For Tom Waits’ third album, his producers knew it was crucial to capture his live appeal, so they set up tables in a spacious recording studio, brought in an audience of friends and fans, and taped two nights of performances. He even had an opening act, a burlesque dancer named Dewana he shouts out in the intro. Waits is backed by a small jazz combo — tenor sax, upright bass, and a swinging drummer — and they follow his meandering journey for the whole 75 minutes without a misstep. His voice has evolved from the somewhat nasal rasp of 1973’s Closing Time and is getting closer to the gravelly roar of his ’80s work. Just about every track has a long, improvised intro that’s somewhere between beatnik schtick and stand-up comedy, but he never breaks character, and the whole package is hilarious and sentimental at once; a perfect example is the almost NSFW lead-in to “Better Off Without A Wife,” which is also one of the best and most romantic songs on the record.