Tiny Tim (musician)

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Herbert Khaury (April 12, 1932 – November 30, 1996), better known by the stage name Tiny Tim, was an American singer, ukulele player, and musical archivist. He was most famous for his rendition of Tiptoe Through The Tulips sung in his distinctive high falsetto / vibrato voice. He was generally thought of as a novelty act, though his records display a wide knowledge of American songs. Tiny didn't have a legal middle name, so he came up with Buckingham because it sounded like royalty.

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[edit] Early years

Shortly before his death Tiny said he was 64 years old, which would put his year of birth at 1932. According to www.tinytim.org, and photos taken of his passport and birth certificate, and his death certificate, Tiny was born on April 12, 1932[1].

He was born in New York City, the son of a Lebanese father (Butros) and a Jewish mother (Tillie Staff). According to legend, he first sang in a lesbian cabaret bar. He went on to sing in a wide variety of clubs and bars, as well as entering many talent competitions in an attempt to get discovered. He used a number of pseudonyms, but eventually settled on Tiny Tim, after the character from Dickens's A Christmas Carol. Tiny recorded many records for the girls that he liked. These were 78 RPM 10" records made in private pressings of one or two copies, with hand-written labels. He gave one of the records to actress Tuesday Weld in 1964. One of the names used on these early records was Darry Dover, but most of these records used the name Tiny Tim.

[edit] Rise to International Superstardom in the 1960s

Tiny Tim already had something of a cult following around New York when he appeared in the film You Are What You Eat. This led to a booking on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, an American television comedy and variety show, which turned out to be his big break. Other appearances on the shows of Johnny Carson, Ed Sullivan, and Jackie Gleason followed, and he made a name for himself as a novelty performer. Apart from his extraordinarily high falsetto voice, his appearance—long curly hair, large nose, tall stature (he was six feet one inch), and his relatively tiny ukulele—helped him stand out from the crowd.

In 1968, his first album, God Bless Tiny Tim, was released. It contained a version of his signature song, Tiptoe Through The Tulips, which was a hit when released as a single. The other songs displayed his wide-ranging knowledge of the American songbook, and also allowed him to demonstrate his baritone voice, which was less often heard than his falsetto. On one track, a version of "I Got You Babe", he sang a duet with himself, taking one part in falsetto, and the other in the baritone range. "On the Old Front Porch" extends this to a trio, including a boy (Billy Murray), the girl he is courting (Ada Jones), and her father (probably Murray again).

Another notable song was a cover of "Stay Down Here Where You Belong", written by Irving Berlin in 1914 to protest the Great War. It is written from the standpoint of Satan talking to his son, and is a powerful condemnation of those who foment war. The comedian Groucho Marx also used this song as part of his own act, at least in part to irk the patriotic Berlin, who in later years tried in vain to disown the song: "To please their kings, they've all gone out to war, and not a one of them knows what they're fighting for... Kings up there are bigger devils than your dad."

At the end of the year, he appeared on the Beatles 1968 Christmas record exclusively issued to their fan club, singing "Nowhere Man."

Tiny Tim recorded and released two more albums for Reprise, Tiny Tim's Second Album 1968, and For All My Little Friends, 1969, a collection of children's songs. In order to cash in on Tiny Tim's popularity, the album Concert in Fairyland was released by a small record label. It consisted of some of his pre-fame songs with faux crowd reactions dubbed over them to create a fictional "live concert" recording.

Also in 1969, he married Victoria May Budinger ("Miss Vicki") on The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson, a publicity stunt which attracted 40 million viewers. Tiny wrote his own marriage vows, including the promise to be "not puffed up." Tiny Tim and Miss Vicki made more news a month later with the announcement that they were expecting a baby. Comedians at the time suggested the name VicTim. Miss Vickie miscarried; however a later attempt at childbirth succeeded.

In contrast to the romance oriented publicity of their wedding, Tiny Tim and Miss Vicki mostly lived apart, and divorced eight years later. Their daughter, Victoria Tulip, is now married and living in Pennsylvania with four children.

In August 1970 Tiny Tim performed at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 in front of a crowd of 600,000 people. His performance, which included English folk songs and rock and roll classics, was a huge hit with the multinational throng of hippies. At the climax of his set, he sang "There'll Always Be an England" through a megaphone which brought the huge crowd to its feet. This can be seen in the 1995 movie of the event, Message to Love.

[edit] Later career

After this career highlight, however, Tiny Tim's television appearances reduced, and his popularity began to wane. He continued to play around the United States and made several lucrative appearances in Las Vegas. By 1985, he resorted to joining the Alan C Hill circus.

In the 1990s, interest in Tiny Tim seemed to pick up a little. He began to release records again, including I Love Me (1995) and Girl (1996). He also recorded his last music video with NYC's punk rock band Ism.(1996) It was a punk remake of Tiptoe Through The Tulips and was never officially released. He frequently appeared on The Howard Stern Radio Show and in Stern's movie, Private Parts (1997), as well as occasional appearances on other television programs. Tiny Tim also worked with a number of other artists, including Brave Combo (his backing band on Girl) as well as Sydney based rock band His Majesty with whom he recorded the albums Tiny Tim Rock and Tiny Tim's Christmas Album, both of which were produced by Sydney Artist and writer Martin Sharp. He was also championed by, and collaborated with, Current 93 and Nurse With Wound.

[edit] Death

In September 1996, he suffered a heart attack just as he began singing at a Ukulele Festival at the Montague Bookmill in Montague, Massachusetts. He was hospitalized at the Franklin County Medical Center in Greenfield, Massachusetts for approximately three weeks before being discharged with strong admonitions to no longer perform due to his state of health and the difficulty of proper dietary needs for his medical conditions i.e. diabetes and congestive heart failure. He continued to play concerts despite warnings from his doctors that, due to the fragile state of his heart, he could die any moment. While playing Tiptoe Through The Tulips at a Gala Benefit at The Woman's Club of Minneapolis on November 30th of that year, he suffered another heart attack on stage. He was led out by his wife who asked him if he was okay. Tim responded, "No, I'm not!" Those were to be his final words. He collapsed shortly thereafter and was rushed to Hennepin County Medical Center where he died after doctors tried to resuscitate him for an hour and fifteen minutes. He is buried in the mausoleum of Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis.

In 2000, the Rhino Handmade label released the posthumous Tiny Tim Live at the Royal Albert Hall. This recording had been made in 1968 at the height of Tiny Tim's fame, but Reprise Records saw fit to never release it. It sat on the shelf until its limited internet-only release some 32 years later.

[edit] Traditionalism

The utter uniqueness of the "Tiny Tim" act notwithstanding, much of his work was simply reviving songs and artists of past generations, including early recording artists such as Billy Murray, Ada Jones, and Henry Burr.

Also, his seemingly "hippie" hairstyle and clothing belied a conservative, traditional belief system about religion and marriage. His first marriage (to "Miss Vicki") ended in part due to problems arising from his conservative views on a women's role in relationships. As she explained in interviews, their disparity in age and world view left her feeling stifled. In fact, in the mid-1980s, Tim was converted to Catholicism and became a devout Christian; on several of his records and interviews, he often proclaimed his devotion to Jesus, and his second marriage (after Miss Viki) took place in a Catholic Church.

Along those traditional lines, he was publicly respectful of his parents' generation of performers. In an appearance with Bing Crosby on The Hollywood Palace, he referred to the program's host several times as "Mr. Crosby". When Crosby asked him to call him "Bing", he partially relented and called him "Mr. Bing".

When discussing old-time stars, in short commentaries between songs on his albums, he would mention their names formally: "Mr. Billy Murray" or "Miss Ada Jones", for example. When he appeared on the Howard Stern show, he addressed everyone as "Mr." or "Miss", including production staff, interns and others who were not entertainers.

His honoring of his elders extended to one of his album covers, which featured him along with his parents, unusual for a recording artist to do when the parents are not performers themselves.

In an interview on Fresh Air with Terry Gross he said he wore white makeup to feel pure in contrast to his feeling that he was unattractive.

[edit] In Popular Culture

[edit] Partial Discography

Albums

Complete discography

[edit] Sound sample

[edit] External links

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