Willard's Wormholes

On The Track (1975)
Double Time (1977)
Another Of Life’s Little Mysteries

Most of Leon Redbone’s original fans first heard him at exactly the same time, on the February 28th, 1976 episode of NBC’s Saturday Night (a.k.a. Saturday Night Live). It was a different era, musically speaking, when an unknown artist’s appearance on a television show could have a major impact on sales and launch an entire career. Redbone didn’t “go viral,” in fact, the performance wouldn’t even be seen again until summer reruns, so if you broke through on TV in those days, you were really making an impression on people. Why and how was as big a mystery as Redbone was himself, whose quiet, mysterious and ageless manner was in stark contrast to almost any other popular artist of the time. It all seemed like a put on, but the music was undeniably appealing. He sang ancient blues, jazz and ragtime standards with a rich, smoldering baritone, while his Mount Rushmore stage presence suggested a wry, tongue-in-cheek manner that – as people eventually came to learn – wasn’t really tongue-in-cheek at all. Oddly enough… these first two albums have lost none of their appeal, even 35 years later. The music, as well as Redbone’s delivery, are still timeless. On The Track, his debut, also boasts one of the all-time great Warner Bros. album covers. Amazon.

On The Track
Sweet Mama Hurry Home Or I’ll Be Gone (2:49)
Ain’t Misbehavin’ (4:03)
My Walking Stick (3:41)
Lazy Bones (3:06)
Marie (4:24)
Desert Blues (Big Chief Buffalo Nickel) (3:42)
Lulu’s Back In Town (2:34)
Some of These Days (3:16)
Big Time Woman (2:44)
Haunted House (4:58)
Polly Wolly Doodle (2:56)

DOUBLE TIME
Diddy Wa Diddie (3:05)
Nobody’s Sweetheart (2:13)
Shine On Harvest Moon (3:21)
Crazy Blues (4:16)
Mississippi Delta Blues (1:44)
Mr. Jelly Roll Baker (3:43)
My Melancholy Baby (3:10)
The Sheik Of Araby (2:31)
Mississippi River Blues (3:05)
Winin’ Boy Blues (4:17)
If We Never Meet Again This Side Of Heaven (3:18)