I couldn't find a poster specifically for the Charlotte show, but the one at left is for a show in Richmond that took place the night after the Charlotte show. $6 for prime seats -- those were the days, eh?
As was and is the case at most big-name concerts, before the headliner comes on, you usually have to sit through a warm-up act by a lesser-known artist, someone you might not be very familiar with or care that much about. In the case of the Zappa concert, the warm-up act was Tim Buckley.
I don't think I had any idea who Tim Buckley was before this concert. Nowadays, of course, Tim Buckley is primarily known for being the father of Jeff Buckley, whose voice sounded uncannily like his father's. [Father and son both died tragically young. Tim died at age 28 from a drug overdose, while Jeff drowned in the Wolf River in Memphis at the age of 30.]
This isn't a story about how Zappa's warm-up act blew him off the stage. But Buckley's performance was, in a word, mesmerizing. Once again, I can't remember much about the set list (it was 45 years ago after all) but I remember very clearly that Buckley performed what seemed like a 20-minute version of "Gypsy Woman" that nearly melted my eardrums. In case you haven't heard the song, or Tim Buckley for that matter, you can get a taste of "Gypsy Woman" and Buckley's incredible voice from this YouTube clip recorded live at the Troubadour in Los Angeles in 1969.
Needless to say, his performance left quite an impression on me. After the show, I went out and bought the album Happy Sad, Buckley's 1969 masterpiece that contains the cut "Gypsy Woman." The interesting thing about Happy Sad is that "Gypsy Woman" is unlike anything else on the album. In fact, the rest of Happy Sad is a hauntingly beautiful acoustic album with Buckley singing languid ballads about lost love and yearning. Side two, in addition to "Gypsy Woman," contains a gut-wrenching song about missing his young son, Jeff, after he split up with his wife, (and former high school sweetheart) Mary Guibert. The song, called "Sing A Song For You," has Buckley wondering how his son is doing and what he's like, and ends with the heart-breaking line, "Oh, what I'd give to hold him."
Over the years, Happy Sad has remained one of my favorite Buckley albums. Heck, it's one of my favorite albums period. It was released in 1969 on the Elektra label, catalog number EKS-74045. The original label was tan (which Elektra used from 1966-69), with the big white "E" logo at the top.
The copy I bought new in late 1972 or maybe early 1973, shortly after seeing Buckley in concert, is a 1970 repressing on the red Elektra label (used from 1969-1970) with the same catalog number as the original release. This is the 2nd variation of the "red" Elektra label which added their Broadway address in white at the bottom. Apparently some copies were also released on the green Elektra "butterfly" label, which was used from 1970-79.
Side 1: EKS 74045-1C A P B3
Side 2: EKS 74045-B-1D P A
The "P" indicates that my copy was pressed by Columbia Records at their Pittman, NJ plant. Though it's hard to read, you might make out the fine print at the bottom of the label which says that the album was produced by Jerry Yester and Zal Yanovsky. Yester was an original member of the New Christy Minstrals and the Modern Folk Quartet, and produced records by The Association and The Turtles, as well as Tim Buckley. Zal Yanovsky was a folk singer and guitar player from Canada who formed The Lovin' Spoonful with John Sebastian in Greenwich Village in 1965. [Quick, off-topic aside: Yanovsky eventually moved back to Canada, where he became a chef and opened a very well-known restaurant called Chez Piggy. Yanovsky died in 2002, but his restaurant in Kingston, Ontario is still going strong.]
The second copy of Happy Sad that I own is a 2006 repressing on the 4 Men With Beards label. I'm not sure if it's intentional, but the label mirrors the colors of the 1970 Elektra repressing.
The 4 Men With Beards release is on 180-gram vinyl. There is no indication of the source or whether and by whom it was remastered. However, comparing my two copies it is immediately apparent that the 2006 repressing is more detailed, with greater dynamics and texture, tighter bass, and much greater clarity. The vinyl is flat and dead quiet: It sounds sensational.
Matrix info:
Side 1: 4M 145 A1 S-61169
Side 2: 4M 145 B1 S-61170
The "S-XXXXX" number indicates that the album was pressed by Rainbo Records in Canoga Park, CA (or possibly Santa Monica. Rainbo moved to their current location in Canoga Park sometime in 2006.) I have a bunch of budget jazz reprints by Rainbo, and in general I find their pressings to be quite good. This one is stellar.
While Happy Sad is a pretty accessible album, much of Buckley's catalog is an acquired taste. During his short career (1966-1974), Buckley released nine albums. Sadly, he never found a large audience, and his albums didn't sell very well. As a result, original or early pressings of his work in VG+ condition or better are expensive and not that easy to come by. If you ever run across good copies at reasonable prices, don't hesitate to snap them up.
Luckily for me, I bought all of Buckley's original albums in the 70s, most of them original pressings. Over the years I've added to my collection as new releases have appeared, including several live concerts and a couple of collections of rarities and studio demos. I also have about a dozen bootleg live concerts on mp3, which are mostly audience recordings that sound terrible.
The most recent new release of Buckley material is a 2016 LP called Lady, Give Me Your Key. It's a collection of demos that Buckley recorded in 1967 in preparation for his second album, Goodbye And Hello, which came out that same year, also produced by Jerry Yester. The title track was written at the urging of Elektra Records founder Jac Holzman, who wanted Buckley to try to come up with a more commercial song that might produce a hit single. According to the liner notes, Buckley wrote the song under duress, using "give me your key" as a double entendre to mean not only give me the key to your place, but also give me your "key" or "kilo" of marijuana. The fact that the song was never even released tells you all you need to know about its potential as a hit single.The new LP is lovingly produced by Future Days Recordings, a subsidiary of Light in the Attic Records, based in Seattle, WA. Future Days is focused on reissues of music from the 60s and 70s. The album is pressed on 180-gram vinyl and the cover has quality artwork on heavy stock. It contains extensive liner notes and interviews with Buckley's high school friend and songwriting partner, Larry Beckett, as well as producer Yester.
The deadwax info is:
Side 1: FDR-631-A GOLDEN 26237.1(2)
Side 2: FDR-631-B GOLDEN 26237.2(2)
Which tells us that the master was cut at Golden Mastering (founded by the legendary John Golden) in Ventura, CA, and was pressed by Record Technology Inc. (RTI) in Camarillo, CA.
Though a fascinating historical document, Lady, Give Me Your Key is geared mostly toward completists and diehard fans like me. If you're just interested in giving Buckley a listen, I'd recommend starting with Goodbye And Hello or Happy Sad.
And for those (like me) who can't get enough Tim Buckley, there are two biographies. One is called Blue Melody: Tim Buckley Remembered, and is by Buckley's longtime friend and collaborator, guitarist Lee Underwood. The other is a joint bio of Tim and Jeff, called Dream Brothers: The Lives and Music of Jeff and Tim Buckley, written by journalist and music critic David Browne.
Finally, there is a 2012 movie called Greetings From Tim Buckley, which tells the story of Jeff Buckley coming to grips with his relationship to his father while rehearsing to take part in a tribute concert in New York. The tribute concert actually did take place, and it was Jeff Buckley's breakout performance, some three years before his album, Grace. The movie includes a series of flashbacks to Tim's early career and provides some context about his relationship with his wife and son. Actor Ben Rosenfield looks a lot like Tim Buckley and is quite convincing while performing several of his songs. Jeff Buckley is portrayed by actor Penn Badgley. Badgley's performance at the tribute concert (which director Daniel Algrant recreated as an actual concert for the movie) is spine-tingling. Enjoy the music!
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