otherpersons
Timothy Charles Buckley III (February 14, 1947 – June 29, 1975) was an experimental
vocalist and
musician who incorporated
jazz,
psychedelia,
funk,
soul, and
avant-garde rock in a career spanning the late 1960s and early 1970s. Buckley often regarded his voice as an instrument, a talent principally showcased on his albums
Goodbye and Hello,
Lorca, and
Starsailor. His first marriage was to Mary Guibert, with whom he had a child, musician
Jeff Buckley. They divorced in 1968 and after this Buckley would meet with his son only once more. Buckley married second wife Judy Brejot Sutcliffe in 1970 and adopted her son, Taylor.
Buckley's career began with his 1966 debut
Tim Buckley, its mix of
pop and
folk rock drawing on popular influences of the time. His popularity peaked with second album
Goodbye and Hello, a more mature record with avant-garde influences and political sentiments. In the three years that followed Buckley was at his most prolific and experimental, producing four albums of varying styles.
Happy Sad and
Blue Afternoon showed Buckley's
Folk roots while
Lorca veered to more
avant-garde styles. The final album of this period,
Starsailor, is a mix of jazz, funk and avant-garde styles, representing his continual evolution in genre. This period, while garnering some critical success, proved disastrous for his record sales as the disparity of his styles caused his
fanbase to all but disappear.