Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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8 of 8 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
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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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Tiny Tim - 'Girl' (Rounder), May 23, 2005
I remember seeing Tiny Tim playing a club a few months before he passed on.'Girl' is an okay CD,but then again,I just basically went to see him play mostly because I figured he wouldn't be around much longer.Unfortunately for his fans,I was right.I did,however end up having a decent time.I've always thought Tiny Tim was good at what he did,playing Vaudeville-like novelty pop songs while mastering(if you can master)his ukelele.I'm sure very few other artists could get away with it,much less lasting as long in the music business as long as Tim did.His back-up band on this CD was Brave Combo(didn't care that much for them).Tracks that I thought sort of stood out on their own were "Over The Rainbow","New York,New York",if you can believe it,Zeppelin's "Stairway To Heaven" and a couple of Beatles covers,the title cut "Girl" and "Hey Jude".I've heard that Tim had a musical repertoire of over 1,200 songs.Sure most of them were old corny two minute ditties.I've also heard several other music buffs say his falsetto vocals can never be matched.But,what the hey?It's Tiny Tim.
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by Tiny Tim 
