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Leon Redbone RIP

Posted: Fri May 31, 2019 3:48 am
by Richard M Roberts
This really sucks, Leon Redbone was a genuine one of a kind original, certainly in the day and age he lived in, he kept some great music alive and he performed it in his own inimitable vocal and guitar style, he performed what he liked, lived, dressed, and acted as he liked, and didn't give a damn what people thought, and refused to tell anyone anything about his personal life, good for him. As long as he showed up and did the songs, what more did anyone need.

He was an interesting and witty eccentric, I was fortunate to work a few places he played and talk to him a time or two, he had a great love of history, old songs, and opera. He was cordial, did his job, had some great musicians working with him like Vince Giordano, Jonathan Dorn, Scott Black, Cyndi Cashdollar, was happy to talk to fans after his shows, and then he was gone.

Here's his Washington Post obituary:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/ob ... 0d470cf46e

Here's a recently released short documentary about him:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngas6KfP3s0

Here is the best article about him ever written:

https://www.oxfordamerican.org/magazine ... -antiquity

Here's one of his best appearances on THE TONIGHT SHOW with Johnny Carson from the 1980's, featuring Bobby Gordon on clarinet, Cyndi Cashdollar on steel guitar, Scott Black on cornet, and Dave Boedinghaus, piano:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJFtSn6ZwYw

and another TONIGHT SHOW New Years appearance from 1990 where he performed with members of the TONIGHT SHOW band, including Doc Severinson and Tommy Newsom:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZurs4_VVZI

So long Leon, and sorry, but we will talk about you when you're gone, and more important we'll keep listening.

RICHARD M ROBERTS