The Early Years is a two-part retrospective album series of Tom Waits songs, consisting of recordings made before Waits's actual debut album Closing Time. Volume One was released in 1991 and Volume Two was released in 1993 on Bizarre/Straight. The recordings were made between July and December 1971. Some of the songs on the album had been previously released in polished form. Reissued on vinyl in 2010 by Manifesto Records