I've always been more of a Jeff Buckley sort of individual due to various reasons, but mostly because of the larger amount of documented live and interview footage that exists of him in comparison to his own father. This not only allows one to experience a more sort of "personal" relationship with Jeff as an artist, but also to just appreciate him more as a person (with his artistic beliefs/passions and his beautiful perception of life), and also to just appreciate the musical evolution that was slowly, but surely, taking place, and that sadly got lost due to Jeff's tragic death at the age of 30 (with him strongly stating that the least he wanted was for everyone to stay fixated on Grace and how he truly wanted to deliver something that was completely of his own in his future albums, always passionate to play and always excited to the possibility of recording and performing more of his music). Of course, that is not to say that I don't have any sort of appreciation of Tim whatsoever (he was a remarkable artist and a huge influence on many of my own favorites) or that there are no documents of him that would allow anyone to make that sort of connection but they are certainly less abundant and more sporadic.
It is a curious thing really. Tim has a lot more studio recordings than his son, and died at an earlier age as well, but there are curiously not that many bootleg live recordings or video interviews of him, and even the written/transcripted interviews that are available are relatively few and sometimes very far in between. Overall I'd say that Tim was way more inconsistent than Jeff, but after all, it is an unfair comparison to make between two artists that don't have almost anything in common outside of them sharing their last name and the fact that they both had an incredible talent with their voices and their musical abilities. Nevertheless, and being redundant for a bit, I still appreciate and admire a lot of what Tim has done in his lifetime, particularly between the stretch of late 1968 and late 1972.
Out of the relatively few Tim bootlegs that are available, most of them are recordings from 1967-Early 1968 and 1975, with the 60s ones being very enjoyable and remarkable at times but still showing him developing his own sound and the recordings before his passing showing him on his least interesting form, wearing off and getting full of the "Look at the Fool" style performances. By the time October 1968 became present, Buckley had started to show more consistent setlists and started to unveil a more intriguing and "experimental" sound, with this point in his career being perfectly encapsulated on the official "Dream Letter" live album. Songs were starting to become longer, full of jamming that was carried by the chemistry of the wonderful ensembles that Tim carried to the shows, and by 1969 he was just shining onstage, with documents like the masteful "Venice Mating Call" showing that in full splendor, with a powerful and compelling setlist that was starting to show hints of what would become his musical peak in the next few months. These following couple of years are not only among my favorite of his, but also the ones that are the least documented compared to the rest of his career.
Before the release of "Greetings From LA" and during the craze that the wonderful "Starsailor" and "Lorca" brought with them, Tim was on full force with his live performances. The Starsailor ensemble was magnificent, and what Tim was available to accomplish even not long after their disolution was still remarkable in both his group and solo gigs. Sadly, there are not many outstanding documents from this period to truly showcase that on full force. Most of them are either incomplete, recorded like absolute shit, or both, which makes it even more of a pain to have hopes that one day a full soundboard recording will pop up blessed by the angels and God himself. But at least not everything is that bad. What I bring here are two recordings, sound quality very rough on both but at least the least garbage out of all the mountain of pain that are these unofficial documents, recordings listenable enough to make one truly appreciate, or at least get an idea, of what made these years so special. The Lion's Share gig is something to specially keep an eye out for, because even with that sound quality one can truly feel the magnificence that was the Starsailor quartet, playing material from both of those enormous 1970 albums in one tight setlist, with Buckley's voice on full splendor and a very relentless guitar playing, Balkin's powerful bass, Baker's tight drumming and Gardner's outstanding use of reeds and trumpet making up for one of the most intriguing recordings from Tim's career as a whole, which makes it even more of a shame that the sound quality itself feels like it was coming from a microphone hidden in a coat pocket. The Felt Forum 1972 recording is less energetic, but it is still a joy to listen to, it has a lot of what made the 1969 gigs special, even having a very interesting rendition of Gypsy Woman as the closer, but it definitely was aiming for something more calm and introspective, elements that would make up most of what made Greetings From LA special in its own way.
Not excellent, not "a must" for any music fan, but these are definitely recommended for any Tim Buckley fan that appreciates the man's career as a whole. Just small oddities, treats if you will, that might have a lot to offer if you really give them the chance.
Enjoy!
Tim Buckley & Starsailor - The Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA, October 1970
1. Come Here Woman / Freeway Blues (16:49)
2. Down By The Borderline (2:43)
3. You Can Always Tell A City By Its Graffiti (13:37)
4. Lorca (12:27)
5. Down By The Borderline (Fast) (7:58)
6. Lead Me To Bed (Or Leave Me To Beaten By Cattle) (9:34)
Tim Buckley - Felt Forum, New York City, New York, 23-09-1972
1. Introduction (0:28)
2. Buzzin’ Fly (7:45)
3. Love From Room 109 (3:11)
4. Happy Time (6:31)
5. I Just Don’t Work Right In The Morning (15:34)
6. Gypsy Woman (17:35)
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