Was it personality or talent?

Dear Ms. Sue,

I recently dug out my old "God Bless Tiny Tim" album and listened to it for the first time in many years. Then I found your website.
I don't know if I can be described as a Tiny Tim "fan," although I had and still have a tremendous respect for him and love for his music. I always felt he must be a good and sincere person, but his public "persona" was a bit too bizarre for me. The worst thing about it, though, is that it distracted so much, I feel, from his very real, I would say almost incredible, talent! And that's really my point in writing. In all the articles I've read on the website, there is almost no mention, let alone appreciation, of Tiny Tim's artistic ideals or his unique musical talent.

I think he was part of the same "retro" fascination that inspired such Paul McCartney songs as "When I'm 64" and "Your Mother Should Know," Geoff Stphens' "Winchester Cathedral" (New Vaudeville Band, 1966) and even Mongo Jerry's "In the Summertime." (And more recently, Robert Crumb's musical work.) But Tiny Tim, with his amazing vocal ability and instinct for retro (as well as other) styles, really excelled in it.

Yet even on your otherwise excellent website, I see a lot about him as a personality, but little about his talent. (One exception is the interesting letter from Wes Young in the IAQ section.)

Tiny Tim had such intense artistic ideals and tremendous talent, but it is sad that he thought -- and maybe he was right -- that the only way he could be accepted publicly was by making himself into a kind of almost circus side show act. And of course there was an exploitation element from the industry that made it worse. At least that was how i saw it in th late 60s, and I didn't hear anything about him after that. I remember now that I used to wish I could talk this over with him, though at the same time it's hard to imagine him any other way.

I haven't phrased this as a question, but I'd be very interested in your thoughts. Did he ever talk about such things?

Sincerely,
Jeffrey W.
New York City

Dear Jeffrey,

I know this is hard for some people to believe, but Tiny was the same in real life as he was onstage. His stage persona was also his everyday personality. I am sure he learned over the years to emphasize those aspects of himself that got him attention and recognition, but there was nothing made-up about him. He was real.

Also, I am sure that he would never have receieved the acclaim or been as famous if he had been a more average person. Someone said to me once that Tiny made it as a personality and not as a singer. It made me feel bad, but I know it is true. Tiny had a driving ambition to be a star, and he was no dummy. You don't succeed at the level he did in show business without being pretty shrewd. He knew that he could turn his natural strangeness into an asset by accentuating it, rather than hiding it, (which would have been impossible anyway.)

Tiny was just himself, only more-so than most. He had the guts to go his own way, to be what he was and let people take it or leave it. Obviously a lot of people related to that, and were even inspired by it. I love his music, too, but I think at least half of what he had to offer the world was his example of courage, never giving up, and never caving in to pressures to conform or be limited by other people's criticism or nay saying. He was also the sweetest person you could ever meet. I guess that was his greatest asset of all.

Thank you for your interest and honest comments.

Sincerely
Sue Khaury

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