Happy Sad

Personnel: Tim Buckley (vocals, 12-string guitar); Lee Underwood (guitar); David Friedman (vibraphone, bass marimba); John Miller (acoustic bass); Carter C.C. Collins (congas).
Recorded at Elektra Sound Recorders, Los Angeles, California.
Personnel: Tim Buckley (vocals, 12-string guitar); Lee Underwood (guitar); David Friedman (vibraphone, bass marimba); John Miller (acoustic bass); Carter C.C. Collins (congas).
Recording information: Elektra Sound recorders, Los Angeles, CA.
Photographer: Ed Caraeff.
HAPPY SAD was more than just an album title for Tim Buckley. Troubled in life, he left a legacy of beautiful, hauntingly moving songs. Buckley had a piercing, mournful cry in his pliant voice, complemented by a unique jazz-folk delivery. His soaring, octave-spanning voice created an eerie mood of despair--the darker, moody side of the era. His weren't the happy-go-lucky flower-child songs, nor were they the multi-colored, paisley pop tunes of the time; his was a deep, dark-blue expression of emotion.
His voice was beautiful, well-controlled, and, as exhibited in the breezy "Strange Feelin'," colored throughout by an underlying sadness. "Love From Room 109" is a freewheeling, jazzy track that portrays a man who is as emotionally frayed as he is musically disembodied. The 12-minute "Gypsy Woman" is a raging, gritty, and unbridled epic. Even the more upbeat, pop-oriented "Buzzin' Fly" conveys a sense of melancholy. The closing "To Sing A Song For You" is straightforward, yet rendered complex by Tim's nuances.