Leon Redbone RIP

[ducktrapper]

I was sorry to hear this news. Loved the guy. Thought he was much older, however. RIP Leon.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/leon-redbone-musician-dies-1.5156249

[unclrob]

Saw him several time's and was never disappointed.My favorite format was when he a tuba player and a clarinet player with him.

[ducktrapper]

Saw him several time's and was never disappointed.My favorite format was when he a tuba player and a clarinet player with him.

I saw him solo a couple of times. Always a delight.

[eded]

Slowly, but surely, my life fades away.

[B0WIE]

Great performer. I remember watching an old show with his music a few years ago and my wife and I decided to spend the whole night looking up his music and learning about the man.
He was a great example of dedicating yourself to something you love and enriching the world with it.

[JOYCEfromNS]

Slowly, but surely, my life fades away.

I can relate to that!

[Queequeg]

My Blue Heaven

Always enjoyed Leon Redbone.
Clearly, he had a real affinity for these old, early 20th century chestnuts, but there was the wink of the eye, too.
I thought of him as a bit of a mystic.
My grandkids ask me to play his Christmas Island cd every holiday season.
I never refuse.
Adios, Leon. Thanks for the melodies.

 

[headsup]

Something about getting old, and having lived (and continue to do so) a pretty full and somewhat bizarre life in show biz- makes for a LOT of crazy stories- and NO i don't make this stuff up!

How interesting, Mose Scarlett, another Toronto "ragtime" musician, who was good friends with Leon passed away the very same day as Leon.

https://www.torontomoon.ca/two-ol-time-music-icons-and-pals-pass-on-same-day-rip-mose-scarlett-and-leon-redbone/

I was co-manager of cafe Andre in Montreal in the early seventies.
We hired Jesse Winchester, Penny Lang, Eric Frandsen and the likes "back in the day".

We booked weekend shows, and cover charge was minima as i recall.
We booked Leon Redbone, from Toronto, as he was getting somewhat famous.

His fee was higher than we were used to paying.
he needed a return train ticket from Toronto and a guitar.

My partner picked him up at the train staton in Mtl, and brought him to Rufus' guitar shop where i was apprenticing.
This was before I had my first Larrivee- so it must have been late 1971 or so, maybe early 72.
I know this, because at the time i still had my old 50's D-28.

I remember SO clearly, as it was my guitar he would use for the gig.
I took it in to the shop, did a set up on it, new strings, polished it up etc.

Leon shows up, cool as a cucumber- I hand him the guitar case- he goes to the other room, and plays the guitar.

comes back to me and says, "nice guitar, would you mind if i changed it a bit?"

"not at all" says I.

he then reaches in his inside jacket pocket and pulls out a small jar of vaseline , and asks if he could put it on the strings (new-as i mentioned) - said
"it's a little "bright" for my style"
then proceeds to dip his finger in the jar and pretty much cover every string with the goo.

so ya, it went from PLING PLING PLING to PLUNK PlunK Plunk thud.

hey, he was happy....

oh ya, and the club?
we weren't sure how would could pay his fee. which was $ 100/night- a FORTUNE for us at that time.

SO we charged a whopping $5.00 cover charge  BUT you got TWO free beer with the price of admission.

EVERY night he sang Jimmy Rogers' "Mother the Queen of my Heart"

somewhere I still have the piece of paper he wrote the words out for me.

I still sing that song.

Then he went to California i guess- and got famous.

Honest fioks, I can't make this stuff  up!

[ducktrapper]

Very cool story Kevin. His version of My Walking Stick is absolutely classic. Love it. His first album, Off the Track, is by far the best.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru4IqqeNduM

[Mikeymac]

Yes, cool story, but...





















...did you save the strings?

[headsup]

ha ha,
hardly, I don't go for that stuff.
the paper with the words he wrote out I'm sure is long gone.
i was just the Door guy/MC/guitar loaner.
so so very long ago.....