Tim Buckley – Morning Glory (1967)

Unfortunately, Tim Buckley is now often more remembered as the father of Jeff rather than as a wonderful singer/songwriter in his own right.

I first became aware of him by accident. The Cocteau Twins offshoot, This Mortal Coil, released a fantastic track called “Song to the Siren” in the mid 1980s that I subsequently learned had been written by Tim Buckley. It took the advent of the CD to make his original version readily available again and to hear an utter work of genius – will be posting that in due course.

This track was released by Tim Buckley as a track on his second LP, “Goodbye and Hello” released in 1967 when he was only 20 …. It is a work of sublime beauty.

Tim Buckley died of a heroin overdose (alcohol also involved) at the age of 28 in 1975. His very talented son, Jeff, died at the age of 30 in 1997 after a much less rock’n’roll death by accidental drowning.

Looking back, I think Dad was the more talented …..

Studio version then a wonderful live performance from the BBC of unknown date ….

The Fall – I’m a Mummy (1997)

Seamless segue from the previous post. The Fall have done many remarkable cover versions over the years and this has always been one of my favourites (right up there with their reading of Sister Sledge’s awesome “Lost in Music” …).

This was originally released as a B Side by Bob McFadden in 1959 as “The Mummy”; the A Side was the wonderful “The Beat Generation” which inspired the classic Richard Hell track “Blank Generation”. Clearly, one of the most influential singles of all time!

The Fall take some typical liberties with the lyrics with Mark E. Smith in particularly expansive form.

Nice bespoke video from Youtube ….

Look what happens when I walk up to somebody …

Bob McFadden – The Beat Generation (1959)

I have always loved Bob McFadden ever since hearing the classic novelty hit “The Mummy”. The Fall do a fantastic cover version of that track and their version may well get an airing in the very near future. What I hadn’t realised was that the B-Side of “The Mummy” is this track, “The Beat Generation” which was the inspiration for the Richard Hell classic “Blank Generation”. Many thanks to an old colleague for posting this on FacebooK!

Just managed to get hold of an MP3 version as well – available on a fantastic 132 track compilation “The Beat Generation – Music and Poetry” available at Amazon for a stunning £6.99!