Christmas Album
Herbert Khaury, a.k.a. Tiny Tim, was by all accounts a lonely, romantic child who spent much of his youth trying to escape into a fantasy land of old 78 rpm records. He learned how to play the ukulele in 1954 from an Arthur Godfrey songbook and began toting his instrument to a series of musical auditions, using a paper sack as his instrument case. One audition in 1967 got him on TV'sLaugh-In, and he had a meteoric rise and matching fall by the early '70s.  He never gave up, though, and tried recording a handful of albums in hopes of a comeback. Recorded in Sydney, Australia, back in 1993, this CD features Tiny Tim performing a dozen Christmas tunes, including "Silent Night" and "O Come All Ye Faithful." An overproduced and mediocre rock band largely covers up his vocals and ukulele playing. Tim's strength was always his love and appreciation of old 1920s pop tunes, none of which are present here. He had an admittedly loony approach to his performances, but often his sincerity and connection to his material gave the tunes a charm and strength not present on this Christmas assortment. If you're looking for a silly Christmas novelty album, this might work--for the right occasion and with enough eggnog. If not, try some of his better efforts, such asGirl, on which he's backed up byBrave Combo.--Terry Zwigoff