TIM BUCKLEY

Don't let the album cover fool you, this is far far faaarr from a traditional folk album This may be one of the most polarizing records of all time, certainly one of the most uncompromising ever by an artist who was once considered a folk singer/songwriter. Right up there with something Scott Walker or Tom Waits would make. The experiments on the first side of Lorca give you a good indication of what's going on in the first 2 songs here. Both have the same meandering instrumentation combined with slow, sonorous vocal intonations that create a dissonant nightmare. Imagine Ornette Coleman also using his voice as an instrument and you get the picture. If that didn't make you turn off your record player, "Monterey" might. It seems a bit more structured and uptempo due to Lee Underwood's repeated guitar figure and the constant high-hat taps but it's actually quite a languid song, though less so than the previous songs. Here is where the vocals really come off the rails, with swooping dissonance and bleating noises. It's a brilliant track, quite difficult to warm to, but powerfully experimental. As an oasis in your experimental desert, Tim offers you the brief, jaunty, perfect pop of "Moulin Rouge". It's intent is clear, "Please don't run away yet! You still have like 2/3 of an album to go!" This is followed by the most famous track on the album, "Song to the Siren", a holdover from 1968. The original acoustic version he performed on the last episode of the Monkees series somewhat resembled his other 68 material, but here the flanged guitar and treated background vocals create a song that really doesn't sound like it belongs anywhere in Tim Buckley's discography. The vocal is one of the most emotive of his career.

Side 2 has some more uptempo songs to keep the pace moving, but it also has the album's most experimental track in the title track. Composed entirely of Tim's synthesized vocals, noise just weaves in and out with only snatches of intelligible lyrics here and there. It's an awesome track. Someone once said that Tim Buckley did for the voice what Jimi Hendrix did for the guitar, and here is the clearest example. It's interesting to note that Buffy St. Marie also processed and synthesized only her vocals and guitar for the bevy of sounds found on her 1969 masterpiece Illuminations.

For his sophomore release, Buckley attained the talents once more of Blood, Sweat & Tears' own Jim Fielder on bass, and instead of one drummer associated with The Mothers (BIlly Mundi, on his self-titled debut), we have yet another, Jim Gordon. At this time not at all famous yet for his role in Derek and The Dominoes, nor via the aforementioned Mothers, but Gordon had earliest appeared backing The Everly Brothers and was on Pet Sounds (1966). Certainly to many, worth a mention, I thought. Most interestingly, though, it wasn't until today that I realized that Gordon was actually a part of the famed Wrecking Crew(!); of this same guild we also have Don Randi on keys and Jimmy Bond on double bass.

It cannot be helped by where I'm coming from: right off the bat, Buckley sounds like The Monkees to me, vocally like Micky Dolenz. This may be frustrating to those who find nothing to appreciate in The Monkees' industry plant status (despite the obviously excellent songwriting of Mike Nesmith, may he rest in peace). But funny enough, here we have a true-blue contemporary in Tim Buckley! Opening the album is a darker, gloomier Psychedelic song, "No Man Can Find the War". I really liked this song and find it an interesting opener. Psychedelia continues strong via "Carnival Song", by way of carousel-twinkling Wurlitzer(?). A fine track, the instrumentation is very oldie and goldie to me, this time reminding me for obvious reasons of Todd Rundgren's later, greater song "The Night the Carousel Burned Down" off his 1972 superhits album, Something / Anything? (1972).

Overall, Buckley is retaining a straight line of feeling from song to song, as "Pleasant Street" slowly and creepily grooves along next. Not a whole lot of interest in compositions (this song in particular is honestly pretty static), but plenty to offer in texture. Very of the time and yet classic; it holds up to my ears. Fitfully titled, "Hallucinations" is next, folksy and eerie; conceivably proto-Comus. Yet again, the draw is in the texturing of the instruments. And many a texture there are. It's a winner. Should be given at least a listen, for sure. In terms of the whole, thus far, I hadn't been super impressed. Continuing at first very much like "Hallucinations", "I Never Asked To Be Your Mountain" strides along, driven by acoustic guitar strums and introduced with sharp though far-off string-plucking. The Dolenz comparisons are back here, too, which really I am about. Tim has a nice, rich, but strong voice. Here, though, "I Never Asked..." had promise aplenty, yet ended up just boring me over its 6-minutes length.

Tim is good at pretty, so "Once I Was" was much more successful to me, as it wasn't trying to be something else [in my opinion]... Again, pretty, but no more greater, by many of my standards, than the last. "Phantasmagoria In Two" is a classic, folksy ditty, but I really have nothing to say about it aside from the drums being better than mediocre [Yikes]. "Knight-Errant" is... troubadour? Nothing to say about this either. My least favorite, since I thought it was offering more than it even had.

Now, as we near the end, we get the title track, the 9-minute epic "Goodbye and Hello". And certainly compositionally, compared to what came before, for sure 'epic'! Very regal in nature, with horns galore. Another that's worth a listen. I think I'm often looking for a lot more than what's goin' on at best here, though. Finally is the slow and sweet ballad, "Morning Glory". Nice vocals toward the end. But... bored again. Burnt out, really.

True Rate: 2.5/5.0

I guess, given my age and generation, it's not too too surprising that I've heard all I possibly could (at this point) of his son's work, the astounding Jeff Buckley, before I've heard a lick of Tim's discography. But here I am! To say this, in particular, feels like a long while coming is a certain understatement, if there ever was one. And I'm sure older generations who may somehow happen upon my review would surely agree with this. Goin' in blind, but this is still some very familiar territory for me, as I'm a student of this ilk. I was pretty initially struck, before my listen, by the personnel here: Jim Fielder, founding member of the great Blood, Sweat & Tears; Van Dyke Parks, who is an insanely wide blind spot of mine (shall be rectified, I hope); and Billy Mundi, secondary drummer-percussionist of latter-day, first-lineup Mothers of Invention.

And onward we go, "I Can't See You" starting off the affair of Tim Buckley's self-titled debut with a sort of Psychedelic Americana and Folk Rock. Sort of get glimpses of Bob Dylan and Jefferson Airplane here. Even still, therefore fairly straightforward. With soft, personal Chamber-Folk-Pop, "Wings" is fitfully soaring. He has a very sort of classic, traditional baritone voice. This is even more straight, if I can say so.

"Song of the Magician" is low and slow. Sort of troubadour-esque, I guess. Makes sense. Decent instrumentation, anyway. "Strange Street Affair Under Blue" is the first track, I feel, that has a bit more than the usual to offer up. It picks up progressively and persistently. Fun little jaunt. A weird thing to note, and I'm sure it's because I just heard "For Pete's Sake", but something about this reminds me of The Monkees' interpretation of the more distinctly American Psychedelic yield/idiom.

"Valentine Melody" is just plain soft and beautiful. Maybe not a dead ringer for Prog Rock fans, but I hope there's something for you here. "Aren't You That Girl" is back on the up and up, with a very upbeat rhythm and twinkling harpsichord(?), and Tim sings stronger and clearer here than we've heard before. And then... he brings us back down with the spacy, ethereal, if not eerie, "Song Slowly Song"... I quite like it. It's chilling. At just over 4 minutes' length, it is the longest track of the whole haha. Supposedly, I "kissed him when [he] laid still" haha.

"It Happens Every Time" is a real upbeat number as well, though wary and quietly melancholic; definitely one I would recommend here. "Song for Janie" is a real nice, homey kind of number; very familiar somehow. I really love the instrumentation here. "Grief in My Soul" is another inherently familiar, inherently American sort of not-actually-Blues number.

On the backend of this, his debut, we then have "She Is", a folksy, post-Dylan number again. The drums here are raucous and triumphant as it builds toward the end. Nice track. May appeal to Prog-Folk'ers specifically. And finally, "Understand Your Man" is probably the most rockin' number, and very of the time, really.

Overall, hard to say what all will appeal to the average fan of Progressive Rock and most specifically of Progressive Folk, as it were. A lot of Proto-Prog/strictly Psychedelic numbers throughout, and plenty of straighter Rock and/or Folk numbers, as well. A good mix. A good album, regardless of its designation.

— First review of this album —

TIM BUCKLEY (1947 - 1975) had such a winding career. After the fairly accessible folk troubadour approach in a couple of his earliest albums, he gradually increased avantish ingredients into his music and most of all into his vocal expression. I remember a line from some review for Lorca (1970) saying something like "sounds as if his lever was being torn out... slowly". Becoming more difficult to listen to meant that he lost the most of his audience and eventually went bankcrupt. That was a big enough motif to let managers steer him back to the more listener-friendly mainstream music. The soul-flavoured album Greetings from L.A. (1972) was even recorded with new collaborators. So, those Buckley admirers who especially enjoy the esoteric and mesmerizing soundsapes featuring vibes and marimba on albums such as my favourite Happy Sad (1969) or the then-latest one Starsailor (1970), will most likely face a major disappointment. This single represents the album's most commercial material.

'Move With Me' is the album's catchy opening track, and, according to some reviewers here, also its weakest song. It's an outgoing southern rock number finished with female backing singers and saxophones. In that particular style it's an OK song I suppose. I'm not fond of this kind of music, and before the three and a half minutes have passed I'm frankly very fed up.

Sad to say, 'Nighthawkin'' isn't much better from my point of view. This is an equally outgoing, soul and blues oriented song in a lively tempo. The background ladies do nice work again, and it cannot be denied that the musicians do pretty well what they're doing. It's just not what listeners like us would prefer hearing from Tim Buckley.

I think that what's in place here is a comparative overview of the set, rather than a detailed report on each album (specially considering that these ones must have their fair share of reviewing elsewhere):

"TIM BUCKLEY" - First album, clearly under the influence of the mid-sixties production design still in trend (incipient psychedelia meets young promising singer-songwriter).

"GOODBYE AND HELLO" - Already escaping the domination of the romantic-yet-incendiary troubadour archetype, but still seeking inspiration in pacifist & protest poetry absorbed from the counterculture.

"HAPPY SAD" - Moody and emotional as the title states, but also a major musical change towards more personal songs, backed up by the band with awesome free-form jazzy improvisational playing. (Think of Van Morrison's Astral Weeks, but without the orchestra)

"BLUE AFTERNOON" - My personal favourite, with all that "I love Miles Davis, you know" attitude coalescing unforced in perfectly crafted songs. The "blue" in the title stands for the general mood, not for the specific style of music.

"LORCA" - After a great achievement, they needed to go even further, so there you have atonalism, emancipation of disonance, experimental treatment of the voice, and a long "etc." crossing almost every barrier.

I found Tim Buckley's music in a very unusual and unexpected way, at the age of 22 years or so, when I had bought a used LP, The Doors' Soft Parade. When I played its first side, I wondered how different, so much softer (!), the band sounded this time. Soon I realized it was a faulty pressing, with some other artist's vinyl side instead of side 1 of Soft Parade (the second side was The Doors all right). Later I found out the first side was from Happy Sad by Tim Buckley. Today I know Buckley's discography pretty well, and Happy Sad is still my favourite, undoubtedly helped by that funny first acquaintance.

On this third album folk singer-songwriter Tim Buckley shifted towards looser, jazzier and more elegant kind of folk, with longer tracks, and introducing acoustic bass and vibes on the arrangement. The result is at best really mesmerizing. Buckley's soulful, beautiful vocals and the very mellow music reach almost a meditative level for the listener to float upon. The opener 'Strange Feelin'' has a lovely laid back atmosphere while the second track 'Buzzin' Fly' is a bit faster in tempo, both featuring vibes in a central role. Also the acoustic bass sounds great. The band sound is spacey and breathy in a very natural and organic way. The nearly 11-minute 'Love from Room 109 at the Islander (On Pacific Coast Highway)' has a slow and deeply meditative mid-section that I adore. Not just this track but the whole of side one gives me inner images of travelling along a summer-breezy pacific coast, free of all pressure, slighly melancholic perhaps, but mind wide open to the beauty of the world.

I have a thinner relationship to the second side and its three songs, but the slow and romantic 'Dream Letter' is a pleasant continuation for the excellence of the first side. The vibes-dominant arrangement is very sparse; sounds like there was a cello too. 12-minute 'Gypsy Woman' takes the free-form jam-based wandering perhaps a bit too far, and despite being more dynamic and psychedelic (there's a relatively intense, guitar-centred mid-section, and lots of percussion), I'm remaining rather intact to this overextended song. 'Sing a Song for You' is the shortest and the most convenient folk troubadour song here, and it could as well come from Buckley's earlier albums. If the whole album would be on the spellbinding level of the first side, my rating would definitely be five stars.

Review Nº 235

Imagine a young artist, alone, taking a chair at the Izzy Young's Folklore Center in New York, performing a musical show for a very small crowd, seated on the floor, among periodical journals, books and LP's, and a full hand of musical instruments hanging on the walls. That was the ambience of the iconoclast and legendary place founded in New York City, which served as a nexus for up and coming singers and songwriters during the folk boom of the late 60's. The Folklore Center was recently relocated from MacDougal Street to 6th Avenue, as if physically representing the gradual dispersal of the Greenwich Village folk scene. The year is 1967, and Tim Buckley is somewhere between the relatively orthodox folk-rock of his eponymous debut solo studio album, and the extraordinary personal music that would fill "Goodbye And Hello" and act as a jump-off for the potent explorations that would soon follow to his second album.

So, in March of 1967, just a few months after the release of his eponymous debut solo studio album and a few months before to the recording sessions of his second studio and fantastic album "Goodbye And Hello", which is considered by many his greatest musical work, Tim Buckley, at the age of 20, performed for an audience of only 35 people at Izzy Young's Folklore Center on 6th Avenue in Greenwich Village, NYC. The local owner, at the time, recorded the show with a simple recording machine, which was aired in his Pacifica Radio show, and then put it in a closet for nearly three decades. Finally, and only some years ago, Tompkins Square and Tim Buckley's estate put their hands on that rather poor quality bootleg musical material and released this restored version. Thanks God they were able to did that, finally.

Obviously, in 1967, Tim Buckley wasn't a household name in the American musical scene, and I think he never came to be, because he only won a certain aura and status of cult musician after his tragic death, also increased by the also tragic death of his son Jeff Buckley, very well know as a musician too. So, at the time, Tim Buckley had only released an eponymous debut studio album, a year before, and had a follow up for a few months later. So, Tim Buckley at that point, was only a very young artist still developing his own sound and style, with his lyrics and his great vocal gifts.

There have been other Tim Buckley's live albums before this one but this is his first live album with no accompaniment from any other musicians. On this live album we can only hear the sound of Tim Buckley's acoustic guitar and also his absolutely fantastic and unmistakable sound of his unique voice. We can hear the spetial ambience of this live set too.

"Live At The Folklore Center, NYC: March 6TH, 1967" is an album with sixteen tracks. "Song For Jainie", "Wings", "I Can't See You" and "Aren't You The Girl", are acoustic live versions from songs that were released on his self titled debut studio album "Tim Buckley". "I Never Asked To Be Your Mountain", "Phantasmagoria In Two", "No Man Can Find The War" and "Carnival Song", are acoustic live versions from songs that would be released on his second studio album "Goodbye And Hello". "Dolphins" and "Troubadour" are versions of two songs that weren't released on his first studio albums. "Dolphins" is a live version of a Fred Neil's song, a pioneer folk rock musician, re-issued in 1966 on his second studio album "Everybody's Talkin". "Just Please Leave Me", "What Do You Do (He Never Saw You)", "Cripples Cry", "If The Rain Comes", "Country Boy" and "I Can't Leave You Loving Me", are previously six unreleased tracks.

About the tracks and its live performances, it's unquestionably great music, and a fascinating insight of a songwriter's development. As Buckley expands the parameters of his music, you can virtually detect the speed of his development. "Live At The Folklore Center" is blessed with half a dozen songs that have never surfaced anywhere else, in any form, seven that never saw studio versions, if you add "Troubadour". They're all mostly excellent, but you sense that, by the time, Tim Buckley arrived at the "Goodbye And Hello" sessions. So, his ideas had already superseded this batch.

Conclusion: This is a great live album of the end of the 60's. The sound is amazingly good, considering the year and the way it was recorded. Tim Buckley chooses some of his best songs at that time and all the album was fantastically performed by his guitar and voice. About the six unreleased tracks, "Just Please Leave Me" and "What Do You Do (He Never Saw You)" are two very good and interesting songs. "Cripples Cry" and "If The Rain Comes" are two very nice songs, especially "Cripples Cry", which is, at my taste, one of the most beautiful songs composed by him. "Country Boy" and "I Can't Leave You Loving Me" are, in my opinion, two very weak songs that disrupt the quality of the album and despite don't spoil the high quality of the concert, shouldn't have been performed. For those, I was only a child with 8 years old, who were the lucky to have been on that unique Tim Buckley's live performance, imagine what is now the real sensation of have been in that room in that night and have been abble to share that incredible experience of to be part of one of the 35 persons on that magic night. Just really imagine what woul be your feelings if you had been there.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

Review Nº 234

Tim Buckley was an excellent musician and one of the greatest vocalists of the 60's, which was able to reach a cult status due to his music and because his premature death too. His music drew from folk, rock, psychedelic and jazz and created a considerable body of adventurous and very special musical works in his brief lifetime. His very special and unique voice with multi octave range was perfectly capable to express a really astonishing power and at the same time great emotional expressiveness, swooping from sorrowful tenderness to anguished wailing. This is real amazing, truly.

'Goodbye And Hello' is the second studio album of Tim Buckley and was released in 1967. Like his eponymous debut studio album, this is also an album where half of their songs were co-written by him and by Larry Beckett, the poet and songwriter, who was colleague and friend of Tim Buckley, in those times. As happened with their debut, Elektra continued providing to Buckley an impressive number of musicians to collaborate with him on 'Goobye And Hello'.

'Goodbye And Hello' has ten tracks. The first track 'No Man Can Find The War' written by Tim Buckley and Larry Beckett is a song dealing with the horrors of war. It's a protest song against the Vietnam War but we can also interpret it as a war in our minds. It's a beautiful and simple song very melodic with good bass and percussion. The second track 'Carnival Song' written by Tim Buckley speaks about the hypocrisy and truth. This is a song created in a fair funny atmosphere of a circus. It's also a song sung by Tim Buckley with the circus atmosphere in the back delivered by the keyboards and some special sound effects. The third track 'Pleasant Street' written by Tim Buckley is one of the finest songs on the album. It's a very sentimental, emotional and temperamental song full of energy. This is one of the strongest songs on the album and one of my favourites too. The fourth track 'Hallucinations' written by Tim Buckley and Larry Beckett is a psychedelic song also very strong on both, lyrics and music. This is a song with very strange beautiful moments and it's also a bit tragic. It has also some interesting eerie sounds and percussion effects causing a strange and unusual musical moment. The fifth track 'I Never Asked To Be Your Mountain' written by Tim Buckley is a very personal song of him. This is a song addressed to Mary Guibert his first wife, the mother of his son, Jeff Buckley, also musician, speaking of the forces that pull two people together and drive them apart. It's a very energetic and frenzy song with fantastic lyrics. This is the second highest moment on this album and for me is one of the best things that Tim Buckley ever wrote. The sixth track 'Once I Was' written by Tim Buckley is a very simple and melodic song that speaks of love and change. It's a calm ballad with nice harmonica and it has some of the most beautiful musical parts of this album. The seventh track 'Phantasmagoria In Two' written by Tim Buckley is dominated by psychedelic guitar and piano sequences and also by the incredible voice of Tim Buckley. It's probably the most psychedelic song on the album. This is a song deeply melodic that, for me, represents one of the most beautiful moments on this album. The eighth song 'Knight-Errant' written by Tim Buckley and Larry Beckett is a very short song. It's a romantic song that uses the images of a knight and his lady in the musical atmosphere of the medieval troubadours. This is a simple, melodic and nice ballad. The ninth track is the title track 'Goodbye And Hello'. It was written by Tim Buckley and Larry Beckett and is the lengthiest song on the album and is also the epic magnum opus of it. The lyrics are a fantastic piece of poetry brightly sung by Tim Buckley with several types of vocals. It's, without any doubt, the most complex musical piece on the album and it has also the benefit of the presence of a backing orchestra. This is an excellent song that works very well. The tenth track 'Morning Glory' written by Tim Buckley and Larry Beckett is the song that closes quietly this album. This is another short, gentle and sweet ballad, very simple and romantic and with nice chorus too.

Conclusion: I have a vinyl copy of this album, since the 70's, and I must confess that I've always loved it. So, I'm a bit disappointed with some of the reviews and the ratings of this album on Progarchives. I really think that 'Goodbye And Hello' deserves much more. In the first place I'm very surprised to see so few reviews. In the second place I sincerely can't understand the argument this is an album slightly progressive or not progressive. This is an album released in 1967 and from what I know the first really progressive album was 'In The Court Of The Crimson King' of King Crimson that only was released two years later. So, what should we say about the first albums of The Beatles and The Doors? 'Goodbye And Hello' is a fantastic psychedelic/folk album, with some great, sophisticated and complex musical compositions, and Tim Buckley is a great composer that owns a very special and unique voice. To finish, 'Goodbye And Hello' is an essential musical piece of the end of the 60's that can be considered as a great proto-prog album.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

Review Nº 233

Tim Buckley was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist, who was born in Washington D.C. His music and style changed considerably all over the years and in the early days, he released his first two studio albums, this eponymous debut "Tim Buckley" and his second "Goodbye And Hello" more oriented to the folk rock music. As he was a very eclectic musician, all over the time his music incorporated other styles like jazz, psychedelic, funk, soul and avant-garde. Tim Buckley had also a powerful and unique voice and due to his voice he attracted attention because of the sharp of his voice which approached him as a coral singer, what made him also a great and a very special vocalist. He was able to sing in lower register and higher falsetto in equal measure as an evolving "voice as an instrument" sound.

"Tim Buckley" is the self titled debut studio album of him and was released in 1966. Most of the songs were co- written by Tim Buckley and his friend Larry Beckett, while they were in the high school. Larry Beckett is a poet and songwriter, best known for his collaboration with his colleague and friend Tim Buckley in the latter years of the 60's.

For this album, Elektra put together an amazing team to record the album. They began by bringing in the producer Paul Rothchild and the engineer Bruce Botnick to help Buckley with the sessions. They were the team behind The Doors. About the musicians who colaborated with him, they brought the guitarist Lee Underwood, the keyboardist Van Dyke Parks, the bassist Jim Fielder and the drummer Billy Mundi. And if these weren't enough, Jack Nitzsche provided the string arrangements. So, everything was in place. It couldn't fail. But it did. The album only sold about 20.000 copies.

"Tim Buckley" has twelve tracks. The first track "I Can't See You" written by Tim Buckley and Larry Beckett is a very energetic good song. This is a very personal song addressed to his wife and where we can see a personal criticism to her. The second track "Wings" written by Tim Buckley is a ballad calm and beautiful with the use of an orchestra. It's one of the stands out songs of the album and is one of the most beautiful love songs I've ever heard. The third track "Song Of The Magician" written by Tim Buckley and Larry Beckett is a very beautiful song, one of my favourites, and is also one of the highest points on the album. The fourth track "Strange Street Affair Under Blue" written by Tim Buckley and Larry Beckett is a song where the rhythm will increase as the song progresses. It's a song that sounds as a Russian melody and which also reminds me the movie "Zorba The Greek" with its fast and slow dances. The fifth track "Valentine Melody" written by Tim Buckley and Larry Beckett is a simple, peaceful and calm ballad but it has nothing more special, really. The sixth track "Aren't You The Girl" written by Tim Buckley is a beautiful song with good rhythm and is amongst the songs that add some variety and diversity to the album. The seventh track "Song Slowly Song" written by Tim Buckley and Larry Beckett is a soft psychedelic song with some strange noises. It's a very interesting song with a musical arrangement more progressive indicating what he would do in the future. The eighth track "It Happens Every Time" written by Tim Buckley is a very beautiful song with good rhythm and with also an orchestra that make wonderful use of string arrangements to achieve a nice, luscious and romantic sound. The ninth track "Song For Jainie" written by Tim Buckley is a good and interesting ballad. It's another song of a personal nature but this time it's a song addressed to his lover Jainie. Despite the lyrics be very personal, it's well written enough to be interesting to everyone. The tenth track "Grief In My Soul" written by Tim Buckley and Larry Beckett is, in my opinion, a weaker song with poor interest. This is one of my less favourite songs on the album. The eleventh track "She Is" written by Tim Buckley and Larry Beckett is a very simple and nice ballad but a little repetitive and that eventually is a bit boring. This is only an average folk song. The twelfth track "Understand Your Man" written by Tim Buckley is a good rock song typical of those times and is a song with a more instrumental nature indicating what would be his music in the next future. It's another song also with personal lyrics, probably addressed to his wife Mary Guibert and his lover Jainie.

Conclusion: "Tim Buckley" was released in 1966 and isn't properly a true progressive album. However, is a good and interesting folk album with some good musical moments, very simple and naïve and it's, for me, very pleasant to hear. This album belongs to his folk musical period with his second next studio album "Goodbye And Hello". However, in my humble opinion, "Tim Buckley" is very far from the musical quality of "Goodbye And Hello". "Goodbye And Hello" is much more creative and mature, and is also a fantastic psychedelic/folk album, with some great, sophisticated and complex musical compositions, and where Tim Buckley demonstrates that he is a great musician and is the owner of a fantastic, special and unique voice. Nevertheless, "Tim Buckley" remains the most straightforward and folk-rock-oriented of his albums. The material on it has a lyrical and melodic sophistication that was astounding for a 19-year-old person. So, it's not his most adventurous album, but it's one of his most accessible, and retains a certain fragile beauty.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

Although over ten years old, this DVD, in which the late great artist's career is told through interviews and TV appearances, still seems to be the only one available on the legendary American troubadour TIM BUCKLEY (1947 - 1975). But it's a pretty satisfying one nevertheless, at least if you don't expect any comprehensive concert footage. As the second one to write about this release here, I try to give a little more detailed overview.

I don't know the exact length. The main course is approximately 1 hour 20 minutes, and the extras -- sorry, I didn't pay much attention to time when watching this -- nearly an hour, I presume. I started my viewing with the extras, that is, album-by- album analysis by Buckley's lyric-writing partner and friend Larry Beckett, and guitarist Lee Underwood, both among the very closest collaborators of Buckley throughout his career (that lasted only about eight years until his death at the age of 28, due to heroin-alcohol overdose). I'd rather call them presentations than interviews; they talk (separately, in turns) to the camera, and they apparently have thought pretty well in advance what to talk about Tim Buckley's albums and his peculiar progress an an artist, showing the vinyl covers of each nine studio albums. There's also Beckett's reading of 'Song to the Siren' poem, and an anecdote dealing with the film Midnight Cowboy, into which Buckley probably would have written a song if Beckett had been available at the time.

Put in a nutshell, Buckley's career, which never was very succesful in commercial terms, had three different phases. First he was a pure folk troubadour, then he added jazzy and slightly avant-gardish elements in his music, especially as a unique vocalist, this phase culminating on the albums Lorca and Starsailor. For the last three albums generally seen as his weakest, he chose a more direct and funkier rock approach, partly due to economical pressures. But always he was an artist who made his own path, acting against expectations. This is the idea that is more clearly verbalized in the interview bits between the TV clips: Buckley disappointed his folk fans by taking his art to the extremes, and those who admired that phase were in turn disappointed by the final period.

The third central interviewee on the DVD (appearing only in between the TV clips) is David Browne, the author of "Dream Brother: the Lives and Music of Jeff and Tim Buckley", who also wrote the DVD's liner notes. Generally these clips of Buckley's intimate performances are quite good in sonic and visual quality. Some are cut quite short though. The viewer may choose to watch the performances only, but I found out that if you press "next", you're taken back to the whole film containing the interviews also. The chronological set starts with an enigmatic, unaccompanied performance of 'Song to the Siren' from 1967. BTW, the running order shown on this page is not correct. A few performances are with Lee Underwood (guitar) and Carter Collins (hand percussion). On the four 1970 performances -- from two different sources -- Buckley is accompanied by Underwood, a rhythm section and a trumpeter. 'Pleasant Street' is a solo performance clip taken from an obscure comedy The Christian Licorice Store. "That's future Bond girl Maud Adams in the role of the photographer", tells Browne.

The latest clip is from the British Old Grey Whistle Test in 1974; Buckley performs one of his own favourite cover songs, Fred Neil's 'The Dolphins', with members of Family (an interesting curiosity for a prog listener). I borrowed the DVD, and viewing it just once seems to be quite enough for me. But since Tim Buckley was such a charismatic artist, the sole DVD of him does have an unquestionable value, even if the contents (starting with the song selection) were not exactly what one would have dreamt of having. Solid three stars will do; perhaps I'd given a fourth star for a little more (technically and visually) dedicated DVD product. Each viewer probably wants to continue by listening to his/her favourites of Tim Buckley's albums. Mine is Happy Sad.