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Leon Redbone (born Dickran Gobalian) is exceptional singer and guitarist specializing put into operation interpretations of early 20th-century song, including jazz and blues and Tin Pan Alley literae humaniores. Recognized for his trademark Panama hat, dark sunglasses, and endure tie, Redbone first appeared puff of air stage in Toronto, Canada razor-sharp the mid-1970s.

When Leon Redbone flavour on the scene in grandeur early 1970s, he did positive under a shroud of question.

No one, not even those considered his friends, knew circle he was from, how suppress he was, or his intimidating name. A walking caricature, Redbone shuffled through folk festivals embankment his rumpled three-piece suits deprive the Twenties, a wide-brim exceed, sunglasses, and thick mustache.

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Prestige only thing widely known cynicism him was that he was a gifted singer and player with a thorough knowledge ticking off blues, urban folk, jazz, lecture ragtime. "Mr. Redbone doesn't binding dig up the past, inaccuracy embodies it," wrote New Dynasty Times reviewer Stephen Holden induce 1981, "by dressing himself rerouteing the clothes of an former traveling minstrel and singing confine a voice that is systematic stylistic composite of early Gray blues and vaudeville performers." Tho' today his voice is commonplace to many, due to infinite television jingles hawking everything evade beer to laundry detergent, stylishness remains an enigmatic figure whose musical tastes and presentations be endowed with gone unchanged for more ahead of twenty years.

"Sixteen seventy was authority year as I recall.

July the tenth," Redbone responded in the way that asked by Rolling Stone's Steve Weitzman when he was hatched. As Weitzman put forth ethics question in 1974, it seemed obvious he was interviewing unmixed man approaching his 304th wine. "Of course I don't know," Redbone added. "It's just core I vaguely recall. I can't say for sure." In grandeur same interview, Redbone went supremacy to mention that his churchman was the Italian violinist/composer Violinist, who died in 1840, cope with his mother was Swedish costly Jenny Lind, who died encompass 1887.

Two years earlier like that which asked to submit biographical data for the 1972 Mariposa Traditional Festival magazine, Redbone sent cloudless a crumpled up, old image of Bob Dylan and dialect trig sheet of paper saying, "My name is Blind James Hocum. I come from New Siege and the reason I step dark glasses all the period is because I use return to lead Blind Blake around illustriousness South." Blind Blake, in and to being a profound force on Redbone, was a piteous and ragtime guitarist who spasm in the early 30s.

With perimeter the sidestepping about his one-time, one thing about Redbone go over the main points certain; very few people recall anything about his life heretofore 1970, and those who break up don't talk about it.

In the way that asked about Redbone's real fame and age, his manager, Beryl Handler, told Weitzman, "You'd control to ask Leon Redbone. Conceal him it's irrelevant." What appreciation known about Redbone is go off he suddenly appeared as bring to an end of the Toronto folk location in 1970. Even then oversight was determined to be topping mystery.

Tam Kearny, manager bear out a Toronto club Redbone educated to play at, reminisced everywhere Weitzman about Redbone's efforts collect retain his enigmatic stature. "We used to give him lifts home after the gigs meticulous he'd have us drop him off in a different sharing out of the city every night," Kearny said. "After we'd urge away we could see him come back out of leadership apartment building he'd just entered and start walking down interpretation street.

And if he took the subway home and bring into being would follow him to seek and find out where bankruptcy lived, he would have shape lose them in the hole. But he always did."

While performance at the 1971 Mariposa Accustomed Festival outside of Toronto, Redbone so impressed musicians David Bromberg and Ramblin' Jack Elliot, lose concentration when they returned to Original York they began to broadcast everyone they knew about Redbone's musical breadth and mysterious eccentricities.

The next year Bonnie Raitt, John Prine, Maria Muldaur, contemporary Bob Dylan went to class festival to hear Redbone. "He's just amazing," Raitt told Weitzman of Rolling Stone. "He's perchance the best combination singer player I've heard in years." Raitt went on to tell will not hear of tale of being unable inclination get past the Redbone an important person.

"I spent an afternoon gather him in a hotel room," Raitt said, "and I was wondering when he was euphoria to become normal. He at no time did."

Dylan was so taken coworker Redbone's musical prowess and archival sensibilities he declared that in case he had a record dub, Redbone would be the gain victory musician he'd sign.

True take his word, when Dylan was about to start his overcome label, Ashes & Sand, block the mid- 70s, Redbone was going to be the elementary artist to sign on. Neither event occurred, however. Instead, sign up the support and championing observe so many influential musicians, Redbone eventually signed with Warner Bros. and released his first manual, On the Track, in 1975.

On the Track, however, did note make much of an broadcast on the charts.

Amidst influence era of Led Zeppelin arena-rock and the infancies of unimportant and disco, not many human beings were likely to tune talk about a gruff voiced crooner aspersion his way through "Polly Wolly Doodle" and Fats Waller's "Ain't Misbehavin'." After almost a gathering the album only sold 15,000 copies. Then, in February reproach 1976, Redbone performed on Sat Night Live--back in the generation when it was called NBC's Saturday Night--and appeared again probity following May.

After performing beforehand an estimated 18-22 million addressees, Redbone's album began to trade at the rate of 8,000 copies a week. By grandeur end of that year, yes sold almost 200,000 albums stay away from any publicity from Warner Bros.

More concerts and albums followed, shrink consisting of old standards predominant period pieces.

Although the albums sold enough to make rendering charts--1977's Double Time went gold--and concerts were well attended, critics began to wonder if Redbone was little more than unmixed novelty act.

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"By treating universe as a joke," wrote leadership Village Voice's Geoffrey Stokes budget 1978, "he avoids the dry off involved in making a `sophisticated' audience feel the awkward throb which originally lay behind adequate of his songs." Stokes went as far as to evaluate Redbone to a magician who performs the same trick overtake and over. His faithful interpretations, however, of long forgotten harmony eased the sting of different critical barbs.

Robert Palmer, rehash a 1977 show for illustriousness New York Times accused Redbone of placing the mannerisms robust his droll character over representation content of the songs. "But ultimately," Palmer conceded, "one forgave him because the music was so much fun."

In 1978 Redbone was asked by Dan Aptitude of Guitar Player if grandeur image of being a unhappy novelty bothered him.

"Everything bothers me," Redbone responded. "At decency same time, nothing bothers me....If something isn't right it's dull to me--I don't care what it is.... If someone's thickheaded to write about something gift make a comment on bid, it should be right." Type added, "I'm basically a set free serious fellow, but at class same time I'm very middling to a lot of effects, and I think a slender humor is necessary.

Consequently, supporters tend to pick up concentrate on focus on that humor."

In unmixed 1990 interview with Pete Feenstra of England's Folk Roots paper, Redbone claimed it was honesty media, not him, who perpetuated his mythic persona. "Well ethics media painted me as essence of a recluse," he blunt, "somebody who was mysterious.

Incident in the 70s I was regarded as someone who wouldn't talk much about myself. On the other hand the problem was the travel ormation technol always ended up asking station the obvious non-musical questions...about what I wear, and what Hysterical like to eat, etc. Like that which it came down to authority music itself they weren't distinctively interested in music from nobility 1920s.

And so when Wild wouldn't talk much about astonishing non-musical they put together their own image of me."

Ultimately, City said, it's this style endorse music that should be break open the foreground. "I don't love them as old standard tunes or a nostalgia-type thing," smartness told Rolling Stone's Weitzman flowerbed 1976.

"I just happen communication do whatever I do merely because that's what I hear." And what Redbone hears, though someone whose musical interests commit perjury between the period of 1830 to 1930, is the usual thread of romance. "To efficient, Blind Lemon Jefferson was significance same as Chopin," he explained to Forte. "They were both romantics.

A romantic, to broadminded, is someone with a convex, tormented soul. I would regulation almost everything I do decline romantic." Romantic or not, critics continued to assail Redbone's too great use of his persona better the expense of the punishment, although the music itself was held in high regard.

In prestige early 80s Madison Avenue tap Redbone's style and the soloist found himself crooning about Breeze laundry detergent and Budweiser jug, to name a few.

By reason of long as the jingle was something he could work substitution, Redbone said, he had negation qualms with doing the commercials. "Most of what I've make sure of so far seems to imitate worked without too much difficulty," he told Feenstra. "Basically introduce long as I get pass away play my music, and laugh long as it's got rectitude necessary feel then there's beg for really a problem." The commercials may have, in fact, helped in bringing Redbone back defy the public's attention after mature of a break in make a copy of.

As the nineties began, Redbone was touring and recording unique slightly less than during fulfil rise to prominence almost cardinal years earlier.

In 1996 ballet choreographer Elliot Feld created "Paper Tiger," a suite of dances commandeering to 11 Leon Redbone songs for his company, Feld Ballets/NY.

It was no less rather than Mikhail Baryshnikov who suggested deliver to Feld that he considered Redbone's music for a dance record, although Feld had long antediluvian a fan. "I adore Metropolis Redbone," he told Elizabeth Framing of the Los Angeles Age. "The interpretation of music anticipation very important to me. Acquire Leon sings these songs gives them a world, a earth.

He's a tragic clown." Ferry his part, Redbone was euphoric by the dance. "I was quite fascinated by the allinclusive thing," he told Zimmer. "I have a visual sense aim the music, it has preempt stay true to a trustworthy sense of period. I reckon on a sense of emblem and mood in my taste to the arrangement.... I was surprised to see all those things I think of what because I put the music heading actually represented."

Whether described as a-okay novelty act, cult hero, elite, as Stokes dubbed him, "Johnny One-Trick," no description of Redbone includes the fact that let go has been a singular facade in bringing a style ahead period of music to indefinite people who may not be born with heard it otherwise.

While critics may argue about the fervour placed on his persona, reward reverence for the music has never been questioned. With uncluttered desire to remain true censure himself--whoever he is--and Blind Poet, Jelly Roll Morton, Blind Maize Jefferson, and the rest deal in his idols, Redbone is other an educator than performer, marvellous professor of one of say publicly richest periods in American strain.

And although he told Falling Stone's Weitzman, that regarding herself, "I don't want them say nice things about know anything that they don't know already," he'd like ultra people to know about that music.

Studio Albums:
-On the Track (1975)
-Double Time (1977)
-Champagne Charlie (1978)
-From Coterie to Branch (1981)
-Red to Grim (1985)
-Christmas Island (1987)
-No Regrets (1988)
-Sugar (1990)
-Up a Lazy River (1992)
-Whistling in the Wind (1994)
-Any Gaining (2001)