Fred LaBour
| Fred LaBour | |
|---|---|
LaBour performing at the Poncan Theater in Ponca City, Oklahoma on November 7, 2008.
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Frederick LaBour |
| Also known as | Too Slim |
| Born |
June 3, 1948 Grand Rapids, Michigan |
| Genres | Western swing |
| Occupation(s) | Singer–songwriter, musician |
| Instruments | Vocals, double bass |
| Years active | 1971–present |
| Labels | Rounder, MCA, CBS, Epic, Disney, Rykodisc |
| Associated acts | Riders in the Sky, Dickey Lee |
| Website | www |
Frederick "Fred" LaBour (born June 3, 1948 in Grand Rapids, Michigan), better known by his stage name Too Slim, is a Grammy award-winning American musician, best known for his work with the Western swing musical and comedy group Riders in the Sky.
LaBour plays double bass and sings lead and background vocals. Prior to joining the Riders, he played with country singer Dickey Lee's band. With the Riders, he is billed as "a Righteous Tater" or "The Man of a Thousand Hats"). LaBour is the central core of the Rider's comedy, with bits that include impressions of Gabby Hayes, carrying on conversations with a cow's skull, rolling tumbleweeds across the stage, and peddling a necktie in the form of a cactus, that he calls a cac-tie. A long-standing gag in the Rider's concerts is LaBour mishearing a request to play the theme from the television program Bonanza on the bass, and instead playing it by slapping his face. LaBour's repertoire of character voices include the evil Swinburne Slocum; Side Meat, a feisty chuck wagon cook whose secret biscuit ingredient is cement; Freddy La, the Surfin' Cowboy; and an assortment of frontier salesmen hawking to the cattle trade.
LaBour's stage name, "Too Slim", came from a character he created at the Nashville Public Library while working with the puppet theater called "Singing Cowboy Slim", and from Ed "Too Tall" Jones, a football player at Tennessee State University who later joined the Dallas Cowboys.
LaBour has a master's degree in Wildlife Management from the University of Michigan.
He provides commentary with fellow Rider in the Sky Douglas B. Green's satellite radio show "Ranger Doug's Classic Cowboy Corral" in the role of Ranger Doug's sidekick, the crusty old trail cook called Sidemeat. The show currently airs Sundays at 7pm ET, and Saturdays at 6am ET, on Sirius-XM's Willie's RoadHouse SiriusXM Channel 56.
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