Choosing one specific album is incredibly difficult when looking back at Tim Buckley's spectacular discography. On more than one occasion I've found myself
searching for the answer to the great question: What is the best Tim Buckley
album? People have asked me this question, and I just can't bring myself to
name a specific album. It's a luxury that I will have to deal with, not
because I'm unable to pick one, but because I would be wrong in selecting any.
It's a photo-finish, only with four albums instead of two horses.
Happy Sad is Buckley's third studio album, after an initial folk-rock
beginning with his self-titled album and his most known album, Goodbye and Hello. Happy Sad was written by Buckley, because his song writing
partner Larry Beckett had been called up to the military. This was an interesting
period in Buckley's life, with a huge emphasis on change. The simplistic and accessible
structures of Goodbye and Hello are nowhere to be seen. Jazz became
Buckley's forte, and with backing by Lee Underwood's majestic guitar work and
David Friedman's vibraphone, Happy Sad became one of just a few unique
folk jazz albums. Happy Sad was followed by Bob Dylan's Blonde on
Blonde and Van Morrison's Astral Weeks. Buckley's sales figures
dropped as a result of the musical shift, but this shift eventually highlighted
Buckley as one of music’s great underappreciated artists.
The album opens with "Strange Feelin'", with several minutes of
Buckley's new and advanced sound to caress the listener into his extraordinary
vocal range. Underwood's electric guitar thunders through on the right side of
the track, highlighting the free form composition. It's directly influenced
from the Miles Davis
instrumental "All Blues" of his magnum opus, Kind of Blue.
Buckley's lyrics are divine, working with the jazzy instrumental with Buckley
singing in a way that fans hadn’t previously heard him. He sings: "Your
daddy's comin' home. He's gonna chase those blues away. And believe me when I
say. We're gonna lose that strange feelin'."
Easily the most accessible track on the album is the six minute folk rock
thriller "Buzzin Fly", written by Buckley many years prior to the Happy
Sad recording sessions. The track is gracefully composed with
Underwood's outstretched electric guitar and Buckley's light acoustic guitar.
Friedman's vibraphone has a severe effect on the jazz composition as the melody
kicks in with Buckley’s ground-breaking and polychromatic vocal. He stretches
his diaphragm submissively on the chorus, showing off his four-octave range.
The composition is quite impressive with a big well done given to the
production behind the ever changing instrumental on the left, right and centre
side of the track.
"Love from Room 109 at the Islander (On Pacific Coast Highway)" is essentially two tracks in one.
We've seen this segment-like composition in Buckley's work before, on the title track to Goodbye and Hello. There's a noticeable sample of the ocean,
which has been overdubbed due to a slight electronic fault with the recording.
I'm imagining what this track would sound like without the overdub and it blows
my mind thinking about how stark and sufficient this track would be. It's has a
five-part construction, which was made by putting together two tracks,
"Danang" and "Ashbury Park". There's a sheer sense of dazzling
lyricism, with a clear conceptual imagery: "You changed an old man
filled with pity. Back to a child again." Although Buckley doesn’t
stretch his vocal as far as Buzzin Fly or any other track on Happy Sad,
it's still effective. Quiet, loud or even mediocre; Buckley had a vocal power
not many musicians have had the honour of possessing.
Written about his ex-wife and
child, "Dream Letter" explores the realm of an apologetic concept.
Buckley previously wrote and released "I Never Asked to Be Your Mountain"
on the album Goodbye and Hello, which was a powerful six minute folk
rock track with raw ingredients and soul. Dream Letter is a delicate composition,
surrounding Buckley's emotional and eye watering lyrics. The upright bass
sticks out phenomenally well on the final hook: "Oh what I'd give to
hold him." Speaking of the young Jeff Buckley, he adds: "Does
he ask about me?"
The 12 minute composition "Gypsy Women" is regarded as one of the outsider tracks on the album. Avant-garde
structures became Buckley's wining method with Lorca and Starsailor,
and Gypsy Women is an early indicator of what was to come for the orgasmic
Buckley. The vibraphone (which was used in extensively in the
previous tracks) is nowhere to be seen. Underwood's clear electric guitar
absolutely hits the spot on the left side of the track with Buckley's 12 string
acoustic guitar and Carter Collins shredding (if that's possible) on the
congas. I can't think of any other 60s folk-based track which utilised the
quiet and unprecedented instruments Buckley has used on this particular track; not to mention Buckley's voice as an instrument in itself.
Happy Sad ends on a high. The torturous lyricism
Buckley holds has always grasped me. How he relied on partner Beckett for so
long is extraordinary considering Buckley's own song writing ability.
"Sing a Song for You" is one of my personal favourites and not just
one from Buckley's catalogue either. It's the most simplistic track on Happy
Sad, and it actually sounds like a track that belongs on Goodbye and
Hello, par the vibraphone. The lyrics are stunning: "In
my heart is where I long for you. In my smile I search for you" / "In
my world the devil dances and dares. To leave my soul just anywhere."
Not many tracks are this emotionally evocative. There's something about
Buckley's withdrawn vocal and gritty acoustic guitar that destroys something
inside me. His passion for music and raw talent
makes Buckley one of the best artists of all time.
Lee Underwood sums
Buckley up in two words, 'creative evolution'. Happy Sad is Buckley's
third album, and it's the first time he turned the page. The pages kept on
turning as albums progressed. Even without the knowledge of Buckley's eventful
career and transformation as an artist, Happy Sad tells us so much. He's
the artist that consistently alienated his audience, whilst expressing himself
in a way not many artists would. Avant-garde is a strong word to use when describing
music, but it's applicable to Buckley as an artist. There's a clear influence
of jazz on Happy Sad, a genre both Buckley and Underwood were listening
to at the time of recording. Buckley brought his folk beginnings to the
established jazz from artists such as Modern Jazz Quartet and Miles Davis;
releasing a sensational album in the process.
~Eddie
9.5