Editing Tom Waits (section)

===Early musical career: 1969–1976===
[[File:Troubadour 02.jpg|thumb|right|[[Troubadour (West Hollywood, California)|The Troubadour]] in [[West Hollywood]], where Waits's performances brought him to the attention of [[Herb Cohen]] and [[David Geffen]]]]
In 1969, he was hired as an occasional doorman for the Heritage coffeehouse, which held regular performances from folk musicians.{{sfnm|1a1=Humphries|1y=2007|1p=40|2a1=Hoskyns|2y=2009|2p=43}}<ref name= innocent385>Montadon, Mac, "Timeline and Discography" in ''Innocent When You Dream'', p. 385</ref> He also began to sing at the Heritage; his set initially consisted largely of covers of Dylan and [[Red Sovine]]'s "[[Phantom 309]]".{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|pp=46–47}}
In time, he performed his own material as well, often parodies of country songs or bittersweet ballads influenced by his relationships; these included early songs "[[Ol' 55]]" and "I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love With You".{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=49}} As his reputation grew, he played at other San Diego venues, supporting acts like [[Tim Buckley]], [[Sonny Terry]], [[Brownie McGhee]] and his friend [[Jack Tempchin]]. Aware that San Diego offered little opportunity for career progression, Waits began traveling into Los Angeles to play at the [[Troubadour (West Hollywood, California)|Troubadour]] in West Hollywood.{{sfnm|1a1=Humphries|1y=2007|1p=38|2a1=Hoskyns|2y=2009|2pp=53–56}}
It was there, in the autumn of 1971, that Waits came to the attention of [[Herb Cohen]], who signed him to publishing and recording contracts.{{sfnm|1a1=Humphries|1y=2007|1pp=43–43|2a1=Hoskyns|2y=2009|2pp=60–61, 64}} The recordings that were produced under that recording agreement were eventually released in the early 1990s as [[The Early Years (album series)|''The Early Years'']] and [[The Early Years (album series)|''The Early Years, Volume Two'']]. In early 1972, after quitting his job at Napoleone's to concentrate on his songwriting career, Waits moved to an apartment in [[Silver Lake, Los Angeles|Silver Lake]], Los Angeles, a poor neighborhood known for its Hispanic and [[Bohemianism|bohemian]] communities.{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|pp=65, 69}}
He continued performing at the Troubadour and there met [[David Geffen]], who gave Waits a recording contract with his [[Asylum Records]].{{sfnm|1a1=Humphries|1y=2007|1pp=44–45|2a1=Hoskyns|2y=2009|2pp=76–79}} [[Jerry Yester]] was chosen to produce his first album, with the recording sessions taking place in Hollywood's [[Sunset Sound]] studios.{{sfnm|1a1=Humphries|1y=2007|1p=49|2a1=Hoskyns|2y=2009|2pp=81–82}} The resulting album, [[Closing Time (album)|''Closing Time'']], was released in March 1973,{{sfnm|1a1=Humphries|1y=2007|1p=49|2a1=Hoskyns|2y=2009|2p=89}} although it attracted little attention{{sfn|Humphries|2007|p=52}} and did not sell well.{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=105}} Biographer [[Barney Hoskyns]] noted that ''Closing Time'' was "broadly in step with the singer-songwriter school of the early 1970s";{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=88}} Waits had wanted to create a piano-led jazz album although Yester had pushed its sound in a more folk-oriented direction. Buckley covered "Martha" on his album ''[[Sefronia]]'' later that year.{{sfn|Humphries|2007|p=49}} An [[Eagles (band)|Eagles]] recording of "Ol' 55" on their album ''[[On the Border]]'' brought Waits further money and recognition, although he regarded their version as "a little antiseptic".{{sfnm|1a1=Humphries|1y=2007|1p=52|2a1=Hoskyns|2y=2009|2pp=119–120}}

To promote his debut, Waits and a three-piece band embarked on a U.S. tour, where he was the supporting act for more established artists.{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=89}} He supported [[Tom Rush]] at [[Washington D.C.]]'s [[The Cellar Door]], [[Danny O'Keefe]] in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]]'s [[Club Passim]], [[Charlie Rich]] at [[New York City]]'s [[Max's Kansas City]], [[Martha Reeves and the Vandellas]] in [[East Lansing, Michigan]] and [[John P. Hammond]] in [[San Francisco]].
Waits returned to Los Angeles in June, feeling demoralized about his career.{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|pp=90–93}} That month, he was the cover star of free music magazine ''[[Music World]]''.{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|pp=93–95}} He began composing songs for his second album, and attended the [[Venice, Los Angeles|Venice]] Poetry Workshop to try out this new material in front of an audience.{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=96}} Although Waits was eager to record this new material, Cohen instead convinced him to take over as a support act for [[Frank Zappa]]'s [[the Mothers of Invention]] after previous support act [[Kathy Dalton]] pulled out due to the hostility from Zappa's fans. Waits joined Zappa's tour in [[Ontario]], but like Dalton found the audiences hostile; while on stage he was jeered at and pelted with fruit.{{sfnm|1a1=Humphries|1y=2007|1pp=58–59|2a1=Hoskyns|2y=2009|2pp=98, 100}} Although he liked the Mothers of Invention, he was intimidated by Zappa himself.{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=101}}

[[File:Bette Midler (1981).jpg|thumb|left|Waits met and had an intermittent romantic relationship with [[Bette Midler]] (pictured here in 1981) and collaborated with her on the song "I Never Talk to Strangers".]]
Waits moved from Silver Lake to [[Echo Park, Los Angeles|Echo Park]], spending much of his time in [[downtown Los Angeles]].{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=95}} In early 1974, he continued to perform around the West Coast, getting as far as [[Denver]].{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=103}} For Waits's second album, Geffen wanted a more jazz-oriented producer, selecting [[Bones Howe]] for the job.{{sfnm|1a1=Humphries|1y=2007|1pp=72–73|2a1=Hoskyns|2y=2009|2p=105}} Howe recounts his first encounter with the young artist: "I told him I thought his music and lyrics had a [[Jack Kerouac| Kerouac]] quality to them, and he was blown away that I knew who Jack Kerouac was. I told him I also played jazz drums and he went wild. Then I told him that when I was working for [[Norman Granz]], Norman had found these tapes of Kerouac reading his poetry from The Beat Generation in a hotel room. I told Waits I'd make him a copy. That sealed it."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.soundonsound.com/people/bones-howe-tom-waits|title = 'Bones' Howe & Tom Waits}}</ref> Recording sessions for ''[[The Heart of Saturday Night]]'' took place at [[Wally Heider Studios#Background|Wally Heider's Studio 3]] on [[Cahuenga Boulevard]] in Hollywood in April and May,{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|pp=107, 113}} with Waits conceptualizing the album as a sequence of songs about U.S. nightlife.{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=97}} The album was far more widely reviewed than ''Closing Time'' had been.{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=121}} Waits himself later dismissed the album as "very ill-formed, but I was trying".{{sfn|Humphries|2007|p=74}}

After recording ''The Heart of Saturday Night'', Waits reluctantly agreed to tour with Zappa again, but once more faced strong audience hostility. The kudos of having supported Zappa's tour nevertheless bolstered his image in the music industry and helped his career.{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|pp=117, 119}} In October 1974, he first performed as the headline act before touring the East Coast; in New York City he met and befriended [[Bette Midler]],{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|pp=122–123}} with whom he had a sporadic affair.{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=159}} Back in Los Angeles, Cohen suggested Waits produce a [[live album]]. To this end, he performed two shows at the [[Record Plant]] Studio in front of a small invited audience to recreate the atmosphere of a [[jazz club]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Hoskyns|first=Barney|author-link=Barney Hoskyns|title=Lowside of the Road: A Life of Tom Waits|publisher=[[Faber and Faber]]|year=2011|isbn=9780571261246|page=132|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q_DOvgMH-KgC&pg=PA132}}</ref>{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|pp=130–131}} Again produced and engineered by Howe (as all his future Asylum releases would be), it was released as ''[[Nighthawks at the Diner]]'' in October 1975.{{sfnm|1a1=Humphries|1y=2007|1p=75|2a1=Hoskyns|2y=2009|2p=139}} The album cover and title were inspired by [[Edward Hopper]]'s [[Nighthawks (Hopper)|''Nighthawks'']] (1942).

He followed this with a week's residency at the Reno Sweeney nightclub, an off-Broadway–style club in New York City.{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|pp=140–141}} In December he appeared on the [[PBS]] concert show ''[[Soundstage (TV series)|Soundstage]]''.{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=145}} From March to May 1976, he toured the U.S.,{{sfnm|1a1=Humphries|1y=2007|1p=82|2a1=Hoskyns|2y=2009|2pp=147–150}} telling interviewers that the experience was tough and that he was drinking too much alcohol.{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=144}} In May, he embarked on his first tour of Europe, performing in [[London]], [[Amsterdam]], [[Brussels]] and [[Copenhagen]].{{sfnm|1a1=Humphries|1y=2007|1pp=85, 88|2a1=Hoskyns|2y=2009|2pp=150–156}} On his return to Los Angeles, he joined his friend [[Chuck E. Weiss]], moving into the Tropicana motel in West Hollywood, which had an established reputation in rock music circles.{{sfnm|1a1=Humphries|1y=2007|1p=68|2a1=Hoskyns|2y=2009|2p=157}} Visitors noted his two-room apartment there was heavily cluttered. Waits told the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' that "You almost have to create situations in order to write about them, so I live in a constant state of self-imposed poverty".{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=161}}