For Waits' third album, his producers wanted to bring out the jazz side of him in a more pronounced way To do this, they set up the studio like a piano bar and sold/gave away tickets to the performance.
They performed 2 shows a night for 2 nights with a stripper opening on each occasion. Waits' band for the recordings were experienced jazz session musicians, and they lay down a perfect canvas for Waits to paint over with his banter and beat poetry-style lyrics. Stories of downtrodden but happy drinkers, and even a matter-of-fact story about taking his hand to bed.
Waits is in his element and it allows his sense of humour to come out a lot more than it did in his later music (not that that is a major criticism because his later music is still brilliant). His timing is impeccable as he jokes with the audience and spins his yarns.
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