Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Too Cool For Words, July 2, 2005
If you are interested in Tiny but don't know much about him, or if you are building a collection, this one is essential. Tiny was involved in an unfortunate number of cheesy productions after the early Reprise recordings, so I am forever grateful that he left us on this very high note.
The wonderful thing about Tiny Tim was that he was at once a very savvy song stylist with an unparalled knowledge of popular music history and an utterly genuine eccentric who used his gifts and deep love of music in startlingly strange and wonderful ways. Listen, then, to Tiny the vaudevillian, singing the marvelous 'Sly Cigarette', a show-tune from 1898. Then there is Tiny opening up his great, big pipes and singing 'That Old Feeling'. Beautiful!! Then the infectious 'Bye Bye Blackbird, which makes me want to jump around the room. And of course that incredibly weird and compelling cover of 'Stairway to Heaven', done in perfect lounge-lizard persona. There are some turkeys here, it is true, but they are safely outnumbered by the gems. It's just a great cd.
I must not neglect to mention the wonderful Brave Combo, who bring great virtuosity, imagination, and life to the entire production. Don't miss this one.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
It's growing on me, April 3, 2004
I was a bit disappointed with this CD on first listen, concluding that perhaps Brave Combo is not the best fit for Tiny Tim, who has trouble being taken seriously as it is. "Bye Bye Blackbird" (rendered here as the "Bye Bye Blackbird Twist") is amazing, and "Sly Cigarette" is real vintage Tiny Tim, but did we really need to hear Tiny Tim's version of "Stairway to Heaven?" But I find myself coming back to this CD from time to time, and with every listen, I appreciate it a bit more. I still find this verison of "Stairway" forgetable, but the "Hey Jude" Cha-Cha is something to hear. The liner notes indicate the difficulties that arose in making this album, with Brave Combo coming back to Tiny Tim to expand the original product, which they admit was just a novelty record, into something more. What they ended up with, I've come to realize, is a nice mix, both having fun with and venerating some popular tunes of the recent and distant past. I'm still a bit on the fence on this one, but it's hard not to recommend a chance to hear a mature Tiny Tim working with a great band.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Fun; Never Disappoints; Not for Everyone, February 26, 2005
It's hard to give 5-stars to an album by the guy who made "Tip Toe Through the Tulips" a big hit, but this album deserves it. Many people don't take Tiny very seriously, although if you can believe it, the official website says he took himself seriously. This is not really a serious album, but who says music has to be serious? It is great fun and shows what a great talent Tiny really was. Not everyone will like his singing, as he switches from his beautiful deep baritone voice into a falsetto one and back again in some of the songs. These songs are great fun and Tiny has his own way of making old standards sound like completely new songs. Tiny's voice practically "vibrates" at times and while his fans like this aspect, it can irritate some listeners. I think this album is a real classic and it is very unique; not like anything else out there. You'll either love it or hate it. I loved it.
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