Listening to Tim Buckley emotively belting on Live at the Folklore Center, you can tell where son, Jeff, got his golden pipes. This stripped-down, informal solo-acoustic performance for an intimate audience of 35 nicely captures the ’60s singer/songwriter’s raw beauty. It’s a shame the reels on which the show was recorded sat on a shelf for so many years because Buckley is in fine form—his guitar picking so crisp, his vocals so soaring that it’s an enjoyable listen despite sounding just a cut above a John Darnielle boombox recording. The only other downside to this unearthed Buckley bootleg is that—even with an artist as talented as he is—it’s a daunting task to hold a listener’s interest for 16 tracks with nothing more than voice and guitar. Still, if taken in small doses, this historical document—featuring a half-dozen never-before-released Buckley tunes and some engaging liner notes by Folklore Center proprietor, Izzy—offers many rewards.
