So Lonely This one always felt a little tongue-in-cheek to me. But Lee says that it was written during a genuine period of loneliness- "Loneliness began eating our insides"- when they were both separated from their girlfriends. In the 4-album run from Happy Sad to Starsailor only one single was released, Happy Time/So Lonely- a Happy side and a Sad side. I wonder if this was done on purpose. I hadn't noticed the instrumental mono section before-shows how inattentive I can be.
I bought a box set of vinyl from Tim's albums through Greeting From LA. It was around $100 and well worth it. Not sure of the source but I at least have a bunch of Tim albums clean and new that sound great to my ears. First thing that comes up Google search brings up Target for this box: Tim Buckley - Album Collection 1966-1972 (Vinyl) Less than $80
I think of Blue Afternoon as an album to put on when your aren't feeling so great and then put this on in the afternoon and the Blues make you feel better. So Lonely is the type of song that is sad but makes you just feel better. I love to sing along to this song and it no easy task to sing along too. Those low notes are amazing to hear cranked up really loud. Tim's vocals work out the tweeter, mid and woofer on ones' speakers.
track 6) Cafe An easy paced wonderful jazzy bluesy number -- so fine. Melodic and peacefully meditative with dreamy lyrics. I was just a curly-haired mountain boy On my way Passing through I heard a voice Whisper good evening I turned to a shadow And saw her there So all alone She had those sad china eyes That sang each time she smiled Ah, but the song It seemed to linger So long it deepened My love for her Until she called me near And then we waltzed to our heart beat All around The sea was swaying The breeze was praying Never to leave her alone Alone Oh, the time just slipped on by And with the time So did our love Ah, her every move Just like a fever Just like a fever Burnin' inside would not leave me
Tow-fer Wednesday....couldn't wait for my fave from this album. track 7) Blue Melody Another sweet bluesy track... A stunning song, and for me the "title track" of sorts, or the anchor song. Wonderful moody piano lines by Lee Underwood. Tim, harkening back to a "blue melody that my mama used to sing". As Tim wisely sings to us, we all need a blue melody to sail us on home. Well I was born a blue melody A little song my mama sang to me It was a blue melody Such a blue You've never seen There ain't no wealth That can buy my pride There ain't no pain That can cleanse my soul No just a blue melody Sailing far away from me One summer mornin' I was raised But I don't know One summer morning I was left But I don't know One summer morning So all alone Late in ev'ning I'll sing in your dreaming Down from the mountain Along with the breezes So close inside Love grew smiles So if you hear that blue melody Won't you please send it home to me It's just my Blue melody Callin' far away to me
Cafe is probably my least favorite tune in the album and Blue Melody is top tier Buckley. Melancholy through and through. These are the lyrics of someone battling depression. He sounds so hopeless with his mindset of lyrics. This is heavy stuff. “There ain’t no pain that can cleanse my soul”
Agree in some ways...Blue Melody is devastatingly blue, but the kind of blues we sometimes need that shows us we are not alone. But Tim shows us he sees a way out... Catharsis for the soul. I don't see it as hopeless. Tim is obviously singing about being in a dark place, but with the hopeful memory of his mama's old "Blue melody", he sees the light that can sing him home. I really like Cafe...it fits...it works well here between two great songs -- love the lyrics. The whole album is seamless. A perfect eight song wonder.
Cafe Its good to have some interesting differences of opinions. I love every track on BA but it moves from my least favourite (So Lonely) to my favourite- Cafe. I love it so much that more often than not I start the album from track 6. Its all atmosphere, but Tim's vocal with his 12-string sustains it throughout, and its raised up further by perhaps my favourite Lee Underwood solo- its so spectral and narcotic; just perfect for lying down in the dark and chilling.
Blue Melody Gorgeous, and so good that Lee Underwood named his book after it. Should have been a jazz standard. It's the only TB song that my wife sings along to- I have had to politely ask her to stop. You have probably already heard the 2 versions from the Troubadour concert, without the piano, but featuring Tim's whistling- what a wonderful whistler he was.
Buckley... as Producer? Listening to Blue Afternoon I have often pondered Tim's role as producer on this his only self-produced album. BA has been referred to as a "rush job"- the newly formed label wanted product out asap. Perhaps they couldn't get a known producer at short notice for such a short project. And perhaps Tim was happy to volunteer- he was only 22, but had already recorded 4 albums in the studio. I guessing he didn't bother with much in the way of written or spoken instructions, and perhaps just went with a live-in-the-studio sound as per the 4 tracks he recorded for Happy Sad in December '68. Anyway, enough idle speculation. I'm wondering what others make of his production job? Is it a success? Is there anything in the sound he achieved that you would describe as Buckleyesque? Cheers.
Wonderful production chops IMHO ... Tim's production: call it instinct, whereas an "outsider" may have not had the personal touch to handle Tim's approach to his music.
track 8) The Train This caps off a fantastic LP...experimental and closer to the freeform jazz of Lorca and Starsailor. Tim's vocal work reaches its zenith here. And Lee's guitar lines are stunning. Amazing indeed! Ah, tell me mama Ah, tell me darlin' Now that it's time for me to go Ah, don't you hold me down And kill the man you love Sweet mama what you gonna do Ah, now darlin' what you gonna do Mama what you gonna do for love Ah, when that sun shines Ah, honey And I'm living in your love again Ah, won't you let me know Do I stay or do I go Oh, yeah, Ah, darlin', what you gonna do now I said now mama what you gonna do Now mama what you gonna do for love When I'm gone When I'm gone When I'm gone When I'm gone Ah, when I'm gone Gone gone gone gone gone gone When I'm gone Darlin' so young and tender, So quick to surrender Everything that you don't own, Know that you've got not You make love like a skinned cat Crawlin' across a highway Tryin' to git to the other side, Don't know why you just gotta try Ah, when that devil When that devil gets you honey Oh, I want to know That's when I'll come home and start to Ah, sweet mama what you gonna do Ah, sweet mama what you gonna do now Aw Daddy what you gonna do for love When I'm gone, when I'm gone, when I'm gone, Lord When I'm gone, gone, gone, mama, when I'm gone When I'm gone, yeah, sweet mama, Yes, ah, when I'm gone Get that devil get that devil Gonna go back home, so long, Just want to get some sun on my shoulder And get a bit of sand in my shoes I love you New York City, but I see that sun shinin' And I don't want to stay here no more Oh, what you gonna do Oh yeah...
Not in the vein of the rest of the record but probably the song I look forward to the most. Pre-dates his Greetings From LA horniness. Love it.
I just got a copy of this album today, so will be listening to it tonight Too late for any comments from me, but reading everyone’s here, I’m sure I won’t be disappointed.
Thanks. Always loved the songs on this album, but it took me quite a long time to appreciate the sound of the album. Thankfully I got there in the end. Perhaps a shame Tim didn't produce more.
The Train A version of this was recorded for a BBC Top Gear radio show on 1st October 1968. The DJ, John Peel, announced it as "Untitled", and the lyrics are vastly different. This song seems to divide listeners, just like Gypsy Woman on his previous album and for similar reasons. Always loved it though- great closer to the album. Watch out for these lines coming up again on the album Look at the Fool (1974): You make love like a skinned cat Crawlin' across a highway
Ha! I missed that, having not listened to Look At The Fool so much. Looking forward to exploring in depth those later LPs with you all.
Canterbury House lost tapes...found...more on this here: History Lessons: Lost Recordings of the 1960s
So the tapes were found around 8 years ago. But the Neil Young tape was released 12 years ago! And the Joni Mitchell came out this year. I guess it might be a long wait for Tim's.
