Sugar (Leon Redbone album)

Sugar
Sugar
Studio album by Leon Redbone
Released	1990
Recorded	1990
Studio	Manhattan Recording Company, Soundtrack Studios New York
Genre	Jazz, blues
Length	34:59
Label	Private Music
Producer	Beryl Handler, Leon Redbone
Leon Redbone chronology

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
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[8]
Calgary Herald	C^[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.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Ghost of the St. Louis Blues"	Billy Curtis, John Robinson	2:55
2.	"Roll Along Kentucky Moon"	Bill Halley	3:08
3.	"Right or Wrong"	Haven Gillespie, Arthur Sizemore	2:28
4.	"Laughin' Blues"	Terry Waldo	2:26
5.	"Breeze"	Joe Goodwin, James F. Hanley, Ballard MacDonald	3:32
6.	"The Whistling Colonel"	Leon Redbone	2:46
7.	"Sugar"	Edna Alexander, Sidney Mitchell, Maceo Pinkard	2:09
8.	"Pretty Baby"	Tony Jackson, Gus Kahn, Egbert Van Alstyne	3:05
9.	"When I Take My Sugar to Tea"	Pierre Norman Connor, Sammy Fain, Irving Kahal	2:19
10.	"What You Want Me to Do"	Dave Nelson, Joseph (King) Oliver	2:50
11.	"Messin' Around"	Traditional	2:27
12.	"So, Relax"	Beryl Handler, Redbone	2:28
13.	"14th Street Blues"	Handler, Redbone	2:55

References

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