Subject: (Other)

Comments: I read on one of the articles on here that Tiny's former manager said he was difficult to work with and had a "star" attitude. I was a little disheartened by this as I'd always thought of Tiny being a very humble and sweet man. It seems to be that the majority's opinion is in the latter. I was just wondering if anyone's had personal experience with him what was he really like in real life?

Permission: Yes

Name: Jacob W.

Hi Jacob,

Tiny didn't have much of an ego but there were a couple of times that I know of when he was difficult to work with. His original producer Richard Perry had some problems in the studio over a song Tiny wanted to record for his second album. The song was "Down Virginia Way". Richard wanted to record it on a future album but Tiny insisted it be on the second album because he was afraid the guy who wrote it would die because he was old and in poor health. Tiny won out and the song made the album. The other thing was something that happened with Miss Sue. She asked Tiny to feed the goldfish but he refused saying "I won't do it because I'm Tiny Tim"! These are minor things but Tiny was usually very nice and fun to be around. Keep in mind that his managers were ripping him off every chance they got so he may have had good reason to be difficult with them! Thank you for your question.

Best,
Ernie Clark (tinytim.org)

In the early 90's I worked at a small amusement park in NW Iowa called Arnolds Park. It is a local tourist attraction because of its location in the Iowa Great Lakes area (read: tourist trap in the summer).

In 1988 the park was rebuilt to make it more appealing for families and a bit larger to house more rides and such. Part of the new image of the park was to bring in large concerts. They started bringing in people like Marty Stuart, Chubby Checker, The Everly Brothers, and many others. One of the concerts they started bringing in was called "The Rock & Roll Reunion." It featured those artists from the 50's, 60's, & 70's. Among the stars were Otis Day and the Knights, Mike Pinera from Iron Butterfly, Jerry Corbetta from Sugarloaf, Jim Pesh from the Safaris, Spencer Davis, Mitch Ryder, Donnie Brooks, and, of course, Tiny Tim. Of these, only Donnie Brooks, Mike Pinera, and Tiny Tim were regulars. The rest were off-and-on again performers year after year.

I usually managed to wangle my way in to being backstage security for the night of those concerts (seniority has its privileges). I met with all of these people. Many of them were the epitome of courtesy. Jim Pesh took the time to teach me how to play Wipeout on the guitar. Mike Pinera, Jerry Corbetta, and Spencer Davis sang Happy Birthday to me in 3 part harmony (Spencer Davis also spent the better part of two hours explaining to me how credit cards were destroying America when he, Pinera, and Corbetta weren't too busy with their video cameras yelling at each other to film some cows and pigs along the way [*SIGH* Big City Folk]). But of them all, the most selfless and humble man I'd ever seen had to have been Tiny Tim.

He gave everything that was him to his fans. He gave until it hurt, literally. I watched him sign autographs for 4 straight hours. If there was anybody at any of those concerts who wanted a Tiny Tim autograph and didn't get one, then he or she didn't even try to get one. Tiny stayed put in his chair until the lights were turned off. I watched him leave that particular autograph session (the 4 hour one). He moved like a man in pain. His hands were cramped and his back was sore from the not-very-comfortable chair he had been given and his legs were a bit wobbly like they's fallen asleep on him. He moved like an old man (which, I suppose, he was). A young man in his late teens or early twenties came running up just as Tiny was hobbling out the door. "Mr. Tim," he shouted, "Could I get your autograph for my aunt?" If it had been me, I probably would have said something like "Too late, jerk. Can't you see I've had it for tonight?" Tiny was a bigger and kinder man than I, though. He showed nothing of his pain as he turned around, whipped out his pen, smiled, and asked, "What's your aunt's name?" Tiny Tim may have been a star, but he seemed to regard himself as just a normal human being with a responsibility to give back to his fans everything and more that they had given to him.