Jerry the Racecar Driver
10-12-2004, 07:23 PM
Tim Buckley – Goodbye And Hello (1967, Electra Recordings Inc)
www.timbuckley.com
Band:
Tim Buckley – six string, twelve string, bottleneck guitar, kalimba, vibes
Lee Underwood – lead guitar
Brian Hartzier – guitar
John Forsha – guitar
Jimmy Bond – bass
James Fielder – bass
Eddie Hoh – drums
Carter C. C. Collins – congas, percussion
Dave Guard – kalimba, tambourine
Don Randi – piano, harmonium harpsichord
Jerry Yester – organ, piano, harmonium
Track List:
1.No Man Can Find The War (2:58) (Beckett/Buckley)
2.Carnival Song (3:10) (Buckley)
3.Pleasant Street (5:15) (Buckley)
4.Hallucinations (4:55) (Beckett/Buckley)
5.I Never Asked To Be Your Mountain (6:02) (Buckley)
6.Once I Was (3:22) (Buckley)
7.Phantasmagoria In Two (3:29) (Buckley)
8.Knight-Errant (2:00) (Beckett/Buckley)
9.Goodbye And Hello (8:38) (Beckett/Buckley)
10.Morning Glory (2:52) (Beckett/Buckley)
‘Goodbye and Hello’ was Tim Buckley’s 2nd album, following the previous year’s self-titled debut. Everyone who worked with Tim thought that this album would be the record that brought him commercial success. The album is a lot more varied musically than his debut, and the range of Tim’s voice is really shown. Producer Jerry Yester had brought in a big backing group to add to Tim’s regular band of Underwood, Collins, Fielder and Hartzler. A string section was also hired for the album’s title track. As a result, the cost of making the album came to $5,000, which was a fairly big production for the day. However, the album only peaked at no. 171 on the Billboard charts.
Song Review:
No Man Can Find The War – Tim and Larry Beckett (who was a high school friend of Tim's, and often wrote lyrics for him) had wanted the LP to open with some social commentary. This was the peak of Tim's anti-war sentiments. Tim later distanced himself from the song, saying “I just hate it”. However, I think it’s quite a good song. Not great, but good. It opens (and closes) with an atomic bomb sound effect, so if you hadn’t guessed what the song was about from the title, you should be able to tell now. There’s some nice guitar work (can’t tell who by) and some lovely conga fills around the drumbeat by Collins. 3.5/5
Carnival Song – Opens with a simple rhythm on the kalimba, before the guitar and organ enter with a very fairground-sounding riff. Then some carnival sound effects (which emerge sporadically throughout the song) come into play. The effects die away when Tim’s vocals come in. Personally, I don’t particularly like the song. The use of the sound effects kind of annoy me, and the music is just chorus-verse-chorus, with no real change within each section. But Tim shows off some of his vocal range. 2/5
Pleasant Street – Begins with a descending chord progression on a piano, with a conga rhythm starting at the end of it. The piano plays the progression throughout the verses with a simple lead line that consists of a repeated staccato chord over the top. The overall feel of the music is melancholic, with the lyrics matching the melancholy. The chorus is very well written with a big kick leading into it. It’s got a guitar solo under the vocals, which once again show Tim’s range as a vocalist. An excellent track. 5/5
Hallucinations – Starts off very quietly, with one finger picked guitar line, but progressively more instruments come into the song. One theme throughout the song is for Tim to sing the last lyric in a line in a descending style, with just one guitar following his voice. This is a very spacey track with instruments coming and going all the time, but still giving the impression of building up to a big finish. Ultimately, though the song just fades away, leaving a bit of disappointment in the air. It certainly had the potential to be a great song, but unfortunately it just doesn’t really go anywhere. 3/5
I Never Asked To Be Your Mountain – This song is a very personal one to Tim. It’s about his estranged wife and son, Mary and Jeff. Tim did 23 vocal takes for this song, and the quality of his voice in this song is quite astounding. The track starts with a little drum fill before the main guitar riff comes in, with a little slide guitar line over the top. The congas and drums do a great job in keeping the song moving along, with Collins in particular doing a sterling job. The only problem with this song is that the guitar line doesn’t really change much, which is a problem in a six minute long track. Still, a great track though. 4.5/5
Once I Was – A much gentler song after the (relative) frenzy of the last song. The harpsichord plays the main melody during the verses, and helps give a very melancholic feel. The lyrics seem to be reminiscing about his relationship with Mary, and there’s a sense of longing and regret in Tim’s voice, in the chorus especially, when he sings:
“And sometimes I wonder,
Just for a while,
Will you remember me?”
Overall, it’s a very good song, but not quite up there with ‘Pleasant Street’ and ‘I Never Asked To Be Your Mountain’. 4/5
Phantasmagoria In Two – The ‘In Two’ part of the title refers to the fact that it’s played in 2/4 time. This isn’t one of my favourite tracks on the album, but it’s not bad. The song is a love song, asking someone to love him. The lyrics are, once more, well sung with Tim’s range being shown. There aren’t any really outstanding musical components to this song, besides Tim’s voice. 3/5
Knight-Errant – This song is about wanting to have sex with someone. It’s not a particularly good. The music doesn’t change at all in the song, with the same jaunty piano line throughout it. Fortunately, the song is quite short, so the lack of a new musical direction doesn’t totally ruin it. Still, not very good. 2/5
Goodbye And Hello – This is the song that convinced Elektra’s president, Jan Holzman, that the cost of making the album was worth it. At 8:38, it’s something of an epic. The song is actually a combination of two different songs. The lyrics represent two different generations, Tim’s parents’ generation and his own generation, in a kind of call and response format. It’s hard to do this song justice in written format. It sounds so different to anything I’ve heard. The song moves effortlessly from a noisy clutter, to serene beauty in seconds. The strings, in particular, are excellent here. Simply, an awesome song. 5/5
Morning Glory – A very mellow ending track, with only the piano and percussion providing any serious musical backing to Tim’s voice, although there are touches of bass and guitar at certain points in the song. What sounds like a choir comes in halfway through, but it’s actually Tim and Yester’s multi-tracked voices. Then, right at the end, there is a brief touch of strings, which perfects the track. 5/5
Overall
This is a great album. Although, most people recognised ‘Starsailor’ as his greatest work (Jeff Buckley included), this is, in my opinion, pretty close to it in terms of quality. Although, the lyrics aren’t always that good (‘Knight-Errant’ comes to mind, and Beckett himself felt that his lyrics to ‘Morning Glory’ are clunky at best), the music is generally excellent.
On side note, one of the suggested titles for the album was ‘Timbuktwo’.
4/5
www.timbuckley.com
Band:
Tim Buckley – six string, twelve string, bottleneck guitar, kalimba, vibes
Lee Underwood – lead guitar
Brian Hartzier – guitar
John Forsha – guitar
Jimmy Bond – bass
James Fielder – bass
Eddie Hoh – drums
Carter C. C. Collins – congas, percussion
Dave Guard – kalimba, tambourine
Don Randi – piano, harmonium harpsichord
Jerry Yester – organ, piano, harmonium
Track List:
1.No Man Can Find The War (2:58) (Beckett/Buckley)
2.Carnival Song (3:10) (Buckley)
3.Pleasant Street (5:15) (Buckley)
4.Hallucinations (4:55) (Beckett/Buckley)
5.I Never Asked To Be Your Mountain (6:02) (Buckley)
6.Once I Was (3:22) (Buckley)
7.Phantasmagoria In Two (3:29) (Buckley)
8.Knight-Errant (2:00) (Beckett/Buckley)
9.Goodbye And Hello (8:38) (Beckett/Buckley)
10.Morning Glory (2:52) (Beckett/Buckley)
‘Goodbye and Hello’ was Tim Buckley’s 2nd album, following the previous year’s self-titled debut. Everyone who worked with Tim thought that this album would be the record that brought him commercial success. The album is a lot more varied musically than his debut, and the range of Tim’s voice is really shown. Producer Jerry Yester had brought in a big backing group to add to Tim’s regular band of Underwood, Collins, Fielder and Hartzler. A string section was also hired for the album’s title track. As a result, the cost of making the album came to $5,000, which was a fairly big production for the day. However, the album only peaked at no. 171 on the Billboard charts.
Song Review:
No Man Can Find The War – Tim and Larry Beckett (who was a high school friend of Tim's, and often wrote lyrics for him) had wanted the LP to open with some social commentary. This was the peak of Tim's anti-war sentiments. Tim later distanced himself from the song, saying “I just hate it”. However, I think it’s quite a good song. Not great, but good. It opens (and closes) with an atomic bomb sound effect, so if you hadn’t guessed what the song was about from the title, you should be able to tell now. There’s some nice guitar work (can’t tell who by) and some lovely conga fills around the drumbeat by Collins. 3.5/5
Carnival Song – Opens with a simple rhythm on the kalimba, before the guitar and organ enter with a very fairground-sounding riff. Then some carnival sound effects (which emerge sporadically throughout the song) come into play. The effects die away when Tim’s vocals come in. Personally, I don’t particularly like the song. The use of the sound effects kind of annoy me, and the music is just chorus-verse-chorus, with no real change within each section. But Tim shows off some of his vocal range. 2/5
Pleasant Street – Begins with a descending chord progression on a piano, with a conga rhythm starting at the end of it. The piano plays the progression throughout the verses with a simple lead line that consists of a repeated staccato chord over the top. The overall feel of the music is melancholic, with the lyrics matching the melancholy. The chorus is very well written with a big kick leading into it. It’s got a guitar solo under the vocals, which once again show Tim’s range as a vocalist. An excellent track. 5/5
Hallucinations – Starts off very quietly, with one finger picked guitar line, but progressively more instruments come into the song. One theme throughout the song is for Tim to sing the last lyric in a line in a descending style, with just one guitar following his voice. This is a very spacey track with instruments coming and going all the time, but still giving the impression of building up to a big finish. Ultimately, though the song just fades away, leaving a bit of disappointment in the air. It certainly had the potential to be a great song, but unfortunately it just doesn’t really go anywhere. 3/5
I Never Asked To Be Your Mountain – This song is a very personal one to Tim. It’s about his estranged wife and son, Mary and Jeff. Tim did 23 vocal takes for this song, and the quality of his voice in this song is quite astounding. The track starts with a little drum fill before the main guitar riff comes in, with a little slide guitar line over the top. The congas and drums do a great job in keeping the song moving along, with Collins in particular doing a sterling job. The only problem with this song is that the guitar line doesn’t really change much, which is a problem in a six minute long track. Still, a great track though. 4.5/5
Once I Was – A much gentler song after the (relative) frenzy of the last song. The harpsichord plays the main melody during the verses, and helps give a very melancholic feel. The lyrics seem to be reminiscing about his relationship with Mary, and there’s a sense of longing and regret in Tim’s voice, in the chorus especially, when he sings:
“And sometimes I wonder,
Just for a while,
Will you remember me?”
Overall, it’s a very good song, but not quite up there with ‘Pleasant Street’ and ‘I Never Asked To Be Your Mountain’. 4/5
Phantasmagoria In Two – The ‘In Two’ part of the title refers to the fact that it’s played in 2/4 time. This isn’t one of my favourite tracks on the album, but it’s not bad. The song is a love song, asking someone to love him. The lyrics are, once more, well sung with Tim’s range being shown. There aren’t any really outstanding musical components to this song, besides Tim’s voice. 3/5
Knight-Errant – This song is about wanting to have sex with someone. It’s not a particularly good. The music doesn’t change at all in the song, with the same jaunty piano line throughout it. Fortunately, the song is quite short, so the lack of a new musical direction doesn’t totally ruin it. Still, not very good. 2/5
Goodbye And Hello – This is the song that convinced Elektra’s president, Jan Holzman, that the cost of making the album was worth it. At 8:38, it’s something of an epic. The song is actually a combination of two different songs. The lyrics represent two different generations, Tim’s parents’ generation and his own generation, in a kind of call and response format. It’s hard to do this song justice in written format. It sounds so different to anything I’ve heard. The song moves effortlessly from a noisy clutter, to serene beauty in seconds. The strings, in particular, are excellent here. Simply, an awesome song. 5/5
Morning Glory – A very mellow ending track, with only the piano and percussion providing any serious musical backing to Tim’s voice, although there are touches of bass and guitar at certain points in the song. What sounds like a choir comes in halfway through, but it’s actually Tim and Yester’s multi-tracked voices. Then, right at the end, there is a brief touch of strings, which perfects the track. 5/5
Overall
This is a great album. Although, most people recognised ‘Starsailor’ as his greatest work (Jeff Buckley included), this is, in my opinion, pretty close to it in terms of quality. Although, the lyrics aren’t always that good (‘Knight-Errant’ comes to mind, and Beckett himself felt that his lyrics to ‘Morning Glory’ are clunky at best), the music is generally excellent.
On side note, one of the suggested titles for the album was ‘Timbuktwo’.
4/5