Tim Buckley's first recordings

Recorded after the Orange County demos of 1965, but before the self-titled LP for Elektra was cut in August of the following year, and released here for the very first time, these recordings capture a 19-year-old Buckley and his then backing band, The Bohemians (with Brian Hartzler on lead guitar, rather than subsequent mainstay Lee Underwood, and Jim Fielder, later of Buffalo Springfield, the Mothers and Blood, Sweat & Tears, on bass), feeling their way into three tracks that would soon grace the debut album in rather more lavishly polished versions.

On top of that, there’s a raw, skittering folk-rocking slash through Sixface that diverges radically from the acoustic take on Light In The Attic’s 2016 Lady, Give Me Your Key collection. There’s no denying the fact that these are diamonds in the rough, but for the Buckley nut, hearing the slow evolution of the songs and the voice, already soaring and severely singular, is joy enough in itself.