Review by Skip Jansen
This
1968 archival recording captures Tim Buckley in his prime,
live in Denmark during the 1968 European tour. With a stripped-down
version of his band, with Carter C.C. Collins and John Miller
absent, he enlisted local bassist Nils Henning and went without
drums throat-first into one of the most enchanting live Buckley
sets on record.
Those
in love with Live at the Troubadour will find many
similarities in the sound here, and Buckley's vocal performance
is, expectedly, outstanding. None of the burning funk of Starsailor
or the folk picking of Happy Sad, the renditions are
assimilated into the jazzy, brooding forms explored on Blue
Afternoon and Lorca.
Non-expendable
sideman Lee Underwood and his Telecaster were right there
on the groove, providing that inimitable harmonic backdrop.
It was Underwood's highly distinguished lead guitar sound
that guided the group through the cascading warbles of Buckley's
voice; the guitarist seemed to be the only instrumentalist
who could real ly predict where the singer's flights might
take them.
Apparently,
the 21-minute opener, I Don't Need It to Rain, was
Buckley's vocal warmup exercise. If that was the case, one
could imagine that the sound of him reading a telephone book
would be sublime -- this is one of the most beautiful pieces
he recorded, live or in the studio for that matter.
Following
this moody rumination, the group render classics Buzzin'
Fly and Strange Feelin', which thus far have kept
the mood deeply blue, extending the songs into slow-motion
sketches of the album versions. Buckley closed the set with
a twelve-minute Gypsy Woman, where the group improvises
on its theme with fiery jazz intensity.
If
you can imagine sitting in Denmark in 1968, you can also imagine
walking the icy streets home with your perception changed
forever following such an extraordinary performance. For those
who couldn't make it -- well, thankfully documents like this
exist.
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