Timeline: 1968 - Tiny Tim Becomes a Most Unlikely Pop Star
By Dave Swanson - Summit FM Contributor
As we wander and stumble through 2023, one can't help but think back to 'simpler' times now and again. Those of, or over, a certain age will remember times free of irony, a plague of the 21st century. Things could stand or fall as they were, no hidden joke or subtext behind things.
When Tiny Tim burst into living rooms across America in the spring of 1968, via the popular Laugh-In show, people had no idea what to make of this long-haired troubador as he sincerely delivered his music to the masses.
Born Herbert Khaury in 1932, Tiny was the most unlikely pop star to pop into pop music. He was fascinated and enthralled by music from a young age, learning violin, mandolin and the ukulele before he was a teen. He would spend his entire life learning about the music he loved, eventually becoming a walking encyclopedia of music from the earliest days of sound recordings up through the 1930s, much of which would make its way into his repertoire over time.
After dropping out of high school and living in New York City, he tried to break into show business, playing various nightclubs and theaters, Using a variety of stage names, his act was going nowhere until noting that one of his favorite artists, Rudy Vallee, sang in falsetto style. Once he incorporated that into his act, he started getting noticed. At this time, he also started to change his appearance from cliche crooner to the utterly unique persona he created as Tiny Tim. Gone were the slicked back hair and stylish suits, replaced by shoulder length locks and often garish wardrobe. This was the very early 60s mind you, well before the Beatles haircuts were an issue, Tiny's was already twice as long.
After gaining some acceptance with the Greenwich Village crowd, Tiny began to attract attention. In 1963 he landed a bit part in 'Normal Love,' an experimental film by Jack Smith which would ultimately have an influence on Andy Warhol and others. In 1966, he briefly signed to Blue Cat Records, an offshoot of Red Bird, to release the single 'April Showers' b/w 'Little Girl,' a song based on Leadbelly's 'In The Pines' and also known as 'Where Did You Sleep Last Night' which will ring a bell with a few Nirvana fans out there. He was thanked in the sleeve notes to the 1966 classic 'Freak Out' by Frank Zappa & the Mothers Of Invention. A few more years spent paying his dues would eventually lead to his signing with Reprise Records in 1967.
Released in April of 1968, 'God Bless Tiny Tim' was an album like no other. Produced by Richard Perry, fresh off producing 'Safe As Milk,' the debut album by Captain Beefheart, it quickly became a surprise hit following appearances on the show Laugh-In as well as the Tonight Show. Perry, by the way, would go on to produce albums by Nilsson, Barbra Streisand, Carly Simon and others. That first album is almost like a stage production opening with 'Welcome To My Dream' segueing into 'Tiptoe Through The Tulips,' a song written in 1929 that Tiny would take into the Billboard charts hitting No.17.Theatriclal numbers like 'The Viper' and Irving Berlin's 'Stay Down Here Where You Belong' sit side by side pop tunes like 'Strawberry Tea' and 'Living In The Sunlight, Laughing In The Moonlight' a 1930 hit for crooner Maurice Chevalier, better known to later generations via SpongeBob SquarePants.
The album also features 'The Other Side,' a song warning of melting icecaps and climate change 50 years ago, and, 'Fill Your Heart,' a song written by folksinger Biff Rose and songwriter Paul Williams and later covered by David Bowie on his 1971 album 'Hunky Dory.' It stands as one of the most captivating , unique, and yes, odd albums ever to become a genuine hit. "I like him" Frank Zappa said in a 1968 interview. "I like his record too. I listened to it. It's got some weird stuff on it. That's the way he really is. He's old enough to be your father. He's really out of question. Any person who carries around a ukelele in a brown paper bag can't be all bad."
His appearance on te Tonight Show is a great snapshot of the times. Johnny Carson gave Tiny a solid block of over 15 minutes to perform and chat. Carson seems confused, intrigued, appreciative and slightly nervous all at the same time by not only his musical performance but by his offbeat personality. In trying to keep up with hip lingo of the day, Carson introduced him as a 'flower child' before Tim entered, ukelele in hand, to perform 'Tulips' for the late-night TV audience.
The pair talked music, and show business with Carson trying to find common ground. When asked if he was married, the audience sort of expectorates a collective laugh as Carson somewhat slyly smiles, Tiny nervously laughs and says "Marriage is a wonderful thing but I couldn't get married because I love all the beautiful girls." The thought between Carson and studio audience was, of course, that Tiny Tim was gay but he was not. He would later marry his first wife live on the Tonight Show in 1969 with an audience of nearly 50 million viewers.
During that time frame, he recorded with the Beatles, Bob Dylan, the Band, and others, as well as playing the legendary Isle Of Wight Festival in 1970 alongside the Doors, the Who, Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, Jethro Tull, and countless others.
Two more albums for Reprise would follow without a trace, the second following a similar format to the debut with the third and final being a children's album. As the decade ended, so did Tiny Tim's time in the spotlight. He would never, however, leave the party, continually knocking on that show biz door trying to get back in. A 45 about the Gas shortage in the late 70s called 'Tiptoe To The Gas Pumps' gained a drop of publicity, and he would now and again turn up on talk shows. Check out his stunning 1979 appearance on the Tonight Show for the most incredible version of 'Do You Think I'm Sexy?' ever! In later years several appearances on the Howard Stern Show kept him within reach.
True to form, Tiny Tim died onstage during a performance on November 30, 1996. He had suffered a heart attack two months earlier, and had been ill, but didn't want to let down his fans. Sadly, to this day, he is still thought of as a novelty act to be laughed at, when the truth is, he was a national treasure with his vast knowledge of the American Songbook and beyond, long before there was any mass interest in such things.
"This is not the day of the ordinary or run of the mill,": sidekick Ed McMahon chimed in on the Tonight Show appearance, "and he is certainly not ordinary or run of the mill." Of course, he was odd, but that's who we should celebrate! The odball! Conformity is easy, unless you're an oddball, then it is incredibly difficult. Tiny Tim was the real deal. He was not some manufactured 'weirdo' or 'character,' he was simply his own creation, which is really what life is all about...isn't it?
God Bless Tiny Tim indeed!