Tiny Tim — God Bless Tiny Tim
This deluxe expanded edition from late 2013 presents the album in it’s original mono mix, for the first time since it was originally released. It also adds in eleven bonus tracks, and these take in rare tracks & instrumental version of album tracks. Also you get a wonderfullycolorful & informative twenty page booklet that takes in new comprehensive liner notes, rare photos & album artwork.
Sadly a lot of musical outsiders that have had some form of success are often one-hit wonders, and their ensuing album releases are mostly very lack-laster, bland & badly conceived- but you can’t certainly that this was the case with God Bless Tiny Tim. The original album featured fifteen tracks in all, and through-out it remained a varied, memorable, funny & off-kilter, yet approachable ride. The album opens with the short intro track ‘Welcome To My Dream’, which is a wonderful mix of warbling matinee singer like vocals, and eerier orchestration. This leads into the odd wonder of ““Tiptoe Through the Tulips”, which finds Mr Tim’s falsetto/vibrato voice & strummed Ukulele backed with quirky & slightly comic orchestral arrangements. Later on with 'On the Old Front Porch' he sings both baritone and falsetto- playing both the male & female parts in the song. After this we have the rather unsettling spoken word story/ skit of ‘The Viper’. And mid-way through the album we get the wonderfully cheery & bizarre jaunting pop of 'Ever Since You Told Me That You Love Me', which opens up gloriously strange mix of layered bird song & Mr Tim saying “ the birds are coming”, before sliding into a wonderful mix of jaunting piano, steady rock pop beat, fuzz guitar and swirling violin flecks. Pretty much were ever you set down on God Bless Tiny Tim, you are sure of entertainment & approachable musical oddness.
The extra tracks come in the form of four rare non LP 45 tracks, and each of these is rewarding, though at times not quite up to the quality of the songs on God Bless…. You also get another slightly different version of ‘Tiptoe Through the Tulips’, and six instrumental version of album tracks- and these really show the great ‘n’ creative sonic arrangements that American popular music arranger, songwriter, and pianist Artie Butler did for the album.
Topping off the release you get an excellent twenty page inlay booklet, which takes texts about Tiny Tim & his origins, & the album it's self along with track by track discussions- which are well written, entertaining & informative. Added to this you get a colourful/ quirky collection of Mr Tim pictures, artwork ect.
There is little doubt that God Bless Tiny Tim is one the classic outsider/ odd pop records of all time up there with the likes of The Resident’s Duck Stab, and Barnes & Barnes Voobaha . And this wonderfully conceived & executed reissue really does it proud bringing this master piece back to listening public in a very fine form Really in my mind this is a truly unmissable release!