The
Candle Died,
Now You Are Gone,
For The Flame Was Too Bright
By
Andy Childs
Less
than a month after I started work at ZigZag I had the privilege
of meeting Tim Buckley. I interviewed him at some length and
most of what came out of that interview appeared in my articles
in ZZ 44 and 48. The main biographical and historical details
are there if you want to read them, and Im not going
to repeat them here because facts and figures become meaningless
and inadequate when youre talking about the music of
a man who was one of contemporary musics true originals.
I
met Buckley again, a day or so after the interview at a press
reception to launch the DisCreet label, and while talking
to him, albeit briefly, in a more casual relaxed atmosphere,
it become obvious to me that he was just about everything
I thought he would be
an extremely intelligent and articulate
talker with a deep-rooted love and concern for his own country,
and a wonderfully clear, level-headed perspective on not only
his own music, but music in general.
As
much as anything else, it was his respect and appreciation
for all forms of music that makes his own recorded career
so diverse and outstandingly original. From his early beginnings
in a country and western band, to his folkie days
with Elektra, his innovative jazz albums Lorca and
Starsailor, right through to the basic rock and soul bias
of his later work. Tim Buckley applied his own standards and
his own astounding vocal techniques to each style with remarkable
success. Unfortunately, as is the case more often than not,
the really important people, those that are truly breaking
new ground, never reach the audience they deserve. Tim Buckley
enjoyed no more than a cult following in this country, but
for people like myself, his music was and is irreplaceable
and untouchable.
Because
of the range of styles he covered throughout his career, I
freely admit that I find some of his music hard to appreciate
and even more difficult to enjoy. Most of Lorca and Starsailor
in fact is almost entirely jazz orientated and free-form
jazz at that, with very tenuous links with rock music. Nevertheless,
people who seem to know more about these things than me claim
that Starsailor especially is a classic of its genre, and
Im not about to argue with that.
To
my mind though, Tim Buckley hit his recording peak with Happy
Sad, his third album, and one that manages even today to sound
fresh and original and musically inventive. No-one, not even
Buckley himself, has succeeded in making an album like it
since. Apart from Morning Glory which I suppose
is his most famous and covered song, Happy Sad
was the first of Buckles work that I listened to extensively.
A perceptive and impressionable friend bought a copy at the
time of its release as a result, believe it or not,
of the review in ZigZag No.2, and we played it endlessly for
months on end. For some unaccountable reason I only purchased
a copy myself comparatively recently when my interest in Buckleys
work was rekindled around about the time of Sefronia, and
at the moment it is deleted although it is quite likely to
be re-released by Elektra in the near future.
In
the light of what has happened I cant help but recall
a remark that Buckley made during the aforementioned interview.
He said: There are fewer things in my life that I want
to do now, but I want to live them more intensely. And
that really is the key to Buckleys whole life
nothing
he ever did was achieved without complete and utter devotion,
and as a result his music is some the most intense, demanding
and accomplished of its kind.
And
now thats all weve got left. Tim Buckley died
on 29th June and left behind him a musical heritage and many
savored memories that will shine on forever.
© 1975 Childs/ZigZag
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