Tim Buckley born 14 February 1947

Born on February 14, 1947, in Washington, D.C., Tim Buckley spent much of his childhood in Amsterdam, New York, before his family relocated to Southern California in 1956. Buckley was a musical omnivore from an early age; he became fascinated with his parents' jazz albums when he was five years old, and his family later introduced him to blues, country, and influential pop vocalists. 

While Buckley played football in high school, his love of music eventually took precedence, though a hand injury in one of his last games would make it difficult for him to play bar chords, which would unwittingly inform his guitar style. While in high school, he made friends with poet and musician Larry Beckett, who would become one of his songwriting partners, and Jim Fielder, a bassist who would play in two bands with Buckley, a rock group called the Bohemians and a folk combo, the Harlequin 3. Also during high school, Buckley entered into a short-lived marriage with his girlfriend Mary Guibert . A month after the couple split following a year together, she would give birth to their son, Jeff Buckley, who said he met his father only once. 

In 1965, Buckley enrolled at Fullerton College, but he dropped out after two weeks to devote himself to writing songs and playing folk clubs in Los Angeles. He gigged often enough to earn a following and some positive press, and in early 1966 he played a show where he was spotted by Jimmy Carl Black of the Mothers of Invention. Impressed, Black told Herb Cohen, the Mothers' manager, about Buckley, and Cohen took Buckley on as a client, getting him his first dates in New York City. Buckley recorded a six-song demo that made its way to Jac Holzman of Elektra Records, who wasted no time signing him to a record deal.

Recorded in just three days with Holzman and Paul Rothchild producing and Jack Nitzsche providing string arrangements, 1966's Tim Buckley tempered his folk sensibilities with rock and pop accents. Not entirely happy with the debut, Buckley was given greater creative freedom on 1967's Goodbye and Hello; a growing interest in psychedelia was clearly audible in the songs and performances, as well as more challenging and personal lyrics, and it became his first album to enter the Top 200 albums charts, peaking at 171. 

                            Paul Morrissey, Andy Warhol, Janis Joplin and Buckley

In March 1968, Buckley was featured on the final episode of the popular TV series The Monkees, performing "Song of the Siren." That same year, he set out on his first tour outside the United States, performing for audiences in Europe and the United Kingdom.

Buckley next shifted into one of his most prolific periods, releasing four albums between 1969 and 1970. Happy Sad, issued in July 1969, found him embracing his love of jazz as he stretched out on relatively lengthy pieces; it rose to 81 on the pop/rock album chart, November 1969's Blue Afternoon added vibraphone and acoustic bass to melodies that recalled the folky tone of his early work. Lorca, appearing in May 1970, took a deep dive into experimental music, with challenging, atonal vocals and arrangements that didn't sit well with many of his fans, and November 1970's Starsailor was no more accessible, further puzzling his shrinking audience, though it would go on to become a cult favourite, with Pitchfork naming it one of the 100 Best Albums of the '70s in a 2004 feature.

With his career on the downturn, Buckley began drinking and drugging in excess, and hoping to win a larger audience, he once again revamped his approach. 1972's Greetings from L.A. was produced by Jerry Goldstein  and was devoted to funk-leaning R&B, with Buckley singing sexually provocative lyrics in an affected manner. While much of his old following had no idea what to make of the album, it did manage to earn him some new followers, and 1973's Sefronia followed a similar template, though his cover of Fred Neil's "Dolphins" and the two-part title track recalled past glories. 

1974's Look at the Fool was the weakest album of Buckley's career, a strange mixture of his R&B/funk material and eccentric rock & roll that was seriously short on good songs and found his voice showing serious wear and tear. After the poor reception afforded Look at the Fool, he announced plans to return to the style of his most celebrated work and hit the road for a concert tour. Buckley had taken steps to leave alcohol and drugs behind, but following the final date of a successful tour, he relapsed upon returning to Los Angeles. After a bout of serious drinking, a friend offered Buckley some heroin; he overdosed, and died on June 29, 1975. He was only 28 years old.  (Edited from AllMusic)