"Burma Shave" and "Potter's Field" are two of Waits's best early songs, the first for its aesthetic quality (musical and lyrical) and the second for its nightmare-like lyrical content and wild instrumentation. Both are on the Asylum Years compliation, which unfortunately omits "Ol' 55" and "On the Nickel"; otherwise, that compilation is as close to perfection as seems possible.
Waits's note of thanks to Bette Midler, as I remember it, reads: "Bette -- you're absolutely collosal!"
The first two tracks (the first an instrumental) are characteristically sad, melodic, and memorable Waits compositions.
