Livin’ In The Sunlight, Lovin’ In The Moonlight –

Strawberry Tea –

After talking about some more serious material like Nirvana, sometimes it’s nice to just step back and cover something light-hearted, fun, and just plain silly. Enter this week’s record…

God Bless Tiny Tim (1968), by (you guessed it) Tiny Tim. Often remembered as one of the older novelty acts from the sixties, Mr. Tim (as he was often referred to as) would continue performing all the way up until his death in 1996. Literally, “until his death.” Sadly, he would suffer a fatal heart attack while performing his most famous tune “Tiptoe Through the Tulips” in front of a small crowd in Minneapolis.

Dangit! I thought this was supposed to be a more cheerful entry this week! Alright, even though Mr. Tim suffered his share of troubles and controversies, I’ll focus a little more on the lighter side of things.

Tiny Tim’s real name was Herbert Buckingham Khaury. Kinda like “Little John” from Robin Hood, Khaury’s stage name was something of an ironic title since he stood at well over 6 feet tall. While he could play several instruments, he is most easily remembered carrying around a small ukulele, which was made even more tiny when compared to Mr. Tim. The tall man with a tiny ukulele helped establish him as a novelty act, but there was one even more important factor that really cemented his status. His extremely high, warbling, falsetto voice. There really is no one else who truly sounds exactly the same as Mr. Tim (for better or for worst). But like his multi-instrumentalist abilities, his vocal range didn’t always side on the ridiculous end of things (just most of the time). He would often sing duets, but with himself covering the lower male part and his falsetto singing the female part.

The first song I chose, “Livin’ In The Sunlight, Lovin’ In The Moonlight”, opens up with Mr. Tim announcing that this is his first record. The song had been recorded by Bing Crosby prior to Tiny Tim’s release with a much slower tempo (and obviously at a much lower vocal registry), but most people just recognize this version nowadays. This song was my initial introduction to him, and likely the same tune that several others from my generation first heard from him. Why? Well because this song was actually used in the conclusion to the very first SpongeBob SquarePants pilot episode (just visualize SpongeBob serving Krabby Patties to a bunch of anchovies). Overall, the track is just silly fun and while there is an interesting version with just Mr. Tim and his ukulele, I really like the many musical colors that the full band brings to this mix.

But not all of Tiny Tim’s music was just for laughs. A good example of another side of his music is “Strawberry Tea”. A much more psychedelic pop tune with dreamy strings and surreal, vivid imagery in its lyrics; it stands in contrast to some of his other “silly” work. It’s surprisingly a song that wouldn’t feel too out of place on an early Bee Gees album. Now that I think about it, Mr. Tim’s vibrato voice actually does remind me of Robin Gib’s, but mixed with his brother Barry’s falsetto.

It’s been more than 50 years since Tiny Tim made his debut; and yet, he still manages to bring a smile to many a face. Throughout the years, his music has really developed something of a cult following for those who remember him for ALL his work, not just his more iconic novelty material. God Bless Tiny Tim gives a strong picture of both his silly side, his more serious side, and how they can still overlap in the most unusual of ways.