Be a river
(a page dedicated to the genius of Tim Buckley)
With Lee Underwood and Carter C.C. Collins
"I think of our culture like I think of bacteria,rock and
roll keeps the traffic moving to an adolescent pulse. But man's music- his bout with the gods- has nothing to do with the latest crimes. It's too personal to isolate, too intimate to forget, and too spiritual to sell." - Tim Buckley
"New York of mud,New York of iron wire and death,
What angel do you bring hidden in the cheek?
What perfect voice will speak the truth of the wheat?
Who the terrible dream of your stained anenomies?
-Federico Garcia Lorca
Some comments by Lee Underwood......
"Tim had already explored folk music, folk rock,and mainstream jazz. With
Starsailor, he dared to move into territory that was completly uncharted
in pop music. He created new song forms on this album , and dove into
odd time signatures, combining basic harmonies with dazzling original
discordant criss-crossing melodic lines. Tim also wrote some of the most
vividly impassioned lyrics he had ever penned.
"I was proud to be included on this project, at that time, I was exploring
new techniques and new sonic approaches to music in general and
guitar music in particular.I used both hands on the fret board, playing
criss-crossing lines that created percussive atmospheres, enharmonic
sound washes, and brightly colored tonal textures previously unheard
of.My own technical and musical innovations and my adventurous
creative spirit at the time, complimented Tim's.We were difinitly in sync
with one another at this point in our careers. Together with bassist John
Balkin and Tympani-drummer Maury Baker, we created extraordinary
music that to this day has remained unmatched."
"Tim had already explored folk music, folk rock,and mainstream jazz. With
Starsailor, he dared to move into territory that was completly uncharted
in pop music. He created new song forms on this album , and dove into
odd time signatures, combining basic harmonies with dazzling original
discordant criss-crossing melodic lines. Tim also wrote some of the most
vividly impassioned lyrics he had ever penned.
I was proud to be included on this project, at that time, I was exploring
new techniques and new sonic approaches to music in general and
guitar music in particular.I used both hands on the fret board, playing
criss-crossing lines that created percussive atmospheres, enharmonic
sound washes, and brightly colored tonal textures previously unheard
of.My own technical and musical innovations and my adventurous
creative spirit at the time, complimented Tim's.We were difinitly in sync
with one another at this point in our careers. Together with bassist John
Balkin and Tympani-drummer Maury Baker, we created extraordinary
music that to this day has remained unmatched."
"Interestingly enough, Jeff Buckley was throughly enamored of Tim's vocal and coceptual innovations on "Starsailor". Although Jeff often criticized his father in public, he intelligently and wisely chose Tim as his mentor. He listened over and over to Tim's music, especially Starsailor, and incorporated many of Tim's original techniques into his own arsenal of potent and exceptionally beautiful skills. Listeners who love Jeff's music are in many ways loving Tim's music too- perhaps without being aware of it. Nobody else had the voice or the sensibilities to follow in Tim's footsteps. Tim was too mighty musically, temperamentally, and vocally. He was too complex, deep, multifaceted. Jeff however, had a great voice, a great sense of heartfelt music, a fantastic god-given talent inherited from Tim, and a mind gifted with creativity. Jeff studied Tim's music from beginning to end, incorporated numerous techniques and psycho-musical approaches, synthesized them with his own considerable qualities of originality and creative daring---- and brought forth some of the best and most intense music to come down the pike since Tim himself lived, breathed, and sang. Ive not heard others who seem to have benefitted from Tim's multidemensional innovations, but Jeff did, and he did it profoundly well."
Jeff Buckley links:
" At the same time, there are thousands of listeners who have been influenced by Tim and the music. Some are deeply moved by this or that particular period in Tim's evolutionary journey--many by Goodbye and Hello and Happy Sad. Others focus on Lorca and Starsailor, still others hone in on Greetings from L.A.and the rock period. To be sure, there are a few who understand and love what Tim was doing every step of the way. Each conceptional leap thrills them as listeners . They love journeying with Tim through folk music, folk rock, jazz, avant-garde, and funk-rock -five aesthetic periods in all- and appreciate Tim as the complete, total, multi-dimensional artist that he was. The more open and receptive the listener, the deeper and higher the experience. More and more people seem to be discovering Tim these days in all his diamond like facets. It warms my heart to see it happening, not only on Tim's behalf, but on behalf of the listeners as well"
"That's why animals are so great, because they're just pure instinct. And when you really get into them, you see that birds are even better than animals, because they have nothing. They're not even like a cat or a dog-- they just fly."-Tim Buckley
This page is dedicated to the genius of Tim Buckley. A man who made beautiful creations of art and poetry in his music. A man who did not let wealth buy his pride. I hope to create a fan magazine for fans of Tim and of art , literature and music.
If you have any ideas or comments please email me.Special thanks is given to Lee Underwood, (who played guitar and keyboards on seven of Tim's nine albums) for his intelligent and heartfelt words.
Id also like to thank Stan Agol, Starsailors' sound engineer for his helpful information.I'd like also to thank my friends,Karen and Julian, for their assistance with this page, and my friends Alex, Jaqui and Laeticia and my boyfriend Paul.
This page is also dedicated to Fred Neil.
"I'm just a country boy, I got sand all in my shoes..."- Fred Neil
Links (coming soon)
The Tim Buckley archives
Len's Avant/Rock site, awesome!
Karen's Tim Buckley page....
Tim Buckley memorial page
Tim Buckley lyrics
Folk city...room 109 Pleasant St.
Tim Buckley bulletin board
Garcia Lorca, Literature
Milesstones, a Miles Davis site