Tom Waits to reissue Small Change on vinyl for 50th anniversary

Tom Waits will reissue his album Small Change on vinyl come October 2 to celebrate its 50^th anniversary.

The American singer-songwriter’s fourth studio LP, released in 1976, contains classics like ‘Tom Traubert’s Blues’ and ‘The Piano Has Been Drinking’.

Upon the record’s release, Waits explained how his musical style could be traced back to his early days working the door at a night club.

“I got a job as a doorman at a night club in L.A., and I listened to all the acts from the door,” he said. “I heard bluegrass, comics, folk singers, string bands.”

“At the same time, I was picking up people’s conversations in all-night coffee shops – ambulance drivers, cabdrivers, street sweepers. I did research there as an evening curator, and I started writing – gingerly. I thought at some point I’d like to forge it all into something meaningful and give it dignity.”

On July 31, Waits surprise released a new spoken word song ‘The Fly’. The four-minute track is a satirical ode to the common house fly.

Earlier this year, he collaborated with Massive Attack to create ‘Boots on the Ground’, which ‘The Fly’ is the B-side for. The politically-charged song was released online in April and marked Waits’ first new music since his 2011 album Bad As Me.

‘Boots On The Ground’ and ‘The Fly’ will be released together on 12-inch vinyl on September 4.

Before those tracks were released, Waits and his wife, Kathleen Brennan, curated Where The Willow and Dogwood Grow, a collection featuring recordings by Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen, the Ramones, Joan Baez and more.