Sugar (Leon Redbone album)

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]

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]