Tuesday, May 3, 2011


Tim Buckley- "Song to the Siren" (1968) Live on The Monkees

This is one of Tim Buckley's finest moments- an early acoustic rendition of "Song to the Siren," which many of you will know from This Mortal Coil. And he performs it on, of all places, The Monkees!

21 comments:

  1. The single greatest male vocal in all of popular music. Thats what i think anyway. Love this guy.

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  2. The fact he is about 20 years old here just blows my mind, that voice sounds lived in, its has the soul, passion and maturity that no other 20 year ever had.

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  3. thestarry, I totally agree, and not only the voice, but he was always looking to push his music somewhere new. I'll be posting "Dream Letter" soon

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  4. Thats true, the rate at which evolved was atonishing, from trad-folk to the most avantgarde music of its time in a few short years. I think because hes Jeffs dad people dont realise how young he died, to leave that body of work as a 28 year old is stunning.

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  5. Dream Letter would be ideal, i do own it on cd but i lent it to a mate a few years back and havent seen it in a looong time ;)

    I sound like a gushing fanboy but i would say its the greatest live album of them all (for me atleast), the version of Phantasmogria In Two sends shivers.

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  6. thestarry, I have a lot of T. Buckley-related stuff. Is there anything you've been looking for? I'd be happy to post some additional Buckley albums

    p.s. I'm a huge Buckley fan too. "Dream Letter" is my favorite- he was amazing live with that Guild acoustic 12 string (I have one of those too!)

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  7. To hell with the Tim Buckley, I want your Guild 12 string! lol. Ive actually got a decent acoustic myself a Gibson Jumbo. I prefer electric guitars though, small hands ;)

    Had a wee look in my collection and the only cds i have at the moment are Goodbye & Hello, Happy Sad and Starsailor (probably the best ones) but whatever you wish to upload would be welcomed. thanks.

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  8. "Blue Afternoon" and maybe another live album. What Gibson Jumbo do you have?

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  9. Tim Buckley - what can one say about Tim. He was a lost soul and a fantastic musician. His music is timeless. And his son Jeff wasn't too shabby either. Thanks so much for making my day. Kurt

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  10. Its an J-200 Standard natural finish, its quite old (sadly not in a vintage way but in a battered and bruised way) picked it up for about £400 nearly a decade ago. Still sounds great though and loud.

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  11. once upon a time, I had a 1964 Gibson J-200, but the necks on those 60s models are tiny, so it wasn't much fun to play. The 50s models are the best, but I don't have the financial means to indulge that dream. My Guild jumbo is a maple model from 72; Buckley had a rosewood version. The sound that comes out of those things is huge

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  12. This is song is an absolute classic from one of the most sadly overlooked artists in history. Many musicians have covered it, but all they were capable of was turning this gem into a rather ordinary ballad.

    By the way, why not to start Tim Buckley series someday? :)

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  13. Hi Michael, I've considered it, though Buckley really didn't leave very many recordings since he died at 28. I suppose I could scrape up 10. Hmmm...

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  14. I saw this episode when I was very young, maybe three and a half or four years old. I can tell you what I ate for breakfast that day, what I was wearing, etc.; it was that profound. It embedded a seed that has been yearning and growing since. I will forever be indebted to those that felt pushing the envelope in children's television programming was wise. Remember Lisdville? Ha!

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  15. Stefano, great comment! From what I understand, Mickey Dolenz was a friend of Buckley's and invited him on the series. I'm sure the makers of the series were resistant; they even resisted The Monkees touring as a band

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  16. I agree it's not a very large catalogue, but it's not that small either. After all, Tim managed to release 9 studio albums before his premature death.

    It's a shame though that his catalogue was never given any remastering treatment. After years of waiting, I've given up any hope to ever see proper reissues of his albums.

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  17. Michael, I'm convinced. The series starts next week (15 posts)

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  18. I recently got into Tim about 10 years ago. I got Tim Buckley Fleeting House DVD. Excellent performances.
    If they ever do a movie James Franco should play Tim Buckley. He looks more like Tim than Jeff.
    great blogspot, Jez

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  19. Jez, thank you. That's an interesting idea for a film

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  20. Tim Buckley is my favorite artist of all time and, in my opinion, the greatest vocalist. His music is forever timeless and it's unfortunate that he can't be here to see the appreciation people have for it now.

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