Personnel includes: Tim Buckley (vocals, 12-string & slide guitars, vibraphone, kalimba); Lee Underwood, Joe Falsia (guitar); Jerry Yester (piano, keyboards, background vocals); Van Dyke Parks (harpsichord); Mark Tiernan (keyboards); Jim Fielder, Jimmy Bond, Danny Thompson, Jim Hughart, John Balkin, John Miller, Chuck Rainey (bass); David Friedman (vibraphone); Maury Baker (drums, tympani); Billy Mundi (drums, percussion); Ed Greene, Jimmy Madison (drums); Carter C.C. Collins (congas, percussion); Clydie King, Venetta Fields (background vocals).
Producers include: Jac Holzman, Jerry Yester, Dick Kunc, Paul Rothschild, Tim Buckley.
Compilation producer: James Austin.
Engineers include: Bruce Botnick, Stan Agol, Dick Kunc.
Recorded between August 1966 & July 1974. Includes liner notes by Lee Underwood & Barry Alfonso.
Digitally remastered by Dan Hersch & Bill Inglot (DigiPrep).
It's taken America a long time to come around to the magic of '60s/'70s troubadour Tim Buckley. During his tragically brief, incredibly prolific lifetime, Buckley proved to be a truly eclectic visionary, careening madly from folk-rock to boldly experimental work to quirky R&B and more. His unearthly, elastic tenor was a thing of rare beauty, as Buckley weaving his way through a song with the abandon of a rocker and the fluidity and grace of a jazzman. Buckley never broke through commercially, but his reputation has subsequently grown to impressive cult status. While he's long been revered in other countries, his homeland never even eked out a decent collection of his work until this two-disc marvel.
Hardcore Buckley fans might complain that MORNING GLORY contains only one previously unreleased song (an enthralling "Song to the Siren" taken from a MONKEES episode), but they'd been catered to by a wealth of live and unreleased material becoming available in the previous few years. For anyone just discovering Buckley, or simply desirous of one definitive compilation, this is a gem. In the sunny folk-jazz of "Strange Feelin'," the eerie artsong "Song to the Siren," and the lascivious R&B of "Hong Kong Bar," MORNING GLORY portrays a brilliant, mercurial artist whose destiny would remain sadly unfulfilled. This collection's one flaw is the absence of Buckley's most avant garde works, but it still contains an embarrassment of riches.
What the critics say...
Rolling Stone (3/29/01, p.63) - 3.5 stars out of 5 - "...Buckley experimented to the end, sometimes brilliantly...sometimes to his enduring embarrassment, but always with a consequences-be-damned conviction."
Entertainment Weekly (3/30/01, p.69) - "...Tim had a voice in a million: He sounded like an angel on earth..." - Rating: A
Q (5/01, p.129) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Explains why Tim is revered as one of American rock's most unique talents....Most of his best songs are here..."
Alternative Press (5/01, pp.68-9) - 3 out of 5 - "...Effectively maps Buckley's musical vagaries....amply proving that not only was his vocal prowess peerless, but his ability to move listeners emotionally was even more impressive..."
Mojo (Publisher) (4/01, p.116) - "...Those who've never heard the man couldn't ask for a more balanced introduction..."
