Tom Waits - "The Piano Has Been Drinking" (Live On Fernwood Tonight, 1977)

[@interstellish]

I love how Tom Waits is such a serious musician in so many ways, but he absolutely knows he's a vaudville act here and plays it up astonishingly well. The dude has incredible range as a performer.

[@Momo-bb2fn]

Is he? Is that what he meant to be? An act?

[@KerouacsAccomplice]

@Momo Read his wikipedia page for an insight or two..

[@Momo-bb2fn]

@@KerouacsAccomplice when I get a chance 👍

[@vickio7890]

Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks do a really fun cover.

[@Kaid_Studios]

Since I've found Tom Waits I've looked up to him. I love his dedication to making a song more than the sum of its parts. Every song he writes has a live version that as a different evocation and act that ties everything together. At the same time he has dense lyrics that use american slang and literary references that beat the likes of Dylan. I genuinely can't find an album of his I don't like. From Rain Dogs to Bad as Me; Tom Waits has an approach that is only rivaled by the strangeness of bands like primus. Its Bukowski meets improv jazz.

[@IanqueParker]

"I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy." So deadpan but so friggin charming and humorous.

[@odaydrums]

the classic

[@rosskstar]

Now that joke had to be old even then...

[@Southcoasting]

It's apparently a Dorothy Parker line

[@josephflorence3995]

That response was genius! Henry Rollins get a lot of letters from fans. One of them was a paramedic and they were taking this beautiful girl to the hospital and she died on the way. The guy tells Rollins that he fell in love with her and he doesn't know what to do so he ask Tom Waits how he should respond. Tom said "She did the same thing to me too. Let her go."

[@edwardjtruskyjr1921]

Yes one of the best lines I've ever heard a $1.99 for all that you can stand

[@gabriellerossonfilmstrailers]

Saw him live in 99. He asked the audience what they wanted to hear and I was too shy to request this song. Biggest regret of my life.

[@thBrilliantFool]

I'm from the alternate universe where you did request the song. Tom Waits denied your request in favor of playing a different song so I guess ultimately it wasn't meant to be... 😱😉

[@jamesbyerly766]

@@thBrilliantFool haha nice

[@tek6423]

If that’s the biggest regret of your life you’re doing really well

[@davohsaurus]

The best regret

[@donkeydump63]

A guy in the audience at one of Tom Waits' shows yelled out for him to play Jersey Girl or another one of his more popular tunes. He responded by saying "You're still working at the airport?"

[@winterlighthome]

Every single second of this is comedic genius. Master class. Pure master class.

[@prisonersforprofit]

martin mull and fred willard were so good together, throw in tom waits and you have a class show.

[@fuckcensure84]

Mmmm..mah, not here. I see a genius asking himself "How the fuck did I end up in this place of idiots?"

[@elhorrendo7026]

I just posted this elsewhere, but this video is the epitome of my comments on Tom's style are exactly what i was referring to: I know he's famous for that awesome, gravelly voice. But i love it even more when he kicks it back a cog and it becomes a bark. He is and has always just been a classic man in every way. Never a fashion slave, always had his own film noir, down on his luck, but charismatic detective look. I love the interviews in the 70's-80s where the talk show host has helmet hair, everything is beige, brown, washed out pastels , bell bottoms and big ties and big collars. I almost see Tom in Black and white. He's a sight for sore eyes.

[@jeffclement2468]

Hehe..."Beige is the color of resignation."- Beck

[@lassesaikkonen501]

@@jeffclement2468 Oh, so that's why I'm wearing it all the time... Good to know.

[@daviddarnell3097]

Love him. Beautiful lyrics. Wonderful music. Never sold out.

[@mercoid]

David Darnell ❤️

[@daviddarnell3097]

@@mercoid 🥰

[@AnnaLVajda]

If I was around in his day his wife would have had to fight me for him though I am glad he is happily married and someone looks after him. I was not even born till '79.

[@celticray9491]

define selling out note love you Tom

[@daviddarnell3097]

Brings his authentic self and does not condesend to the mean.

[@PamB95]

Fernwood Tonight was such an underrated show, and Tom Waits is a genius.

[@lauralbodin9172]

🤫

[@MelissaR784]

Exactly!

[@MelissaR784]

"I'd rather have e bottle in front of me instead of having a frontal labotomy." HAHAHAHA

[@TheJohnnyBE]

Underrated? Says who? Priceless. Still hysterical after all these years.

[@raylarkin5004]

Absolutely!👍🏼

[@user-rm9zx7ln9i]

Serious historic piece, but the line that always gets me is "she hates each and everyone of your friends, but you can't get served without her".

[@goatface6602]

Sounds a bit like Warren Zevon type humor

[@Hello1982]

hysterectomy peace

[@Hello1982]

yes you can get served without her boo who

[@markberry3496]

Saw Tom live around this time and it was one of the best live shows I've seen in my (now) 64 years. Most of the audience were bikers and Tom was wasted. He tried to pick a fight with a couple of the bikers. This man is one of the greatest songwriters/poets of his generation.

[@gabriellerossonfilmstrailers]

Amen

[@jacobcasmus1882]

One of the greatest ever .

[@Fern635]

I don't often experience envy. But this here triggers it, for sure. I'm certain that you know how blessed you were to have been there for that. Those moments aren't being made anymore. (And yes - the cellphone has been drinking, not me 😉)

[@jeffreyledergerber4136]

Ha damn..that must have been a memory maker.

[@isetta4083]

They're presenting the greatest poet of the 20th century as a comedy act

[@Pandemonis]

They play clueless for the script, but they really are clueless, dumbed by the act of Tom Waits.

[@elysehfm8797]

You don't think Tom knows he's hilarious?

[@Unzinkable]

And without realizing it, made themselves out to be Philistines, so to speak.Unless they meant act like elite yuppies and treat Waits like a filthy animal, as a joke? I saw him twice at the Golden Bear in Huntington Beach. He's quite the showman. You would have loved live "Pasties and a G-string."

[@natjonestower3035]

Not even 30 yet, already sounds like he's gargling a chainsaw.

[@lemmythebulldog8812]

3 chainsaws

[@petercelle1796]

Stirring a glass of scotch with a rusty nail.

[@8lackcaballotm200]

Lmaoo

[@Peggysmusic]

Haha... best description of his voice ever!

[@MelissaR784]

He does sound like that,, but he's putting on an act for the audiences. Listen to his later music and songs.

[@kendra4507]

This song is beautiful... Tom Waits is incredible, and his music is timeless... His sound and style is unique to the point where it almost shouldn't exist, but how thankful we are that it does... Thank You Tom Waits for fifty years of wonderful entertainment...

[@mercoid]

Kendra ...❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@wisconsindeathtrip]

I honestly thought this song was a joke. It almost reached Spinal Tap levels.

[@dntskdnttll]

@@wisconsindeathtrip A good third of his music or more is like that, intentionally. Waits likes to fuck with people. See also: all of his interviews.

[@spy-v-spy1848]

​@@mercoid a cross between Monk, howlin wolf, & Foster Brooks

[@pastapirate]

I love the cuts to the interviewer reacting to the song. He does a great job of playing into the act.

[@indigojones8]

And they played it perfectly in return.

[@cassievining340]

"The spotlight is a jailbreak" I adore the lyrics of this song.

[@stevealbright135]

Tom Waits for President 2024 !!!

[@celiashen5490]

If he's hiding in a bottle, I'm seriously considering joining him in there.

[@RebekahCurielAlessi]

Appropriate sentiment. 🙏​@@celiashen5490

[@danielclark920]

Trump 2028!

[@m46273]

Martin Mull and Tom Waits...can't lose

[@alwaxman108]

Mull who?

[@kenmarron1938]

I showed up here tonight to one of my favorite Martin Mull clips, RIP, you were a funny man!

[@cal_nevari]

I saw Martin perform in person in the 70s in a club in Chicago. I had at least one of his comedy albums. 'What I really need right now is a Nurse' is one of the song lyrics that comes right to mind. Another was 'noses run in my family'. I remember he said at one of the shows, to the audience, "Thank you for coming. Or however you reacted." I liked his style of humor.

[@guitarguru.3572]

There will never be another like Tom Waits. Never.

[@DennisW19copyy-lg1du]

I saw him in East Lansing in 1978 , fortunately the people at the next table left early so we finished their beer. Free beer why not

[@BolanKeith]

I think Tom and the two guys worked together seamlessly. They all played it straight. They were all obviously in on the act. Just brilliant.

[@rakadoni8403]

You reckon? Everyone in the comments is saying it was mean and contrived how the hosts and audience acted

[@Megameh64]

From what I can tell, this show was a parody of late night tv as it existed then, but set in small town America and with that mindset. The characters who host the show would react as they did because of how the show was set up! So I think everyone was in on the joke of Tom Waits moving through this like a hurricane of slouching confidence. I mean, in the “plot”, Tom Waits was only there at all because his car broke down! And he did whatever he wanted, got paid, and played the perfect song for the bit.

[@fightermcwarrior7391]

To be fair, they all do and always have.

[@elysehfm8797]

@@rakadoni8403, get it yet?

[@Ace_Hunter_lives]

My understanding was that Mull and Waits had known each other for a while via the L.A. music scene and while not bosom buddies were friends. People forget that Mull played in bands out there and was a pretty good guitarist.

[@tracylemme1375]

After being introduced to The Piano Has Been Drinking, a friend and I drove to LA for aTom Waits concert. lol and behold but who walked in ? None other than the Fernwood tonight boys, Fred and Martin.

[@beachcomber4141]

One of the most talented American's ever born. The GREAT Tom Waits.

[@elhorrendo7026]

Tom Waits, George Carlin, Hunter S Thompson and Richard Prior...

[@BigfootForestVancouverIsland]

Tom Waits is priceless!

[@thBrilliantFool]

Every human life is priceless. At least that's what they said in that MasterCard commercial I saw a couple decades back.

[@annagunter7782]

Mr. Waits is beautiful, and generous with his music and humor, thanks Mr, waits, with all my heart! My husband and I fell in love listening to him on our way to, and from San Francisco, ain't music grand???!!!!!!

[@spoonthemoon]

He is and will always hold a place in the book of great American Songwriters. To me, he is the Mark Twain of generations. Saw him Live once in a church (Ha) but his band was awesome and you could hear every word of his authentic soul. A living GENIUS!

[@thevideoride]

This was absolutely precious. This is why KZbin is so awesome. To be able to watch some obscure clip that happened so many years ago is so cool.

[@michellefu4002]

OMG, i didn't get to watch Fernwood Tonight back in the seventies, but I'd love to watch it. It looks hilarious!

[@NondescriptMammal]

It was one of those rare shows that made TV truly worthwhile

[@kyleshepherd8639]

Definitely one of my favorite clips of him. I always feel like he was a time traveler, and he traveled back to the seventies from the present time, then lived the rest of his life til now.

[@elhorrendo7026]

You totally nailed it! I had that feeling, but didn't think of it in those terms. Tom has always had a classic style. And a DIY, noir Americana style. That's why he doesn't look seem dated. He found his style, the 20s-50s and kept it. So he could have travelled backward and forward in time, then popped in to visit the washed out brown and pastel era of big collars and Claire's suit pants and stood out, like he belonged alongside Sinatra in the man with the golden arm or Bogart. He was never a fashion victim and he was a time traveller. He's still ripping out powerful music that has no expiry date and he's in his 80s by now. He was always cool without trying.

[@michaelhoffner997]

Tom waits is raw talent. Talent like this only comes around once in awhile

[@dlp2006]

“Bedlam and squalor “. “ it’s thataway “ brilliant

[@progger53]

He also said "Reality is for people who can't face drugs"

[@wesharrison6158]

I can get behind that 100

[@fog1962]

Its true

[@alonespirit_1Q84]

Fact!

[@14belowzero56]

The sheer genius of everything... the camera angles, the responses. There is not one thing in that bit that will not be revered and studied.

[@elysehfm8797]

Except by the commenters here. 🙄

[@lipstickonapalin8360]

I watched this live when it aired in 1977. Had just been turned onto Waits a few months prior

[@shepmathe]

Exactly! Same here.

[@Fern635]

If 1977 Tom Waits asked me to run away with him and leave my loving husband and children to live in his car and inhabit seedy lounges across the mid-west... I'm not saying I would do it... but I'd be tempted.

[@MorlockTrxsh]

I’d do it for Tom Waits today bruh

[@thehellyousay]

To think, Tom is the only one still living. I watched this live when I was a kid. Always got to stay up late when we visited relatives near the border to Detroit. Fernwood Tonight, The Midnight Special, and Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. The 70s were the peak of American culture. It's all been downhill from there.

[@jessetarter3460]

Martin mull is 80 and still alive

[@TopazShane]

What I don't understand is how can anyone dislike this? What a funny bit. For more laughs make sure you check out the longer versions of he Piano Has Been Drinking." It's hysterical.

[@elysehfm8797]

They don't understand the show. Ridiculous.

[@TopazShane]

@@elysehfm8797 i guess not. He is one of a kind and some people can't think outside the box.

[@elysehfm8797]

@@TopazShane, truth.

[@labratbrent]

Lets give a thankyou and may you RIP for the laughs both Martin Mull and Fred Willard gave us. This moment is so organic with all three of them.

[@RoccoSmith-oi2ii]

I memorized the whole Nighthawks at the diner album he has been a favorite since the 70’s

[@regulatormachine2788]

one of the best versions of this song!

[@jkgcproductions7589]

what a dismissively gorgeous performance

[@metislamestiza3708]

such a growly gravelly voiced genius. i love you Tom!

[@elysehfm8797]

The number of people not getting that this is deadpan comedy is tragic. I despair for this generation.

[@canteventhough]

I think this is my favorite version. I love seeing their reactions.

[@geraldward9765]

I forgot how funny this show was. I watched Fernwood Tonight when it came out and loved every minute of it.

[@tsmith1487]

Damn... this is a slice: Fernwood 2 night. Hop in the way back machine kiddies. Did not know that Mr Waits made an appearance there. Genius.

[@lastzeen]

Fernwood 2 Night, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and Soap. Among the most brilliant comedy shows, ever.

[@ellekaye3670]

had the great fortune to see tom several times through his transcendentally transformative years, and, my god, his prolific raconteur performances were uniquely imbibed with drink and, later, through divine intervention, the elixir of love carried him sublimely. he is a genuinely amazing magnanimous soul

[@cathdodd5072]

Oh my gosh. He is beautiful!

[@Boveyphil]

This is brilliant!

[@williamthurmond4940]

When the actors are so good you stop noticing it’s a performance.

[@wolfiesworld9361]

This is such a great bit love it. Love Tom!

[@leedaluciano9806]

I can’t handle the canned laughter..have some damn respect..this is a master at work here.

[@TheObserver37]

Yet another, a testament to his abilities, being able to continually to play his art without being irked by everyone laughing at him and not taking this beautiful art a little more seriously

[@danjv]

I bought the "Small Change" album when it came out. Lots of great songs there. Havent gotten to see Tom live yet

[@puffnisse]

And you wont ever do that, he has stopped touring and playing recording music.

[@spoonthemoon]

He did an album of songs with Keith Richard's not too long ago. I heard him on NPR (Terry Gross, Fresh Air I believe) and he was candid about the whole thing. Keith sought him out and drove up in a van with a trailer full of instruments. Tom was amazed that Keith had a " Tunesmithe" as a companion. A GREAT interview and a cool collaboration.

[@davidsigalow7349]

I watched this show every night...RIP Fred Willard.

[@Studio-62]

I recall seeing this in the 70s. Was the first time I had seen or heard Waits, I thought he was just one of the fictional acts they had on the show. I think he may have been the only person who ever played themselves on the show. Made me laugh again here. Nice version of Piano too.

[@cecelia3045]

Always love me some tom waits

[@motorheart9045]

I cannot wait to share Tom with my 25 yo son.

[@kevinhallisey5201]

What a revelation. Used to watch Fernwood 2nite a lot, but had no idea he was on the show. Didn’t see it, never knew it happened.

[@krugcpa]

There was a piano bar in the hotel near my apartment at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. A musician named Christoper Rolff (sp?) held court on Thursday nights during the late 1970s. He played many songs outside of the standard repertoire. This was a weekly staple. Many good memories here.

[@mimim7026]

Saw him live at Beacon Theatre circa 1998-9ish(?). Whole place reeked of dank and the entire audience pulsated in synch like a giant waterfront junkyard carnival disco amoeba. Magical. Spiritual. The closest thing I ever had to a religious experience. Lou Reed was there. And during a quiet moment between songs, Lou yelled, "NOW is the BEST time!" And he was fuckin' right.

[@sweetcaroline2060]

Dang. I remember Fernwood Tonight like it was yesterday. My girls and I used to stay home Saturday nights and watch it and Saturday Night Live. It became 2nd Cuty Television. The opening was hilarious -- everybody throwing their TVs off their balconies because everything on it was crap. 😆 🤣 😂 I missed this one with Tom Waitts but it's just a delight to see it now. Thank you!! Rip, Mr. Mull and Mr. Willard. Love you both 💓 💗.

[@NondescriptMammal]

Nah, SCTV came out of Canada, from the Toronto chapter of the Second City improv troupe based in Chicago. Fernwood 2night spun off of the soap opera satire Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

[@sweetcaroline2060]

@NondescriptMammal Oh yeah. Thank you.

[@NondescriptMammal]

@@sweetcaroline2060 Didn't mean to be pedantic, just happen to be two of my favorite shows back in those days 🐱

[@sweetcaroline2060]

@NondescriptMammal No kidding. They were hilarious. 🥳

[@CatJabZ]

One of my favorite performances of Tom! RIP Martin and Fred

[@jasondutton9366]

little did they know, 40 plus years removed, that piano has been drinking this entire time

[@SR-lr7he]

It must be the piano doing the drinking now because Tom stopped decades ago!

[@PamB95]

LOL!! So have I.....

[@CerealKillaChik76]

RIP Martin Mull- you were one of the funniest!!

[@jeffersonspace]

Someday I hope to go up to visit Little Reds Recovery Room. The show "Fernwood Tonight" was way ahead of its time.... at least to someone like me who ended up in art school.

[@peterjohnson617]

saw Tom do this @ the Capital in N.J. perhaps a year or so later.....I might very well have been the only one drunker than the piano. Thanks for all the great songs over all those years Tom.

[@jarrodstines5516]

I was sleeping in my jacket and pair a trooper boots atop my covers on my bed, well, I usually crash on my couch, or in my chair, sew I 🙃figured it must be time to jump up and have a "nice" day 🙃beginning with my turning on my coffee, and some Tommy...love all you done ✔🙂and keep up all you do good sir...

[@dianewilliams1125]

This song back in 77 ment somuch to me and s9till does! Love you Master Wait!❤❤❤The telephone is out of cigarettes! The piano has been drinking! Not me?

[@syd989]

He's Great in The Dead don't die.

[@taxusbaccata9200]

Damn! I wanted to see that movie just because Waits was in it. Couldn't find any place where it was playing.

[@cherylschmacher701]

🎶🎶🧜‍♀️🌹😹😹😹😹😹🌹🧜‍♀️🎶🎶😍

[@andrewoplinger4759]

Wow, so his voice always sounded like that!

[@budhenry426]

No, look at his older stuff like Ice Cream Man, I Hope That I Dont Fall In Love With You, Ol' 55... seriously, buy the Early Years albums, they're great.

[@ferox965]

Not on the first two records-Closing Time and The Heart of Saturday Night.

[@elhorrendo7026]

Nope. According to Tom, he was a soprano on the church choir. Then his voice broke. "It's [his voice] a lot more manageable now" - Tom Waits.

[@laughing-cat]

The brilliance!!!!!!! 🤩

[@TheScribeofLight]

What a lyricist. Oh, and how many other people could deliver a performance like this?

[@LesCish]

Classic Waits. Classic Mull. Never knew the two crossed paths. Only wish the laugh track wasn't included. Thanks!

[@Nationalist101]

I had a similar thing to say: this is truly a marvelous song; I just wish it didn’t include the laugh track! Cheers to you brother for knowing good music 🍻

[@jezza669]

Wasn't it a live studio audience laughing?

[@eddieschott9912]

@@jezza669 Fernwood had laugh track, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, the show it spun off from did not.

[@joylynne1343]

❤ This is sooo great;!!! I want to see it again !!! ... Love Tom Waits AND this song!! ... ... AND his GREAT QUOTE: ""I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy!". 😅🤣😂 I agree.

[@Kbaum752]

I remember this show, really.

[@tomjeffries58]

So do I.

[@fransheuvelmans45]

A BEAUTIFUL version!

[@chrisvesy7245]

I used to party with guys who were actually like Wait's act back in the 70s What a wild time!!😆🍻

[@wolffwerz]

danke tom, sei umarmt, ich höre dich sooo gern

[@natemiller770]

Genius is the price for admission... insanity is the journey along the way... brilliance is the story told... legendary is the final destination.

[@elhorrendo7026]

That's cool. I got the first two down pat. I don't think I'll get legendary status until after I'm dead 😉

[@lucylillypad1512]

This man Tom Waits is a national treasure!

[@mtroy0620]

People like Tom Waits and Donald Fagen make me proud to be American.

[@curtisconrad3668]

Three of entertainment's comic geniuses performing flawlessly. They just don't make 'em like that anymore

[@elhorrendo7026]

Who were the other two, besides Tom? Not those two schmucks in hang glider collars who teaBag celebrities on a TV chat show for a living, surely!

[@freakshowfilmfestival3591]

I used to watch this as a kid on Nick at Nite. I am 41 now. Yeesh.

[@christinedalporto1992]

I repeat.....watching this often....it's great for Hump Day....just in case you're out of laughs.... ! :~))

[@JohnDrummondPhoto]

I only vaguely remember this show. Wasn't it a spinoff of "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman"? That line "I'd rather have a bottle in front o' me than a frontal lobotomy" was brilliantly written and brilliantly delivered!

[@joesimon2018]

Tom having fun with his persona

[@royrice8021]

His greatest hits album will never be released. There aren’t any!

[@crisprtalk6963]

What a great tune.

[@williamsrmonroe8406]

Things could be so much worse. Love this man. FYI ballad of buster Scruggs. 😊

[@xaviergutierrez8786]

How the hell was an 11-year-old boy staying up late to watch this show, along with Hot L Baltimore? One of the worse voices I've ever heard and man what a great voice he has. Love his music.

[@Success4u247]

I think Tom was the first to see the banality of the mainstream media. Nothing much has happened or changed on it since 1977 . Different faces, same banality. Thanks Tom

[@debmccafferty1007]

My sister and I instantly fell in love with this mysterious "stew bum" looking guy!! He really was cute.

[@keefbeef]

A great sketch, love it.

[@robot7759]

Finally a piano I like 😸

[@bruceparker9353]

Martin is a great musician and comedian! Tom Waits did a great song, Short change got rained on by his own 38. Great entertainer.

[@joseph-ow1hf]

I love that he's willing to be part of the gag. Chris Isaak was the star in a TV years ago, and he was always the butt of the joke. Made me like him even more.

[@THEDUSTINLEWITSHOW]

His deadpan serious delivery is probably why the audience is reacting with laughter. They don't get him.

[@alvarhanso6310]

Actually Fernwood2Nite was an incredibly hip show, their audience was attuned to Martin Mull's subversive musical comedy as well. Don't be fooled by his blonde milquetoast character, he's the anti-Tom Waits insofar as he takes the exact opposite tact. He and Fred Willard did a great special in the 80s for HBO/Cinemax called The History of White People in America.

[@markbiedermann7467]

Most likely it is a laugh track. Martin Mull's reaction is pure comedy! I was about 13 when I saw this and I thought Tom Waits was amazingly funny. It wasn't until I was on tour with Blind Illusion and our then bassist extroirdanaire Les Claypool had a tape of Tom Waits. He still makes me laugh although he is Deadly Serious. Watch his great performance as the Deciever in Doctor Parnassis Imaginarium I love Tom Waits

[@markbiedermann7467]

C'mon dude those lyrics are hilarious! He's clowning Billy Joel.

[@Daniel-ox1sb]

the show is satirical, it's not really a talk show.

[@terminalpreppie8439]

I mean, if you don't find the humor in the song I don't think you get him either

[@DSH1LL]

Pure gold.

[@johnosborne2989]

Getting me a piano. ❤

[@MichaelPaglia-bd2rc]

RIP Martin Mull. Glad you had Tom Waits on Fernwood Tonight. I like this song other than "Step Right Up" and "Jersey Girl"[Yes, the original version].

[@oasiscrushinglife6878]

4:02 is the greatest reply to a statement I've ever heard