Greetings From L.A.
Tim Buckley
1972
Album Summary
Greetings from L.A. is the seventh album by singer-songwriter Tim Buckley, released in August 1972. It was recorded at Far Out Studios in Hollywood, California. Like most of his other albums, Greetings from L.A. did not sell well, although this is probably his best seller (there at least 2 different US pressings: the first with removable postcard and dark green WB label, the second had no perforations for the postcard and had the Burbank WB label), getting substantial airplay in the Twin Cities on the Minneapolis FM station KQRS and selling very well at the independent record shops in Minneapolis-St. Paul and elsewhere (Detroit, New York, etc.) until it was deleted by Warner Brothers (whereupon Greetings continued to sell as a UK/European import into the '80's). The album was later re-released on November 7, 2005, in a compilation with debut album Tim Buckley by Elektra.
WikipediaI am fascinated with the music of Tim Buckley. Buckley has an unusual, rich, caramelly voice. He hits his high notes with a wail and such intensity, in a way that sounds, dare I say almost feminine? It's really cool. The album is full of high energy songs, sexy, bluesy concoctions with hodgepodge instrumentation including organs, congas, sax, guitar, also strings?! Love it. The horndog lyrics haven't aged especially well, but I'm not bothered by it. I'm actually impressed how sexually open the lyrics are. I can't even imagine how they were received at the time. Fave songs: Make It Right, Sweet Surrender, Get on Top
I'm not a huge Tim Buckley fan. I like some of his earlier records much more than this one. The singing style here begins to grate on me after awhile. It's like some kind of carnival ride throwing you about this way and that. I find it exhausting. I also find the whole raunchy thing he's got going off-putting.
39 minutes is a long time to scream “I have sex”. Surprised there’s no cleverly innuendo named track ‘Lick my tube’
I was going to give it 2 stars, but then 'Devil Eyes' made me want to puke.
Really great album. Surprised more people weren't listening to this in the 70s (imo the most boring period of rock). Funky, sexy, funny and rockin. Some of the sexier lyrics havent aged very well but I think that adds to the art and showing of the times.
Great album, love the guitar and congas on these songs, very groovy. Standout tracks: Sweet Surrender, Devil Eyes, Hong Kong Bar
Enjoyed the bluesy 70s feel to the music. Prompted me to learn more about this artist online. Another who died too young. And, same for his son!
He seemed like a shit person but I really liked the funky-ass album. Don’t emulate your heroes, kids.
This is pretty cool stuff. Love the rambling rock, sexually charged lyrics, occasional bluesyness, saxophones, and I even think I heard some bongos - its a full serving. Very surprised to read that Tim Buckley was most popular in the Twin Cities - “getting substantial play on KQRS”. Wikipedia also has an excellent descriptive that sums up the careers of Tim Buckley and many aspiring, yet unnoticed, talents: “Like most of his other albums, ‘Greetings from L.A.’ did not sell well”. 3.5 stars, and rounding up for the local history.
Well. Little Timmy got all drugged out and horned up since the last time we heard from him, didn’t he? Haha. Good Lord! I did not expect to hear this dude speaking in tongues and talking about licking toe jam on this record, but I wholeheartedly approve. 👍 (But what’s up with all the double artist dipping on this “random” generator so far? We’ve still got 900-some records to go. Spread this shit out!)
Essentially, did not listen. First tune failed to get my attention in the very least.
No conozco el trabajo de este cantante, pero se nota como un album de transicion.
Great album. Each song needs a little bit to get going but all worth it
5/5 - I had heard of Tim Buckley but never listened to any of his catalog. This is a great album.
Fedt rock album og den gamle. Desværre lyder sangeren ret Adam Sandler agtig irriterede. Jeg med en anden sanger kunne den måske hvad været 5 stjerner
psychedelic rock, progressive jazz Dream Letter (1990) + Blue Afternoon
Quirky album with some real Sing-along tunes. Great for a sunny afternoon listening. Reminds of Jerry Reed in song composition and sound.
This was great! Really enjoyed it, funky bluesy bar rock! VINYL purchase coming up! Cracking album!
YASS TIM BUCKLEY, let’s gooooo I did not have time to focus, rly but I know I will come back jeszcze słucham ale dam czwórkę, bo pewnie będzie mi się podobać więcej na rym
A nice, easy listen. A little swing, a little soul, and other things that I can't quite name. If Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin had ever collaborated, I think that the result would have been something like this.
A lot of energy going on here, most of it good. Nicely put together songs, powerful vocals. His verbal 'solos' are a bit odd though.
Really cool album. More gritty than Goodbye and Hello. Talented songwriter.
Andy was teaching me about Tim Buckley before we started and I really enjoyed the phrase “sex funk”. This was a fun album!
Again, I am a simple gal with simple wishes, and if I can dance to it then I will enjoy it. I can most certainly dance to this, and so I enjoy it a lot! Tim Buckley's voice is so bloody good and the instrumentals are so FULL WOO
I never listened to a Tim Buckley album before...not at all what I expected. Figured it would be some quiet, NickDrakeesque folk songs sung by a plaintive fragile whispy voiced loner. Imagine my surprise...this album rocks. What a voice ol' Tim has, I see from where his sons talent comes. I like this album, I'm on my third play in 24 hours, and like it more each time. 4 🌟
Estranged father of Jeff Buckley. Died at 28 of heroin overdose. Kinda funky and strange. Interesting fun sound.
My first thought when I saw this one was “ANOTHER singer-songwriter, yay…” HOWEVER, I thought this one was pretty good, there’s some nice instrumentation here. The most enjoyable songs on this record were ‘devils eyes’ and ‘make it right’ though there were a number of good songs here. The lyrics are… interesting. Not the type you’d want to play out loud next to a busy window (which I found out the hard way). The singing is nice though. Overall I’d give this one a 3.75 stars.
Odakle ljubav prema Timčeku? Bome, prije svega, svestran je. Ovo nisam očekivao da će snimit, da će napravit, ali ipak je! Bome si nas napustio jako rano, šteta velika.
Great blues stuff straight to the soul. Started as a 3 but rose to a 3.5 and settled at a 4.
Wow what a skilled guitarist and musician, the playing on Hong Kong Bar is absolutely mesmerising!! I really loved this album. There were a few outdated elements like the fetishisation of black women in Move with Me which is otherwise a great track. This was totally acceptable at the time in the 70s though (may even have been seen as a good thing) but it does just stick out and feel a little uncomfortable listening now...
Whats not to love about Tim Buckley apart from the fact that he is no longer with us to give us those searing blues compositions? Love "Nighthawking" and "Sweet Surrender". Classic Album rightfully on the list.
Cet album de l'imposture Buckley est extrêmement convaincant. La voix du faux Buckley est en effet des plus impressionnantes, et la musicalité n'est pas sans rappeler la musique du réel Buckley. Fort heureusement, nous ne sommes pas dupes au sein du générateur, et n'accordant à cette copie qu'un 4/5, là où le réel Buckley parvenait à aller chercher la note suprême.
Such a soulful voice! Not sure its my kind of music, but it's really good anyway.
The music makes it clear the dude fucks. And tbh, the album does fuck. I liked it more than I thought I would.
some real good tracks here, this album is one you can really sink into. didn’t know anything about tim buckley except for his son, going to check out more of his music.
I liked this album. Tim is a hard guy to judge. Not certain how much of the music is being playing straight and how much is pointed satire. Absent thinking about the lyrics though it’s a great album
Never heard any Tim Buckley before and I liked this a lot. Great upbeat songs with a great great band laying down the foundation for Tim's amazing voice; powerful, emotive, versatile. A really good album that will stay in rotation. 4 🌟
Очень такой блюзо-роковый альбом. Мне он понравился, звучит бодро и качает хорошо.
Upon first glance, a funk album made by a troubled folk rock troubadour screams all sorts of thoughts: an act of artistic desperation, an awkward attempt to fit in with then-prevailing trends, a curious case of cashing in. Yet, when one come across Greetings From L.A., one finds Tim Buckley once again finding a genre and making it fit on his terms. Yeah, he helps and grovells and becomes frankly sexual in a strange fashion but at least he is honest about where he is. A missive from one of the more curious musicians of his era, this is a postcard that shall be reexamined and reevaluated in due time. Favorites: Move With Me, Get on Top, Sweet Surrender, Devil Eyes, Hong Kong Bar.
This album gets into such a hard groove at times, a lot of fun to listen to! I just wish it wasn't such a horny album, Tim was down bad the entire duration of Greetings from LA Get on Top Make it Right
Probably the most commercial album that Tim made. You can imagine Jeff singing some of these songs. This is a good way in to discovering Tim. Work your way backwards from here!
My first born child died so this record could be made. Tim Buckley does that sacrifice justice.
i'm going to LA next week, i'll let you know if this is what LA actually sounds like. i like his continuation of Jim Morrisons vibe, he probably would have been a good replacement. pretty solid album, i reckon i'll listen to this again someday which is a fucking massive upgrade on most.
Loved his voice. Crazy how similar in tone and range he was to his son he had nothing to do with.
J'ai écouté l'albulm partitionné un peu car je n'avais pas le temps de l'écouter tout d'un coup. Cela a fait en sorte que je l'ai écouté plusieurs fois. Cependant, jen ,ai pas toujours eu la même émotion. J'ai adoré les 3 derni;res quand j'ai écouté la 2e fois mais trouvé correct les premiere chansons la 1er fois. ens omme J'ai adoré le registre de l'album et j'aurais bien aimé avoir plus de matériel de Tim Buckley. 4.75
Gets a bit weird at times, but enjoyable. Hit to miss ratio is not the best. Best track: Make It Right
Some of the songs were great, but others are a bit underwhelming. I think I enjoyed Sweet Surrender, Hong Kong Bar, and Make It Right the most. If the rest of them would be as good as those, it would be a 4 but, 3.5 down to 3 for me.
The album is a great jam for instrument aficionados, but average from a songwriting perspective. I’d be more interested in what his folk output was.
Quite enjoyed the one-two punch of Tim Buckley this app has delivered up. I think I might prefer this one to Starsailor. Okay, nobody is confusing him for George Clinton, but as a blue-eyed soul cut this ain't half bad
Twijfelgeval. Ik houd van de energie op deze plaat, van blues en van Tim Buckley's stem, maar ik vind dat hij zijn stem voor blues een beetje vervelend gebruikt. Daarom geen 4 maar een 3.
Het is wel duidelijk dat Jeff er niet eentje van de melkboer is, maar dat hij zijn vocale capaciteiten van papa Tim heeft. Dit album is voor mij iets te experimenteel - Tim heeft mooiere ingetogenere albums gemaakt. Maar het is ook ergens wel fascinerend om te horen.
Heel wat anders dan zoonlief later deed. Maar wat een energie. Af en toe zelfs een zweem van The Doors. Ik vond dit best wel tof!
some crazy stuff in here....some good some not so good - had to skip "get on top" as....WTF?
A little bit of jazz, some R&B and a heap of funk. BT: Move With Me, Get on Top, Nighthawkin'
Buckley brings a blend of Soul, R&B, Rock, and Folk all into one unique album. This record welcomes you and invites you to experience something new and refreshing. Although it lacks any major ear worms, it is a notable effort that warrants deeper listening.
It was better than I thought it was going to be. Sounded kinda like Led Zeppelin mixed with Bluesy Folk? I enjoyed it, but probably won’t ever listen to it again.
The album is quite funky and neat. Though I don't see anything too special about it. The singer's manner of singing is interesting.
It's fine, but it's like Robert Plant without LZ. Vocals are too much for me personally. Maybe I'd like the folk-era Buckley better.
Fun 70's sound with a bit more funk than I've heard in albums from a similar time frame. Nothing super compelling here, but a fun listen. 3.0
Not a big fan of most of the lyrics and songs, but make it right is GG playlist
Was upbeat and funky so the music was good for the most part. Probably better without the lyrics.
Really enjoyed this one. It was over before I knew it though, which means it didn't stand out enough and probably shouldn't get 4 stars
Good album. Able to understand its importance and influence, but not quite my style.
Kuulosti kuin Rollarit ja Aerosmith oltais vedetty tehosekottimessa smoothieks. Aika kitkerää... 2 liian vähän ja kolme liikaa.
An enjoyable listen, a much more interesting album than I expected. would revisit
First, this album is offensive and toxic. Second, a huge part of the 1001 albums are the US bluesy bands and performers which starts to bore me.
Neke su mi bile dobre neke bi odma preskočila. Al ove koje su mi bile dobre su mi super, volim tog malo country štiha nez zašto mi ulipša svaku pismu.. Ili se to uopće tako ne zove al ne znam kako bi drugačije opisala taj štih. Sve u svemu okej!
Sounds like Tim likes to do it all with his big ole mamas! And everyone else! I especially enjoyed Hong Kong bar.
This was pretty good! I've heard 4 Tim Buckley albums before (really enjoyed 3 of them) but hadn't got to this one, and it was verrrry different to what I was used to Wikipedia described this as the first move to Buckley's 'sex funk era' and... yeah that sums it up really A lot of it is really fun and there are some great grooves, but some of the songs outstay their welcome. It was also quite unlucky for this to come up in the project so shortly after Let's Get It On, which basically does the same thing in a more effective way
Actually liked this more than I expected to. I'm not a big fan of what I've heard of his post-Goodbye & Hello stuff, but this is the first I've heard this album in full and sexy R&B Tim actually worked for me quite well.
Sembra Mick Jagger con un sound più funk e fricchettone. Bello, ampio, non troppo però. 3/4
Očekivala sam nešto drugačije. Bilo je dobro al ne i ko i goodbye and Hello
Well this was a bit of a grower, quite enjoyed some of the more bluesy and orchestral ones. Its not peak Tim Buckley, I have to say - but I did enjoy it.
Solid 70’s blues feel, but also weird lyrics, that do not do it for me. Gets boring
A few of these were bops but I wasn't crazy about the album as a whole (interestingly, my two least favorites were the ones with the most streams on Spotify. Although those were also probably the most musically interesting ones, but I guess I just like boring stuff)
That is a sad image of Los Angeles, but accurate for the mid-1970s. It's not *all* smog, some of it is dirt in the air from the Owens Valley, blowing down over the city. Tim Buckley feels like a poser. Maybe that's wrong, maybe he's the real deal. Dead at 28. His song Jeff, who I should appreciate for popularizing the Leonard Cohen song, made it another two years to die at 30. He never met his dad. Okay, I take it back. Not a poser, seems real close to the real deal. Pretty good. Glad I heard it before I died.
Le principal problème de cet album est que Tim Buckley nous envoie des nouvelles de ses vacances à Los Angeles alors même qu'on ne lui a rien demandé.
Pleasant songwriting. I find Tim generally unremarkable although I'd happily listen to his work for an extended period of time without complaint.
Beetje standaard rock'n'roll uit Amerika. Ik vind het niet veel bijzonders, alhoewel het nummer "Make It Right" wel lekker klinkt. ***
Very different from what I was expecting, a pleasant enough interlude, less folk and more bluesy rock.
Musically interesting but if you’re expecting his son’s introspection from this album - you’re not going to get it - it’s a sleazy LA album with a hint of Jim Morrison and a lot of misogyny. Still some good music at times
This album could almost be a the prototye for 70s rock/white-blues/soul, as it sounds so generic and firmly rooted in that decade. If you like this kind of stuff, you will like the album too. For me, this is not bad by any means, but really nothing special. 2.5/5
First time listening to Tim Buckley, and it's not quite what I expected. There's a lot of honky tonk energy here, not too dissimilar from some of the stuff The Rolling Stones did. Overall this album is good, but there wasn't much stand out stuff here. Favorites: "Get On Top", "Sweet Surrender", "Make It Right"
Listened Before? N This one was FUNKY. It was alright... kind of overtly sexual and good sex music probably. After reading his history I'd really be more interested in checking out some of his earlier stuff. Added to Library? N Songs added to Playlist: Move With Me
Maybe I'm a prude. Maybe I had a headache. Maybe it was just an off day. Or maybe...just maybe...I don't like Tim Buckley all that much. Happy Sad was a little better.
While no particular song stood out to me, I liked this. It was fun and upbeat. I preferred the music more than the singing. The singing was...a lot at times. Did his singing remind anyone else of Shakira? At times, it was so uncanny that it was distracting.
Songs are excellent, Tim Buckley's voice is.. well... I was hoping the back up singers would be more prominent. This record is like a buffet, seems to offer a little bit of everything, but nothing that's unique to it. Might come back to it if the mood is right.
Kind of on the fence the whole time about this high tight hollerin’ kind of singing style, which at times seemed Out of phase or at odds with the music. I wasn’t getting the lyrics so maybe they were great, I don’t know. Clearly a talent but for me not quite fully baked.
Very funky album with some really nice soul songs. The sing style makes me think of Jim Morrison.
No one could ever accuse Tim Buckley of not giving it his all. Man, this is a weird one to evaluate. I like Tim Buckley, but I also think he often sounds like a parody of himself. I think his vocal shenanigans work best when paired up with equally bizarre music (as it is on the excellent Starsailor, which somehow NOT on this list?). On this album they were more distracting than impressive, even though the dude has a range most singers would be jealous of. That said, the band here is on fire and there are moments when everything comes together. I especially dug "Sweet Surrender" and "Making it Right." The other songs, though, I wish we could take the backing tracks and give them to other singers to see what kind of melodies and lyrics they could come up with. (Imagine James Brown singing "Get on Top.") And speaking of lyrics . . . well, again, I found them more distracting than interesting. Having said all of that, I was surprised to find that I was sad when the album was over. Tim Buckley's a hard guy to know how to recommend to people because he changed his sound so often. For my money, Starsailor is where it's at, but I also recognize that that album is not for everyone, even Tim Buckley fans. YMMV
Sex obsessed honky tonk funk, not what I was expecting from a Tim Buckley album at all. But it was pretty enjoyable nonetheless.
For 1972’s “Greetings from L.A.”, Tim Buckley trades in his dreamy, psychedelic folk for a rocking, hard hitting, “sex funk” sound. The career of Buckley is sort of strange. He had this sort of crooning, deep voice that seemed to change with every record. He was big in the underground L.A. scene, but never really made it out. This record was a huge change in sound for him. There are a lot of Jim Morrison-esque moments and a few Janis Joplin moments on this record as well. The lyrical content is - well - sexual to say the least. Some of it certainly didn’t age well, and some of it is sort of strange, but I think a majority of it is pretty fun. If the lyrical content varied more, this would’ve received a higher score. Overall an enjoyable listen.
Okay, well this album is hilariously horny. It opens with this; I went down to the meat rack tavern And found myself a big ol' healthy girl Now she was drinkin' alone Aw what a waste of sin So I went on over to sweet talk that girl Lord I moved on in Then moves on to a song that spends 7 minutes saying Get On Top, make me speak in tongues. Lol. If you ever wondered what a cross between Harry Nilsson and Marvin Gaye might be like, this is the album for you. It descends a touch too often into noodly twiddling, but was enjoyably silly and different.
Oversexed lyrically and overwrought vocally, if musically interesting in a basic, groovy kinda way. We’ve surely reached peak TB, and one thinks the cult can only – definitely should – get smaller.
Ooh, some of the songs on this album had an icky factor. It was just alright.
the album started out sounding one way (bad) and ended differently (fine). didn't like the piano bar sound of the first two songs but the latter half was better.
Okay, from my (admittedly limited) knowledge of Tim Buckley, I was not expecting him to make a proto-Ed Sheeran acoustic white guy funk album. It’s not bad? Definitely sounds like what I just described, but not as embarrassing as you’d think, yet I feel like I’d prefer his folkier stuff. Or, y’no, PFunk. C
Blues-y thing that I didn't care much for. "Get on Top" was pretty good though, with its funky guitars. The last part of the song especially gets funky and I liked that song. Overall, it was pretty boring though. 2.5/5
I mostly liked this. Some of the songs devolved a little too much into kind of weird hippy horniness, especially the back half of the album, but overall not bad.
First impression, "wow this dude's sounds a little to horny". Second impression, "ok really this dude needs to calm down" lol. Fun to listen to though I guess
It was... fine. Buckley seems interesting enough as an artist and person, but if I end up liking this album it will be as a grower.
It's always a bad sign when I'm already waiting for an album to end shortly after it begins. I'm not sure why I clashed with this one so hard, but I'm just not into it at all. It's simultaneously boring and exhausting 2/5
Eh, this album didn't really do it for me. It had some OK funky grooves, but as a whole, I didn't feel very moved. Might be worthy of another listen when I'm in a more funky mood...
He paints a picture of a womanizing sleazeball. Found his voice rather annoying. I did enjoy the instrumentation and liveliness of the songs.
honestly, the most interesting part of this album was hearing it defined as his 'sexfunk' period. Music became forgettable quickly. A musician getting really horny and into drugs after becoming famous aint that novel.
Highlights: Get on top, Make It Right Lowlights: Hong Kong Bar Get On Top is a funky and a quite enjoyable listen and Make It Right does just that and feels "bigger" than it should. The rest is either too spastic or "jammy" or maybe it's just too avant-garde for me. I don't really get the appeal here...Of the late Buckleys, I prefer Jeff.
He, ik had hier wel zin in. Vind ik het na een paar nummers toch wel tegenvallen, Jammer!