Tiny Tim (musician)

Herbert Butros Khaury[1][2] (April 12, 1932 – November 30, 1996), known also as Herbert Buckingham Khaury[1] and known professionally as Tiny Tim, was an American singer, ukulele player, and musical archivist.[3] 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.[4]

Not to be confused with Tiny Tim (A Christmas Carol), a character from a Charles Dickens novel.

Tiny Tim
Khaury in 1971
Born
Herbert Butros Khaury

(1932-04-12)April 12, 1932
Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
DiedNovember 30, 1996(1996-11-30) (aged 64)
Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
Resting placeLakewood Cemetery, Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
44°56′9.92″N 93°17′57.277″W
Other names
  • Dary Dover
  • Sir Timothy Timms
  • Larry Love the Singing Canary
  • Tiny Tim
Spouse(s)
  • Victoria Mae Budinger
    ​
    (
    m. 1969; div. 1977)
  • Jan Alweiss
    ​
    (
    m. 1984; div. 1995)
  • Susan Marie Gardner
    (
    m. 1995)
Children1
Musical career
GenresAmericana
Occupation(s)Singer, musician
InstrumentsUkulele, mandolin, guitar, violin, vocals
Years active1962–1996
Labels

Early life

Khaury was born in Manhattan, New York City, on April 12, 1932. His mother Tillie (née Staff), a garment worker, was the daughter of a rabbi. She had immigrated from Brest-Litovsk, present-day Belarus, as a teen in 1914. Khaury's father, Butros Khaury, was a textile worker from Beirut, present-day Lebanon, whose father was a Maronite Catholic priest.[5][6][7]

Khaury displayed musical talent at a very young age. At the age of five, his father gave him a vintage wind-up Gramophone and a 78-RPM record of "Beautiful Ohio" by Henry Burr. He would sit for hours listening to the record. At the age of six, he began teaching himself guitar. By his pre-teen years, he developed a passion for records, specifically those from the 1900s through the 1930s. He began spending most of his free time at the New York Public Library, reading about the history of the phonograph industry and its first recording artists. He researched sheet music, often making photographic copies to take home to learn, a hobby he continued for his entire life.[8] He attended George Washington High School in Washington Heights, Manhattan.

Life and career
John Wayne and Tiny Tim help celebrate the 100th episode of Laugh-In, 1971

At eleven years of age, Khaury began learning to play the violin and enjoyed performing at home for his parents. He later picked up the mandolin and the ukulele (which became his signature instrument). During his recovery from having his appendix removed in 1945, he read the Bible and listened to music on the radio; after his recovery, he rarely left his room except to go to school, where he was a mediocre student. After repeating his sophomore year of high school, he dropped out, taking a series of menial jobs.[9]

In a 1968 interview on The Tonight Show, he described the discovery of his ability to sing in an upper register: "I was listening to the radio and singing along; as I was singing I said 'Gee, it's strange. I can go up high as well.'" In a 1969 interview he said he was listening to Rudy Vallée sing in a falsetto, and "had something of a revelation—I never knew that I had another top register," describing it as a religious experience.[9]

Tiny Tim performing at an event in Tennessee in the late 1980s

By the early 1950s, he had landed a job as a messenger at the New York office of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, where he became ever more fascinated with the entertainment industry. He then entered a local talent show and sang "You Are My Sunshine" in his newly discovered falsetto. He started performing at dance club amateur nights under different names, such as Texarkana Tex, Judas K. Foxglove, Vernon Castle, and Emmett Swink. To stand out from the crowd of performers he wore wild clothing and, after seeing an old poster of a long-haired Rudolph Valentino, grew his own hair out to shoulder length and wore pasty white facial makeup. His mother did not understand Herbert's change in appearance and was intending to take her son, now in his twenties, to see a psychiatrist at Bellevue Hospital, until his father stepped in.[9]

In 1959, he dropped all his other stage names and performed as "Larry Love, the Singing Canary" at Hubert's Museum and Live Flea Circus in New York City's Times Square. While performing there, he signed with a manager who sent him on auditions throughout the Greenwich Village section of New York, where he performed unpaid amateur gigs,[9] playing the ukulele and singing in his falsetto voice the song which became his signature, "Tiptoe Through the Tulips".

Film critic Roger Ebert wrote:

I first saw Tiny Tim very early in his career, in Greenwich Village in the winter of 1962–63. There was a convention of college newspaper editors, and a few of us – I remember Jeff Greenfield coming along – went to the Black Pussycat and found ourselves being entertained by a man the likes of whom we'd not seen before. He was already locally popular.[10]

In 1963, he landed his first paying gig at Page 3, a gay and lesbian club in Greenwich Village, playing 6 hours a night, 6 nights a week, for $96 per month. He performed for the next two years as "Dary Dover", and after that, "Sir Timothy Timms". After being booked to follow a "midget" act, his manager, George King, billed the 6'1" (185 cm) Khaury using the ironic stage name "Tiny Tim".[9][11]

Tiny Tim appeared in Jack Smith's Normal Love (1963), as well as the independent feature film You Are What You Eat (1968) in which he sang the Ronettes song "Be My Baby" in his falsetto range; also featured was a rendition of Sonny and Cher's "I Got You Babe", with Tim singing the Cher parts in his falsetto voice, along with Eleanor Barooshian singing Sonny Bono's baritone part. These tracks were recorded with musicians who later joined The Band. The "I Got You Babe" performance led to a booking on the Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, a popular American television comedy-variety show. Co-host Dan Rowan announced that Laugh-In believed in showcasing new talent, and introduced Tiny Tim. The singer entered carrying a shopping bag, pulled his Martin soprano ukulele from it, and sang a medley of "A Tisket A Tasket" and "On The Good Ship Lollipop" as an apparently genuinely dumbfounded co-host Dick Martin watched.[12] For his third number on Laugh-In, Tiny Tim entered blowing kisses, preceded by an elaborate procession of the cast and, after a short interview, he sang "Tiptoe Through the Tulips".[13][14]

In 1968, his first album God Bless Tiny Tim was released. It contained an orchestrated version of "Tiptoe Through the Tulips", which became a hit after being released as a single. For All My Little Friends (1969) was a collection of children's songs and was nominated for a Grammy Award.

On October 7, 1969, Tiny Tim had the opportunity to take the ice with his favorite Toronto Maple Leafs pro sports team before a charity event at the hockey shrine Maple Leaf Gardens. Wearing the skates and jersey of future Hockey Hall of Fame member Pat Quinn and helped by team members Mike Walton and Jim McKenny, he made an attempt to skate for the very first time. He was quoted as saying, "What a thrill! Just being on the ice was great!" Reacting well to his evidenced inability to skate on his own, he said, “I was always athletic spiritually, not physically."[15]

Tiny Tim was married three times, and had one daughter from his first marriage to the then 17-year-old Victoria Budinger – also known as "Miss Vicki" – at the age of 37.[16] Tiny Tim married Miss Vicki on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson on December 17, 1969, with 40 million people watching.

Shortly after their marriage, Miss Vicki discovered she was pregnant, but the child was stillborn five months later. Khaury buried the child with a headstone that read "It". Budinger had a second pregnancy with Khaury a year later, and in 1971, the couple gave birth to daughter Tulip Victoria. Tiny Tim and Victoria Budinger divorced three years later. Budinger subsequently had several marriages.[17][18]

Tiny Tim married Jan Alweiss ("Miss Jan") in 1984, and Susan Marie Gardner ("Miss Sue") in 1995.[19] Gardner was a 39 year old Harvard graduate and a fan of Tim’s since she was 12.[20]

When Tiny Tim first became well known to the American public, many people erroneously believed that he was British. Many pundits and journalists debated whether the character being presented was just an orchestrated act or the real thing. "It quickly became clear that he was genuine," however, and that he could probably be best described as "a lonely outcast intoxicated by fame" and "a romantic" always in pursuit of his ideal dream.[4]

After his career highlights in the late 1960s, Tiny Tim's television appearances dwindled, and his popularity began to wane. He continued to play concerts around the United States, making several lucrative appearances in Las Vegas. When his recording contract ended with Reprise, he founded his own record label and humorously named it Vic Tim Records, as a pun on the combination of his wife's name with that of his own. He performed with the American alternative rock band Camper Van Beethoven in 1986.[21] He played the lead role in the 1987 horror film Blood Harvest, acting the role of Mervo. In the 1990s, he released several albums, including Rock (1993), I Love Me (1993), and Girl (1996).

Tiny Tim, a biography by Harry Stein, was published in 1976 by Playboy Press. He also appeared in WWE in 1993, in a skit with Jerry Lawler on "King's Court" while going under his king gimmick at the time. Lawler smashed Tim's ukulele, forcing Tim to cry.[22]

Instruments

Tiny Tim played the ukulele left-handed (but the guitar right-handed), though he retained the standard string placement. The instruments he played included a vintage Martin, a Favilla, and a Johnston metal resonator. Tiny was a huge fan of Arthur Godfrey and taught himself to play using a method book that came with the Godfrey-endorsed Maccaferri Islander plastic ukulele.[23]

Death
Tiny Tim's tomb at Lakewood Mausoleum

On September 28, 1996, Tiny suffered a heart attack just as he began singing at a ukulele festival at the Montague Grange Hall in Montague, Massachusetts (this hall is often confused in accounts of the incident with the nearby Montague Bookmill, at which he had recorded a video interview earlier that same day). He was hospitalized at the nearby Franklin County Medical Center in Greenfield for approximately three weeks before being discharged with strong admonitions not to perform again because of his health, weight, and dietary needs for his diabetic and heart conditions. Nevertheless, he ignored the advice.

On November 30, 1996, he was playing at a gala benefit hosted by the Women's Club of Minneapolis. He had let his third wife ("Miss Sue") know before the show that he was not feeling well, but did not want to disappoint the fans. By the end of his performance, most of the audience had left. While performing his last number of the evening, he suffered another heart attack on stage in the middle of a rendition of his hit, "Tiptoe Through the Tulips". His wife asked him if he was feeling all right, and he said he was not; she was helping him back to their table when he collapsed, and never regained consciousness.[24] EMTs performed on-site CPR and transported him to Hennepin County Medical Center, where after repeated revival attempts he was pronounced dead at 11:20 pm.[25][4] His remains are entombed in a mausoleum in Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis. A large mural of Tiny Tim with tulip themes by famous Australian artist Martin Sharp is in the Macquarie University Student Council in Sydney Australia.[26]

Posthumous releases

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 never released it. The limited-number CD sold out and was reissued on Rhino's regular label. In 2009, the Collector's Choice label released I've Never Seen a Straight Banana: Rare Moments Vol. 1, produced and recorded by Richard Barone in 1976. The album was a collection of rare recordings of some of Tiny Tim's favorite songs from 1878 through the 1930s, along with some of his own compositions.

In 2009, it was reported that Justin Martell was preparing a biography of Tiny Tim,[27] released in 2016 under the title Eternal Troubadour: The Improbable Life of Tiny Tim. Martell is called one of America's "foremost experts"[28] on Tiny Tim; he contributed liner notes to I've Never Seen a Straight Banana[29] and the 2011 Tiny Tim compilation LP Tiny Tim: Lost & Found 1963–1974 (Rare & Unreleased), released on Secret Seven Records.[30]

In 2013, a biography of Tiny Tim was released in two editions. Tiny Tim: Tiptoe Through A Lifetime was released July 16, 2013, and is by Lowell Tarling (author) and Martin Sharp (illustrator). Ship To Shore PhonoCo followed up Lost & Found Vol 1 with a Vol 2 featuring Tiny Tim's 1974 live recording of "(Nobody Else Can Love Me Like) My Old Tomato Can" on a limited edition wax cylinder.[31]

In 2016, Ship To Shore PhonoCo released Tiny Tim's America, a collection of demos recorded by Tiny Tim in 1974 and finished in 2015 with overdubs overseen by producer Richard Barone and Tiny Tim's cousin Eddie Rabin. The album was subtitled "Rare Moments Vol. 2" and was presented as a spiritual sequel to 2009's I've Never Seen A Straight Banana: Rare Moments Vol 1.[32]

Honors and awards
Star honoring Tiny Tim on the outside mural of the Minneapolis nightclub First Avenue

Tiny Tim was honored with a star on the outside mural of the Minneapolis nightclub First Avenue,[33] recognizing performers that have played sold-out shows or have otherwise demonstrated a major contribution to the culture at the iconic venue.[34] Receiving a star "might be the most prestigious public honor an artist can receive in Minneapolis," according to journalist Steve Marsh.[35]

Discography
  • God Bless Tiny Tim (Reprise Records, 1968)
  • With Love And Kisses From Tiny Tim: Concert In Fairyland (Bouquet SLP 711) recorded 1962. "Unauthorized" recording.
  • Tiny Tim's 2nd Album (Reprise Records, 1968)
  • The Beatles' 1968 Christmas Record (Lyntone, LYN 1743/4, 1968)
  • For All My Little Friends (Reprise Records, 1969)- This album was nominated for a Grammy Award.
  • Tip Toe To The Gas Pumps / The Hickey (On Your Neck) (Clouds Records, 1979)- 45 rpm single; a-side refers to long gas lines during OPEC oil crisis.
  • Wonderful World Of Romance (Street Of Dreams YPRX 1724) 1980) Recorded at EMI Australia, only 200 pressed, no cover printed.
  • Chameleon (Street of Dreams YPRX 1848, 1980)- Only 1000 copies pressed.
  • Tiny Tim: The Eternal Troubadour (Playback PBL 123441, 1986)
  • Tip-Toe Thru The Tulips/ Resurrection (Bear Family BCD 15409, 1987)
  • Leave Me Satisfied (NLT 1993) 1989 (unreleased country album)
  • The Heart Album (Ca-Song CA 1369), 1991 – (Tiny Tim has six songs on this album)
  • Tiny Tim Rock (Regular Records, 1993)
  • I Love Me (Yucca Tree Records, 1993)
  • Songs of an Impotent Troubadour (Durtro, 1994)
  • Tiny Tim's Christmas Album 1994 (Rounder Records, 1994)
  • Live in Chicago with the New Duncan Imperials (1995, Pravda Records)
  • Prisoner of Love: A Tribute to Russ Columbo (Vinyl Retentive Productions, 1995)
  • Girl (with Brave Combo) (Rounder Records, 1996)
  • Tiny Tim Unplugged (Tomanna 51295, 1996) – Recorded live in Birmingham, Alabama
  • The Eternal Troubadour: Tiny Tim Live in London (Durtro, 1997, recorded in 1995)
  • Tiny Tim Live! At the Royal Albert Hall (Rhino Handmade, 2000, recorded in 1968)
  • God Bless Tiny Tim: The Complete Reprise Studio Masters...And More (Rhino Handmade, 2006, 3-CD set)
  • Chameleon (Zero Communications TTCH 12061, 2006, CD release)
  • Wonderful World of Romance (Zero Communications, TTWW 12062, 2006, recorded in 1979)
  • Stardust (Zero Communications, TTST 12063, 2006)
  • I've Never Seen a Straight Banana – Rare Moments Vol. 1 (Collectors Choice Music WWCCM 20582)[29] (2009)
  • Tiny Tim: Lost & Found (Rare & Unreleased 1963–1974) (Secret Seven Records, 2011, compilation)[30]
  • Tiny Tim's America (Ship to Shore Phonograph Company, 2016, previously unreleased) [36]
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References
  1. Tiny Tim: Tiptoe Through A Lifetime, Lowell Tarling, Generation Books, 2013, p. 29, ISBN 978-1484138564
  2. The Scribner Encyclopaedia of American Lives, vol. 4, ed. Kenneth T. Jackson, 1998, Gale, p. 556, ISBN 978-0684804927
  3. Tranquada, Jim (2012). The Ukulele: a History. University of Hawaii Press. pp. 153–4. ISBN 978-0-8248-3544-6.
  4. William Grimes (December 2, 1996). "Tiny Tim, Singer, Dies at 64; Flirted, Chastely, With Fame". New York Times. Archived from the original on July 31, 2018. Retrieved November 18, 2012. Tiny Tim, whose quavery falsetto and ukulele made Tiptoe Through the Tulips With Me a novelty hit in 1968, died on Saturday night at the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis. He was 64 and had lived in Minneapolis for the past year. The cause of death apparently was cardiac arrest, a nursing supervisor, Ellen Lafans, told The Associated Press. He had been in poor health of late, and collapsed onstage after suffering a heart attack while performing at a ukulele festival in western Massachusetts in September.
  5. "Tiny Tim on cover of Parade". Tinytim.org. Archived from the original on July 3, 2013. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
  6. "Tiny Tim (Herbert Butros Khaury) – The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
  7. Tarling, Lowell; Sharp, Martin. Tiny Tim: Tiptoe Through a Lifetime. p. 15. ISBN 978-1484138564.
  8. Martell, Justin (2016). Eternal Troubadour: The Improbable Life Of Tiny Tim. Jawbone Press. ISBN 9781908279873.
  9. "Tiny Tim". E! True Hollywood Story. Season 5. Episode 12. March 25, 2001. E!.
  10. "The Last Days of Tiny Tim". Rogerebert.com. April 12, 2011. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
  11. Kennedy, Helen (December 2, 1996). "Tiny Tim Dies Singing His Hit". New York Daily News. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  12. "Video of Tiny Tim's debut on Laugh-In". Retrieved September 28, 2012 – via YouTube.
  13. "Video of Tiny Tim's third appearance on Laugh-In (complete)". Retrieved September 28, 2012 – via YouTube.
  14. "Video of Tiny Tim's third appearance on Laugh-In (song only)". Youtube.com. Retrieved September 28, 2012.
  15. Shea, Kevin. "Leafs at 100: Tiny Tim tiptoed through Toronto fandom". The Toronto Star.
  16. Grimes, William (December 2, 1996). "Tiny Tim, Singer, Dies at 64; Flirted, Chastely, With Fame". Nytimes.com. Archived from the original on July 31, 2018. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
  17. "Thou Shalt Not Kill". People.com. December 9, 2002. Retrieved April 25, 2019.
  18. Inquirer, Philadelphia. "'MISS VICKI' TIPTOES INTO NEW AGE BOUTIQUE". OrlandoSentinel.com. Retrieved April 25, 2019.
  19. "Click here to view the tribute page for TINY TIM". Funeral-notices.co.uk.
  20. "Exit Singing". People.com. Retrieved April 25, 2019.
  21. "Tiny Tim With Camper Van Beethoven " Berkeley Place". Berkeleyplace.wordpress.com. January 4, 2008. Archived from the original on January 6, 2008. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
  23. Whitcomb, Ian (2012). Ukulele Heroes: The Golden Age. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Hal Leonard Books. pp. 114–120. ISBN 978-1-4584-1654-4.
  24. "Tiny Tim Dies After Singing "Tulip" Song". Deseret News. Associated Press. December 2, 1996.
  25. Martell, Justin A. (November 30, 2016). "Tiny Tim is Signing Off: The Tragic Tale of an Artist's Final, Fatal Performance: Twenty years ago, the 'Eternal Troubadour' collapsed on stage". medium.com.
  26. "Exhibition highlights 50 years of artistic engagement". Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  27. "Richard Barone Keeps His Promise to Tiny Tim". The Daily Swarm. August 13, 2009. Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
  28. "Tiny Tim: Lost and Found Out Today! Check Out Our Interview with Tiny Tim Expert Justin Martell at the Amoeblog". Amoeba.com. January 11, 2011. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
  29. "Collectors' Choice Music". Ccmusic.com. Archived from the original on April 14, 2012. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
  30. "Tiny Tim: Lost & Found 1963–1974 (Rare & Unreleased Recordings) LP (SEC-7-008) – Secret Seven Records, SF". Secretsevenrecords.typepad.com. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
  31. Rothman, Lily (September 9, 2013). "Forget Vinyl: New Recording Is Most Retro Ever". TIME. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  32. "Forget Vinyl: New Recording Is Most Retro Ever". Ship To Shore PhonoCo. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  33. "The Stars". First Avenue & 7th Street Entry. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
  34. Bream, Jon (May 3, 2019). "10 things you'll learn about First Avenue in new Minnesota History Center show". Star Tribune. Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
  35. Marsh, Steve (May 13, 2019). "First Avenue's Star Wall". Mpls.St.Paul Magazine. Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
  36. "Store Page – Tiny Tim's America" Ship To Shore PhonoCo. Retrieved June 6, 2017
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