Artist: Tim Buckley
Title: Live at the Folklore Center, NYC – March 6th, 1967
Label: Tompkins Square
Genre: Folk : Folk-Rock
Release Date: 8/25/09
UPC: 894807002189
Territory: Worldwide
Nearly 34 years after his tragic death, a live recording of folk legend Tim Buckley (also father of the late Jeff Buckley) will finally reach fans’ ears when Live at the Folklore Center, NYC – March 6th, 1967 is released on August 25th on NYC’s Tompkins Square label. This record marks the earliest official release of any Buckley live album. The entire night’s concert, performed in front of a very small audience, is presented in its original running order of 16 songs, featuring mostly tracks off Buckley’s 1966 self-titled debut and his 1967 follow-up Goodbye and Hello. The live recording also contains six Buckley compositions that have never before been released on any studio or live album: “Just Please Leave Me,” “What Do You Do (He Never Saw You),” “If The Rain Comes,” “Cripples Cry,” “Country Boy” and “I Can’t Leave You Loving Me.”
The live set was recorded by folk impresario Izzy Young at the Folklore Center, the Greenwich Village club that was a fertile ground for folk acts in the 1960′s, including a young Bob Dylan. Listeners will first notice the show’s very intimate nature, as it’s approximated that around 35 people were in attendance that night. While the sound of the tapes surely captures the emotive singer in a raw state, it’s not to say some mastering wasn’t done. Grammy-winning engineers Steve Rosenthal, Warren Russell-Smith and Jamie Howarth all worked on getting the sound up to par, while keeping the original running order of the show. The recording suffered from the usual suspects: hiss/tape noise, drop outs, hums, outside noises and a girl coughing, all of which were addressed and properly corrected to create a lucid, true reproduction of this powerful performance. The end result is a highlighting his magical guitar playing and soaring vocal style.
Warren-Smith told Billboard magazine that when listening to this show, Buckley’s energy is quite apparent despite the small audience he was playing for. “It’s fast and furious, he doesn’t dwell too much in between tracks and once he’s into a song it’s all emotion from there on in.”
While Buckley only lived to 28, his output was quite prolific in the short time he was performing and recording. He was among the most adventurous and influential singer-songwriters of the `60′s and `70′s, releasing nine studio albums in his career before his untimely death in 1975.
Take a listen to the voice that captivated and inspired a generation of folk singers; it’s just as potent today as it was in 1967.
