Blue Melody: Tim Buckley Remembered by Lee Underwood
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Book Reviews of Blue Melody: Tim Buckley Remembered
Book Review: A True Artist
Summary: 4 Stars
Tim Buckley was a musician from the 1960s and 70s whose life ended tragically at the age of 28 by a heroin overdose. His style was hard to label; he was influenced by a plethora of people, musically by names such as Dylan Thomas and Nat King Cole and literarily by Lorca and Rilke. He refused to be tied down, making CDs as diverse as his folk oriented first album Tim Buckley, his somewhat psychedelic and strange Lorca, and the sexy dance-music album Greetings from LA.
Lee Underwood was Buckley's guitarist and best friend for many years. He experienced countless moments with Buckley and brings memories into this book. His personal relationship with Buckley allows for greater insight into the man as a person and not just as an artist. On the downside, it also makes him incredibly biased, and Underwood is often quite redundant about Buckley's talents. In addition, as many of the stories are based on memories, the book is only vaguely chronological. It also includes a lot of information about Underwood himself, such as his relationships with women and his bout with alcoholism.
Perhaps the biggest hindrance to the book is the fact that most of Buckley's lyrics were unable to be published. Coupled with the inaccessibility of many of Buckley's albums, the reader could feel a bit lost for some references.
The book is supplemented by a few interview transcripts, a discography, a bibliography, and an index.
Many people know Tim Buckley simply as the father of Jeff Buckley; this is how I came to find this book. There are many similarities between the two, some of them are discussed in the text, but it is obvious that the two were very different people. If one finds it difficult to separate the two, this book would be an excellent source.
Even if one does not like Tim Buckley's music, it is easy to respect his musical views and ideas. He was an intelligent man, a gifted artist, and a fascinating musical figure.
Book Review: Essential Reading for Tim Buckley Fans
Summary: 4 Stars
Lee Underwood's "Blue Melody" Blue Melody: Tim Buckley Rememberedis a painstaking and highly personal recollection of singer-songwriter Tim Buckley, one of the most enigmatic musicians to emerge during the 1960s. Told from Underwood's singular perspective as Buckley's longtime sideman and collaborator, this heartfelt effort offers unique insights into the life, character, and creative processes of a gifted and staunchly independent artist. Blessed with a voice of exceptional range and rich tonality, Tim Buckley boldly crossed traditional boundaries to give us some of the most beautiful and stirring music of his era. While perhaps overly, if inescapably, subjective, Underwood has nevertheless presented a deservedly reverent narrative of the all too brief career of this talented but ultimately self-destructive personality.Book Review: Has a few interesting stories, but unprofessionally written
Summary: 2 Stars
BLUE MELODY is a biography of musician Tim Buckley by his long-time lead guitarist Lee Underwood, who worked with Buckley from before this recording of his first album in 1966 to his tragic death in 1975. Underwood not only knew Buckley intimately and can share many stories of his life, but he also appreciated him selflessly and at times the book approaches hagiography.
While the strongest part of Underwood's biography is Buckley's folk period, up until around 1969, I was happy to see him dedicate a great deal of space to the era of STARSAILOR, which Buckley--as well as many fans--considered his masterpiece. Underwood discusses the impact of the album on the music world and concert-goers, and speaks about the musical innovations of that superlative album. The work is divided into two sections, in which the first--the bulk of the book--charts Buckley's life, and the second recounts the circumstances of his death and lasting impact.
This book has a lot of problems. For one, it appears to be a vanity-press offering with little professional editing. Underwood's writing is cliched and repetitious, with the same handful of positive adjectives ("beautiful", "sensitive", "immaculate") used to describe every person he liked. His biggest failing, however, is that he often gets so lost in his memories that Tim Buckley is left beside and the reader wades through Underwood's fond recollections of his own personal life, with all its drug use and illicit road sex.
The last chapter of the book concerns Jeff Buckley, and Underwood swings between lightly praising him and harshly criticizing him as an unappreciative son and a man of limited talent and even more limited acheivement. I found this last section incoherent and quite unfair, for there are many people who are fans of both Tim and Jeff without feeling that the father's career was betrayed by the son's.
BLUE MELODY is a poorly-written and edited recollection that is only for diehard fans of Tim Buckley. I would encourage those looking to know something about the all-too-brief life of this great artist to turn to David Browne's biography of Tim and Jeff DREAM BROTHER.
Book Review: Interesting But Flawed Book
Summary: 2 Stars
The title should have been Tim Buckley Remembered; Or I Got a Lot Of Pussy in The 60's and You Didn't.....Mr. Underwood's tale of Tim Buckley's rise and fall is pretty good; however, his cheap shots at Larry Beckett take away from his tome. There is a whiff of "I was a genius and helped create Tim Buckley" sprinkled throughout the book. Frankly, Mr. Underwood was a very hit-or-miss guitarist. Sometimes good, sometimes great(mostly in a live setting) and sometimes horrible. As to his "inventing" certain guitar techniques, I think his ego may have got the best of him. I will give him this though; Tim Buckley is one of music's most fascinating "shoulda-beens". Some of the music that he wrote stands up with any of his 60's contemporaries and a large chunk of it is better. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to investigate Buckley's music/story; however, a grain of salt should be taken when reading it.....