Leon Redbone (born Dickran Gobalian, August 26, 1949) is an Canadian/American singer-songwriter and guitarist specializing in interpretations of early 20th-century music, including jazz and blues standards and Tin Pan Alley classics. Recognized for his trademark Panama hat, dark sunglasses, and black tie, Redbone first appeared on stage in Toronto, Canada in the mid-1970’s. Redbone has released approximately fifteen albums and earned a sizable cult following. (More from Wikipedia)
If anything, Leon Redbone had an even more stylized appearance than Tiny Tim; and he became known for his performances of old songs like “Champagne Charlie”, “My Walking Stick” and “Shine On Harvest Moon” in a creaky voice while playing a guitar. Though his was basically a novelty act also, Redbone got a lot more respect. Bob Dylan for one was impressed when he performed at the Maricopa Folk Festival in the early 1970’s; and Rolling Stone magazine praised his singing as “so authentic you can hear the surface noise [of an old 78 rpm]”. Like Tiny Tim, Leon Redbone was also a frequent guest on the Tonight Show as well as Saturday Night Live.
Leon Redbone generally performed while sitting scrunched up on a stool, wearing a Panama hat with a black band, along with dark glasses; and there was always a mysterious air about him, leading to rumors that he was an alternate identity of Frank Zappa (his mustache and bit of beard looked a lot like Zappa’s would if it were trimmed back) or comedian Andy Kaufman. We went to a concert of his once but eventually lost interest and left at halftime; the same thing happened another time when we saw folksinger Burl Ives.
(March 2013)
