Dream Letters and Other Communications:
Tim Buckley Live In Europe 1968 - Part Two

Song for The Monkees

Tim debuted Song to the Siren on The Monkees final episode The Frodis Caper

Late Night Line Up was certainly not Buckley's first TV appearance -- if nothing else he'd already appeared on The Monkees show. He performed solo, doing a version of Song To The Siren, sitting on a car. Needless to say (although the lyrics are the same) it's completely different for the version that appeared on Starsailor in January 1971!

The program in question was the last-ever Monkees show, episode 26 of the second series (work on the episode was completed on 22/12/67). Although the endless repeats of The Monkees in this country have rarely got beyond the fist series, this show was aired recently on Sky and good quality copies are in circulation.

Trip # 2 -- October, 1968

Buckley returned to Europe in October 1968, the main gig of the English leg being the Queen Elizabeth Hall concert (the Dream Letter set). The first thing to say about it is that the date given in the liner-notes is wrong -- but it's quite easy to see how it happened. The tapes had languished in someone's vaults in the States for over 22 years and memories fade.

What was on the box was obviously 7/10/68, which to an American means the 10th of July. It was probably written by an English engineer who meant, of course, the 7th of October as the accompanying advert for the gig (see overleaf) attests (as does the fact that you could have got in for as little as eight shillings -- forty pence to you younger readers -- makes you weep doesn't it?).

Also wrong, as already noted, was Underwood's claim that it was their first visit, but he is right in saying that they didn't bring Carter C.C. Collins over (or bassist John Miller) for the second visit. They did however bring over David Friedman (to play vibes) probably reflecting Buckley's increasing jazz leanings. Once again Danny Thompson was drafted in on bass.

Dream Letter

Whoever decided to release the QEH concert deserves some kind of medal. Having said that, one wonders why they never thought about it before? After all it's nothing short of brilliant musically and the sound quality is superb, particularly on the CD, which has more clarity and depth than most studio recordings of the era.

Only a rare spot of tape hiss (notably on the title track) detracts from the overall quality. The mix is superb, each instrument is perfectly blended, especially Buckley's voice and ringing 12-string, leading not just to clarity, but also a rich sound overall. But what of the songs? Well, there's an embarrassment of riches.

The overall style is transitional, the folk-rock is still there, but more so than the April Top Gear recording, the jazz influence is creeping in. Thus some of the 'early' songs have a slightly different feel, like Morning Glory and Phantasmagoria in Two, but it's most noticeable on the newer songs like Buzzin' Fly and Love from Room 109, both of which surfaced on the Happy Sad LP.

"Buckley doesn't actually perform anything called Carnival Song (neither Goodbye And Hello track of the same name, nor anything else with the same title). What he does do is say that he likes carnivals..."

The folk feel is most strongly retained, not surprisingly, on the 'solo' tracks like Pleasant Street and the previously unreleased The Earth Is Broken, nonetheless The Troubadour and Fred Neil's Dolphins are pure folk-rock, with hardly a jazz trace to them. Troubadour does not seem to have made it beyond this era, but Dolphins survived all the way through, finally being recorded for Sefronia! At the time of Sefronia's release in 1974, Buckley claimed that he'd never done the song justice and finally invited Fred Neil (a long time friend and mentor) down to a gig to give advice -- and blessing -- before recording it. Which is curious, or at least an indication of Buckley's self-effacement, since the 1968 version dumps all over the Sefronia recording, excellent though the latter is.

'Unreleased' songs

Underwood's sleeve notes mentions six previously unreleased songs, The Troubadour, I've Been Walking, Who Do You Love, The Earth Is Broken, Wayfaring Stranger and Carnival Song. Well, yes and no. Troubadour and The Earth Is Broken were both 'finished' works and both are previously unreleased.

At the other end of the scale, Buckley doesn't actually perform anything called Carnival Song (neither Goodbye And Hello track of the same name, nor anything else with the same title). What he does do is say that he likes carnivals and that if you're going to one you need a carnival song. He then goes straight into Hi Lilly, Hi Lo, for me the only weak track on the record. I can't remember exactly, but I think it's from a 50's musical -- The Flower Dream Song or South Pacific, something like that -- Alan Price had a minor hit with an uptempo version of it in 1966.

Either way Buckley sings falsetto and it comes over as camp rather than anything else. Before discussing the other unreleased tracks, mention should be made of Buckley's penchant for improvisation and 'changing' songs. Later on, most of his improvisations were designed to bring his vocal dexterity into play via scat singing and abrupt shifts of register, the lyrics taking second place. At this time he was obviously keen on drawing material from his folk background and marrying 'old' lines with new lyrics (frequently made up on the spot) of his own.

Thus a number like Who Do You Love is actually a combination of 'traditional' numbers like Green Rocky Road and Run Shake A Life (normally associated with Fred Neil and Richie Havens, respectively) and 'new' lyrics.

Wayfaring Stranger is also likely to have been derived from Fred Neil (whatever H.P. Lovecraft might feel) although You Got Me Running (the second 'half' of Wayfaring Stranger) seems mostly Buckley, as does Strange Feelin'. This latter song isn't actually Strange Feelin' at all, the title doesn't crop up in it anywhere and it bears no relation to the song of that title on Happy Sad. The riff bears a slight resemblance to it, but Buckley was already performing an 'early' version of the 'real' Strange Feelin', of which more in a moment.

The last 'unreleased' song mentioned by Underwood, I've Been Walking, is curious. The opening lines "I've been out walking, ain't done too much talking these days", bears more than a passing resemblance to These Days written by Buckley's friend Jackson Browne -- in fact they are virtually identical. I wonder who came up with the line first? The rest of the lyrics and melody bear no relation to the Browne song and would again seem to be original.

Anyway, informational quibbles and Lee Underwood's memory lapses apart, Dream Letter remains the album of the year and at a time when it's becoming harder to find really top class sixties material to reissue (or as in this case issue for the first time) it's doubly welcome.