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)