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Sugar (Leon Redbone album)

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1990 studio album by Leon Redbone
Sugar
Studio album by Leon Redbone
Released1990
Recorded1990
StudioManhattan Recording Company, Soundtrack Studios New York
GenreJazz, blues
Length34:59
LabelPrivate Music
ProducerBeryl Handler, Leon Redbone
Leon Redbone chronology
Christmas Island
(1988) 		Sugar
(1990) 		Live!
(1991)

Sugar is an album by the musician Leon Redbone, released in 1990. Redbone supported the album with a North American tour. A video was shot for "So, Relax".

Production

Redbone used ribbon microphones during the recording sessions. Ken Peplowski played saxophone and clarinet. Cindy Cashdollar contributed on dobro; Dan Barrett on trombone. "Right or Wrong" and "Ghost of the St. Louis Blues" are versions of songs made famous by Emmett Miller; Redbone considered Miller to be a chief influence on the album, and thought about writing a book on the musician. Redbone's guitar playing was influenced by Blind Blake. "Pretty Baby" is a version of the Tony Jackson song.

Redbone wrote three of the album's songs. He included "The Whistling Colonel" after a movie studio instead chose to use one of his older songs on a soundtrack.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic
Calgary HeraldC
Chicago Tribune
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
MusicHound Folk: The Essential Album Guide

The Chicago Tribune deemed the album "another quaint and charming set shaped by the minstrel tunes, blues and jazz of the early 1900s." The Calgary Herald recommended the album "for those who like their aural history lessons arch." The Edmonton Journal stated that "shades of Django Reinhardt, New Orleans, gutbucket blues, dixie, Broadway and bluegrass sounds are somehow stitched together with loving care."

The Gazette concluded that "if a Bugs Bunny cartoon could sing, Leon Redbone's voice would bubble out of its technicolor throat." The Washington Post noted the absence of "the kind of nimble fingerstyle guitar arrangements Redbone previously devised to revive songs."

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Ghost of the St. Louis Blues"Billy Curtis, John Robinson2:55
2."Roll Along Kentucky Moon"Bill Halley3:08
3."Right or Wrong"Haven Gillespie, Arthur Sizemore2:28
4."Laughin' Blues"Terry Waldo2:26
5."Breeze"Joe Goodwin, James F. Hanley, Ballard MacDonald3:32
6."The Whistling Colonel"Leon Redbone2:46
7."Sugar"Edna Alexander, Sidney Mitchell, Maceo Pinkard2:09
8."Pretty Baby"Tony Jackson, Gus Kahn, Egbert Van Alstyne3:05
9."When I Take My Sugar to Tea"Pierre Norman Connor, Sammy Fain, Irving Kahal2:19
10."What You Want Me to Do"Dave Nelson, Joseph (King) Oliver2:50
11."Messin' Around"Traditional2:27
12."So, Relax"Beryl Handler, Redbone2:28
13."14th Street Blues"Handler, Redbone2:55

References

  1. ^ MusicHound Folk: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1998. p. 656.
  2. Myers, Caren (Apr 7, 1990). "Albums—Leon Redbone: Sugar". Melody Maker. Vol. 66, no. 14. p. 38.
  3. Cook, Richard (Feb 23, 1990). "Track Record". Punch. Vol. 298, no. 7778. p. 38.
  4. "This Week in the Arts". The Columbus Dispatch. April 15, 1990. p. 3F.
  5. Lookatch, Tedd (April 25, 1990). "Only in Madison Has Redbone's Road Turned Rocky". Wisconsin State Journal. p. 1C.
  6. ^ Heim, Chris (16 Mar 1990). "Leon Redbone's albums have always...". Friday. Chicago Tribune. p. S.
  7. ^ Levesque, Roger (22 Apr 1990). "Sugar Leon Redbone". Edmonton Journal. p. G5.
  8. ^ "Sugar Review by Lindsay Planer". AllMusic. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  9. Protzman, Bob (June 21, 1990). "Reviews". Times Union. Albany. Knight Ridder.
  10. ^ Joyce, Mike (18 May 1990). "Nostalgic Redbone Puts Spin on 'Sugar'". The Washington Post. p. N25.
  11. Jarvey, Paul (29 July 1990). "Leon Redbone just loves to entertain". Datebook. Telegram & Gazette. p. 8.
  12. Penner, John (19 June 1990). "Leon Redbone Arrives Here with a New Gripe Personality". Los Angeles Times. p. F2.
  13. Anderson, Dale (April 17, 1990). "Redbone's Living Past". The Buffalo News. p. C1.
  14. Eichenberger, Bill (April 19, 1990). "Redbone Digs Up Some Peachy American Tunes". Weekender. The Columbus Dispatch. p. 6.
  15. Emerson, Bo (May 25, 1990). "Redbone Keeps Singing in Time Zone of His Own". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. p. D4.
  16. Campbell, Mary (1 Dec 1990). "Old bluesman Redbone offers Christmas album". Vancouver Sun. p. H11.
  17. ^ Tremblay, Mark (5 Apr 1990). "Recent Releases". Calgary Herald. p. H3.
  18. Heim, Chris (26 July 1990). "Recordings". Tempo. Chicago Tribune. p. 7.
  19. Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 6. MUZE. p. 813.
  20. Lepage, Mark (5 May 1990). "Leon Redbone Sugar". The Gazette. p. H2.
Leon Redbone
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