Tim Buckley

Tim Buckley’s magical voice, which veered between spooky lows and celestial highs, is the centrepiece of every performance featured on this new DVD. Comprised of televised performances and interviews with collaborator Larry Beckett, guitarist Lee Underwood and biographer David Browne, this DVD does an excellent job explaining Buckley’s vast appeal to those who might not know why it is that this man inspires such a devout following yet is still relatively obscure, whereas lesser artists are more widely known. Revered for his astute understanding and exploration of the "boundaries” between folk, rock and jazz, Buckley released such singular records as Starsailor, Blue Afternoon and his excellent self-titled 1966 debut. Much of that material is well-represented on this disc, and watching Buckley’s performances melts away anything else in mind about him: his tragic, drug-related death in 1975, the equally tragic death of his son, musician Jeff Buckley, and all the hoopla being spoken by the interviewees on this disc. While providing some interesting behind-the-scenes commentary and insight into Buckley’s creative process, the interviews are for the most part, somewhat tedious in their precious, almost self-important inclusion into the cult of Buckley. Luckily, there is an option on the disc where one can just watch the performances, and those are well worth the viewing. To watch Buckley swept up in his musical world is to get swept up, joyously, in one’s own.