Who are you, Tiny Tim?

Let’s start with an introduction from Wikipedia:

Herbert Butros Khaury (April 12, 1932 – November 30, 1996), known also as Herbert Buckingham Khaury and known professionally as Tiny Tim, was an American singer, ukulele player, and musical archivist. He is best remembered for his cover hits “Tiptoe Through the Tulips” and “Livin’ in the Sunlight, Lovin’ in the Moonlight”, which he sang in a high falsetto voice and played with a ukulele.

This is Tiny Tim, on Spotify

Livin’ In the Sunlight, Lovin’ In the Moon Light

This song is a cover to a song from the movie “The Big Pond” (1930), written by Al Sherman and Al Lewis. It was also covered by Bing Crosby.

Spongebob Squarepants

The first time I heard a song by Tiny Tim, was in the premiere of Spongebob Squarepants released in 1999, “Help Wanted”, in the following famous scene from it:

According to Wikipedia, The idea of using “Livin’ in the Sunlight, Lovin’ in the Moonlight” originated when an anonymous sent Hillenburg a tape with “a bunch of music.” While the writers were developing the show outside Nickelodeon, Hillenburg played the song for Drymon as an example of the enthusiasm he was looking for. When it came time to write the pilot, they had the idea to use the song in the third act.

Drymon said: “The sad part was Tiny Tim died right around the time we were writing the pilot, so he never knew we used his song.”

Eventually, they couldn’t pay the rights for the song in a long time and it was excluded in the DVD release of the first season.

Tiptoe Through Through the Tulips

Tiptoe Throught the Tulips was published in 1929 by Al Dubin and Joe Burke and popularized by Nick Lucas.

This song is Tiny Tim’s greatest hit and reached No. 17 in the pop charts of June 1968, and peaked No. 33 on Billboard Hot 100 after being on the chart for 4 weeks.

What Made Him Special?

In my opinion, the ukulele and the falsetto voice, together with his visual appearance, make him look like some kind of a freak. It also feels like you’re looking at a living joke, a pretty sad one. You kind of want to pity him and in the same time mocking him for choosing such a niche style of singing and songs.

However, these two songs put you in a very specific type of mood: Light joy and happiness, and an uplifting feeling.

I’ll let you judge for yourself if you like his appearance or not, by watching this performance of “Livin’ In the Sunlight”:

The Days of Success and Afterwards

Tiny Tim released two more studio albums after “God Bless Tiny Tim”: “Tiny Tim’s Second Album” and the flop “For All My Little Friends”. He also participated in the Beatles’ fan club’s Christmas album, and toured with his first album.

He also was a guest in Ed Sullivan’s Show and became a regular on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show. He also married his first wife in the show, and the wedding episode had high ratings, if not the highest.

During the 1970s, his relationship with his wife decayed, and he continued to performed to dwindling audiences.

His Last Album and His Death

In 1996, he released the album “Girl” with the band Brave Combo, which showed an old Tiny Tim, barely using falsetto and singing with a deep, soothing voice. He covered the Beatles’ “Girl” in an interesting way in my opinion.

This specific album got very positive reviews. The rock ‘n’ roll singer Cub Koda, said that

Girl is the best Tiny Tim record since the first one. While on-stage he was still a potent force to be reckoned with, on record he’d really gotten the short shrift of things over the years, lame productions always highlighting the novelty element of what he did with bands that could barely figure out how to even keep up with the guy. So with Brave Combo aboard doing backing duties, Tiny Tim finally found a band that not only knew that the guy was a musical joyride, but actually produced an album that extended that vision well toward the 21st century. From the Beatles‘ title track (delivered in a baritone voice that literally shakes the room) to the wild rockin’ take on “Bye Bye Blackbird” to the cocktail jazz groove on “Stairway to Heaven” and beyond, this is an album chock-full of highlights, including an absolutely transcendent version of “Over the Rainbow.” For years, those in the know praised Tiny Tim as a true American musical treasure. Here’s the record that backs that assertion up, bigtime. God bless Tiny Tim and Brave Combo.

Before you go, I want to share an interesting duet of Tim with himself, covering Sonny & Cher’s “I Got You Babe”