by
Phil Johnson
This
tape of a 1968 live concert by Tim Buckley (Jeff's dad, and
the greatest folk-rock troubadour of his era, who died of
a drug overdose in 1975), came to light a few years ago but
was previously thought too sonically far-gone to resuscitate.
Much
knob-twiddling later, the variable quality has been buffed and
sheened sufficiently to allow for a public release, and, while
there are few surprises for Buckley fetishists, it represents
a fascinating document, as well as more than doing the business
musically.
The
band, with the famous Danish bassist Niels-Henning Orsted
Pedersen sitting in, is clearly on a collective high, and
the repertoire (with only four songs taking up 50 minutes)
derives from Buckley's Happy Sad era, his most jazzy and melancholic
incarnation.
Vocally,
Buckley whoops and moans quite superbly, and the overall effect
is entirely mesmerising.
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