Bloggerhythms

Today's post is about a song that is probably the most obscure piece of music on my entire top ten list. Anyone who puts it on their ballot deserves a huge round of applause because it's a marvelous, moody, blues-fueled, jazz vocal song. More than four years ago I wrote about a virtually unknown soundtrack album from a long-forgotten, 1982 movie that I have never seen. The music to One From The Heart was composed entirely by Tom Waits with country star Crystal Gayle as a featured guest vocalist on six tracks. The sessions were produced by Bones Howe. The celebrated Francis Ford Coppola directed the picture   starring Frederic Forrest, Teri Garr, Raúl Juliá, Nastassja Kinski, Lainie Kazan and Harry Dean Stanton. Bloggerhythms' post about  the complete soundtrack  included a brief discussion on the flick's title track that Waits sang as a duet with Gayle. So, for #8 on my list of greatest songs from movies and TV I'm simply going to lift my own word...

Roger Ebert memorably described One From The Heart , Francis Ford Coppola's 1982 flop  as “a major disappointment" saying the  director had released “an interesting production but not a good movie."  In addition, a ccording to Wikipedia , the film was "a colossal critical and commercial flop." I've never seen it so I'll just have to take everyone's word that the movie deserved its fate.  Fortunately, the same can not be said about the accompanying soundtrack album that was entirely written and performed by Tom Waits and featured Crystal Gayle as his guest vocalist. He invited the country star to sing on the soundtrack after his first choice, Bette Midler, was unable to participate due to scheduling conflicts. After Midler declined Waits' offer, he heard Gayle sing "Cry Me A River" on the radio, and the job was hers. My copy of the album is on an old bootlegged, twelve-song cassette that I just transferred to CD using my home stereo ...