Sugar
Studio album by
Leon Redbone
Released1990
LabelPrivate Music[1]
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.[2][3] Redbone supported the album with a North American tour.[4] A video was shot for "So, Relax".[5]

Production

Redbone used ribbon microphones during the recording sessions.[6] Ken Peplowski played saxophone and clarinet.[7] Cindy Cashdollar contributed on dobro; Dan Barrett on trombone.[8][9] "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.[10][11][12] Redbone's guitar playing was influenced by Blind Blake.[13] "Pretty Baby" is a version of the Tony Jackson song.[14]

Redbone wrote three of the album's songs.[15] He included "The Whistling Colonel" after a movie studio instead chose to use one of his older songs on a soundtrack.[16]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
Calgary HeraldC[17]
Chicago Tribune[18]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[19]
MusicHound Folk: The Essential Album Guide[1]

The Chicago Tribune deemed the album "another quaint and charming set shaped by the minstrel tunes, blues and jazz of the early 1900s."[6] The Calgary Herald recommended the album "for those who like their aural history lessons arch."[17] 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."[7]

The Gazette concluded that "if a Bugs Bunny cartoon could sing, Leon Redbone's voice would bubble out of its technicolor throat."[20] The Washington Post noted the absence of "the kind of nimble fingerstyle guitar arrangements Redbone previously devised to revive songs."[10]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Ghost of the St. Louis Blues" 
2."Roll Along Kentucky Moon" 
3."Right or Wrong" 
4."Laughin' Blues" 
5."Breeze" 
6."The Whistling Colonel" 
7."Sugar" 
8."Pretty Baby" 
9."When I Take My Sugar to Tea" 
10."What You Want Me to Do" 
11."Messin' Around" 
12."So, Relax" 
13."14th Street Blues" 

References

  1. 1 2 MusicHound Folk: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1998. p. 656.
  2. ↑ Myers, Caren (Apr 7, 1990). "Albums—Leon Redbone: Sugar". Melody Maker. 66 (14): 38.
  3. ↑ Cook, Richard (Feb 23, 1990). "Track Record". Punch. 298 (7778): 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. 1 2 Heim, Chris (16 Mar 1990). "Leon Redbone's albums have always...". Friday. Chicago Tribune. p. S.
  7. 1 2 Levesque, Roger (22 Apr 1990). "Sugar Leon Redbone". Edmonton Journal. p. G5.
  8. 1 2 "Sugar Review by Lindsay Planer". AllMusic. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  9. ↑ Protzman, Bob (June 21, 1990). "Reviews". Times Union. Albany. Knight Ridder.
  10. 1 2 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. 1 2 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.
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