TOM WAITS – The Genial Barfly Released His 3rd LP ‘NIGHTHAWKS AT THE DINER’ Today 50 Years Ago
Significant longplayers from yesteryear
21 October 2025
Crooner and barfly legend TOM WAITS (75 now) released his 3rd LP, titled
NIGHTHAWKS AT THE DINER today, 50 years ago, on 21 October 1975.
It was recorded over four sessions in July in the Los Angeles Record Plant studio
in front of a small invited audience, set up to recreate the atmosphere of a jazz club.
The album got very positive critics but didn’t score commercially well at first, as it
peaked at #164 on the Billboard 200. Over the years it went silver.
The title was inspired by Edward Hopper‘s 1942 painting Nighthawks. See here.
Jim Hughart, who played upright bass on the recordings
recalled the experience of preparing for and recording the
album:
“Preparing for this thing, we had to memorize all this stuff, ’cause Waits had nothing on paper. So ultimately, we spent four or five days in a rehearsal studio going over this stuff. And that was drudgery. But when we did actually get it all prepared and go and record, that was the fastest two days of recording I’ve ever spent in my life. It was so fun.”
Join the bar crowd.