Bounced Checks is the first compilation of Tom Waits

Tom Waits

Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...

 recordings, including album, live and alternate versions of songs from six of his seven albums for Asylum Records

Asylum Records

Asylum Records is an American record label founded in 1971 by David Geffen, and partner Elliot Roberts, who had previously worked as agents at the William Morris Agency. Founded specifically to provide a record contract for Jackson Browne, the label signed Tom Waits, Linda Ronstadt, Joni Mitchell...

, excepting his debut, Closing Time

Closing Time (album)

Closing Time is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Tom Waits, released in March 1973 on Asylum Records. Produced and arranged by former Lovin' Spoonful member Jerry Yester, Closing Time was the first of seven of Waits's major releases through Asylum, the final being Heartattack...

.

The collection includes several previously unreleased tracks. "Mr. Henry" is an outtake from Heartattack and Vine

Heartattack and Vine

Heartattack and Vine was Tom Waits' last album on the Asylum label, released in September 1980.Bruce Springsteen covered "Jersey Girl" as part of his live shows throughout the 1980s."On the Nickel" was recorded for the Ralph Waite film of the same name....

, "The Piano Has Been Drinking" is a live rendition of the track from Small Change

Small Change

Small Change is an album by Tom Waits, released in 1976 on Asylum Records. It was recorded in July 1976.-Production:Small Change was recorded, direct to 2-track stereo tape, July 15,19,20,21, and 29, 1976 at the Wally Heider Recording Studio, in Hollywood, USA under the production of Bones...

, and "Jersey Girl

Jersey Girl (song)

"Jersey Girl" is a song composed and originally sung by American singer-songwriter Tom Waits from his 1980 album Heartattack and Vine.-Waits original:Waits wrote the song with his future wife Kathleen Brennan, who had been living in New Jersey...

" and "Whistlin' Past the Graveyard" are alternate takes from Heartattack and Vine and Blue Valentine.

Track listing

Songs written by Tom Waits.

1. "Heartattack and Vine" – 4:42
2. "Jersey Girl
   Jersey Girl (song)
   "Jersey Girl" is a song composed and originally sung by American singer-songwriter Tom Waits from his 1980 album Heartattack and Vine.-Waits original:Waits wrote the song with his future wife Kathleen Brennan, who had been living in New Jersey...
   
   " (alternate master) – 4:35
3. "Eggs and Sausage (In a Cadillac with Susan Michelson)" – 4:14
4. "I Never Talk to Strangers" (Duet with Bette Midler
   Bette Midler
   Bette Midler is an American singer, actress, and comedian, also known by her informal stage name, The Divine Miss M. She became famous as a cabaret and concert headliner, and went on to star in successful and acclaimed films such as The Rose, Ruthless People, Beaches, and For The Boys...
   
   ) – 3:36
5. "The Piano Has Been Drinking" (recorded live - Dublin, Ireland, March 1981) – 6:04
6. "Whistlin' Past the Graveyard" (alternate master) – 3:00
7. "Mr. Henry" (previously unreleased) – 3:33
8. "Diamonds on My Windshield" – 3:13
9. "Burma Shave" – 6:28
10. "Tom Traubert's Blues" – 6:21