We don't know his birthday. We'd only be guessing at an alma matter. And nobody ever told us, for sure, if he went by any other name. But for the last three decades and counting, nobody could mistake him for any other performer, nor singer, nor guitarist, nor character. While the careers of performers who reside in the limelight are usually short-lived and over-overexposed, it's refreshing to encounter Leon Redbone, who remains so musically resonant and personally elusive.
Though his iconic guise of his Panama hat, jacket and sunglasses has been thoroughly satirized (anybody remember the "Leon Redbone workout" Far Side cartoon?), it's easy to overlook what a genuinely gifted artist he remains -- a role he inevitably tries to downplay. "In some ways I've always been complacent in my approach to music," Redbone says. "So in some ways maybe I'm the pure definition of consistent."
At the core of his initial calling (which he might say arrived sometime between 1820 and "Black Tuesday") was the desire to simply honor songs from the past -- a waltz with bygone days that established him as sole curator of the museum of 20th century music. Most folks were introduced to the man during his network debut on Saturday Night Live in 1976, where he showcased his indelible version of "Walkin' Stick." Over the course of his 30+ year, 15+ album, super-star-of-stage-and-screen-and-Madison-Avenue career, the bard has continued his love affair with tunes from the turn-of-the-century (as in the second-to-last century), flapper-era radio ditties, Depression-spawned ragtime and World War II folk-jazz.
Typically performing these days solo or duo with piano, Redbone's musical repertoire can hover between Dylan's "Living the Blues," Jelly Roll Morton's "I Hate a Man Like You," Eddy Arnold's "Bouquet of Roses" and the childhood folk favorite "Polly Wolly Doodle." Known more for covering other artists’ songs, the musician admits he comes up with a few tunes of his own every decade, but counters with a grin, "I think that they're all mine to begin with."
"Redbone's own low-slung, bluesy baritone recalls an older, simpler world of music - from 1899-1935. His grumbling voice folds itself around everything from Tin Pan Alley tunes to obscure blues songs to jazz-flavored material from the Roaring '20s." - Chicago Sun-Times
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