Editing Tom Waits (section)

===Childhood and adolescence: 1949–1968===
[[File:Tom Waits (1968 yearbook senior portrait).jpg|thumb|alt=|Waits as a high-school senior at [[Hilltop High School (Chula Vista, California)|Hilltop High School]] in 1967. He dropped out at the age of 18.{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=34}}]]

Thomas Alan Waits was born on December 7, 1949, in [[Pomona, California]].{{sfnm|1a1=Humphries|1y=2007|1p=10|2a1=Hoskyns|2y=2009|2p=6}} He has one older and one younger sister.{{sfnm|1a1=Humphries|1y=2007|1p=11|2a1=Hoskyns|2y=2009|2p=4}} His father, Jesse Frank Waits, was a [[Texas]] native of Scots-Irish descent, and his mother, Alma Fern (née Johnson), hailed from [[Oregon]] and had Norwegian ancestry.{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=6}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sandiegouniontribune/obituary.aspx?n=alma-fern-mcmurray-waits&pid=140080899|title = ALMA McMURRAY Obituary (2010) Union-Tribune|website = [[Legacy.com]]}}</ref> Alma, a regular church-goer, managed the household. Jesse taught Spanish at a local school and was an alcoholic; Waits later related that his father was "a tough one, always an outsider."{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|pp=7–8}} They lived at 318 North Pickering Avenue in [[Whittier, California]]. He recalled having a "very middle-class" upbringing and "a pretty normal childhood". He attended Jordan Elementary School, where he was bullied. There, he learned to play the [[bugle]] and [[guitar]]. His father taught him to play the [[ukulele]].{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|pp=4, 8, 13–16, 27}}

During the summers, he visited maternal relatives in [[Gridley, California|Gridley]] and [[Marysville, California|Marysville]]. He later recalled that it was an uncle's raspy, gravelly timbre that inspired his own singing voice.{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|pp=9, 11}} In 1959, his parents separated and his father moved away from the family home, a traumatic experience for the 10-year-old Waits.{{sfnm|1a1=Humphries|1y=2007|1p=16|2a1=Hoskyns|2y=2009|2p=17}} Alma took her children and relocated to [[Chula Vista]], a middle-class suburb of [[San Diego]].{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=17}} Jesse visited the family there, taking his children on trips to [[Tijuana]].{{sfnm|1a1=Humphries|1y=2007|1p=17|2a1=Hoskyns|2y=2009|2p=19}} In nearby [[Southeast San Diego]], Waits attended [[O'Farrell Community School]], where he fronted a school band, the Systems,{{sfnm|1a1=Humphries|1y=2007|1p=22|2a1=Hoskyns|2y=2009|2p=22}} which he described as "white kids trying to get that [[Motown]] sound." He developed a love of [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]] and [[Soul music|soul]] singers like [[Ray Charles]] and [[Wilson Pickett]], as well as [[country music]] and [[Roy Orbison]].{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|pp=19, 21–22}} [[Bob Dylan]] later became an inspiration; Waits placed transcriptions of Dylan's lyrics on his bedroom walls.{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|pp=22–23}}

Waits recalls: "I was fifteen and I snuck into see [[Lightnin' Hopkins]]. Amazing show. Every time he opened his mouth he had that orchestra of gold teeth, and I was devastated ... He walked through a door, and slammed the door behind him, and on the door it said, I swear to God, 'KEEP OUT. This room is for entertainers ONLY.' And I knew, at that moment, that I had to get into show business as soon as possible."<ref name="Induction">{{cite web |date=June 24, 2020 |title=Neil Young Inducts Tom Waits – "Make It Rain" & "Rain Dogs" |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTLEkAu9NJE |website=[[YouTube]]}}</ref> He recalls: "I first saw [[James Brown]] in 1962 at an outdoor theatre in San Diego and it was indescribable ... it was like putting a finger in a light socket ... It was really like seeing mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral on Christmas."<ref name="Albums">{{cite news| last=Waits| first=Tom| date=March 20, 2005| title= 'It's perfect madness'| work=[[The Guardian]]| url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2005/mar/20/popandrock1}}</ref> By the time he was studying at [[Hilltop High School (Chula Vista, California)|Hilltop High School]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Carone |first=Angela |date=2010-12-22 |title=Photo Gallery: Celebrating Tom Waits |url=https://www.kpbs.org/news/arts-culture/2010/12/22/photo-gallery-celebrating-tom-waits |access-date=2025-03-10 |website=KPBS Public Media |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Waits |first=Tom |title=Tom Waits {{!}} San Diego Reader |url=https://www.sandiegoreader.com/bands/tom-waits/ |access-date=2025-03-10 |website=www.sandiegoreader.com |language=en}}</ref> he later related, he was "kind of an amateur juvenile delinquent", interested in "malicious mischief" and breaking the law.{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=23}} He later described himself as a "rebel against the rebels", eschewing the [[hippie]] subculture which was growing in popularity for the 1950s [[Beat generation]],{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=35}} especially [[Jack Kerouac]], [[Allen Ginsberg]] and [[William S. Burroughs]].{{sfnm|1a1=Humphries|1y=2007|1p=30|2a1=Hoskyns|2y=2009|2p=26}} In 1968, at age 18, he dropped out of high school.{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=34}} He was an avid watcher of ''[[Alfred Hitchcock Presents]]'' and ''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]''.{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=26}} Another influence was the comedian [[Lenny Bruce]].{{sfn|Humphries|2007|p=33}}

Waits worked at Napoleone's pizza restaurant in [[National City, California]], and both there and at a local diner developed an interest in the lives of the patrons, writing down phrases and snippets of dialogue he overheard.{{sfnm|1a1=Humphries|1y=2007|1pp=26, 28–29|2a1=Hoskyns|2y=2009|2pp=30–32, 37–38}} He worked in the forestry service as a fireman for three years{{Sfn|Humphries|2007|p=29}} and served with the [[United States Coast Guard|Coast Guard]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uscg.mil/history/faqs/celeb.asp |title=Coast Guard History: Frequently Asked Questions: What celebrities or other famous persons once served in or were associated with the Coast Guard? | publisher=Uscg.mil |date=October 28, 2009 |access-date=January 27, 2010}}</ref> He enrolled at Chula Vista's [[Southwestern College (California)|Southwestern Community College]] to study photography, for a time considering a career in the field. He continued pursuing his musical interests, taking piano lessons. He began frequenting venues around San Diego, being drawn into the city's [[folk music|folk]] scene.{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|pp=38–39, 41–42}}