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Tim Buckley
Timothy Charles Buckley III (February 14, 1947 – June 29,
Tim Buckley
1975) was an American vocalist, songwriter, guitarist and
producer. His music and style changed considerably through
the years. Buckley began his career based in folk music, but his
subsequent albums experimented with jazz, psychedelia, funk,
soul, avant-garde and an evolving voice-as-instrument sound.
He died at the age of 28 from a heroin overdose, leaving behind
his sons Taylor and Jeff.

Contents Tim Buckley performing at the Fillmore East on

October 18, 1968
Early life and career
Folk rock
Background information

Middle period Birth name Timothy Charles Buckley III

Later period Born February 14, 1947
Death Washington, D.C., U.S.
Aftermath Died June 29, 1975 (aged 28)
Discography Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Studio albums
Genres Folk rock · psychedelic folk ·
Live albums
jazz fusion · experimental
Compilations
rock · avant-garde · blue-
Other releases
eyed soul · funk[1]
Books
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter · guitarist
Tribute albums
References and notes Instruments Vocals · guitar · kalimba ·
vibraphone
External links
Years active 1966–1975
Labels Elektra · Straight · DiscReet ·
Early life and career Rhino · Tompkins Square

Tim Buckley was born in Washington, D.C. on Valentine's Day, Associated acts Larry Beckett · Jim Fielder ·
February 14, 1947, to Elaine (née Scalia), an Italian American, Van Dyke Parks · Lee
and Timothy Charles Buckley Jr., a decorated World War II Underwood · Jerry Yester
veteran and son of Irish immigrants from Cork. He spent his Website timbuckley.net (http://timbuc
early childhood in Amsterdam, New York, an industrial city kley.net)
about 40 miles (64  km) northwest of Albany. At 5-years-old,
Buckley began listening to his mother's progressive jazz recordings, particularly Miles Davis.

Buckley's musical life began after his family moved to Bell Gardens in southern California in 1956. His grandmother
introduced him to the work of Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday, his mother to Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland and his
father to the country music of Hank Williams and Johnny Cash.[2] When the folk music revolution came around in the
early 1960s, Buckley taught himself the banjo at age 13, and with several friends formed a folk group inspired by the
Kingston Trio that played local high school events.[3]

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During high school, Buckley was elected to class offices, played on the baseball team and quarterbacked the football
team.[4] 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.[5]

Buckley attended Loara High School in Anaheim, California.[6] 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,[7] and the Harlequin 3, a folk group
which regularly incorporated spoken word and beat poetry into their gigs.[2]

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.[8] Falsely believing Guibert to be
pregnant, the couple married on October 25, 1965.[4] The marriage was tumultuous and Buckley moved out, but
Guibert soon became pregnant. Buckley found himself neither willing nor able to cope with marriage and fatherhood,
and the couple saw each other sporadically. They divorced in October 1966, about a month before their son, Jeff, was
born.[9]

By then, Buckley and lyricist/friend Beckett had written 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.[9]

Buckley's college career at Fullerton College lasted two weeks in 1965.[3][4] 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.[10] That year, Cheetah Magazine deemed Buckley one of
"The Orange County Three", along with Steve Noonan and Jackson Browne.[2]

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[3] and landed him an extended gig at the
Nite Owl Cafe in Greenwich Village. Buckley's girlfriend, Jainie Goldstein, drove him to New York.[8] 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.

Under Cohen's management, Buckley recorded a six-song demo acetate disc which he sent to Elektra records owner
Jac Holzman,[2][7] who offered him a recording contract.[3]

Folk rock
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".[2] 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."[8] Critics took note of Buckley's distinctive voice and tuneful
compositions.[3]

Underwood considered the record to be "a first effort, naive, stiff, quaky and innocent [but] a ticket into the
marketplace".[5] Holzman expressed similar sentiments and thought Buckley wasn't comfortable in his own musical
skin.[3] Larry Beckett suggested the band's desire to please audiences held it back.[7]

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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.[11] 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,[7] 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.[2][12] Reflecting the confidence Elektra had in Buckley and group, they
were given free rein on the content of the album.[11] 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.[13] Buckley's voice had developed since his last release and the press appreciated both his lower register and
falsetto in equal measure.[12]

The subject of the album distinguished it from its predecessor. Beckett addressed the psychological nature of war in
"No Man Can Find the War",[11] and Underwood welcomed Buckley's entry into darker territory with "Pleasant
Street".[5] "I Never Asked to Be Your Mountain" represented a confessional lyric to his estranged wife and child,[12]
while the mix of introspective folk songs and political-themed content attracted folk fans and anti-war audiences.[5]
Holzman had faith in Buckley and rented advertising space for the musician on the Sunset Strip, an unusual step for a
solo act.[13] Buckley distanced himself from comparisons to Bob Dylan, expressing an apathy toward Dylan and his
work.[14] While Goodbye and Hello did not make Buckley a star, it performed better in the charts than his previous
effort, peaking at No. 171.[12]

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 television show.[2][12] Buckley was wary of
the press and often avoided interviews.[15] After a slot on The Tonight Show, Buckley was standoffish and insulting
toward Carson, and on another television appearance refused to lip-synch to "Pleasant Street".[2]

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."[5] 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 in Germany, as well
as touring England and Denmark again.[16] Later that year, he recorded Happy Sad, which reflected folk and jazz
influences 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, Lorca, Blue Afternoon, 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.[17] In a 1977 article for Down Beat 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.[18]

Neither album sold well. Lorca alienated his folk base while Blue Afternoon was criticized as boring and tepid, and "
[not] even good sulking music." 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.

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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). The film was an experimental use of the new medium
videotape and was commissioned by Technicolor.[2]

In April 1970, Buckley married Judy Brejot Sutcliffe in Santa Monica, and adopted her son, Taylor Keith Sutcliffe.

Later period
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 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, as a response his audience, which he had spurned in the
past.

Death
On June 28, 1975, Buckley completed the last show of a tour in Dallas, playing to a soldout crowd of 1,800 people.[2]
He celebrated the culmination of the tour with a weekend of drinking with his band and friends. The next night,
Buckley accompanied longtime friend Richard Keeling to his house. At some point, Keeling produced a bag of
heroin,[5] some of which Buckley ingested.

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.[5] She moved Buckley into bed. When she checked him later,
Buckley's wife found he was not breathing and blue. Attempts by friends and paramedics to revive him were
unsuccessful, and he was pronounced dead.[2]

The coroner's report stated 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".[19][20]

Aftermath
Buckley's sound recorder was surprised by the musician's death, recalling that at Buckley's last show that "someone
offered him a drag off of a joint and he refused. He didn't appear strung out in any way. He was very together both
physically and psychologically."[19]

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."[2]

Other friends saw his fate 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.[19][21] At his
hearing on August 14, 1975, Keeling pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter[21][22] and, after failing to complete
community service, was sentenced to 120 days in jail and four years probation.[23]

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Buckley died in debt, owning only a guitar and an amplifier.[24] 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. 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, six years before his own accidental death.[25]

Discography

Studio albums
Tim Buckley (1966)
Goodbye and Hello (1967)
Happy Sad (1969)
Blue Afternoon (1969)
Lorca (1970)
Starsailor (1970)
Greetings from L.A. (1972)
Sefronia (1973)
Look at the Fool (1974)

Live albums
Dream Letter: Live in London 1968 (1990)
Peel Sessions (1991)
Live at the Troubadour 1969 (1994)
Honeyman: Live 1973 (1995)
Once I Was (1999)
Copenhagen Tapes (2000)
Live at the Folklore Center 1967 (Tompkins Square, 2009)

Compilations
The Late Great Tim Buckley (1978) Released in Australia only
The Best of Tim Buckley (1983)
Morning Glory (1994)
Works in Progress (1999)
The Dream Belongs to Me: Rare and Unreleased 1968–1973 (2001)
Morning Glory: The Tim Buckley Anthology (2001)
Tim Buckley/Goodbye and Hello (2001) Compilation of first two albums
Take 2: Greetings from L.A./Tim Buckley (2005) Compilation of the two albums
Tim Buckley (2011) Rhino Handmade two-disc set

Disc One: Both the stereo and mono versions of his debut album
Disc Two: 22 unreleased recordings Buckley from November 1965 with The Bohemians (12 tracks) and in
1966 with Larry Beckett (10 tracks).
Starsailor: The Anthology (2011) Demon Music Group Ltd (Double CD)
Wings: The Complete Singles 1966–1974 (2016)

Other releases
Thin Wires in the Voice (1999) a 120-page booklet with a three-track CD EP included
Tim Buckley: My Fleeting House (2007) DVD of filmed live performances.

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Books
Once He Was: the Tim Buckley Story (1997), Paul Barrera
Dream Brother: The Lives and Music of Jeff and Tim Buckley (2001), David Browne
Blue Melody: Tim Buckley Remembered (2002), Lee Underwood
Voci da una nuvola – Il segreto di Nick Drake e Tim Buckley (2015), Giampiero La Valle

Tribute albums
Sing a Song for You: Tribute to Tim Buckley (2000)
Dream Brother: The Songs of Tim and Jeff Buckley (2005)

References and notes

1. Unterberger, Richie. Artist Biography by Richie Unterberger (https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mn0000595101/biogr
aphy) at AllMusic. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
2. Aston, Martin. "The High" (https://web.archive.org/web/20081022004931/http://home.casema.nl/jim2873/timbuckle
y/highflyer.html). Archived from the original (http://home.casema.nl/jim2873/timbuckley/highflyer.html) on October
22, 2008. Retrieved May 4, 2008.
3. " "Tim Buckley Biography" by Simon Glickman at enotes.com" (http://www.enotes.com/contemporary-musicians/bu
ckley-tim-biography). Retrieved May 19, 2008.
4. " "Tim Buckley Chronology 1947–97" by Robert Niemi" (http://www.timbuckley.net/chronology.htm).
Timbuckley.net. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
5. "Tim Buckley Biography by Lee Underwood" (https://web.archive.org/web/20110105094037/http://www.timbuckley.
com/biography/). Archived from the original (http://www.timbuckley.com/biography) on January 5, 2011. Retrieved
May 12, 2008.
6. "The Man that Got Away by Dave Peschek" (https://web.archive.org/web/20080422191839/http://www.timbuckley.
net/articles/tbmojo3.htm). Archived from the original (http://www.timbuckley.net/articles/tbmojo3.htm) on April 22,
2008. Retrieved June 3, 2008.
7. Ben Edmonds (June 2000). "Dreamy, Driven and Dangerous" (https://web.archive.org/web/20150924031107/htt
p://www.home.zonnet.nl/jim2873/tb/dreamy.swf). Mojo magazine. Archived from the original (http://www.home.zon
net.nl/jim2873/tb/dreamy.swf) on September 24, 2015. Retrieved November 3, 2014. Italic or bold markup not
allowed in: |magazine= (help)
8. Blue Melody, Lee Underwood, Tim Buckley Biography
9. Chronology by Robert Niemi, The Tim Buckley Archives
10. Musician magazine article by Scott Isler, The Tim Buckley Archives.
11. "Larry Beckett Interview: April 3, 1999" (http://www.richieunterberger.com/beckett.html). Richieunterberger.com.
Retrieved May 26, 2008.
12. Isler, Scott. "Goodbye and Hello" (https://web.archive.org/web/20080518121555/http://www.timbuckley.net/articles/
tbgh.htm). Musician. Archived from the original (http://www.timbuckley.net/articles/tbgh.htm) on May 18, 2008.
Retrieved June 20, 2008. Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
13. Hopkins, Jerry. "And God Bless Tim Buckley Too" (https://web.archive.org/web/20080521011356/http://www.timbu
ckley.net/articles/tbhopkins.htm). Archived from the original (http://www.timbuckley.net/articles/tbhopkins.htm) on
May 21, 2008. Retrieved June 20, 2008.
14. "Tim Buckley: "An incredibly thin wire – Dylan thin" by Jay Hoster" (https://web.archive.org/web/20080422075142/
http://www.timbuckley.net/articles/tbhoster.htm). The Haverford News. Archived from the original (http://www.timbu
ckley.net/articles/tbhoster.htm) on April 22, 2008. Retrieved June 3, 2008. Italic or bold markup not allowed in:
|publisher= (help)
15. Sander, Ellen. "The Growing Mystique of Tim Buckley" (https://web.archive.org/web/20080519013512/http://www.ti
mbuckley.net/articles/tbparader.htm). Hit Parader. Archived from the original (http://www.timbuckley.net/articles/tbp
arader.htm) on May 19, 2008. Retrieved June 20, 2008.
16. Robert Niemi. "Tim Buckley – A Chronology, 1967–1968" (http://www.timbuckley.net/bios/timeline2.shtml).
timbuckley.net. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
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17. "Interview with Lee Underwood" (http://www.leeunderwood.net/Interviews/06_prepubinterview.html).

Leeunderwood.net. Retrieved April 29, 2008.
18. "Starsailor Interview by Lee Underwood" (http://www.leeunderwood.net/Interviews/05_starsailor.html).
Leeunderwood.net. Retrieved May 17, 2008.
19. Kim Martin. "Death Claims Tim Buckley" (https://web.archive.org/web/20090425235312/http://home.casema.nl/jim
2873/timbuckley/dallas.html). Archived from the original (http://home.casema.nl/jim2873/timbuckley/dallas.html) on
April 25, 2009. Retrieved May 17, 2008.
20. "Tim Buckley Dead at 28" (https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/tim-buckley-dead-at-28-19750814). Rolling
Stone. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
21. "Suspect Arraigned in Death of Singer" (https://web.archive.org/web/20080519225923/http://www.timbuckley.net/a
rticles/tbjuly2.htm). New York Times July 9, 1975. Archived from the original (http://www.timbuckley.net/articles/tbju
ly2.htm) on May 19, 2008. Retrieved July 3, 2008. Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
22. "Stude Gets Probation in Death of Singer Buckley" (https://web.archive.org/web/20080518211030/http://www.timb
uckley.net/articles/tbstude.htm). LA Times March 9, 1976. Archived from the original (http://www.timbuckley.net/arti
cles/tbstude.htm) on May 18, 2008. Retrieved June 3, 2008. Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher=
(help)
23. "Penal Aftermath of Tim Buckley's Death" (https://web.archive.org/web/20080519012510/http://www.timbuckley.ne
t/articles/tbob.htm). LA Times March 23, 1976. Archived from the original (http://www.timbuckley.net/articles/tbob.h
tm) on May 19, 2008. Retrieved June 6, 2008. Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
24. "Tim Buckley: Chronicle of a Starsailor" (http://www.timbuckley.com/tim-buckley-chronicle-of-a-starsailor/).
Timbuckley.com. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
25. Rogers R. New Again: Jeff Buckley. Interview Magazine archive (http://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/new-ag
ain-jeff-buckley#_). Retrieved February 10, 2015.

External links
The Tim Buckley Archives – Official (http://www.timbuckley.net/)
Tim Buckley Music (http://www.timbuckleymusic.com/)
TimBuckley.com (http://www.timbuckley.com/)
Lee Underwood's official site (http://www.leeunderwood.net/)
Rhino Entertainment – Tim Buckley (http://www.rhino.com/store/ProductDetail.lasso?Number=74116)
Tim Buckley Newport Folk Recordings at Wolfgangsvault (https://web.archive.org/web/20100307034445/http://ww
w.wolfgangsvault.com/tim-buckley/)[link 404]
Tim Buckley (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0118697/) on IMDb
Tim Buckley (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7074977) at Find a Grave

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