I came to Tim Buckley via his son Jeff. His work had always been there, but I’d dismissed him as just another American singer-songwriter until hearing Buckley junior, and a friend playing me some Tim one drunken evening. This 2CD anthology was a (requested) present from my brother one Christmas or birthday, long ago.
On CD1, the first five tracks are from his eponymous debut album, and are all lovely, lyrically interesting with Buckley’s voice powering through. The strings feel superfluous on Wings and It Happens Every Time, but all are strong, especially the beautiful Song Slowly Song. The tracks from the Goodbye And Hello album don’t feel as strong, apart from the glorious Once I Was, and the epic Goodbye and Hello. But things really take off with songs from the Happy Sad album - Buzzin’ Fly and Strange Feelin’ are especially lovely. CD1 ends with three live songs, the fantastic Troubadour ending proceedings.
CD2 starts with songs from the Blue Afternoon album, Happy Time is lively, Chase The Blues Away and I Must Have Been Blind slower and more brooding, as is The River, while So Lonely is much more bluesy. After the live track, I Had A Talk With My Woman, there’s a pair of classics from the Starsailor album, in Moulin Rouge and Song To The Siren (although This Mortal Coil’s cover is its equal) sounding just ace, while Monterey is wild and frantic. Greetings From LA is represented by Sweet Surrender, which I enjoyed, and Hong Kong Bar, which is sparse, and perhaps a little overlong. Make It Right is more lively, while Sally Go Round The Roses is solid and powerful. The album ends on a high with a lovely live version (from The Monkees' Show) of Song To The Siren
Two and a half hours solid listen to Tim Buckley isn’t always comfortable but there’s nothing that isn’t worth listening to. This isn’t just a ‘best of’, it is an anthology spanning the whole of Buckley’s short career, and as such it does a fine job.
4* - a great anthology of Buckley’s output.
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