Время закрытия: Дебютный альбом Тома Уэйтса

Closing Time is the debut album by American singer songwriter Tom Waits, released on March 6, 1973, on Asylum Records. Produced and arranged by former Lovin' Spoonful member Jerry Yester, Closing Time was the first of seven of Waits' major releases by Asylum. The album is noted for being predominantly folk influenced although Waits intended Closing Time to be "a jazz, piano led album." Upon release, the album was mildly successful in the United States, although it did not chart and received little attention from music press in the United Kingdom and elsewhere internationally. Critical reaction to Closing Time was positive. The album's only single, "Ol' '55", attracted attention due to a cover version by Waits's more popular label mates, the Eagles. Other songs from the album were covered by Tim Buckley and Bette Midler. The album was certified Gold in the UK Since its release, the album has been reissued on LP in 1976, on CD in 1992 and 1999, and 180 gram LP in 2010.

Tom Waits began his musical career in 1969, performing every Monday night at The Troubadour, a venue in West Hollywood, California. Waits' setlist at these series of shows, described as "hootenanny nights", consisted primarily of Bob Dylan covers, although it included songs which would later appear on Closing Time and its successor, The Heart of Saturday Night (1974). Among the songs performed were "Ice Cream Man", "Virginia Avenue", "Ol' '55", "I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love with You", "Shiver Me Timbers" and "Diamonds on my Windshield." Around this time, Waits began working as a doorman at a San Diego, California, club, The Heritage, which was a coffee house by day. In November 1970, Waits performed his first paid show at The Heritage, earning $25 for his performance. At a Troubadour performance in summer 1971, Herb Cohen inadvertently spotted Waits and became his manager. Through Cohen's contacts, Waits recorded demos in Los Angeles in late summer 1971 with producer Robert Duffey, later released as The Early Years in two volumes, against Waits' wishes. In order to focus on his career, Waits relocated from San Diego to Los Angeles in early 1972 and performed more frequently at The Troubadour, where David Geffen discovered him performing "Grapefruit Moon." The performance, which "floored" Geffen, led Geffen to negotiate with Waits' manager Cohen, and Waits signed to Asylum Records within a month.

Before recording the album, Waits became friends with his designated producer Jerry Yester and one afternoon in early 1972 recorded a pre production tape in Yester's residence. The instrumentation, recording arrangements, and musicians were also discussed during this session with Waits making it "absolutely clear he wanted a standup bass player." Drummer John Seiter, guitarist Peter Klimes, trumpeter Tony Terran and additional guitarist Shep Cooke were recruited through Yester and through Seiter, jazz bassist Bill Plummer was hired. Waits was "nervous, but confident enough in his own material" with his fellow musicians, articulating his direction and using metaphors to describe how he wanted the songs to sound. The sessions took a total of ten days, with the first two days focusing on "getting used to [the studio]." Both Waits and Yester wanted to record during the evening, but as no slots were available, it was recorded through the morning and afternoon "from ten to five every day." The title track, "Closing Time", was the only song recorded in full, and Yester later described the session as "the most magical session I've ever been involved with. At the end of it, no one spoke for what felt like five minutes, either in the booth or out in the room. No one budged. Nobody wanted the moment to end."

Closing Time features an eclectic mix of musical styles. Songs such as "Ol '55", with its "gentle slipnote piano chords", song of the album, whereas "Lonely" is toned down and slow paced. The sophisticated piano melodies are often accompanied by trumpets, typical of the jazz sound that Waits originally designated for the album. This theme is also present in "Old Shoes" which narrates another story about "a footloose young stud hitting the road and semi sneering", particularly in lyrics such as "your tears cannot bind me anymore" and "my heart was not born to be tamed." Other lyrics on the album are described as melancholic, particularly "Lonely", "I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love with You" and "Grapefruit Moon", which are "both self conscious and lacklustre". The album's lead single, "Ol' '55", was released a month before the album for promotion. The single featured the same song pressed on both sides of the record, with the A side in mono and the B side in stereo. Waits' first national tour coincided with the album's release and ran from April to June 1973. The band consisted of Waits on vocals, acoustic guitar, and piano, Bob Webb on double bass, Rich Phelps on trumpet, and John Forsha on guitar. The tour started at The Cellar Door in Washington, D. C., with Waits opening for Tom Rush. Then he played at venues such as Max's Kansas City in New York City and The Boarding House in San Francisco, opening for Danny O'Keefe, Charlie Rich, Buffalo Bob Smith—of Howdy Doody—and John P. Hammond. A second tour ran from November to December 1973 with Waits opening for Frank Zappa. This tour consisted of Waits on vocals, acoustic guitar, and piano, with Bob Webb on double bass. In 1999 Elektra Records reissued Closing Time in Europe on limited edition CD, and in 2010 Elektra and Asylum reissued the album on CD and LP, respectively.

After its release, Closing Time was received positively by the American music press, although coverage was limited. In Rolling Stone, critic Stephen Holden praised it as "a remarkable debut album" and branded Waits as "a boozier, earthier version" of Randy Newman who similarly "delights in rummaging through the attics of nostalgia". Holden nonetheless noted that "the persona that emerges from [Closing Time] is Waits's own, at once sardonic, vulnerable and emotionally charged". Closing Time reached a wider audience through cover versions of its songs by more successful artists and have since continued to have been covered. Later in 1973, Tim Buckley released the album Sefronia, with a cover of "Martha," "Ol' '55" was recorded by the Eagles for On the Border (1974). "Rosie" was recorded by the Beat Farmers for their album The Pursuit of Happiness. (1987) "Ice Cream Man" was covered in 1991 by Screamin' Jay Hawkins for Black Music For White People and "Lonely" was covered live by Bat for Lashes and included on the deluxe edition of her album Two Suns (2009). Covers of "I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love with You" can be found on Step Right Up (by 10,000 Maniacs), The Prince and Me soundtrack (by Marc Cohn), Hootie & the Blowfish's Scattered, Smothered and Covered compilation, 10,000 Maniacs' Campfire Songs compilation, and "Heart and Soul," an episode of Ally McBeal, where it is sung by Jon Bon Jovi.

All songs written and composed by Tom Waits.