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Press Release

This is the most important Tim Buckley release since Dream Letter, featuring a singular performance with a jazz-rock lineup that calls to mind Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks.

Buckley, father of Jeff Buckley, made his mark with his Southern California folk-rock sound and four-octave vocal range. But this rich weave of accessible, warm, improvisational music reveals Buckley in a light never before captured on tape, including two newly discovered songs (“Blues, Love” and “The Lonely Life”), early drafts of Buckley classics, and a stunning cover of Fred Neil’s “Merry-Go-Round.”

Recorded by the Grateful Dead’s legendary soundman Owsley “Bear” Stanley, the infamous LSD chemist, this is one of the treasures of his Sonic Journal archive. Buckley’s performance is incredible and Bear’s thumbprint on the sonics is part of the magic!

This is a significant and rare addition to Tim Buckley’s musical legacy for both the performance and excellent sound quality. A 28-page booklet includes original cover art by Dennis Larkins and liner notes featuring new interviews with bassist John Miller, lyricist Larry Beckett, and Buckley scholar Pat Thomas.

With Tim Buckley on vocals and 12-string guitar, John Miller on bass, David Friedman on vibraphone, and Carter C.C. Collins on percussion.

These tapes were transferred and mastered by Jeffrey Norman (Mockingbird Mastering), long-time collaborator with the Grateful Dead and Owsley Stanley.

“This is the follow up to Dream Letter. Between the sonics and the songs, this is a major moment in Buckley land.”
—Pat Thomas, Tim Buckley scholar

“A great discovery! … Even though tracks here appear elsewhere in studio albums or other concert recordings, they are not the same at all. They are reinvented. And that’s why every single [release] is worth listening to.”—Larry Beckett, Tim Buckley lyricist

June 15, 1968
1. Buzzin’ Fly — 6:54
2. I Don’t Need it to Rain> — 9:28
3. Blues, Love> — 10:42
4. The Father Song> — 2:30
5. The Lonely Life> — 1:09
6. Happy Time (digital only) — 3:20
7. Hi Lily, Hi Lo (digital only) — 4:17
June 16, 1968
8. Green Rocky Road — 6:46
9. Happy Time — 3:11
10. Wayfaring Stranger — 9:40
11. Buzzin’ Fly — 5:08
Strange Feelin’ Suite
12. Strange Feelin’> — 7:34
13. Love from Room 109 at the Islander>— 2:23
14. Sing a Song for You> — 2:32
15. Merry-Go-Round> Strange Feelin’ (reprise) — 10:58

About the Owsley Stanley Foundation

The Owsley Stanley Foundation is a 501c(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of “Bear’s Sonic Journals,” Owsley’s archive of more than 1,300 live concert soundboard recordings from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, including recordings by Miles Davis, Johnny Cash, The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Fleetwood Mac, Janis Joplin, and more than 80 other artists across nearly every musical idiom.