4:15
6."I'll Be Gone"Waits, Kathleen Brennan3:12
7."Yesterday Is Here"Waits, Brennan2:29
8."Please Wake Me Up"Waits, Brennan3:36
9."Franks Theme" 1:49
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
10."More Than Rain" 3:52
11."Way Down in the Hole" 3:30
12."Straight to the Top (Vegas)"Waits, Cohen3:26
13."I'll Take New York" 3:58
14."Telephone Call from Istanbul" 3:12
15."Cold Cold Ground" 4:07
16."Train Song" 3:20
17."Innocent When You Dream (78)" 3:08

Note: "Cold Cold Ground" is incorrectly listed as "Cold Call Ground" on the Island CD release.

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album liner notes.[12]

Musicians
  • Jay Anderson – bass (8)
  • Michael Blair – drums, conga, percussion, maracas, marimba, orchestra bells, glockenspiel (1–4, 6, 10–14)
  • Kathleen Brennan – vocal arrangements (4)
  • Angela Brown – background vocals (11)
  • Ralph Carney – saxophone, baritone horn, violin, tenor saxophone (1–2, 4–6, 8, 10–13, 17)
  • Greg Cohen – bass, alto horn, horn arrangements, Leslie bass pedals (1–6, 10–14, 16–17)
  • David Hidalgo – accordion (15–16)
  • Leslie Holland – background vocals (11)
  • Lynne Jordan – background vocals (11)
  • Marc Ribot – guitar, banjo (1, 4, 11, 14)
  • William Schimmel – piano, pump organ, accordion, Leslie bass pedals, cocktail piano (1, 2, 5–6, 10, 12–13, 17)
  • Larry Taylor – bass, upright bass (2, 7, 8, 15)
  • Moris Tepper – guitar (4, 6, 10, 14)
  • Francis Thumm – prepared piano, pump organ (3, 10)
  • Tom Waits – vocals, pump organ, Optigan, guitar, vocal stylings, rooster, piano, Farfisa, Mellotron, drums, conga, tambourine
Technical
  • Tchad Blake – additional engineer
  • Biff Dawes – engineer, mixing (at Sunset Sound, Hollywood, California)
  • Lorita Delacerna – additional engineer
  • David Glover – additional engineer
  • Bill Higley – additional engineer
  • Mike Kloster – additional engineer
  • David Knight – additional engineer
  • Danny Leake – engineer
  • Jean-Baptiste Mondino – conception, photography
  • Jeff Price – art direction
  • Stephen Shelton – additional engineer
  • Tom Waits – producer
  • Howie Weinberg – mastering

Charts

Chart (1987) Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[13] 83
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[14] 24
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[15] 21
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[16] 49
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[17] 42
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[18] 13
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[19] 17
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[20] 14
US Billboard 200[21] 115

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[22] Gold 50,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ↑ Ruhlmann, William. "Franks Wild Years – Tom Waits". AllMusic. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  2. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
  3. ↑ Cromelin, Richard (August 30, 1987). "Waits: Dreamlike, Distant". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Tom Waits: Franks Wild Years". Mojo (200): 77. July 2010.
  5. ↑ "Tom Waits: Franks Wild Years". Q (73): 101. October 1992.
  6. ↑ Coleman, Mark; Scoppa, Bud (2004). "Tom Waits". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 854–55. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  7. ↑ "What Is He Building In There..?". Uncut (175): 52–53. December 2011.
  8. ↑ Christgau, Robert (January 26, 1988). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Smoke (1995) - IMDb". IMDb.
  10. ↑ Patten, Dominic (January 25, 2023). "'Poker Face' Review: No Lie! Natasha Lyonne & Rian Johnson's Peacock Road Trip Procedural Is All Green Lights & Parking Spaces". Deadline. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
  11. ↑ "Albums and Tracks of the Year: 1987". NME. 2018. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
  12. ↑ "Franks Wild Years". Discogs. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
  13. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 331. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  14. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Tom Waits – Franks Wild Years" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  15. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Tom Waits – Franks Wild Years" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  16. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Tom Waits – Franks Wild Years" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  17. ↑ "Charts.nz – Tom Waits – Franks Wild Years". Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  18. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Tom Waits – Franks Wild Years". Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  19. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Tom Waits – Franks Wild Years". Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  20. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Tom Waits – Franks Wild Years". Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  21. ↑ "Tom Waits - Chart history Billboard". www.billboard.com. Archived from the original on April 23, 2016.
  22. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Tom Waits – Franks Wild Years". Music Canada. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
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