 | 1999 |
Legends
of Rock: Bios, Discographies, and Tributes by
Unknown Tim
Buckley grew up with a love of country as styled by Johnny Cash and Hank Williams
and while he taught himself the banjo his first passion was for singing. He developed
his pitch from crooners but took a more individualistic approach to developing
his range, he would scream at buses and imitate trumpets - by the age of 17 he
had a range of four octaves. ‘I
generally don't like fusion, though Tim was the exception to the rule. He was
all round fusion: you couldn't say what he was really doing, because he wasn't
rock, or folk, or jazz... ’ – Chrissie Hynde |
Moving
in the folk scene Tim was soon noticed and in 1966, at the age of 19, recorded
his first album – a relatively conservative effort but one that showcased
his voice and his gift for melody. If the first album introduced Tim within a
traditional format his following five releases were to show not only his vocal
range but also the range of his artistic brilliance. From the poetic Goodbye
and Hello, to the intimate Happy Sad, the folk-jazz of Blue Afternoon,
the experimental Lorca and the free-form, avant-garde Starsailor
few artists could ever match the creative oeuvre developed by Tim in the space
of just four years. For
Tim the creative process was a personal affair as he pulled his emotions from
the depths of his soul and left them etched into grooves on a vinyl platter. He
was deeply affected therefore when his work lost its commercial impetus. While
he had pursued new creative horizons he had moved too fast for his fans –
by the time they understood one musical foray he was already developing a new
style. Given this his commercial appeal waned and, disillusioned, Tim spent time
away from playing and recording scene. Developing
a passion for black music, Tim did reappear in 1972 with Greetings From LA.
Whilst this was a commercial success it divided critical opinion with some arguing
that he had mastered a mix of laid-back funk and sexual imagery while others saw
it as a waste of his talent. Followed up by two further albums in a similar style
this was to be the end of Tim’s recording career. - Tim
was cast as Woody Guthrie in Hal Ashby's film, Bound For Glory but died
before shooting commenced.
- Tim
appears in season two of ‘The Monkees’ singing Song of the Siren
in The Frodis Caper.
- During
his time away from recording Tim’s interest in black music came about while
he was working as Sly Stone's chauffeur.
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