2015 30 Aug
London 1968, a dream letter, and a stranger
von: Manafonistas Filed under: Blog | TB | 3 Comments
3 Comments
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James Robertson:
What a surprise, hello, dear Manafonistas!
I love this double album. I first encountered Tim Buckley when I was in High School–maybe a freshman, in about ’65 or’66. Believe it or not, he did a guest bit at the end of „The Monkees“ one night. I can’t recall the song, but I do recall the performance. Buckley got inside of the performance more than anyone I had ever seen. He became the song. His concentration was intense. I somehow found his recordings, and collected all of them as they were released–no mean task in Lynchburg, VA in the early ’60s.
I actually got to see him perform at the Mosque in Richmond VA in about ’71 or ’72. He was the warm-up act for a Zappa (sans Mothers) concert. Zappa was fine, but Buckley was stellar. It was shortly after the „Letter from LA“ recording, and his vocal acrobatics were amazing.
Then he died. In about ’89 I stumbled upon „Dream Letter,“ and is was just that for me. It came from out of my past, but it still had a freshness and originality about it that is stunning.
The guitar work is wonderful–both lead and rhythm. Lee Underwood was an excellant guitarist, who accented much of what Buckley sang. His liner notes are quite insightful, as well.
As a bassist, I thoroughly enjoy listening to Danny Thompson, who was in The Pentangle at that time, falling in with unfamiliar material. I’ve played pick up gigs quite a bit, and Thompson covered the gig very well.
The most remarkable song, (well, they are all remarkable) to me, on the album is „Wayfaring Stranger.“ I listened to it just the other day, and I was mesmerized. Once again, Buckley’s commitment to performing his material is what came through for me, after all of these years.
Now here I find it again. Ha. James
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Michael Engelbrecht:
Great stories and observations, James! For me, DREAM LETTER has always been my favourite Tim Buckley album, not as radical as STARSAILOR, but similarly intense.
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Norbert Ennen:
Song To The Siren was the song on the Monkees Show.