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Do
you get a special kind of satisfaction out of knowing that you have provided so
many fans with information that would otherwise be unattainable? Absolutely.
That’s why I started to contribute to it in the first place. It has always
irked me whenever I go to a web page for an actor or musician or artist and there
are nice pictures and maybe lyrics or a short bio but no articles or interviews
to give you an idea of what the person thinks about things or what they are like.
So for this page, I wanted to give an as in-depth view of Tim as I could –
make him more 3D as a person and an artist. I named it Archives because I thought
that would be a good description of the page and it’s why it isn’t a
very chatty or interactive page. 
© US State
Department
After graduating from Yale University, Suzanne joined the US
State Department and now works as a Foreign Service Officer in Russia. She is
shown here at a lecture on American visa issues in Samara. |
Does it bug you when you read something that you know was pinched from your
site and the author doesn't give you credit? I
don’t mind the photos or lyrics as much as the really long articles that
took me hours to type in!
Does that happen often?
Since there aren’t that many sites about Tim,
it doesn’t happen too often.
Any particular instance that irked you the most? I
think there is or was a page or two out there that has ripped me off wholesale
– one article isn’t so bad, but a lot of them - without acknowledging
the inputte - is just laziness. It was kind of nice that the new Italian CD acknowledged
me – I’m pretty sure they used most of my material for the booklet.
But then, I think my next project will be to transcribe the entire thing (English
& Italian), so we’ll be even.
Could you say how many hits your web site has had since it's inception? I
wish I could say, but I guess I’ll never know. I’ve tried putting a
counter up on my site but it just doesn’t work - it’s a really ancient
Unix-based site. The CDNow statistics are something like 35/week but that’s
just hits through the CDNow links. I used to get about 10-15 emails per week when
I had my email address on the page, but I had to discontinue that because I just
didn’t have time to answer them all and it was really getting me stressed
out.
Did you ever see Tim perform live, and if so, how many times? Remember, I have
no idea how old you are. Alas,
I was barely walking when he died. I managed to see Jeff about seven or eight
times so at least I didn’t entirely miss out on the Buckley phenomenon.
Which performance was your favorite? If you never saw Tim perform, then what
is your favorite recorded concert? Honeyman
has to be my fave or one of the other later ones like the Felt Forum or San Francisco
Boarding House. I love Dream Letter and Live at the Troubadour,
but the soul/funk-flavored songs just kill me.
How many of Tim's family members, friends, aquaintances, fellow musicians,
and lovers have contacted you over the years? Just
about every one except Carter CC Colins and Larry Beckett, who I’ve always
wanted to hear from.
Would you mind listing some of the ones you've conversed with? The
Buckleys except Judy, Lee Underwood, John Balkin, Stan Agol, and many other friends
and acquaintances.
Which ones impressed you the most? Lee
and John. Lee, because he keeps in touch which is sweet and John because he’s
very esoteric and way out there.
How many friends would you say that you have made as a result of email exchanges
relating to Tim? Unfortunately
for me, very few. If you haven’t guessed already, my mantra is “I just
don’t have time”. I try to keep my online life to a minimum (especially
since April when I adopted two kittens who take up a huge chunk of my time), even
though I know I’m probably missing out on meeting and getting to know some
great people.
Have there ever been times that you regretted starting the Archives? Unfortunately,
yes. It’s kind of like an albatross around my neck (was that a mixed metaphor?).
I try to live a really unencumbered life, but the page is something I’m stuck
with no matter where I go. And I feel very guilty at times, because people always
want more but there’s only so much I can do. At the same time, I don’t
think I could ever pass it on to someone else because I’m too paranoid that
they’ll take the page down e.g. the Jeff Buckley page, which I contributed
a ton of articles and interviews to only to see them vanish without a trace. You
have to excuse me for not doing my homework, but I've read that you've also done
some excellent research on Edith Piaf? Could you briefly fill me in on your connection
to her and where I can read some of those insights that you've recorded?
Again,
you can trace my history to her back to Jeff. I heard him cover her on Live
at Sine and I was immediately hooked. I created the page to help people who
love Edith but, like me, aren’t too great at French. I tried to find as many
lyrics as possible - about 250-300, I lost track - and type them up. Thank
goodness I had help in the form of a generous retired guy name Basil who did about
150 or so songs. It is mainly a lyrics page (hence the name Songs of Edith
Piaf) and wasn’t meant to be a comprehensive page like Tim’s - although
some people would like it to be, and I have added some pictures and other info
for their benefit. Out of the two pages, it’s actually the more well-known
one, even though to me it’s the less complete and less important one.
Well...That's about all I have to ask you at this time. I want to thank you
so much Suzanne for taking the time to answer my questions. The Tim Buckley Archives
is indeed a treasure chest filled with insightful experiences that otherwise would
be lost forever. Your contribution is without exaggeration, immeasurable!!
Thanks for giving me the chance to share my background with everyone. I don’t
think I’ve ever had the opportunity to do so up to now.
©
1999 Jack Brolly/Room 109
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