WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.799 Welcome to today's Deep Dive. We're really thrilled 00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:04.500 to have you here with us. We definitely are. 00:00:04.599 --> 00:00:07.459 It's a pretty wild one today. It is. You know, 00:00:07.500 --> 00:00:09.939 we spend so much time on this show looking at 00:00:09.939 --> 00:00:12.359 artists through the lens of their official histories. 00:00:12.699 --> 00:00:14.919 Right. The carefully curated stories they tell 00:00:14.919 --> 00:00:17.780 the world. Exactly. The meticulously produced 00:00:17.780 --> 00:00:22.000 albums, the big PR campaigns. But today, we're 00:00:22.000 --> 00:00:24.160 taking a completely different path. A very different 00:00:24.160 --> 00:00:26.879 path. Yeah. We're looking at a puzzle piece that... 00:00:27.039 --> 00:00:29.859 absolutely refuses to fit into the official box. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:32.520 We've got our hands on the Wikipedia page for 00:00:32.520 --> 00:00:36.939 a 2009 live album by Tom Waits. It's called Romeo 00:00:36.939 --> 00:00:40.130 Bleeding, live from Austin. And our mission today 00:00:40.130 --> 00:00:43.049 is to explore the incredibly peculiar details 00:00:43.049 --> 00:00:46.049 of this release and uncover what makes it such 00:00:46.049 --> 00:00:49.189 a unique, almost rogue element in this artist's 00:00:49.189 --> 00:00:51.789 history. Really is a fascinating artifact. When 00:00:51.789 --> 00:00:54.210 you dig into any major musician's discography, 00:00:54.490 --> 00:00:57.030 you're usually expecting a relatively straight 00:00:57.030 --> 00:01:00.530 chronological line of, you know, approved work. 00:01:00.710 --> 00:01:02.649 Yeah, a narrative that the artist actually control. 00:01:02.869 --> 00:01:05.489 Right. But the source material we're looking 00:01:05.489 --> 00:01:09.060 at today immediately throws us a curveball. It 00:01:09.060 --> 00:01:11.519 genuinely challenges our understanding of how 00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:14.120 an artist's legacy is built. And maybe more importantly, 00:01:14.280 --> 00:01:16.819 how that legacy is recorded in public encyclopedias 00:01:16.819 --> 00:01:19.060 where literally anyone can look it up. Exactly. 00:01:19.060 --> 00:01:20.879 Okay, let's unpack this. Let's start with the 00:01:20.879 --> 00:01:23.459 basic undeniable facts laid out right at the 00:01:23.459 --> 00:01:25.359 top of our source. Let's do it. We're looking 00:01:25.359 --> 00:01:27.719 at an album categorized in the genre of blues 00:01:27.719 --> 00:01:32.060 rock. It has a very precise runtime of 52 minutes 00:01:32.060 --> 00:01:34.060 and three seconds. Down to the second. Right. 00:01:34.439 --> 00:01:37.620 And it was released in the year 2009 by a record 00:01:37.620 --> 00:01:42.390 label called Immortal slash IMC Music LPD. But 00:01:42.390 --> 00:01:44.730 here is the massive twist that just jumps right 00:01:44.730 --> 00:01:46.989 off the page. Yeah, this is the crazy part. The 00:01:46.989 --> 00:01:48.989 actual recording of this music didn't happen 00:01:48.989 --> 00:01:52.450 anywhere near 2009. It took place decades earlier, 00:01:52.650 --> 00:01:55.870 specifically on December 5, 1978, in Austin, 00:01:55.989 --> 00:01:59.329 Texas. Right. And that massive gap from December 00:01:59.329 --> 00:02:02.469 1978 all the way to a commercial release in 2009, 00:02:02.870 --> 00:02:05.469 that's our first major clue that we're dealing 00:02:05.469 --> 00:02:08.210 with something highly unusual here. But the most 00:02:08.210 --> 00:02:11.009 glaring sentence in the entire source text, the 00:02:11.009 --> 00:02:12.849 one that really frames this whole discussion 00:02:12.849 --> 00:02:15.810 and changes how you hear the music, is just seven 00:02:15.810 --> 00:02:18.840 words long. Yeah. Right there in the introductory 00:02:18.840 --> 00:02:22.199 paragraph, it states flatly, this album is not 00:02:22.199 --> 00:02:25.300 approved by the artist. Which is wild. But wait, 00:02:25.360 --> 00:02:27.560 if he didn't approve it, how does it end up with 00:02:27.560 --> 00:02:30.879 a commercial release in 2009? I mean, doesn't 00:02:30.879 --> 00:02:33.159 an artist have control over their own voice and 00:02:33.159 --> 00:02:35.800 their own live shows? You would think so. But 00:02:35.800 --> 00:02:37.560 the reality of the music industry, especially 00:02:37.560 --> 00:02:41.120 concerning old live broadcasts, is incredibly 00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:44.659 murky. Often these recordings stem from old radio 00:02:44.659 --> 00:02:47.569 broadcasts or soundboard tapes. where copyright 00:02:47.569 --> 00:02:50.150 loopholes allow third -party labels, frequently 00:02:50.150 --> 00:02:53.069 based in Europe like IMC Music, to release them 00:02:53.069 --> 00:02:55.469 legally. Wow. Yeah, entirely without the artist's 00:02:55.469 --> 00:02:58.430 consent or involvement. When an album is unapproved, 00:02:58.430 --> 00:03:00.710 it means Tom Waits didn't oversee the mastering. 00:03:00.909 --> 00:03:03.030 He didn't choose the cover art. He didn't sequence 00:03:03.030 --> 00:03:05.610 the tracks, and he certainly didn't endorse its 00:03:05.610 --> 00:03:07.949 release to you, the public. It's like someone 00:03:07.949 --> 00:03:10.469 broke into a time capsule from a sweaty 1978 00:03:10.469 --> 00:03:13.830 club in Austin, Texas, dusted off whatever tape 00:03:13.830 --> 00:03:15.969 they found and just shoved it onto the shelf 00:03:15.969 --> 00:03:19.270 next to all his pristine artist approved artifacts. 00:03:19.689 --> 00:03:22.150 What's fascinating here is how this unapproved 00:03:22.150 --> 00:03:25.250 album completely disrupts the official timeline 00:03:25.250 --> 00:03:28.110 of his live releases. Oh, absolutely. Our source 00:03:28.110 --> 00:03:30.810 gives us a specific chronological box for his 00:03:30.810 --> 00:03:33.500 live albums. If we walk through it, you see that 00:03:33.500 --> 00:03:36.240 in 1988, he released an acclaimed live album 00:03:36.240 --> 00:03:38.680 called Big Time. Right. After that, there's a 00:03:38.680 --> 00:03:41.479 massive 21 -year gap in his live album chronology. 00:03:41.560 --> 00:03:44.400 Nothing official for over two decades. And then 00:03:44.400 --> 00:03:47.460 we arrive at the year 2009. And 2009 is a wild 00:03:47.460 --> 00:03:49.259 year in this timeline because two major things 00:03:49.259 --> 00:03:51.580 happen at the exact same time. Precisely. In 00:03:51.580 --> 00:03:54.319 2009, this unapproved album, Romeo Bleeding, 00:03:54.439 --> 00:03:57.199 live from Austin, gets dropped onto the market. 00:03:57.360 --> 00:03:59.900 Yeah. But 2009 is also the exact same year Tom 00:03:59.900 --> 00:04:02.590 waits. releases his highly anticipated official 00:04:02.590 --> 00:04:05.849 live album. Glitter and Doom Live. Yes, which 00:04:05.849 --> 00:04:08.050 was connected to his meticulously planned Glitter 00:04:08.050 --> 00:04:10.669 and Doom tour. So imagine you're a fan walking 00:04:10.669 --> 00:04:13.610 into a record store in 2009. On one side of the 00:04:13.610 --> 00:04:17.160 aisle, you have Glitter and Doom Live. It's an 00:04:17.160 --> 00:04:19.699 official modern release representing exactly 00:04:19.699 --> 00:04:21.720 who the artist is at that moment. Right. And 00:04:21.720 --> 00:04:23.879 right next to it, directly competing for your 00:04:23.879 --> 00:04:26.180 attention in your wallet, you have Romeo Bleeding, 00:04:26.279 --> 00:04:30.040 this rogue, unapproved ghost from a Texas stage 00:04:30.040 --> 00:04:33.459 31 years prior. It's crazy. And because public 00:04:33.459 --> 00:04:36.519 encyclopedias like Wikipedia just log the facts 00:04:36.519 --> 00:04:38.720 of what was released and when, they're sitting 00:04:38.720 --> 00:04:41.139 side by side in historical chronology, carrying 00:04:41.139 --> 00:04:43.060 the exact same weight in that little timeline 00:04:43.060 --> 00:04:45.720 box on the page. It's a profound collision of 00:04:45.720 --> 00:04:48.639 eras. It really cannibalizes the narrative. You're 00:04:48.639 --> 00:04:50.800 seeing the artist as he actively wanted to be 00:04:50.800 --> 00:04:54.139 seen in 2009, forced to share the spotlight with 00:04:54.139 --> 00:04:57.980 an unauthorized echo of his 1978 self. It really 00:04:57.980 --> 00:05:00.600 highlights the tension between the curated legacy 00:05:00.600 --> 00:05:03.560 an artist wants to build and the untamable nature 00:05:03.560 --> 00:05:05.579 of their own history once it's out in the wild. 00:05:05.740 --> 00:05:08.040 It does. It's totally wild to think about. But 00:05:08.040 --> 00:05:10.060 we really need to get into the music itself because 00:05:10.060 --> 00:05:12.459 the track list on this 1978 recording is just 00:05:12.459 --> 00:05:15.040 staggering. Here's where it gets really interesting. 00:05:15.439 --> 00:05:18.120 Oh the track list is incredible. We mentioned 00:05:18.120 --> 00:05:21.189 the album is 52 minutes and 3 seconds long. but 00:05:21.189 --> 00:05:23.329 there are only seven tracks on the entire thing. 00:05:23.550 --> 00:05:25.670 Which tells you immediately that these aren't 00:05:25.670 --> 00:05:28.430 your standard punchy three -minute radio singles. 00:05:28.610 --> 00:05:30.810 Not at all. This is an endurance run. It's a 00:05:30.810 --> 00:05:33.410 theatrical performance. Oh, absolutely. These 00:05:33.410 --> 00:05:37.069 tracks are dense, sprawling, multi -part medleys. 00:05:37.230 --> 00:05:40.189 He's combining his own original gritty compositions 00:05:40.189 --> 00:05:43.470 with some truly surprising covers. When you look 00:05:43.470 --> 00:05:45.189 at the breakdown of these seven tracks, you start 00:05:45.189 --> 00:05:47.410 to see just how much heavy lifting he was doing 00:05:47.410 --> 00:05:49.970 on stage. Take track one, for example. Such a 00:05:49.970 --> 00:05:52.870 huge... It's an absolute monster. It clocks in 00:05:52.870 --> 00:05:56.529 at 11 minutes and 16 seconds. Imagine walking 00:05:56.529 --> 00:05:58.449 out on stage and opening your set with an 11 00:05:58.449 --> 00:06:01.230 minute marathon. It's a medley that kicks off 00:06:01.230 --> 00:06:03.910 with Summertime, which the source notes was written 00:06:03.910 --> 00:06:06.589 by George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin and DuBose Hayward. 00:06:06.689 --> 00:06:09.589 And he seamlessly blends that classic into his 00:06:09.589 --> 00:06:12.980 own original song, Burma Shave. To open a sweaty 00:06:12.980 --> 00:06:16.000 blues rock set in Austin with a classic from 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:18.279 the Great American Songbook and then transition 00:06:18.279 --> 00:06:20.680 it into one of your own cinematic narrative pieces, 00:06:20.920 --> 00:06:24.600 it shows an immense amount of confidence. He's 00:06:24.600 --> 00:06:26.360 demanding the audience's attention right out 00:06:26.360 --> 00:06:28.819 of the gate. He's setting a mood that is incredibly 00:06:28.819 --> 00:06:30.879 theatrical rather than just playing the hits. 00:06:31.060 --> 00:06:32.660 And he doesn't give them much of a breather because 00:06:32.660 --> 00:06:34.959 he keeps that medley energy going right into 00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:36.939 track two, which is another long one at seven 00:06:36.939 --> 00:06:39.540 minutes and 28 seconds. Yeah, the trio. Exactly. 00:06:39.540 --> 00:06:42.089 It's a trio of tunes woven together. It starts 00:06:42.089 --> 00:06:44.449 with Annie's back in town, moves into I Wish 00:06:44.449 --> 00:06:46.730 I Was in New Orleans, and then finishes with 00:06:46.730 --> 00:06:49.689 a traditional song called Ain't Gonna Rain. And 00:06:49.689 --> 00:06:52.170 the source specifically credits Ain't Gonna Rain 00:06:52.170 --> 00:06:55.410 as traditional with a capital T. This is where 00:06:55.410 --> 00:06:58.310 we really see the layered musical experience 00:06:58.310 --> 00:07:02.250 taking shape. You have his own gritty urban original 00:07:02.250 --> 00:07:05.250 sitting comfortably right alongside traditional 00:07:05.250 --> 00:07:08.149 folk music. He's drawing from these deep, dusty 00:07:08.149 --> 00:07:10.470 American roots and pulling them into his own. 00:07:10.509 --> 00:07:13.769 Bohemian universe. It's not just a concert. It's 00:07:13.769 --> 00:07:17.350 a curated tour of American musical history, filtered 00:07:17.350 --> 00:07:20.050 through his specific aesthetic. Then we get into 00:07:20.050 --> 00:07:21.750 the middle section of the album, which gives 00:07:21.750 --> 00:07:25.160 the medleys a rest. Tracks 3, 4, and 5 are standalone 00:07:25.160 --> 00:07:28.019 Tom Waits compositions. Pure Waits. Exactly. 00:07:28.180 --> 00:07:31.639 No covers, no mashups here. Track 3 is a sweet 00:07:31.639 --> 00:07:34.000 little bullet from a pretty blue gun, and even 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:36.199 as a standalone, it stretches to a massive 7 00:07:36.199 --> 00:07:39.459 minutes and 42 seconds. Track 4 is on the nickel, 00:07:39.500 --> 00:07:42.319 coming in at 6 minutes and 10 seconds. And track 00:07:42.319 --> 00:07:44.600 5 is the title track of this whole unapproved 00:07:44.600 --> 00:07:46.860 release, Romeo is Bleeding, which is a relatively 00:07:46.860 --> 00:07:50.279 tight 4 minutes and 59 seconds. It's a very smart 00:07:50.279 --> 00:07:52.709 structural choice for a live show. Moving from 00:07:52.709 --> 00:07:55.310 those massive demanding opening medleys into 00:07:55.310 --> 00:07:57.829 these focused standalone narratives gives the 00:07:57.829 --> 00:08:00.069 audience a chance to really latch on to his distinct 00:08:00.069 --> 00:08:02.670 voice and piano work. For sure. Romeo's Bleeding 00:08:02.670 --> 00:08:04.970 and On the Nickel are pure undiluted weights. 00:08:05.310 --> 00:08:07.250 They anchor the middle of the performance and 00:08:07.250 --> 00:08:09.910 give us a really clear picture of how he paced 00:08:09.910 --> 00:08:12.610 the energy in that room back in 78. But just 00:08:12.610 --> 00:08:14.230 when you think you have the rhythm of the show 00:08:14.230 --> 00:08:17.800 figured out, track six comes along. Yeah. I honestly 00:08:17.800 --> 00:08:19.439 had to do a double take when I was reading the 00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:21.180 source material for this one. I know exactly 00:08:21.180 --> 00:08:23.279 what you're going to say. Track six is five minutes 00:08:23.279 --> 00:08:25.899 and 51 seconds long, and it's a holiday mashup. 00:08:25.939 --> 00:08:28.079 But I guarantee it's the most bizarre, unique 00:08:28.079 --> 00:08:30.660 holiday mashup you could ever imagine. It really 00:08:30.660 --> 00:08:33.399 is. It starts with Silent Night, and our source 00:08:33.399 --> 00:08:36.200 dutifully credits Franz Gruber and Jaceph Moore 00:08:36.200 --> 00:08:39.960 as the writers of this serene 19th century Austrian 00:08:39.960 --> 00:08:43.179 Christmas carol. And he transitions directly 00:08:43.179 --> 00:08:45.759 from that sacred hymn into an original titled 00:08:45.759 --> 00:08:48.240 Christmas Carol. card from a hooker in Minneapolis. 00:08:48.620 --> 00:08:51.399 The artistic juxtaposition there is just brilliant. 00:08:51.620 --> 00:08:53.919 It's crazy. It's almost cinematic in how jarring 00:08:53.919 --> 00:08:57.620 it is. You take this revered, quiet, universally 00:08:57.620 --> 00:09:01.399 recognized hymn by Gruber and Moore, a song associated 00:09:01.399 --> 00:09:04.100 with peace and holiness, and you smash it directly 00:09:04.100 --> 00:09:07.379 into a tragic comic, street -level story about 00:09:07.379 --> 00:09:10.110 a sex worker writing a letter from prison. I 00:09:10.110 --> 00:09:12.169 can only imagine what the crowd in that Austin 00:09:12.169 --> 00:09:14.750 venue thought. You're swaying along to Silent 00:09:14.750 --> 00:09:17.210 Night and suddenly you're thrust into this gritty 00:09:17.210 --> 00:09:20.570 Midwestern narrative. Exactly. But it perfectly 00:09:20.570 --> 00:09:22.750 encapsulates the poetry that defines his entire 00:09:22.750 --> 00:09:25.970 genre. He takes the sacred and the profane, the 00:09:25.970 --> 00:09:28.629 holy and the broken, and binds them together 00:09:28.629 --> 00:09:32.090 in a single, nearly six -minute track. It shows 00:09:32.090 --> 00:09:34.549 a level of literary ambition that you rarely 00:09:34.549 --> 00:09:37.990 see in a standard blues rock concert. And finally, 00:09:38.090 --> 00:09:41.029 we reach the grand finale, track seven. It's 00:09:41.029 --> 00:09:43.590 eight minutes and 37 seconds long, and he brings 00:09:43.590 --> 00:09:46.970 back the medley format for one last ride. A huge 00:09:46.970 --> 00:09:50.009 finish. He weaves his original song, Small Change, 00:09:50.309 --> 00:09:53.250 with another massive cover, the Broadway classic 00:09:53.250 --> 00:09:55.950 Hey Big Spender, written by Cy Coleman and Dorothy 00:09:55.950 --> 00:09:59.049 Fields. And then he brings it all back home with 00:09:59.049 --> 00:10:01.470 a reprise of Small Change. If you synthesize 00:10:01.470 --> 00:10:03.129 what the seven -track sequence actually tells 00:10:03.129 --> 00:10:05.429 us about him as a performer, it's a masterclass 00:10:05.429 --> 00:10:07.769 in musical blending. Absolutely. He isn't just 00:10:07.769 --> 00:10:09.570 staying in one lane. He's pulling from the great 00:10:09.570 --> 00:10:11.889 American songbook with Gershwin. He's pulling 00:10:11.889 --> 00:10:13.990 from traditional American folk with... Ain't 00:10:13.990 --> 00:10:16.090 gonna rain. He's utilizing traditional Christmas 00:10:16.090 --> 00:10:19.049 carols. And he's channeling Broadway show tunes 00:10:19.049 --> 00:10:22.629 with Coleman and Field's Hey Big Spender. And 00:10:22.629 --> 00:10:26.029 he filters every single piece of it through his 00:10:26.029 --> 00:10:29.929 own smoke -filled blues rock lens. It's amazing. 00:10:30.190 --> 00:10:33.450 It's a deeply complex musical ecosystem captured 00:10:33.450 --> 00:10:36.110 on a single December night. And the thing is, 00:10:36.129 --> 00:10:39.600 he didn't create that massive sound alone. Let's 00:10:39.600 --> 00:10:41.200 talk about the personnel, the people who were 00:10:41.200 --> 00:10:43.379 actually up on that stage bringing this incredibly 00:10:43.379 --> 00:10:46.240 complex 52 -minute show to life. The band is 00:10:46.240 --> 00:10:48.600 crucial here. We know from the source that he's 00:10:48.600 --> 00:10:51.600 handling the lead vocals and the piano. But the 00:10:51.600 --> 00:10:54.080 band backing him up is doing some serious heavy 00:10:54.080 --> 00:10:56.559 lifting to make these transitions work. We have 00:10:56.559 --> 00:10:58.820 Arthur Richardson on guitar, John Tomasey on 00:10:58.820 --> 00:11:01.120 the drums, and Greg Cohen holding down the rhythm 00:11:01.120 --> 00:11:04.379 on the bass guitar. Yes. But the absolute standout 00:11:04.379 --> 00:11:06.259 in this personnel list, the guy who must have 00:11:06.259 --> 00:11:08.220 been working overtime, has to be Herbert Hardesty. 00:11:08.759 --> 00:11:11.200 Oh, Herbert Hardesty's role is remarkable when 00:11:11.200 --> 00:11:12.860 you look at the credits. The source lists him 00:11:12.860 --> 00:11:15.480 playing not one, not two, but three different 00:11:15.480 --> 00:11:18.299 brass instruments. Yeah, it's wild. He's credited 00:11:18.299 --> 00:11:22.320 with saxophone, trumpet, and flugelhorn. I'm 00:11:22.320 --> 00:11:24.480 just picturing the logistics of this on a cramped 00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:27.559 stage, having one guy juggling a sax, a trumpet, 00:11:27.639 --> 00:11:30.120 and a flugelhorn, trying to keep up while the 00:11:30.120 --> 00:11:33.120 band weaves through Gershwin, then traditional 00:11:33.120 --> 00:11:35.759 folk, then gritty blues rock, and then Broadway. 00:11:36.379 --> 00:11:39.059 That's a workout. The sheer talent and stamina 00:11:39.059 --> 00:11:41.519 required is mind -blowing. It speaks volumes 00:11:41.519 --> 00:11:44.399 about the versatility required to back an artist 00:11:44.399 --> 00:11:46.740 who refuses to play things straight. You have 00:11:46.740 --> 00:11:49.799 a five -piece band creating this massive theatrical, 00:11:50.120 --> 00:11:52.740 almost orchestral sound. But if we connect this 00:11:52.740 --> 00:11:55.840 to the bigger picture, looking at this unapproved 00:11:55.840 --> 00:11:58.399 live album in a vacuum really only tells half 00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:01.330 the story. Right. To truly understand why an 00:12:01.330 --> 00:12:03.250 unapproved release like Romeo Bleeding matters 00:12:03.250 --> 00:12:05.470 so much, we have to look at the sheer weight 00:12:05.470 --> 00:12:07.929 and volume of his official, carefully approved 00:12:07.929 --> 00:12:10.110 work. Right, because if you scroll down to the 00:12:10.110 --> 00:12:12.289 references and see also sections of this Wikipedia 00:12:12.289 --> 00:12:15.850 page, it's basically a giant, sprawling map of 00:12:15.850 --> 00:12:18.929 the Tom Waits universe. The catalog is intimidatingly 00:12:18.929 --> 00:12:22.129 huge. It's a monumental discography. Just looking 00:12:22.129 --> 00:12:24.590 at the studio albums listed in the source, we're 00:12:24.590 --> 00:12:27.529 talking about 16 full -length official studio 00:12:27.529 --> 00:12:30.389 releases. It spans decades of creative evolution. 00:12:31.419 --> 00:12:33.879 You see him starting with the 70s beatnik jazz 00:12:33.879 --> 00:12:36.620 era, with Closing Time and Nighthawks at the 00:12:36.620 --> 00:12:39.100 Diner, and evolving through the 80s with albums 00:12:39.100 --> 00:12:42.440 like Swordfish Trombones and Rain Dogs, all the 00:12:42.440 --> 00:12:44.620 way through his later masterpieces like Mule 00:12:44.620 --> 00:12:46.840 Variations, Blood Money, and Up to Bad as Me. 00:12:47.200 --> 00:12:51.600 That's 16 distinct, meticulously planned, recorded, 00:12:51.759 --> 00:12:54.139 and officially approved chapters of his life. 00:12:54.509 --> 00:12:56.490 And the list doesn't even stop at standard studio 00:12:56.490 --> 00:12:59.149 albums. The source points out that his work crosses 00:12:59.149 --> 00:13:01.610 over into entirely different mediums. He has 00:13:01.610 --> 00:13:03.870 soundtracks listed here, like his work for the 00:13:03.870 --> 00:13:05.730 films Night on Earth and One from the Heart. 00:13:05.789 --> 00:13:07.509 Yes, and he's heavily involved in the theater, 00:13:07.590 --> 00:13:09.809 too. The source lists The Black Rider, which 00:13:09.809 --> 00:13:12.210 actually does double duty in this reference list. 00:13:12.350 --> 00:13:14.799 It's categorized as an album. but also under 00:13:14.799 --> 00:13:17.100 his musicals, alongside another stage production 00:13:17.100 --> 00:13:19.899 titled Wojcik. Wow. So you're looking at a guy 00:13:19.899 --> 00:13:22.860 who is writing stage musicals, scoring feature 00:13:22.860 --> 00:13:26.320 films, and curating massive studio efforts. There's 00:13:26.320 --> 00:13:28.500 also a whole section dedicated to compilations. 00:13:28.500 --> 00:13:30.980 You see titles summarizing different eras, like 00:13:30.980 --> 00:13:34.279 the early years, beautiful maladies and the incredibly 00:13:34.279 --> 00:13:37.679 named orphans, brawlers, ballers and bastards. 00:13:37.860 --> 00:13:40.559 Great title. Plus, the source links out to related 00:13:40.559 --> 00:13:43.059 articles pointing us to key collaborators like 00:13:43.059 --> 00:13:45.399 Kathleen Brennan and related projects like the 00:13:45.399 --> 00:13:47.860 film version of Big Time or tribute collections 00:13:47.860 --> 00:13:50.299 where other artists honor him. Like, come on 00:13:50.299 --> 00:13:53.259 up to the house. Women sing weights. When you 00:13:53.259 --> 00:13:56.490 lay all of that out. The 16 studio albums, the 00:13:56.490 --> 00:13:58.950 film soundtracks, the avant -garde stage musicals, 00:13:58.950 --> 00:14:01.330 the official compilations, the massive tours. 00:14:01.429 --> 00:14:04.470 You see an artist who has spent his entire adult 00:14:04.470 --> 00:14:08.230 life carefully constructing a very specific, 00:14:08.370 --> 00:14:11.230 highly intentional musical universe. Yeah. He 00:14:11.230 --> 00:14:13.610 is incredibly prolific, but he's also fiercely 00:14:13.610 --> 00:14:16.610 protective of the details. Every official release 00:14:16.610 --> 00:14:19.519 is deliberate. Which brings us right back to 00:14:19.519 --> 00:14:22.000 the glaring anomaly of Romeo bleeding. Yeah. 00:14:22.019 --> 00:14:24.600 Live from Austin. Exactly. It exists entirely 00:14:24.600 --> 00:14:26.820 outside of that intentional construction. It's 00:14:26.820 --> 00:14:28.820 a rogue element sitting right in the middle of 00:14:28.820 --> 00:14:31.720 this giant, carefully curated ecosystem placed 00:14:31.720 --> 00:14:34.360 there by a European label without his sign off. 00:14:34.500 --> 00:14:37.460 So what does this all mean? Let's synthesize 00:14:37.460 --> 00:14:40.340 this journey for you. We've spent this deep dive 00:14:40.340 --> 00:14:43.840 exploring a very specific time capsule. A 52 00:14:43.840 --> 00:14:46.679 -minute, 3 -second recording capturing a sweaty 00:14:46.679 --> 00:14:50.679 December night in 1978 in Austin, Texas. A performance 00:14:50.679 --> 00:14:52.840 that showcases an artist at the height of his 00:14:52.840 --> 00:14:55.580 theatrical powers, characterized by a gritty 00:14:55.580 --> 00:14:58.820 blues rock foundation, but elevated by highly 00:14:58.820 --> 00:15:02.039 complex, sprawling medleys that demand the audience's 00:15:02.039 --> 00:15:04.360 full attention. Right. You've got 11 -minute 00:15:04.360 --> 00:15:06.620 openers combining Gershwin's classic American 00:15:06.620 --> 00:15:09.639 songwriting with his own original poetry. Yeah. 00:15:09.720 --> 00:15:12.480 You've got the breathtaking audacity of smashing 00:15:12.480 --> 00:15:15.019 Silent Night into Christmas card from a hooker 00:15:15.019 --> 00:15:17.519 in Minneapolis. You've got Broadway classics 00:15:17.519 --> 00:15:20.230 seamlessly integrated into the setlist. And done 00:15:20.230 --> 00:15:23.070 so well. And it's all brought to life by an incredibly 00:15:23.070 --> 00:15:26.169 versatile five -piece band featuring a horn player 00:15:26.169 --> 00:15:28.649 somehow juggling three different brass instruments. 00:15:28.929 --> 00:15:30.950 An undeniable piece of musical history. And yet, 00:15:30.970 --> 00:15:34.230 despite the reality of that 1978 night, the 2009 00:15:34.230 --> 00:15:36.549 commercial release remains totally unapproved 00:15:36.549 --> 00:15:38.409 by the artist who actually lived it. It's so 00:15:38.409 --> 00:15:40.789 strange. It was dropped into the market the exact 00:15:40.789 --> 00:15:44.169 same year as his official tour album. creating 00:15:44.169 --> 00:15:46.929 this bizarre chronological overlap where his 00:15:46.929 --> 00:15:49.450 past is actively competing with his present. 00:15:49.610 --> 00:15:52.169 It's such a fascinating puzzle. It gives us this 00:15:52.169 --> 00:15:56.210 raw, unfiltered, bootleg look at a legendary 00:15:56.210 --> 00:15:58.809 artist. But it does so without his permission, 00:15:59.009 --> 00:16:02.309 bypassing all his usual quality control. This 00:16:02.309 --> 00:16:04.129 raises an important question, something for you 00:16:04.129 --> 00:16:06.509 to really mull over long after we wrap up today. 00:16:06.629 --> 00:16:10.330 OK. When an artist spends decades meticulously 00:16:10.330 --> 00:16:13.049 building a legacy, curating 16 studio albums, 00:16:13.230 --> 00:16:16.230 writing stage musicals, scoring films and orchestrating 00:16:16.230 --> 00:16:19.309 massive global tours, what happens to that legacy 00:16:19.309 --> 00:16:22.059 when unapproved? Raw recordings from their distant 00:16:22.059 --> 00:16:24.100 past are commercially released. That's a great 00:16:24.100 --> 00:16:26.279 point. When a label puts out an unauthorized 00:16:26.279 --> 00:16:28.159 album and it gets permanently archived in public 00:16:28.159 --> 00:16:30.519 encyclopedias right alongside their official, 00:16:30.740 --> 00:16:33.980 painstakingly crafted work, who truly owns the 00:16:33.980 --> 00:16:36.519 history of a live performance? Is it the artist 00:16:36.519 --> 00:16:38.720 who created the music, or is it the public record 00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:40.639 that captures the fact that it happened? That 00:16:40.639 --> 00:16:43.100 is such a brilliant thought to leave on. The 00:16:43.100 --> 00:16:45.519 tension between an artist's curated history and 00:16:45.519 --> 00:16:47.679 the raw, unapproved archives that inevitably 00:16:47.679 --> 00:16:50.259 surface to challenge it. We want to thank you 00:16:50.259 --> 00:16:52.440 so much for joining us on this deep dive into 00:16:52.440 --> 00:16:54.840 the unexpected and slightly rogue corners of 00:16:54.840 --> 00:16:57.620 music history. It's been an absolute blast unpacking 00:16:57.620 --> 00:17:00.480 this 1978 time capsule with you. Keep questioning 00:17:00.480 --> 00:17:02.399 the official narratives, keep digging into the 00:17:02.399 --> 00:17:04.700 archives, and above all, keep exploring. Until 00:17:04.700 --> 00:17:05.180 next time.