by Paul Gambaccini

Let us remember the unfortunate ones like Tim Buckley and Nick Drake, singer/songwriters of considerable talent and little commercial success, who died young. Buckley passed away on June 29th, 1975, from the effects of drugs. He was only 28.

Starsailor never charted. The artist himself once said, "It's very tricky sometimes for a singer/songwriter because you just cannot be objective about what you're doing. Sometimes it's not commercial and you overdo it for the general public's ear."

Even those music buffs who have heard Buckley's best-known song may not recognize it as his: Morning Glory was rendered by Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Poneys under the title Hobo.

Starsailor did hit home, though, with Steve Lake, who praises it's "intensity, imagination, integrity, and musicianship." Buckley told Zigzag that he recorded portions of the album the same month in 1969 as he laid down his first two Straight albums, Blue Afternoon and Lorca.

In 1987, Starsailor was chosen by a panel of rock critics and music broadcasters as the #49 rock album of all time.

© Gambaccini/Harmony Books, 1987.