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Works In Progress (1999)
From time to time, in this profession, discoveries are made in dusty old tape vaults, which leave the discoverer simply slack-jawed and stunningly speechless. What you are about to listen to is the result of one of those serendipitous eurekas. Whilst researching another project several years ago, Master Archivist Bill Inglot stumbled across several boxes of tape, all labeled as containing Tim Buckley recordings, in the Elektra vault. These reels were not the master take reels, which are used to produce finished albums. Nor were they the voluminous collection of reels upon which is recorded every second of any particular recording session. These few reels were the edited-together ‘keeper’ performances, which had been assembled from a number of different recording sessions, which took place in the Spring and Summer of 1969 in several different studios in both Los Angeles and New York City. (The only exception to this is “The Fiddler.” When we first discovered it, it was on a reel we believed to be from one of these 1968 sessions. Later research showed it to actually be from an unrelated 1967 session. But by that time we had grown so fond of it that we could not imagine it not being included with the rest of the recordings we first heard it with. So we have kept it, now attached at the end, as the cheerful coda to remind us all that Tim’s works could be both somber and rejoiceful, that they could both sting and celebrate, and that they spoke to both the aching and overflowing heart.) Thirty years ago, before there were compact discs or DATs, or even before standard audio cassettes were that commonplace, recordings which needed to be saved for some reason were edited out of the original reel-to-reel tape upon which they were recorded and then re-edited together, using one-sided razor blades and adhesive tape, into these assembly reels. What Mr. Inglot found was three of these assembly reels. Each contained the multitrack ‘keeper’ performances from these various sessions for a then-underway Tim Buckley album project, which was never completed. Or, at least, never completed as “Works in Progress” suggests was being considered. As you will hear, although many of the song titles will be familiar, most of these performances contain lyrics, and sometimes verses, which are not later used in the final released versions. In addition, this collection contains several previously unheard compositions. These “Works in Progress” recordings are the only known surviving fragments from each of these early 1968 sessions. The complete tapes of the sessions from these recording dates no longer exist. Or, if they do exist, no one has yet been able to find them. However, it is far more likely, as was often the practice at the time, that all of the original complete session recordings were erased or otherwise discarded after these assembly reels were made from them. All of these surviving multitrack reels were remixed in August 1999 by Mr. Inglot. As you will hear, while the performances are priceless, there are, here and there, slight flaws. These flaws are in the original recordings and, while we were not able to authoritatively determine the precise reason each of these tracks remained unreleased, are likely the reason these individual recordings were not then used. But I think you will agree, once you listen, that these few wayward sounds are, at the very worst, only the slightest of imperfections amid otherwise completely exemplary playing and singing. “Works in Progress” is an astounding, transfixing insight into the unique creative process, and the irreplaceable genius, of both Tim Buckley the writer and Tim Buckley the performer. We hope you enjoy listening to it as much as The Archivists enjoyed rescuing it. --Roland Worthington Hand, CuratorRhino Handmade Institute of Petromusicology The March And June 1968 SessionsBy Lee Underwood During the years
since his death, Tim Buckley has remained what he was throughout his
lifetime--the living spirit of music itself -- vital, vibrant, entrancing,
thrilling, mischievous and deeply moving, often profoundly so. Embodied in the
beauty of his multi-dimensional songs, Tim Buckley lives on, beyond the
limitations of his specific time and place, "coming and going forever,
inside the rivers of time," as he once wrote, extending himself through the
many years that have swirled through our lives since those bygone days, touching
our hearts and souls, a gentle wind, a searing flame. He was with us then, even
as he is with us now, a troubadour, a poet, a starsailing time-rider. He is
himself the song of love and life that sings inside our tears and laughter, and
sighs inside the ocean waves. In several important
ways, Tim distinguished himself from many pop artists both then and now. For example, many
rock stars pride themselves on being entertainers who create artificial
personalities. “That's never me out there," David Bowie once said.
“That's not what I do. I am an actor on stage, an entertainer, a
persona." Buckley was a
different breed of musician altogether. There was no gap between who he was and
what he sang. He and his music were one and the same, no division. He was
completely honest about his mood of the moment and whatever was happening in his
life. Even his lies were true. He was not a pretender on stage, and his music
was not an act. Not that he didn't
grow and change--he did--but each evolutionary stage emerged organically from
within, from an authentic self that dared reveal itself in all of its glory,
humor, tenderness, anger and pathos. Unlike the show-bizzers who occupy much of
the musical arena in every era, he was personally and artistically genuine. And
unlike so many of his so-called "friends" who sat on the sidelines and
criticized him whenever they didn't understand what he was doing or why, he
embodied creative courage and artistic integrity every step of the way. Many singers and
musicians explore one, perhaps two, aesthetic zones, become known as stylists,
and base their artistic and business careers on that image. Sometimes they are
wonderfully talented. Guitarist B.B. King springs to mind. Vocalists Nat King
Cole, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison also remain forever successful, precisely
because they were reliable, predictable and repetitive in ways their audiences
understand and dearly love. In terms of creative
development, Buckley was more like Miles Davis, one of his heroes. That is, he
responsibly developed his talent over the years, and he evolved both as a
stylist and aesthetic conceptualist. He didn't stay the same. He changed. And he
changed not from without, as an act, but from within, as a human being and
genuine creator. With Tim Buckley
(1966), the 19-year-old troubadour emerged out of the conventional folk music
background of his high school years in Anaheim, California. With Goodbye And
Hello (1967), he embodied the values and folk-rock perspectives of his
fellow baby boomers. On both of those albums, Larry Beckett wrote or co-wrote
many of the lyrics. With Happy Sad (1968), Buckley wrote his own lyrics
as well as the music, moved into jazz-influenced instrumental stylings, and
began exploring improvisational vocalizing. The majority of Buckley's fans
embraced the musics of these three albums, and it is from this period that Works
In Progress emerges. From the Happy
Sad phase, Buckley moved into the avant-garde innovations of Lorca and
Starsailor, and the upbeat white-funk dance music of his final three albums, Greetings
From L.A., Sefronia and Look At The Fool. On 29 June 1975, age
28, he died from an accidental overdose of alcohol and heroin. Works In Progress
was recorded during interim between two of Buckley's most popular albums -- Goodbye
And Hello and Happy Sad -- a period that was the pinnacle of Buckley's
folk and folk-rock orientation. This is the Tim
Buckley a majority of his fans love, the mellow crooner and melodic troubadour
who captured the hearts of thousands of listeners who remember and celebrate him
to this day. The music is soft and the voice is intimate, often whisper-quiet.
The melodies are heart-touching, seductive, poignant, accessible. This same period,
however, was proving a bit difficult for Buckley. Goodbye And Hello had
been something of a hit. That was good. But what does one do for an encore? Not
easy. One can't just turn on a faucet and songs pour out. Plus, Buckley was
forging new perspective. He refused to simply reduce Goodbye And Hello to
a formula and recycle it. “That’s what creativity means," he said.
"You gotta come up with something new. You gotta go places you haven't been
before." He didn’t mean
merely donning a glittery new suit of clothes. He wasn't creating rock’n’roll cocktail music. He was generating a
new vision, a new way of seeing and being in the world. That kind of
"coming up with something new" takes time, faith, patience and
courage. When these Works In Progress tracks were recorded, Tim Buckley
was in the process of giving birth to a new self. In other words, we catch
Buckley in mid-stream after Goodbye And Hello, still in the gentle folk
and folk-rock mode but feeling his way toward the far shore, toward what
eventually the subtly jazz-tinged Happy Sad. His first post-Goodbye
recording efforts took place at the Mayfair Studio in New York, in the early
Spring of 1966. We were stuck in a cinder-block room so cold we could see our
breath in the air, no decorations on the walls, dusty floors, windows that
looked out on bleak grey skies. Under these dreary conditions we tried to make
beautiful music. Some of the songs were ready to be recorded, some were not yet
mature. Some of our performances worked, others did not. On the whole, it was
not a completely fulfilling experience. But we gave it a shot, did not give up
hope, then took a break. When we returned to
L.A. and tried again in early summer, things worked out better. Works In
Progress showcases several of the takes we performed in both of those
sessions and leads directly to Happy Sad. As a result, 'Works'
gives us an amazing behind-the-scenes look into some of the ways in which an
artist and his creations evolve. We are in the studio with Tim and the other
musicians. We hear the count-offs and some of the banter and chatter. We hear
the triumphs that made some of these performances great, and the snafoos that
brought others down. In nearly all cases, we hear “works in progress,” many
of which eventually developed from these seeds and sprouts into Happy Sad's
radiant full-blown flowers. The tracks on Works
In Progress fall into two groups. "Danang (Takes
7 + 8)," "Sing a Song for You (Take 11)," "Buzzin' Fly (Take
3)” and "Song to the Siren (Take 7)" were recorded in New York at
the Mayfair, 4 and 5 March 1968. All other tracks
were recorded 17-19 June 1968, at the T.T.G. Studios in Hollywood or in that
same month at Sunset Sound in Hollywood, except for “The Fiddler," which
was recorded in 1967 at Western Recorders in "Sing a Song
For You (Take 8)" and "Dream Letter” were used as-is on Happy Sad.
All other tracks from these March and June 1968 sessions remained behind on
forgotten tapes, and were later performed anew and re-recorded. "Song to the
Siren," for example, was re-recorded in 1969/70, and appeared on Starsailor.
In Starsailor's surrealistic avant-garde context, "Siren" stood
out, because it was a conceptual throwback to the Happy Sad days.
Listeners had always loved Tim's mellow folk and jazz-flavored stylings. And so,
ironically, Starsailor's innovations bombed, while "Siren” eventually became a hit (perhaps especially as sung by The
Cocteau Twins several years later on This Mortal Coil). Even today,
"Siren" remains one of Buckley's best-known, best-loved songs. Although the credits
on Starsailor list only Buckley as the writer of "Song to the
Siren," it is my understanding that he and Larry Beckett co-wrote the
original lyrics. In any case, whether the image "I'm as puzzled as the
oyster" was written by Beckett or Buckley, Tim didn't care for it, and
elected to set the song aside. When he later recorded it for Starsailor,
he changed the image to "I'm as puzzled as the newborn child," a
considerable improvement. "The Father
Song” (or "Song for Father" as it is written on the tape box) was
composed as part of the soundtrack for a 1968 movie entitled 'Changes', directed
by Hall Bartlett ('Jonathon Livingston Seagull' and 'The Children of Sanchez'). It is previously unreleased. The two takes of
"Buzzin' Fly" included on “Works” reveal a line of
progress. Take 3, recorded in New York on March 5, featured only Buckley, myself
on electric guitar and an acoustic bassist whose name I do not recall (possibly
Jimmy Bond). This version is a bit slow and a little sluggish. Take 9, recorded
in L.A. on June 18, added vibes player David Friedman, bassist John Miller and
conga player Carter Collins to the group. The performance up the tempo, and
Friedman and Miller came with the beginnings of snappy introduction that later
appeared on the version rerecorded for Happy Sad. Tim conceived
“Buzzin' Fly" one night at the Albert Hotel in New York. He and I worked
together on it until dawn. It remained one of Tim's personal favorites, and he
included it in live performances until the end. Perhaps the
different versions of "Love From Room 109" are the most dramatic
illustrations how Tim's music took shape step-by-step. "Ashbury Park (Take
8)" was an emergent song-form that was not quite focused, and the lyrics
were not yet crystallized. Eventually, it became one of the foundation stones
for Happy Sad's "Love From Room 109." The melodies and
harmonies of this particular Take 8 version were used on "109," but as
far as I know, the lyrics appear nowhere else, and were not used on the final
"109" version. Later, the song-form
of the original "Ashbury Park” was solidified, new lyrics added, and a
harp player included for Takes 14 and 25. Tim told writer Andy McKay of Zig Zag
magazine (#44), "I arranged the song for harp and vibes, but I couldn't
find a harp player in a studio that could cut it... I didn't know about Alice
Coltrane at the time. She was playing somewhere in Michigan, but I hadn't heard
her. And after I recorded it, I saw her on the 'Today' show and said, 'Damn!'
because I wanted that thing that the ocean gave." The harp player is not
identified in any surviving session track sheets. Although she played well,
neither of these versions proved artistically satisfactory. Something was
missing. Tim didn't quite know what. He went home,
thought about it, and made a major change -- he completely restructured the
piece. Instead of utilizing only the original song-form of Takes 14 and 15, he
created a considerably more complex, architecturally expanded composition with
five sections in it. One of those five movements was the piece entitled
"Danang" on Works In Progress, originally recorded as an
autonomous song, now incorporated as the third movement in the final version of
"Love From Room 109." This restructured, expanded "Ashbury Park/Danang"
composition, complete with the sounds of the ocean gently rolling up under the
front porch of Tim's Malibu house, ultimately became "Love From Room
109," one of Happy Sad's highlights. Here, on Works In Progress,
we see the elements involved, and the steps leading up to the version on Happy
Sad. "Happy Time,”
“Chase Your Blues Away" and "Wayfaring Stranger" showcase
Johnny "Bongo" Miller's cookin' bass lines and the great Carter C.C.
Collins' urgent conga rhythms. We hear Tim's sparkling finger-picking and fiery
12-string guitar strumming, as well as his incredible vocal intensity, perhaps
especially on "Wayfaring Stranger." Two tunes – “Happy Time"
and "Chase Your Blues Away" -- were later re-recorded and appeared on Blue
Afternoon (with guitarist Steve Khan on both tracks, uncredited). Throughout Works
In Progress (and on Happy Sad and Blue Afternoon) vibist David
Friedman, at that time only recently graduated from Julliard, adds vivid
harmonic colorings to the music, providing the definitive instrumental jazz
colorings that characterized Tim's music during this period. On 'Works'
and other albums, I improvised interweaving melodic guitar lines, doing what I
could to complement Tim's vocal lines. During the Works In Progress and Happy
Sad period, I also began devising an innovative textural approach to guitar
playing, using the fingers of both hands on the fretboard, rubbing and tapping
strings, playing chords and melodic lines simultaneously, creating numerous
colors, soundwashes and unique sonic effects. “Dream Letter" is the first
recording on which this approach appeared. I developed it further, eventually
showcasing it a bit more fully on Lorca and Starsailor. Later
developments went unrecorded, although I did feature this approach extensively
during an East Coast Starsailor tour in 1972. Tim's creatively
liberal rendition of "Hi Lily, Hi Lo" and the folk song
"Wayfaring Stranger" did not appear on any of Tim's albums while he
was alive. However, they showed up on the posthumously released Dream Letter,
Live In London, 1968 recorded shortly after Happy Sad and before Tim
had begun his excursions into the darkly beautiful
realms of Lorca and Starsailor. When we compare the Works
In Progress versions of these songs with newly recorded versions that
appeared on later albums, we cannot help but find ourselves impressed with Tim's
evolutionary creative processes, musical imagination, skill, craft, dedication,
judgement and consummate artistry. He could have used
more than two tracks from Works in Progress on other albums, but to his
credit he chose to wait and let the songs ripen until their proper time. When
everything felt right, he moved ahead. One of the more spectacular results to
organically emerge from Works In Progress was Happy Sad, one of
the most popular albums Tim Buckley ever recorded. Before Tim and
Jainie moved to Malibu, they hung out with Jennifer Stace and me at Big Pink,
our house in Venice by the sea. Jennifer was already an accomplished dancer,
actress and singer. In Venice, she added painting to her expressive skills. By
1968, with several superb paintings behind her, she had developed her talent
well. Using sketches, a couple of photographs, and a few live sittings, she
painted Tim’s portrait with guitar in hand, the ocean swelling behind him.
That portrait hangs in my studio. Through all of it --
and there was a lot of it -- I remained constant in my regard for Tim. Whether
he was rich or poor, happy or sad, successful or unsuccessful, praised or
condemned, my loyalty, respect and appreciation for him did not waver. I shared
my joys and sorrows with him, and regarded his joys and sorrows as my own. We
lived by the sea, and he returned to the sea. Even across time’s oceanic
expanse, we remain inseparable companions. It is a joy to think
about him, write about him and share whatever I can with readers and listeners.
Many musicians of Tim's era sang their songs, and Tim is one of the few we
remember. He had a wonderful voice, but there was more to his music than that.
He knew how to use that voice to sing incredible melodies, and, above all, he
sang from the heart. There is no past or future, only the eternally living
present. Tim is as much a part of that present now as he was then. He himself
once said, "When something is true, it's true for a long time.” Bye-bye, Starsailor,
and for ever and ever Hello.
Lee Underwood THE MUSICIANS:
Tracks 1 to 4
Tracks 5 to 14
Track 15
Track 16 Regretfully, The Source Compilation Reels Used For This Release Contain No Production Or Engineering Credits. However Many, If Not All, Of These Original 1968 Sessions For TRACKS 1 TO 15 Were Probably Produced By JERRY YESTER And Were Probably Engineered By BRUCE BOTNICK With Production Supervision Probably By JAC HOLZMAN. TRACKS 6 AND 14 Were Probably Additionally Produced By ZAL YANOVSKY. TRACK 16 Recording Director: JERRY YESTER. Production Supervisor: JAC HOLZMAN. Mixing: BRUCE BOTNICK.
Tracks 1 and 2 Record 4 March 1968 At Mayfair Studio New York City, NY
Remastered By BILL INGLOT And DAN HERSCH Special Thanks To LEE UNDERWOOD, JENNIFER STACE, DONNAYOUNG, EVAN COHEN, LARRY BECKETT, ANDY ZAX, THANE TIERNEY and, of course, JUDY BUCKLEY And THE ESTATE OF TIM BUCKLEY
For More Information About The Rhino Handmade Institute Of Petromusicology And The Recordings On Rhino Handmade visit http://www.rhinohandmade.com This Compilation p. & c. 1999 Elektra Entertainment Group. Rhino Handmade, a thoughtfully acoustic division of Rhino Entertainment Company, 10635 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025-4900. Printed in USA.
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