Lorca (album)

Infobox Album | Name = Lorca
Type = Album
Artist = Tim Buckley


Released = 1970
Recorded = 1970
Genre = Jazz-Rock, Folk-Rock, Avant-garde
Length = 39:24
Label = Elektra Records
Producer = Dick Kunc
Reviews =
*AllMusic Rating|3|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:5gjeeae04xh7 link]
*Piero Scaruffi rating-10|9 [http://www.scaruffi.com/vol1/buckley.html#lorca link]
Last album = "Blue Afternoon" (1970)
This album = "Lorca" (1970)
Next album = "Starsailor" (1970)

"Lorca" is the fifth album by singer-songwriter Tim Buckley, released in 1970. Named after Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca, [ cite web |title= Tim Buckley interview: "The High Flyer"|url=http://home.casema.nl/jim2873/timbuckley/highflyer.html |accessdate=2008-05-04 ] it was recorded simultaneously with "Blue Afternoon" and "Happy Sad", though notably different in style. It was one of Buckley's two avant-garde albums, and explored some sounds and ideas he had never used before. Also importantly, it was an attempt to break away from more traditional and prevalent pop music songwriting styles, such as the verse/chorus binary form, that Buckley had explored in the earlier parts of his career. [http://home.casema.nl/jim2873/timbuckley/theinterview Tim Buckley Interview at "timbuckley.com"] ]

"Lorca" exemplifies the beginning of Buckley's move away from his folk-rock roots and towards a free-form mix of jazz, avant-garde and folk. Musically, Buckley uses the lack of a constant rhythm section to drive the songs forward with his voice. Many songs make use of a chromatic scale which makes them stand in stark contrast to Buckley's earlier melodic works. The lyrics of "Lorca" also represent a departure from his previous traditional folk-style writing, instead Buckley uses a more abstract descriptive style, avoiding direct narratives and standard song themes. This is a reflection of the poetry, such as the works of poet Lorca, Buckley and guitarist Lee Underwood were reading at the time. [ cite web |title="father?" "yes, son?" "i want to kill you." |publisher="Option Magazine" July/August 95 |url=http://www.timbuckley.net/articles/tboption.htm |accessdate=2008-06-03 ] The album's opener and title track is a much less guitar-based song, something in contrast to Buckley's previous works, and this would be a theme in Buckley would explore more in his later avant-garde works.

According to Larry Beckett, his songwriting partner from "Tim Buckley" and "Goodbye and Hello", he was purposely trying to alienate fans at this point. Buckley described it as an album that, "To this day, you can't put...on at a party without stopping things; it doesn't fit in."

Buckley describes the second track as a "real advance," and that "It deals with a ballad in a totally personal, physical presentation... It has to be done slowly; it has to take five or six minutes; it has to be a movement. It has to hold you there and make you aware that someone is telling you something about himself in the dark."

The album was written during a very prolific time for Buckley as he recorded and released four albums within a space of less than two years. Three of the albums, "Happy Sad", "Blue Afternoon" and "Lorca" were recorded in the space of a single month. Buckley completed these albums around the same time as an obligation to Warner Bros. Records, and also separately, Elektra Records owner Jac Holzman. Holzman, responsible for signing the artist, was in the process of selling the company and Buckley wanted to fulfil his contract in the time before Holzman's departure.

Track listing

All tracks written by Tim Buckley.

#"Lorca" – 9:53
#"Anonymous Proposition" – 7:43
#"I Had a Talk With My Woman" – 6:01
#"Driftin'" – 8:12
#"Nobody Walkin'" – 7:35

Personnel

*Tim Buckley – Guitar, Vocals
*Lee Underwood – Guitar, Keyboards
*John Balkin – upright bass, Bass, Pipe organ
*Carter Collins – Congas

Album Personnel

*Executive Producer - Herb Cohen
*Engineer/Producer - Dick Kunc
*Photography - Ed Caraeff
*Photo Conversion - J. Seele
*Design - Robert L. Heimall
*Art Direction - William S. Harvey

References

External links

* [http://www.geocities.com/timbuckleyfiles/coppagelorca.html Noel Coppage's review of "Lorca"]