Timothy Charles Buckley III (February 14, 1947 – June 29, 1975) was an American musician. He began his career based in
folk rock, but subsequently experimented with genres such as
psychedelia,
jazz, the
avant-garde, and
funk as well as unconventional vocal stylings. His commercial peak came with the 1969 album Happy Sad, reaching No. 81 on the charts, while his experimental 1970 album Starsailor went on to become a
cult favorite.[4] The latter contained his best known song, "
Song to the Siren." Buckley died at the age of 28 from a
heroin and
morphine overdose, leaving behind sons Taylor and
Jeff.
During high school, Buckley was elected to class offices, played on the baseball team and quarterbacked the football team.[8] During a football game, he broke two fingers on his left hand, permanently damaging them. He said that the injury prevented him from playing
barre chords. This disability may have led to his use of
extended chords, many of which don't require barres.[9]
Buckley attended
Loara High School in
Anaheim, California.[10] He cut classes regularly and quit football, focusing most of his attention on music. He befriended
Larry Beckett, his future lyricist, and
Jim Fielder, a bass player with whom he formed two musical groups, the Bohemians, who initially played popular music,[11] and the Harlequin 3, a folk group which regularly incorporated
spoken word and
beat poetry into their gigs.[6]
Buckley and lyricist/friend Beckett wrote dozens of songs, some that appeared on Tim's debut album, Tim Buckley. "Buzzin' Fly" was written during this period and was featured on Happy Sad, his 1969
LP.[8]
Buckley's college career at
Fullerton College lasted two weeks in 1965.[7][8] After dropping out of college, Buckley dedicated himself fully to music and playing L.A. folk clubs. During the summer of 1965, he played regularly at a club co-founded by Dan Gordon. He played Orange County coffeehouses such as the White Room in Buena Park and the Monday-night
hootenannies at the Los Angeles
Troubadour.[12] That year, Cheetah magazine deemed Buckley one of "The Orange County Three", along with Steve Noonan and
Jackson Browne.[6]
In February 1966, following a gig at It's Boss,
the Mothers of Invention's drummer
Jimmy Carl Black recommended Buckley to the Mothers' manager,
Herb Cohen. Cohen saw potential in Tim[7] and landed him an extended gig at the Night Owl Cafe in
Greenwich Village at West 3rd and MacDougal. Buckley's girlfriend, Jainie Goldstein, drove him to New York.[13] While living in the
Bowery with Jainie, Buckley ran into
Lee Underwood and asked him to play guitar for him. The two became lifelong friends and collaborators.[14]
In August 1966, Buckley recorded his
self-titled debut album in three days in Los Angeles. He was often unhappy with his albums after they were recorded and described his debut album as "like
Disneyland".[6] The record featured Buckley and a band of Underwood and
Orange County friends. Underwood's mix of jazz and country improvisation on a
Telecaster guitar became a distinctive part of Buckley's early sound. Jac Holzman and
Paul Rothchild's
production and
Jack Nitzsche's string
arrangements cemented the record's mid-'60s sound.
The album's folk-rock style was typical of the time, although many people, including Underwood, felt the strings by Nitzsche "did not enhance its musical quality."[13] Critics took note of Buckley's distinctive voice and tuneful compositions.[7]
Underwood considered the record to be "a first effort, naive, stiff, quaky and innocent [but] a ticket into the marketplace".[9] Holzman expressed similar sentiments and thought Buckley wasn't comfortable in his own musical skin.[7] Larry Beckett suggested the band's desire to please audiences held it back.[11]
Elektra released two
singles promoting the debut album, "Wings" with "Grief in My Soul" as the
B-side, and "Aren't You the Girl"/"Strange Street Affair Under Blue." Buckley followed with "Once Upon a Time" and "Lady Give Me Your Key", which were not well regarded but showed potential.[15] Elektra decided not to release the songs as singles, and the songs remained in Elektra's record vaults.
Rhino Records was unable to find "Lady Give Me Your Key" to include on its Morning Glory: The Tim Buckley Anthology,[11] but the song was the title track on Light in the Attic Records' 2017 collection of the previously unissued 1967 acoustic sessions. "Once Upon A Time" surfaced on Rhino's Where The Action Is 1965–68 Los Angeles anthology in 2009.
Goodbye and Hello, released in 1967, featured late 1960s-style poetry and songs in different
timings, and was an ambitious release for the 20-year-old Buckley.[6][16] Reflecting the confidence Elektra had in Buckley and group, they were given free rein on the content of the album.[15] Beckett continued as lyricist and the album consisted of Buckley originals and Beckett–Buckley collaborations. Critics noted the improved lyrical and melodic qualities of Buckley's music.[17] Buckley's voice had developed since his last release and the press appreciated both his lower
register and
falsetto in equal measure.[16]
The subject of the album distinguished it from its predecessor. Beckett addressed the psychological nature of war in "No Man Can Find the War",[15] and Underwood welcomed Buckley's entry into darker territory with "Pleasant Street".[9] "I Never Asked to Be Your Mountain" represented a confessional lyric to his estranged wife and child,[16] while the mix of introspective folk songs and political-themed content attracted folk fans and anti-war audiences.[9] Holzman had faith in Buckley and rented advertising space for the musician on the
Sunset Strip, an unusual step for a solo act.[17] Buckley distanced himself from comparisons to
Bob Dylan, expressing an apathy toward Dylan and his work.[18] While Goodbye and Hello did not make Buckley a star, it performed better in the charts than his previous effort, peaking at No. 171.[16]
Buckley's higher profile led to his album The Best of Tim Buckley being used as a soundtrack to the 1969 film Changes. Buckley performed "
Song to the Siren" on the final episode of The Monkees.[6][16] Buckley was wary of the press and often avoided interviews.[19] After a slot on The Tonight Show, Buckley was standoffish and insulting toward
Johnny Carson, and on another television appearance refused to
lip sync to "Pleasant Street".[6]
After Beckett was drafted into the Army, Buckley developed his own style, and described the jazz/
blues-rock with which he was associated as "white thievery and an emotional sham."[9] Drawing inspiration from jazz greats such as
Charles Mingus,
Thelonious Monk,
Roland Kirk, and vocalist
Leon Thomas, Buckley's sound became different from previous recordings.
In 1968, Buckley toured Europe twice, first including Denmark, the Netherlands, and England, appearing e.g. on
John Peel's Top Gear radio show on the
BBC and then appearing at the
Internationale Essener Songtage [
de] in Germany, as well as touring England and Denmark again.[20] Later that year, he recorded Happy Sad, which reflected folk and jazz influences[21] and would be his best-charting album, peaking at No. 81.
Middle period
During 1969, Buckley began to write and record material for three albums, Blue Afternoon, Lorca, and Starsailor. Inspired by the singing of avant-garde musician
Cathy Berberian, he integrated the ideas of composers such as
Luciano Berio and
Iannis Xenakis in an avant-garde rock genre. Buckley selected eight songs for Blue Afternoon, an album similar to Happy Sad in style.[22] In a 1977 article for DownBeat magazine,
Lee Underwood wrote that Buckley's heart was not in Blue Afternoon and that the album was a perfunctory response to please his business partners.[23]
While Buckley's music never sold well, his following releases did indeed chart. Lorca alienated his folk base, while Blue Afternoon was criticized as boring and tepid, and "[not] even good sulking music", although it has been re-evaluated over the years.[24]Blue Afternoon was Buckley's last album to chart on Billboard, reaching No. 192. Following the albums, Buckley began to focus on what he felt to be his masterpiece, Starsailor.
Starsailor contained
free jazz textures under Buckley's most extreme vocal performance, ranging from high shrieks to deep, soulful baritone. This personal album included the more accessible "
Song to the Siren", a song which has since been covered by
This Mortal Coil,
Robert Plant,
John Frusciante,
Bryan Ferry and
Brendan Perry. The album was a critical and commercial failure.
Unable to produce his music and almost broke, Buckley turned to alcohol and drug binges. He considered acting and completed an unreleased low-budget film entitled Why? (1971).[25] The film was an experimental use of the new medium
video tape and was commissioned by
Technicolor.[6]
"Sex funk" period
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adding to it. (December 2019)
In 1970, Buckley disbanded his Starsailor ensemble and assembled a new
funk band. He cut three albums, Greetings from L.A., Sefronia and Look at the Fool. Buckley had alienated much of his
hippie fan base with his previous two albums, and his sexually frank lyrics ("whip me, spank me") prevented the songs from receiving airplay, although he retained a
cult following.
In 1975, Buckley engaged the press regarding a live album comeback. He began performing revamped versions of material drawn from his career, except Starsailor and Lorca, in response to his audience, which he had spurned in the past.
Death
On June 28, 1975, Buckley completed a short tour with a show in
Dallas, playing to a sold-out crowd of 1,800 people.[6] He celebrated the end of the tour with a weekend of drinking with his band and friends. On the night of June 29, he accompanied longtime friend Richard Keeling to his house. At some point, Keeling produced a bag of heroin,[9] some of which Buckley snorted.
Buckley's friends took him home and, seeing his inebriated state, his wife Judy laid him on the living-room floor and questioned his friends as to what had happened.[9] She moved Buckley into bed. When she checked on him later, she found that he was not breathing and had turned blue. Attempts by friends and
paramedics to revive him were unsuccessful, and he was pronounced
dead on arrival.[6]
The
coroner's report stated that Buckley died at 9:42 p.m. on June 29, 1975, from "acute heroin/
morphine and
ethanol intoxication due to inhalation and ingestion of overdose".[26]
Aftermath
Buckley's
tour manager, Bob Duffy, said Buckley's death was not expected, but "was like watching a movie, and that was its natural ending."[6]
Other friends saw his passing as predictable, if not inevitable. Beckett recalled how Buckley took chances with his life, including dangerous driving, drinking alcohol, taking pills and heroin.
Given the circumstances of his death, police charged Keeling with murder and
distribution of heroin.[27] At his hearing on August 14, 1975, Keeling pleaded guilty to
involuntary manslaughter[27][28] and, after failing to complete community service, was sentenced to 120 days in jail and four years' probation.[29]
Buckley died in debt, owning only a guitar and an
amplifier.[30] About 200 friends and family attended his funeral at the Wilshire Funeral Home in Santa Monica, including manager
Herb Cohen and
Lee Underwood. His 8-year-old son,
Jeff, had met his father only once, and was not invited to the funeral.[31] Jeff Buckley said not being invited to his father's funeral "gnawed" at him, and prompted him to pay his respects by performing "
I Never Asked to Be Your Mountain" in 1991 at a memorial tribute to Buckley in
Brooklyn.[32]
Personal life
During French class in 1964, Buckley met Mary Guibert. Their relationship inspired some of Buckley's music, and provided him time away from his turbulent home life. His father suffered a head injury during the war which, along with a severe work-related injury, was said to have affected his mental balance.[13] Buckley and Guibert married on October 25, 1965.[8] The marriage was tumultuous and when Guibert became pregnant, Buckley found himself neither willing nor able to cope with marriage and fatherhood. The couple divorced in October 1966, about a month before their son,
Jeff Buckley, was born.[6][8] Jeff later said about his father, "He left my mother when I was six months old... So I never really knew him at all. We were born with the same parts but when I sing it's me. This is my own time and if people expect me to work the same things for them as he did, they're going to be disappointed."[33]
In April 1970, Buckley married Judy Brejot Sutcliffe in
Santa Monica, and adopted her son, Taylor Keith Sutcliffe.
Musikladen Jazz Rock Humor 3XLP (Warner Bros./
Atlantic) (1975) – "Wanda Lou"
Litera Luisterplaat (Warner Bros.) (1976) – "The King's Chair", "Serfonia"
Elektrock 4XLP/4xCass/Box (Elecktra) (1985) "Aren't You The Girl". "Strange Street Affair Under Blue", "I Can't Hear You", "No Man Can Feel The War", "Pleasant Street", "Dream Letter", "Morning Glory"
The Psychodelic Years 3XCD (Knight Records) (1990) – "Buzzin' Fly"
The Psychodelic Years 1966–1969 (American Album Classics) (Knight) (1990) – "Buzzin' Fly"
Before The Fall '67–'77 -The Peel Sessions (
Strange Fruit) (1991) – "Once I Was"
Troubadours Of The Folk Era Vol. 2 (Rhino/Warner Special Products) (1992) – "Once I Was"
Crooning On Venus Ocean Of Sound 2 2XCD (
Virgin) (1996) – "Star Sailor"
Der Nachtfalke (
Columbia/
Sony) (1997) – "Sweet Surrender"
Unknown Pleasures (Rare And Classic Tracks From The Archives of Demon Records) (Uncut (2)) (1998) – "Dolphins" – given away free with a UK music and film magazine
Discover America's Hearts & Spirits Vol. 5 (
WEA) (1998) – "I Can't See You", "Carnival Song"
Generations of Folk, Vol. Four-The Troubadours (
Vanguard) (1998) – "Sing A Song For You"
Real Fidelity-The Liberating Sound Of Division One (Vanguard) (2001) – "Mexicali Voodoo"
Coming Into Los Angeles (A Taste Of West Coast) (Own Label) (2017) – "Song To The Siren"
Smooth 70s 3XCD (Rhino) (2017) – "Song To The Siren"
Chilled 70s 3XCD (
Ministry of Sound/Sony) (2018) – "Song To The Siren"
Where The Action Is! (Los Angeles Nuggets) 2XLP (Rhino) (2019) – "Once I Was"
Ultimate Sixties (The Classics) 5XCD (Union Square) (2019) – "Once Upon A Time"
Cosmic Cratedigging (15 Tracks Chosen Exclusively For Uncut From The Vaults Of Light In The Attic Records) (Uncut (2)/Light In The Attic) (2020) – "I Never Asked To Be Your Mountain"
5 Ans De FIP 10XLP ([PIAS] Le Label/FIP) (2021) – "Song To The Siren"
Heros And Villians 3XCD Box (The Sound Of Los Angeles 1965–68) (
Grapefruit/Grapefruit USA) (2022) – "Carnival Song"
David Hapworth-Deep 70s 4XCD (Underrated Cuts From A Misunderstood Decade) (
Edsel) (2022) – "Move With Me"
Books
Once He Was: the Tim Buckley Story (1997) Paul Barrera