Tim Buckley - Once I Was (Live'68)

[@Schlachthof5]

In the summer of 68, I drove my beat up 59 Chevy Impala to the Newport Folk Festival with my friend Warren, saw Tim perform. This was and still is my favorite and I’m pretty sure it sung it for us. I can still see Tim on the stage in my minds eye. May you both rest in peace Warren and Tim.

[@richardcoughlin8931]

I was also there in 1968. I remember seeing Joni Mitchell but somehow I missed Tim. I was on summer break from college. My friends and sat on the grass pretty far from the stage but I would trade it for $200 concert tickets today. When I got back to college I saw Tim perform at the club 47 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was such a small venue that I sat no more than 20 feet from him. His performance was hypnotizing. I was so sad when he passed. And then his son also died much too young.

[@LuizPagan]

When we can forgive our fathers we will are truly free. I pray that my children can forgive me... Tim was a genius child. His music crossed a few genres. He helped me make sense of the 60s which was a time of rapid crazy change. Today is even crazier and now he seems prophetic. His songs still resonate like melancholy bells in the distance, clear and rolling through the hills...

[@Nina_InXs]

51 years passed, and I just discovered this artist. I'm greatful I won't die without knowing his music.

[@BigsexyChickenthighs]

Im 38 and i was just introduced 💜

[@Brightscreen-z7k]

I discovered him 6 months ago, and I'm grateful too. You should listen to his son as well. His name is Jeff Buckley. He was, Jeff, as great as his father was.

[@peterwoznyi770]

Tim was a unique performer. He had his own style and voice. In the seventies I discovered his Greeting's from L.A. album. Loved it then and now. Every track on the album is fantastic.. Sefronia is good too with Peanut Man which is a stand out track for me.. Enjoy music history...

[@jeebrew]

his son Jeff Buckley is also an amazing performer just in case

[@jbsamakis]

I know that feeling

[@haltmusic]

He was just 21 in 68. Amazing pure force of nature.

[@giggleswiggles4483]

Hell yeah

[@johnwakefield8570]

.. and others, brothers .. Tim's brothers .. were dropping like flies in 'nam .. as a songwriter, a sensitive soul, he was reflecting upon this tragedy ..

[@sharon102645]

This is one of the most hauntingly beautiful songs ever written. He was a really beautiful person.

[@goodoldrebel8]

It's still timeless, after all these years. Still sounds as fresh as it did 45 years ago.

[@rbernard6685]

I was blessed to be able to see him as the opening act for Judy Collins at the Lincoln Center in NYC mid 1960's. I also remember walking into a small church in the East Village and in the center of that sacred site stood Joan Baez and Country Joe McDonald singing anti Nam songs. That was how I acquired my spirituality.

[@nicolavivarelli4127]

What incredible voice...and what beautiful song ! Great live ..from Italy

[@lostinthiswhirlpool]

This version is just... magic...This 1968 live recording is really wonderful and should have been published as an album at the time...

[@joankearns4490]

Tim can never be forgotten.

[@lainemackay]

I got exposed to Tim back in the late 70's...I was in my 20's when I first related to his music & lyrics.... & now I relate in the late 2000's...he is timeless to those who know him.

[@kareace123]

This is one of Tim Buckley very best songs, and this is a really great and moving version of it. Heaven!

[@patrickwilson7318]

The Vietnam War is clearly the backdrop for this song. I eventually got drafted, got Medic Training, but eventually was forced to refuse to wear my uniform to protest the clear wrongness of this war. Being charged with a Court Martial with a prison sentence hanging in the balance straightened my spine, strengthened my determination. I still have no regrets for what I did.

[@barrymorgenstein201]

I respect those that served . True heroes

[@expwebster1]

The lyrics of this wonderful song describe what my fondest wish is when there is no light and there is just the dark, me and my tears.

[@createdbythefather]

A beautiful majestic song.

[@michaelp7918]

I was turned on to Tim by a HS classmate, Paul Wood... thanks Paul. I have listened to Tim every year since... over 50 of them. RIP

[@oshesa1]

this album blew us all away the first time we heard it. i saw tim buckley at the night owl cafe when he was playing locally before "goodbye hello" came out (?). he was so beautiful and so gifted. i remember playing this one endlessly when he ODed. "....remember me". we do....

[@julieannemichelle]

This one of the most beautiful songs I’ve heard! My brother had his album and I would always play this song.

[@GlobetrottingMusicologist]

Tim, you are remembered like no other. No need to wonder...

[@johnbesharian9965]

Tim was a friend of mine back int the '60's from the Mecca, Mon Ami/Paradox days. He and I used to sit in my apartment, or in the Orange Julius down below it (at the intersection of Lemon & Chapman in Fullerton, Ca.) and talk and play by the hour. This album (one of only a dozen vinyl one's I've ever bought in my life), is a total mischaracterization of Timmy's true talents as a musician and his song writing abilities. Let's call it the "Hollywoodification" of him back then. (Over produced and under represented.) We met at, and were a part of, the music conflabulation of about 40 or so musicians who were inspired and misunderstood by Hollywood, but not the owner, Dick Stout, who use to open one or the other of his clubs on a "Dark (closed) Night" to let us poor fledglings learn our craft , Dick, the owner of two clubs, the Mecca in Buena Park and the Mon Ami in Tustin, Ca., which became the Paradox when he sold it later on. The new owners continued the tradition started by Dick at the behest of both Denny Brooks (Of the New Christy Minstrels) and Jose Feliciano. That little fledgling group spawned so many influential musical "Offshoots" during that time that it's almost impossible to count them all.Those days, best encapsulated as "These Days", because Jack was as an integral part of them and a friend of Tim as well as the rest of us as John McEwen, or Jim Fielder, Penny Nichols, Steve Noonan, Mary McCaslin, Jim fielder, &, or etc. It was truly a "Magic time' musically. (Bye the by, the original album had his right eye covered by a "Pepsi" bottle cap. When did they withdraw their sponsorship"

[@ariadne7646]

That was interesting - thanks!

[@cliffworks748]

Hello John would you remember Brian Hartzler who played guitar with Tim in the early years? We taught at Gene Leis studio in Manhattan Beach around 1970-1. Brian was an eccentric brilliant soul who later taught classical guitar began composing operas and disappeared from public life. I have a bunch of his compositions on hand. thanks cliff woolley in tokyo

[@comeupandseememakeme]

Thanks for sharing that man..

[@giacomoingenito7017]

John Besharian please give me your e mail... i am a fan of tim from italy. I want to know more about him.

[@Stereostupid]

Thanks for the story this man was amazing and so is Jeff

[@justinliberti5917]

What a beautiful, haunting song, Tim.

[@binny29]

Beautiful haunting song. Brings back so many memories. I agree, so sad he was gone at such a young age.

[@metsdevotion]

How anyone could dislike this is beyond me. Tim Buckley's music is so beautiful.

[@vanessahawarden9028]

A blindingly evocative end to the most brilliant film (1978) 'Coming Home'

[@douglaslangdon9343]

I spent almost 30 years trying to figure out who sung that wonderful song at the end of Coming Home (the credits were small, and the movie itself has been out-of-print for years). You have no idea how ecstatic I was when I found it.

[@vanessahawarden9028]

@@douglaslangdon9343 So glad!

[@BLCKSQR]

here because of that too. i love hal ashby

[@Dman216]

I can just melt listening to this

[@TheHitfather]

One true Folk singer that I Spent much of my ten-age years listening to , As I bought the venyl album at the age of 16 i KGS Lyngby in Denmark ! I offer my very thoughts and Love to Elisabeth Bennison who passed away at a very young age after I came home after 2 trips to Afganistan in 1971 and 72. Tim Buckley has a fantastic Voice and the album Goodby and Hallo is the best of all. fantastic mellan kolik lyrics and very good songs- that has also discribed a lot af my owne Loneley life, working on the road as sound engineer for different bands through out my carrere in 70-80-90 as sound engineer in Europe ! I still Love Tim Buckley and the sadnes and combined love that´s in his music, Lyrics that has been a great deal of my life, I just heard the album today after not giving it a thought for more than 40 years , I have had a tough life, wiitnessed many death and suicides in my life, and once I have got over a sadnes It hits me again I dont know why I have to get into so much sadnes but it has been my destiny and I tend to still feel that greif and hardbroken inside my heart , nearly every day ! Good Bless all these people ! May Good be with Tim Buckley too to Eternety ! Hitfather Denmark

[@alanbrown442]

The great Tim Buckley.

[@OMGitsSeppie]

from this video i have learnt that i had never really HEARD this song till i heard it live... what a wonderful soul... may he rest in peace. his songs and his voice has effected my life so much, and for that i am eternally grateful.

[@Pepilotaaa]

I think Bob Dylan and Tim Buckley are one of the best poets in musical life, which have ever lived!R.I.P Tim!

[@ericsissenwein3601]

Saw him on a mixed bill at Fillmore East. We bought all his albums. Now they belong to my son who loves and will share Tim’s music.

[@bartonim]

I'm with you. That was one of my first Tim records, after hearing great covers of his work in the 80s. Nobody like him!

[@randypotter7379]

I was fortunate to be able to talk my parents into letting me go on a road trip to NYC with 2 buddies to see Tim at the Cafe au Go Go during Thanksgiving 1968. I was a junior in prep school. The group Clear Light opened + then Tim put on one marvelous show. So freakin cool.

[@JaimeSamanthaLinn]

No, and to all who say Tim was like Jeff, Jeff, as the son, was, in ways, like his dad. But I knew Tim from "The Village Days," and when I hear him sing "will you ever remember me," I break down and cry. Till the day I die, I will never forget him. barbaralinn

[@westerwood07]

so beautiful! One of the best artists in the poparea.

[@folkchild7595]

his voice omg ... perfect

[@lentas08]

The greatest voice ever!!!!!

[@lookhear49]

Great. One of the most talented artists ever.

[@andreacosta2509]

ESSa música sempre me faz chorar ,linda,linda!!!

[@propheticrain-maker1486]

I understood why Jeff was a bit edgy when being compared to his father, through his looks and music. I mean, being told he's only good because of his father is ridiculous. Though they resemble each other uncannily. They both can project raw emotion. Musically though, barring the incredible vocal ranges they can both achieve (Jeff's being in the higher range, Tim's deeper) their music shares little similarities in my personal opinion. You can definitely tell they are Father & Son though.

[@karelschut]

Imagine if they didnt die they would sing duets

[@RobinASmith138]

@@karelschut but who knows really maybe Jeff wouldn't have been the Jeff he was though..

[@stevenfann4639]

Perfectly stated!

[@michaelgarza8271]

I think Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was a big part of the difference.

[@mikeuknz]

I saw Tim in 68 at the Festival Hall in London where he was the support for the Incredible String Band. I hadn't heard him before but was very impressed and had Goodbye and Hello (vinyl) for many years and now have the CD.

[@adkaromatherapy]

his lyrics were phenomenal.

[@bartonim]

Nothing. It is splendid. Peace to you--Tim was so good, beyond words, really.

[@sickman3960]

Eras angelical, Tim... Así como Jeff... Increíbles, ambos.

[@AuntiPommi]

One summer Tim Buckley played in Boulder Colorado...and I had first heard his music in Calfornia...I was less than 20 feet away from him...his music so so sad. A beautiful poet who expresses so deeply in so few words.

[@EvenFlow420]

This makes me so emotional

[@bartonim]

I have only recently gotten into Jeff, and have long loved Tim. Yes, such losses--brilliant the both of them.

[@joydivision19842]

my most beautiful song ever, lyrics are beautiful and without trying to sound morbid this will definately be my funeral song. tim was a genius

[@gibbogle]

Truth hurts. It hurt me, because I love Buckley's music. The friend who introduced me to Tim Buckley became a junkie and died young - that hurt more.

[@HiddenHandMedia]

It's crazy how tim and jeff did similar things musically

[@johnlamb2754]

The dream letter live album,with the man himself Danny Thompson on bass.

[@AhmedHussienEpic]

I was 20 When I firstly knew about this song and very strange it is that this live was on my day of birth but in 1968. Like he was giving me a birthday gift without even knowing who I am.

[@k0h3l3t8]

The Father of the Legend called Jeff Buckley. Like Father like Son, so adorable to know and sad too. both are in my heart forever with their music

[@StephenPike]

got into tim through Jeff (and think Tim blows him away. Both R.I.P.) But have to thank my teacher, Frank, for giving me a lesson in his music. MEntioned I was listening to Tim in class one day... He stopped everytthing, went to his car and came back with 6 albums for me and let me keep them. Frank was also at Newport (backstage) and said Tim ate his lunch (fried chicken) on stage, seated alone facing the crowd. Classic. Tim, most underrated musician of all-time. Rest his soul.

[@grigorisgirl]

Beautiful. All the live stuff got taken off KZbin a couple of years back (I know because I posted one) then surprise, surprise a few weeks later a dvd was released containing all the live tracks. Luckily I saw him twice live, superb.

[@SuperMcabral]

This song was one of the many great songs in "Coming Home"- the first movie that addressed what Vietnam did to young boys. This song played at the end when Bruce Dern stripped and dove in the Pacific Ocean after returning home from Vietnam. The ending was left to the viewer. Great movie!

[@Raymantico]

lift us up, Tim

[@antoingra]

They are so different from each other that can't be compared! But Jeff... knew how to express emotions that get into the skin! Jeff was truly amazing!

[@Stereostupid]

Antonella Ingrassia id say they were different but also very similar if you pay attention

[@Stereostupid]

Tim was folky Jeff was more modern and more alternative but they did very similar things with their voices

[@billmoss2877]

Thank you John.

[@Mpathia]

I was there... thanks for "sharing"

[@filetemar]

Oh god.. electric guitar on this version is perfect. This song is so sublime to me

[@TheLordHodne]

This was taken from the Dream Letter Concert in London. The whole show is stunning!

[@drstevie]

Beautiful

[@leather1631]

Tim was truly wonderful. Sad that he died so young. Malcolm

[@euphbeav]

his voice at the chorus is breath taking

[@imortall]

thanks so mutch edumota i have been looking for alive virson of this song for ages.

[@jamessim83]

Great musicians never die

[@MrRogue1968]

Wonderful........ I was born in the UK on the day that this was recorded live in UK, so it's especially poignant to listen to for me. Thanks to edumota for posting it.

[@tonifrancis2189]

I will always remember you.

[@FrankValchiria]

out of all his experimentation those are eternal gems

[@robertpage5053]

Reject the expense of commercially overproduced music. Sing to yourself, your family, your friends, your soul, and worry not about critics because God is listening and loving the gift bestowed as the unfiltered window of your soul! -- Robert Page, Middlesex, VA

[@CayoHueso55]

I love this performance.

[@LMUDewey]

Great song! The last scene of the movie "Coming Home" features this song. What a GREAT ending to a powerful movie. I always wondered if the song was written for the movie or if it was added because it fit perfectly.

[@37Goglemail]

The movie came out in 1978, several years after Tim died. Besides, I somehow cannot imagine him writing for movies.

[@bartonim]

Apparently, Jeff was none too fond of the comparisons, but they are valid. Such talent--times two! I love them both. So happy to find alike souls here; usually, it's nothing but vitriol on KZbin--people who have nothing better to do than insult. You are the polar opposite. Peace to you!

[@tedkashiwaya]

Happy 64th Birthday in heaven, Tim... R.I.P.

[@NONAMEWTF]

that song is so full of love.

[@Add_Account485]

BELLISIMO!

[@TeaParty1776]

I saw a Buckley concert at Stanford U around 1974. He was an excellent singer and drove the girls wild. Some of them came after me but they were too young.

[@richardcoughlin8931]

Vita brevis. Why do the years flash by so quickly as I grow older when childhood seemed to last forever.

[@babaoriiley8910]

chills

[@crazygeorge53]

Tim and Jeff both left lasting impressions on American Music. They earned their place the hard way. That's life, and yeah it sucks sometimes, but they never did.

[@jumpyourbone]

jeff and his music are so gorgeous just like tim and tims music

[@ginolight]

Immortal poet !

[@vanessahawarden9028]

On 11/11 stand up at 1100 for all who gave their lives and minds in Vietnam...give them the 2 minutes silence...it’s the very least you can do.

[@cormacrussellmusic]

You're absolutely correct...in both senses!!

[@guitaralexi]

sometimes i wonder...how lucky i am.. ... such a beatiful song..

[@greene825]

@SEEVIEGEENIE Same here!!! i was watching that movie in class today and i thought this song was awesome, so i wrote down a line from it and found it. Great song.

[@foad4067]

I remember this as the final song in the movie Coming Home Phenomenal sound track and movie

[@swrose66marchangel]

LOVE THIS SONG!

[@wildrobson9145]

Read Underwood guitarist who played with Tim Buckley wrote the synopsis for my book of poetry and song lyrics composed

[@jerryairheart]

edumota - THanks for the great posting, If anybody has Sweet Surrender would they please! post it

[@hayseed1957]

Thanks so much for posting this. I wish the video went with the audio, but you cain't have everything. I love this song. Thanks again.

[@duluoz8198]

He is even better when he sings live....

[@mynamespace]

i allways remember you!

[@Byrontheone]

it really sucks when so much greatness and potential goes down the tubes..before it comes to its rightful peak. O love is perhaps the greatest emotion to experience and yet can bring you so much sadness in your lifetime. It does not'seem' right yet it happens much too often...

[@broadpath]

The introduction when Tim is talking - now I know where Jeremy Davies got the mannerisms for the character Faraday on Lost!

[@blackmore4]

"it really sucks when so much greatness and potential goes down the tubes..before it comes to its rightful peak" Yes, but it would be difficult to argue against Tim Buckley reaching a "rightful peak" on each and every record he made. He peaked continuously!

[@PS109VanBurenHigh]

Heartbreaking in every way.

[@rhmaccracken]

If you saw "Coming Home," you can't forget this song.

[@silverhaireddevil]

My number was 22 in the draft in 1968. I had already lost my best friend there. Him and I tried to join the service to learn a trade. They took him and not me. He was picked off by a sniper while driving a grader. His father who was all over the Pacific in WWII and didn't want him to go, went crazy. I fought against the war after that. This song was played in the movie, Coming Home. while Marine Bruce Dern, walked to his death at home into the ocean, after Jane Fonda cheated on him......

[@il9621]

I always wondered about that scene...did he walk into the ocean because it was the final straw for him?

[@MsRadiorebel]

I like the editting of this video

[@fleedermouse]

your post gave me chills