Тим Бакли: Өмір және музыкалық жолы

American musician (1947–1975)

Tim Buckley was born in Washington, D. C., on Valentine's Day, February 14, 1947, to Elaine (née Scalia), an Italian American, and Timothy Charles Buckley Jr., a decorated World War II veteran and son of Irish immigrants from Cork. He spent his early childhood in Amsterdam, New York, an industrial city about 40 mile (64 km) northwest of Albany. At five years old, Buckley began listening to his mother's progressive jazz recordings, particularly Miles Davis. Buckley's musical life began after his family moved to Bell Gardens in southern California in 1956. His grandmother introduced him to the work of Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday, his mother to Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland and his father to the country music of Hank Williams and Johnny Cash. When the folk music revolution came around in the early 1960s, Buckley taught himself the banjo at age 13, and with several friends formed a folk group inspired by The Kingston Trio that played local high school events. During high school, Buckley was elected to class offices, played on the baseball team and quarterbacked the football team. During a football game, he broke two fingers on his left hand, permanently damaging them. He said that the injury prevented him from playing barre chords. This disability may have led to his use of extended chords, many of which don't require barres. Buckley attended Loara High School in Anaheim, California. He cut classes regularly and quit football, focusing most of his attention on music. He befriended Larry Beckett, his future lyricist, and Jim Fielder, a bass player with whom he formed two musical groups, the Bohemians, who initially played popular music, and the Harlequin 3, a folk group which regularly incorporated spoken word and beat poetry into their gigs. That year, Cheetah magazine deemed Buckley one of "The Orange County Three", along with Steve Noonan and Jackson Browne. Under Cohen's management, Buckley recorded a six song demo acetate disc which he sent to Elektra records owner Jac Holzman, Elektra decided not to release the songs as singles, and the songs remained in Elektra's record vaults. Rhino Records was unable to find "Lady Give Me Your Key" to include on its Morning Glory: The Tim Buckley Anthology, Reflecting the confidence Elektra had in Buckley and group, they were given free rein on the content of the album. Buckley's voice had developed since his last release and the press appreciated both his lower register and falsetto in equal measure. While Goodbye and Hello did not make Buckley a star, it performed better in the charts than his previous effort, peaking at No. 171. After a slot on The Tonight Show, Buckley was standoffish and insulting toward Johnny Carson, and on another television appearance refused to lip sync to "Pleasant Street". Later that year, he recorded Happy Sad, which reflected folk and jazz influences and would be his best charting album, peaking at No. 81.

During 1969, Buckley began to write and record material for three albums, Blue Afternoon, Lorca, and Starsailor. Inspired by the singing of avant garde musician Cathy Berberian, he integrated the ideas of composers such as Luciano Berio and Iannis Xenakis in an avant garde rock genre. Buckley selected eight songs for Blue Afternoon, an album similar to Happy Sad in style. In a 1977 article for DownBeat magazine, Lee Underwood wrote that Buckley's heart was not in Blue Afternoon and that the album was a perfunctory response to please his business partners. While Buckley's music never sold well, his following releases did indeed chart. Lorca alienated his folk base, while Blue Afternoon was criticized as boring and tepid, and "[not] even good sulking music", although it has been re evaluated over the years. Blue Afternoon was Buckley's last album to chart on Billboard, reaching No. 192. Following the albums, Buckley began to focus on what he felt to be his masterpiece, Starsailor. Starsailor contained free jazz textures under Buckley's most extreme vocal performance, ranging from high shrieks to deep, soulful baritone. This personal album included the more accessible "Song to the Siren", a song which has since been covered by This Mortal Coil, Robert Plant, John Frusciante, Bryan Ferry and Brendan Perry. The album was a critical and commercial failure. Unable to produce his music and almost broke, Buckley turned to alcohol and drug binges. He considered acting and completed an unreleased low budget film entitled Why? (1971). The film was an experimental use of the new medium video tape and was commissioned by Technicolor.

Buckley's tour manager, Bob Duffy, said Buckley's death was not expected, but "was like watching a movie, and that was its natural ending." At his hearing on August 14, 1975, Keeling pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and, after failing to complete community service, was sentenced to 120 days in jail and four years' probation. Buckley died in debt, owning only a guitar and an amplifier. About 200 friends and family attended his funeral at the Wilshire Funeral Home in Santa Monica, including manager Herb Cohen and Lee Underwood. His 8 year old son, Jeff, had met his father only once, and was not invited to the funeral. Jeff Buckley said not being invited to his father's funeral "gnawed" at him, and prompted him to pay his respects by performing "I Never Asked to Be Your Mountain" in 1991 at a memorial tribute to Buckley in Brooklyn.

During French class in 1964, Buckley met Mary Guibert. Their relationship inspired some of Buckley's music, and provided him time away from his turbulent home life. His father suffered a head injury during the war which, along with a severe work related injury, was said to have affected his mental balance. Buckley and Guibert married on October 25, 1965. In April 1970, Buckley married Judy Brejot Sutcliffe in Santa Monica, and adopted her son, Taylor Keith Sutcliffe.