Toxic Not-So-Tiny Tim
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He passed away in 1996, so it might be a little unfair to castigate the departed or poke fun at a harmless oddball, but there's no doubt that the novelty-hit version of the jazz-age chestnut "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" by the tall, stringy-haired, falsetto-singing, ukulele-strumming weirdo known as Tiny Tim was mightily toxic. Nonetheless, in the wake of startling and disturbingly funny television variety-show appearances by Tim (born Herbert Khaury in New York City on April 12, 1932), the single - released in 1968 at the height of the psychedelic-rock revolution - went to #17 on the American charts. Which doesn't make it tolerable.
Tiny Tim, who was actually quite a remarkable student of old-time pop music, was enough of a media phenomenon to have been invited to marry his beloved Miss Vicki on "The Tonight Show." His one-man duet on a cover of Sonny & Cher's "I Got You Babe" was pretty hilarious the first couple times you heard it. After that, not so much. But the height of his toxicity was indisputably his rinky-dink, plink-a-plink cover of "Tiptoe Through the Tulips." Just below, you'll find a clip of Tiny Tim's legendary appearance on the wildly popular sketch-comedy TV series "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In," with a live performance of the offending number. Can you stand it?
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Comments (21)
mike. you obviously weren't smoking weed in '68.
your loss.
Besides "Laugh-In" being a must-see every week, Tiny Tim was actually a bit ahead of his time. I'm glad you acknowledged his musical knowledge, because even before all these folks jumped on the uke bandwagon (40 years later) it had become quite trendy to play songs from an era he obviously loved. i actually believe that he also had "The Band" themselves backing him on recordings like "I Got You Babe" a bit before Big Pink, which i also think was a '68 breakthrough.
don't get me wrong. i was laughing at him while i was enjoying "it". but adding a business plan of developing something unique and having it blow up to the point where you marry on the Tonight Show is pretty impressive and quite non-toxic for too many reasons.
we should, however, include him in our Toxic Mashups "Greatest *hits" project.
Robin: To be fair, deadmandeadman ran a Tiny Tim / Toxic Tuesday post a year ago, featuring a track that I believe was entitled "Tiptoe Through the Tulips with Mr. Presley." But T.T.'s better-known version is a more straight-forward approach to the source material, yet mucho toxic - and certainly deserves entry into the Toxic Tuesday Hall of Shame. BTW, nothin' wrong with uke-ing it. You know I loves Holland Greco and her ukelele. And the old songs are a treat. So respeck, Tiny. But his bizarro vocalizing could be sorta offputting after the initial shock/horror/hilarity.
I recall being a little kid and asking my parents if he ever played any other songs because, whenever he was on TV, it was always this one damned song!
Tiny Tim...Sucker or tout? Robin is right about The Band & Tiny Tim. Musical archivists all.
mike--i think you'd like him better as a little mp3 embedded in a blog post recorded from vinyl complete with pops and scratches where you didn't have to see him on Laugh-In (note the show's title) every week.
and i'm with you on the uke and Holland. i'm definitely not anti-uke. i seem to remember you also liking my tribute to the Band and the Last Waltz on "Altered States". The medley with my versions of "The Last Waltz/Such a Night" being done on harp and uke got a lot of radio play.
Fasted: Well, yeah. Although I did see that "I Got You Babe" lunacy on a couple of occasions. As comedy? Great. As music? A novelty that wore thin.
dmdm: Neither. Strange creature, maybe.
Robin: Again, a Tiny bit would go a long way - and then toxicity would set in. BTW, when when when would I ever eschew or belittle the greatness of The Band (the crucial line-up with Robbie Robertson and the rest of the Hawks)? Never!
never thought you'd trash The Band at all. just acknowledging that i'm not the only one that got the joke!
Robin: Too bad he didn't come to prominence in this century. We would've had a 24/7 reality show on VH1 that might have revealed exactly how Tiny he was. Or how great. Or how aware he was of the joke and his complicity in it. Or if there even was a joke.
Mike--it was time for you!
I prefer John Keawe's Falsetto to Herbert Khaury's. (More interesting pictures, much better love song.)
Oh, Oh, Oh I have a friend who's writing a play about Tiny Tim's last year, which he spent in Minneapolis. Before that he lived for many years in Des Moines, Iowa which is where I'm from originaly. He was a local legend and very sweet man.
He really was ahead of his time in many ways. I think of him as an early performance artist. He broke some ground for all the misfit artist that were to follow in music and in comedy.
Mike, those appearances were comedy bits. He was a strange guy but in his social interactions he was pretty normal. The ultra-weirdness was put on. He was in love with all things from that era and behaved as if he was living in it. He lived in a hotel downtown that was basicaly a flop house. clearly didn't have a lot of money and sang for his bread. He was friendly with other musicians and was very knowledgable about music.
Robin: Time for me to what? have my own VH-1 show? Hmmm.
Aiea: Comparing rocky road and tutti fruity?
sidro: Agreed. I always had the sense that he was a nice guy, albeit eccentric - and very learned as regards the music. I found him entertaining, but only in small doses. And the falsetto quaver could really get to me. Thus, the single's inclusion on Toxic Tuesday. Again, it's hard to say where the weirdness ended and the self-awareness began.
I just checked my friend's website to see if he has posted the play yet. Looks like he hasn't finished it yet. Like Paul Reubans, for example, the line isn't all that clear. It can't be that easy getting through life when weirdness is among your many gifts. He really didn't seem tortured but who knows.
I kinda see what you're getting at, sidro, although with Paul Reubens, it's always evident that Pee-Wee Herman is a character. His work as an actor in "Blow," the upcoming "Life During Wartime," and on TV's "30 Rock," is quite a ways away from Pee-Wee.
True. Paul Reubans has a lot more range. Maybe not the best comparison.
Here's Max talking about his play.
Kewl.
Bet ya' got more than bargained for when you made this post. One man's TMI is another man's obsession. Interesting about the funeral. At least he got out of that flophouse in Des Moines.
All that's left to say at this point is R.I.P.
I remember seeing tiny tim as a kid and having to leave the room because I was afraid..........I still am very afraid
Don't worry. The big, bad ukelele-playing creature won't get you. In fact, he's a friendly creature. Or he was.