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"No one has ever managed to create the void around the voice like Tim Buckley did"
"Tim did for the voice what Hendrix did for the guitar, Cecil Taylor for the piano, and John Coltrane for the saxophone".
When I listen to Tim Buckley, the sensation that pervades me is always the same: amazement mixed with a veil of sadness.
I begin to be projected into a sort of dream, into a strange dimension, where everything around seems to lose its contours, the colors become more subtle, fade and become one with the voice and melody that comes out of the speakers.
Perhaps this was precisely the intent of the navigator among the stars: to drag the listener into the infinite space, floating in the void, in the absence of gravity, accompanied by a "voice" that traversed all possible states of mind paired with strange, unusual music, outside of the norms and rules of the staff...
Something otherworldly, spiritual, magical.
The soul detaches from the body, still alive, wandering suspended in a limbo for the entire duration of the compositions which, once ended, leave it millions of miles from the ground, with no way back.
To me, this is Tim Buckley, a man who had a dream so big and "crazy" that he wanted to share it with the world through his music and voice, but which the world, for the most part, did not fully understand and appreciate.
After the most daring experimental experiences of "Lorca" and "Starsailor", Buckley falls victim to the record market, which does not realize the hoped-for results from the catastrophic sales of one of the most interesting albums, perhaps, of the millennium and does not write a single note for more than two years, then reappears on the market with this "Greetings from L.A.".
What crosses my mind listening to the post-"Starsailor" work and knowing Tim's story is only an infinite sadness that leaves very little room for amazement.
Being imposed upon is one of the most unpleasant things a human being can endure, and when we are faced with an artist like Buckley, we can say it could be a true and proper crime.
Right from the first notes of "Move With Me", with that predictable blues riff of bass, drums, and piano, the backups, and everything else, I can't help but wrinkle my nose thinking about how the session musicians and arrangements were chosen and imposed with the one and only intention of "reining in" the wild horse Buckley and delivering him once and for all to the majority of the public to maximize profits and squeeze the goose that laid the golden eggs to the utmost.
"Get on Top" merely confirms what I already think, a fast-paced blues where Buckley seems like a good student diligently carrying out his duty.
Let's be clear, Tim's voice is always GREAT, the timbre and modulation are excellent, but seeing him here like a hawk in a cage is truly sad.
A jolt crosses me when I listen to the gem of the album "Sweet Surrender" and my spirit rekindles with hope.
That beautiful intro of keyboards and conga, that underlying melancholy, that voice so evocative, full, deep enough to carve the soul, capable of flying and soaring across any register.
Very pleasing, albeit a bit excessive, is the string arrangement and orchestration of the piece, slightly undermining Tim's vocal performance, which here is truly superb and slightly outside the mold of the album.
In "Nighthawkin'", another soul blues piece that echoes the canons of the first two, you can hear the conga, as in "Get on Top", from the only survivor of the old crew: Carter Collins.
The level slightly rises with the next track "Devil eyes", thanks to a decent arrangement, and then moves onto another interesting thing from the album "Honk Kong Bar", seven minutes of voice, guitar, and hand clap, a result of cutting and stitching over an hour of jam session.
It all closes with the most cunningly arranged piece "Make it Right", which I prefer to overlook to avoid getting more upset.
What can be salvaged from this album?
Definitely "Sweet Surrender" and especially Tim's voice, which returns with dignity to reclaim the scepter of the best folk singer ever to exist.
Buckley had thrown himself headlong into this new project, had willingly agreed to wear a mask that hid what he had inside and wanted to express, but once again the public was not enthusiastic.
From here, the descent with the mediocre "Sefronia" and "Look at the Fool", to then ultimately end his run with an overdose, at a friend's house, after a concert in Dallas, at only 28 years old, on the night between June 28 and 29, 1975.
I wasn't even a year old when Tim started to truly travel among the stars, I couldn't know that one day, listening to an album that changed my life ("Grace"), I would have the supreme pleasure of discovering that the father of that angel who was Jeff Buckley was one of the greatest singers in history.
Perhaps the greatest..
R. I. P.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
01 Move With Me (04:52)
I went down to the meat rack tavern
And found myself a big ol' healthy girl
Now she was drinkin' alone
Aw what a waste of sin
So I went on over to sweet talk that girl
Lord I moved on in
Lord I whispered come on and move with me
Move with me move with me move with me darlin'
Aw don't be shy
I'm gonna mess witcha, mess witcha, mess witcha,
Mess witcha, mess witcha mind
Well, I don't care if you tell me you're married
Cause I can be your man when your husband ain't home
Now if he should walk in you just tell him I'm your houseboy
And that you just can't stand to sleep here alone...no more
I wanna move with you, move with you, move with you,
Move with you darlin'
I wanna mess witcha mess witcha mess witcha
Mess witcha mind
Well now he finally walked in
And Lord that man filled up the doorway
Well he grabbed me by my throat
And he bounced me down the stairs
And Lord I swear, he broke every bone in my body
But it was worth every second that I was there
Cause she would whisper to me...
Move with me, move with me, move with me,
Move with me darlin'
I'm gonna mess witcha, mess witcha, mess witcha,
Mess witcha mind
Well now I
02 Get on Top (06:33)
Well that girl walks in a stormy bitching whine
Well she moves that cool black dress all across the floor
Tell your mama to sing out, like a slow burn
Slow burn your motel walls, over me.
Get on top of me woman
Get on top
Let me see what you learned tonight
Then I talk in tongues mama
Oh when I love you
Yes I talk in tongues
Get on top of me woman
Get on top,
Get on top of me woman
I just wanna see what you learned
Well like a bitch dog in heat we had those bed springs a
Squeakin' all night long
And didn't you hear those walls a talkin'
04 Nighthawkin' (03:21)
I was a nighthawkin' in my taxi
On a cruise below the deadline
My fare was a shaky ol' lush
So I kicked it over and took off
Then he whipped out this switch blade
Straight outta nowhere level to my throat
He said "You ever been over to the war boy"
I said "Man I was a combat paratrooper daddy"
Well then he slump back cool and he pocket that steel
He said "Take me down to Fourth and Main"
Ah that paratroop bluff always cools oh the red eyed geezers down
Man that last block that cat was singing
Man he was sittin' in the backseat singing to me this song
I got my VAR boy
I got my M1 on my hip right
You better listen mr president
Oh boy don't you mess up with my war, boy
I wanna do I wanna do
Lord I wanna do the Blood Boogaloo
I'm just a Redneck son of a gun
I wanna kill me a gook before dawn
Ah, night hawkin' for my change
05 Devil Eyes (06:50)
I got so tired of meaningful looks
I got so tired of comin' up tame
I was so bothered by those balmy breezes
I was side swiped by smoke fever
They was a crawlin'
Oh down beneath my skin
Til mama come a runnin'
A mama came a runnin'
Mama came a runnin'
Lord said she got a recipe
Oh and she don't need no fancy sauce
Yah those devil eyes
Lord they stare right through me
Those devil eyes
Look right through me
Aww melt my soul down
Long for those devil eyes
06 Hong Kong Bar (07:08)
Sittin' in a Hong Kong bar
Sweet dreams of you darling
Ah when we were sweet sixteen
Mama makin' love in the belly of an old freight train
Life was so simple and easy
Oh the sun went down
You took care of the children darlin'
Then you felt like movin' away,
Lord now you didn't stand and stare
You felt like movin' and leavin' darlin'
Didn't I treat you fair
It's all right now darlin'
It's alright now darlin'
07 Make It Right (04:07)
Make It Right
I'm fitting out
I'm fitting in
And those diesel rings
Ah, they're rambling by
But I ain't blue
Now, if I go lame
Ah, I just flag a ride
I'm looking out now
For a street corner girl
I'm looking out
For a street corner girl
And she's gonna beat me, whip me, spank me
Ah, make it right again
Trying a little trick honey
Ah, that you never used before
I wanna be your victim
Your sweet little victim of love
Come on and beat me, whip me, spank me
Mama, make it right again
Ah, make it right
It's been wrong too long
Oh, Johnny dreams
And you and my white queen've been rolling again
But the talk around town is
She might be burned out
But I know by midnight
She gonna burn you down, oh yeah
Yeah, she gonna burn you down
But I'd been looking out in the wings
For a street corner girl
I'd been looking out
For a street corner girl
Ah, she's gonna beat me, whip me, spank me
Ah, make it right again
Trying a little trick honey
You never used before
I wanna be your victim
Your sweet little victim of love
Come on and beat me, spank me, whip me
Ah, mama, make it right again
Oh, mama, make it right
Ah, make it right
Make it right, mama
Make it right again
Ah, make it right
Come on, make it right again
I wanna be your victim
I wanna be your victim
I wanna be your victim of love
I wanna be your victim of love
Come on and beat me, whip me
Ah, make it right
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