Table Of Content

This edition published by ETT Imprint, Exile Bay 2020 © Copyright; Lowell Tarling 2013, 2020 All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this work/publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, print, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publishers: ETT Imprint, PO Box R1906, Royal Exchange NSW 1225 Australia ISBN: 978-1-922384-10-2 (paper) ISBN: 978-1-922384-11-9 (eBook) First published by Generation Books 2013 Artwork © Martin Sharp Cover Design © Joel Tarling Cover photography: © Dave Newland 1982 Cover & interior formatting by Linda Ruth Brooks Author Website: www.lowelltarling.com.au For Tulip Table of Contents 1. ‘Maybe He’s Musical?’ 2. Larry Love 3. Answer to the Beatles 4. Richard Perry 5. Royal Albert Hall 1968 6. Human Canary, Caged 7. Miss Vicki 8. Isadore Fertel & Other Extraordinary Musical Projects 9. 1975-1979 10. World Non-Stop Professional Singing Record 11. Australian Connection 12. 1983 Australia Tour 13. Tiger by the Tail 14. In Search of Tiny Tim 15. 1992 Australian Tour 16. Eve of Destruction 17. Miss Sue 18. The Show Must Go On 19. Minneapolis Women’s Club 20. Afterword Table of Illustrations Title Page: Film Script – painting: Martin Sharp 1. Pop Art – painting: Martin Sharp 2. Beautiful Dreamer – painting: Martin Sharp 3. The Human Canary – painting: Martin Sharp 4. Hubert’s Flea Circus in 1991 – photo: Lowell Tarling 5. Steve Paul’s Scene in 1991 – photo: Lowell Tarling 6. Tiny Tim 1982 – photo: Dave Newland 7. Tiny Tim – OZ magazine – collage and drawings: Martin Sharp 8. Tiny Tim & Miss Vicki – OZ magazine – collage and drawings: Martin Sharp 9. Tiny Tim – the Catalog – collage and drawings: Martin Sharp 10. Luna Park Non-Stop Singing Record – poster/handbill: Martin Sharp 11. Quadrant magazine cover – painting: Martin Sharp 12. Film Script – painting: Martin Sharp 13. Chameleon album cover – design: Martin Sharp, photo: William Yang 14. Martin, Lowell and the painting ‘Film Script’ – photo: Peter Jensen 15. Paddo – Masquerade Ball – poster: Martin Sharp 16. Tiny Tim, the Opera House Concert – poster: Martin Sharp 17. Late Show Kinselas – poster Martin Sharp 18. Tiny, press conference 1983 – Polaroid photo: Lowell Tarling 19. Wonderful World of Romance – album cover concept: Martin Sharp 20. Brighton Festival Non-Stop Singing Record – 3-cassette pack, Street of Dreams Productions 21. Tiny outside the Olcott Hotel NY, 1991 – photo: Lowell Tarling 22. Tiny in front of the Michael Bell poster 1992 – photo: Amber Tarling 23. Rock album cover – artwork: Martin Sharp 24. Tiny Tim's Christmas Album – album cover artwork: Martin Sharp 25. The Southern Flyer cover – photo: Dave Newland 26. Lowell Tarling – photo: Konrad Lenz 27. Tiny Tim – picture: Joel Tarling Thanks Artist, Martin Sharp made this book possible and I cannot thank him enough for his contribution. Since seeing Tiny Tim’s Royal Albert Hall Concert in 1968, Martin has consistently encouraged friends to get behind Tiny with their creative energies. I was one of those. To enable this, Martin provided the space, knowledge and opportunities to enable Tiny Tim film, music and writing projects. He literally turned his house into a Tiny Tim Resource Centre open to everyone who showed sincere interest. My tools of trade were the cassette recorder, electronic typewriter, and later – the laptop computer. I would also like to thank publisher Michael Wilkinson who, for six months or so in 2002, tried to put together a Tiny Tim stage production, in the course of which he took me to America. Michael’s involvement resulted in several key interviews, most notably more than two hours on tape in San Francisco with Tiny’s third wife, Miss Sue. Tiny’s Cousin Hal Stein and his wife Sherry provided a genuine link with the family. Hal gave me a full and frank interview on tape. Later, he and Sherry visited Australia, visited Martin and saw the rooms, the posters and the memorabilia, that Martin had compiled into an archive museum. Hal also read through two of my drafts and made corrections. Sherry sent me some family DVDs – including Tiny’s funeral service, and other material unavailable in Australia. Thanks Hal and Sherry. My wife Robbie and children Amber, Joel and Zoë have all played a part in the creation of this book. Occasionally, they were even part of the story. As they didn’t enjoy Tiny’s music quite as much as I did, I thank them for many things, including their patience. I also wish to thank the following people for agreeing to be interviewed. First – Tiny himself. Also Ernie Clark (manager of Tiny’s official website), Chris Löfvén (musician), Sue Khaury (wife), Mark Mitchell (friend), Richard Perry (producer), Dave Rowe (Australian tour manager), Martin Sharp (artist), Bernie Stein (cousin), Tulip Stewart (daughter) and David Tibet (producer). Also, while watching Martin’s Street of Dreams film, Eric Clapton explained to me how he was responsible for Martin’s early interest in Tiny, but he didn’t say it on tape. Others who have helped in various ways include: Les Bean, Linda Brooks, Denny Burgess, Mic Conway, Phil Donnison, Pete Jensen, Al Jones, Marilyn Karet, Dave Newland, Mick Reid, Robbie Rollo, Peter Royles, Russell Sharp, Clayton Simms, Gordon Stinson, T-Bone, Carla Wilson, Ian ‘Pee Wee’ Wilson, Robert Wolfgramm, William Yang, Yensoon Tsai. And Steve Elias, former editor of the Southern Flyer, who started me on this path, as you will read... Foreword A Word from Cousin Hal Throughout his lifetime, Tiny Tim was a repository of recorded music stemming from the early days of vaudeville to the latest chart favorites. But despite all these influences he remained a true original perfecting his performances as an outreach of his personality. True, he had some strange traits, but they did not impede on his enthusiastic kindness to people he loved, to the musicians he accompanied, and to the many listeners he met. In the age of celebrity, he functioned as the complete entertainer. Lowell Tarling has provided Tiny with a living biography and given us a definitive incentive to re-listen to his recording and re- visit his numerous You Tube postings. You get the feeling that somewhere Tiny is standing on his tiptoes, strumming his ukulele, blowing kisses and saying, ‘God bless you all’! Hal Stein, April 2013