Leon Redbone
| Leon Redbone | |
|---|---|
Leon Redbone in 2010 at Knuckleheads Saloon in Kansas City, MO
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Dickran Gobalian |
| Born |
August 26, 1949 Ontario, Canada, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, or Cyprus. |
| Genres | Vaudevillian, ragtime, jazz, blues |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Guitar |
| Years active | 1975–2015 |
| Labels | Warner Bros., Atco, Sugar Hill, Blue Thumb, Rounder, Private Music, Third Man |
| Website | www |
Leon Redbone (born Dickran Gobalian, August 26, 1949) is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter and guitarist specializing in jazz, blues, and Tin Pan Alley classics. Recognized by his Panama hat, dark sunglasses, and black tie, Redbone first appeared on stage in Toronto, Canada in the mid-1970s.
Rebone's concerts blend performance, comedy, and skilled instrumentals. Recurrent gags involve the influence of alcohol and claiming to have written works originating well before he was born. He sang the theme to the television series Mr. Belvedere and has released sixteen albums.
On May 19, 2015 on his web site, his publicist announced his retirement from performing and recording.
According to a Toronto Star report in the 1980s, his birth name is Dickran Gobalian, and he came to Canada from Cyprus in the mid-1960s and changed his name via the Ontario Change of Name Act. However, an article about producer John H. Hammond in a 1973 issue of the Canadian jazz magazine Coda states that he was a native of Philadelphia who moved to Toronto: "Sitting next to Hammond was a young white musician named Leon Redbone from Philadelphia, but currently residing in Toronto".
While living in Canada in the early 1970s, Redbone began performing in public at Toronto area nightclubs and folk music festivals. He met Bob Dylan at the Mariposa Folk Festival. Dylan was so impressed by Redbone's performance that he mentioned it in a Rolling Stone interview, leading that magazine to do a feature article on Redbone a year before he had a recording contract. The article described his performances as "so authentic you can hear the surface noise [of an old 78 rpm]." His first album, On the Track, was released by Warner Bros. Records in 1975.
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