63 - TOM WAITS

TOM WAITS Autograph working manuscript for “Red Shoes by the Drugstore” (1978), on Tropicana Motor Hotel letterhead. A handwritten sheet attributed to Tom Waits, containing several fragments and preparatory corrections for the song “Red Shoes by the Drugstore,” released on the album *Blue Valentine* in 1978. The document is written on a sheet of letterhead from the Tropicana Motor Hotel, located at 8585 Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood. The song “Red Shoes by the Drugstore” belongs to this particularly prolific period. Structured as an urban narrative with film-noir overtones, it depicts a young woman waiting for her boyfriend in the rain, set against a backdrop of deserted streets, petty criminals, and thwarted love—a hallmark of Waits’s writing. The item is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from the American firm Gotta Have Rock and Roll, which reproduces the manuscript and identifies it as an original working document by Tom Waits. The document appears in the archives of the 2012 “The Rock & Roll Pop Culture Auction,” listed as lot 477. An Aguttes certificate of authenticity is included. Dimensions: approximately 21.6 × 27.9 cm. Signs of handling and old stains, mainly on the lower portion.