On his 1973 debut album, Tom Waits didn’t sound like Tom Waits. He kinda sounded like Dr. John, actually — a singer-songwriter with a voice half reedy and half hoarse, enunciating his lyrics with care from behind a barrelhouse piano. The music has none of the junkyard clatter of his work from the 1980s and beyond; it’s a mix of folk, country and jazz, with the latter (“Virginia Avenue,” “Ice Cream Man”) some of the most successful material, especially when trumpeter Delbert Bennett is playing. There are some sonic oddities tucked into the corners — an eerie harmonium drone underpins the otherwise conventional folk-rock song “I Hope That I Don’t Fall In Love With You,” and the background vocals (from drummer John Seiter) on the opening “Ol’ 55” have a hypnotic fascination. A lot of these songs have wound up on other people’s albums; the Eagles had a hit with “Ol’ 55,” while “I Hope That I Don’t Fall In Love With You” has been recorded by 10,000 Maniacs, Hootie And The Blowfish, and others, and “Martha” may be the only song covered by both Bette Midler and Meat Loaf.