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Urban
Spacemen And Wayfaring Strangers:
Overlooked Innovators and Eccentric Visionaries
of ’60s Rock
by
Richie Unterberger
There
was a TV show on recently: The Sixties. I missed it. That’s
the second time.
If you’re like me,
Richie Unterberger’s Urban Spacemen And Wayfaring
Strangers: Overlooked Innovators and
Eccentric
Visionaries of ’60s Rock is another chance to visit
the decade. It’s as eccentric and sprawling and opinionated
and obsessive as its mouthful of a title suggests. And that’s
praise in this case.
I
went right for Tim Buckley (father of current cult favorite
singer- songwriter
Jeff Buckley). Here was a voice of undeniable range, a gifted
and ambitious songwriter, signed to a progressive, visionary
label. Yet, even with a significant audience, he cannot be considered
successful.
The failure of his musical experiments to gain a wider audience
may have contributed to his death by overdose. Arguably—and
I would be among those arguing—as with most genius, his
was before its time.
The
mystery of Tim Buckley is not unraveled in this book, but
it is a fascinating read, anyway. It did send me back to his
music, where the truth and dark secrets of this troubadour’s
imagery resides.
Review
Flashback: Recalling some forgotten performers of rock’s
real “glory days. by Leonard Gontarek, Pennsylvania
Gazette, May 2001
Review
© 2001 Gentarek/Pennsylvania
Gazette
This
book explores the evolution of nineteen intriguing artists
bred by the unique 1960s music scene, and traces the musical
and cultural threads that gave birth to their electrifying
innovations. From folk-rockers to blue- and brown-eyed soulsters
to rock satirists and beyond, acclaimed rock author Unterberger
uncovers the lives and music of the key visionaries in a mesmerizing
decade, including: The Pretty Things, Tim Buckley, Arthur
Brown, The Fugs, Bobby Fuller, The Bonzo Dog Band, Fred Neil,
The Beau Brummels and many more. Includes cool photos throughout,
and a sampler CD highlighting the sounds of some of the featured
artists.
Urban
Spacemen And Wayfaring Strangers: 400 pages Paperback
©
2000 By Richie Unterberger/Backbeat
Books
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