731. Greetings from L.A. – Tim Buckley

Brief Background: Greetings from L.A. was recorded in June of 1972 and released in October of the same year. The album, like most of Buckley’s, didn’t sell well. One exception, according to the Wikipedia page on the album, was here in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area due to KQRS giving the album heavy airplay.

What I think: If you remember, I haven’t much enjoyed Buckley’s two previously featured albums Goodbye and Hello and Happy Sad, although the latter was certainly the much better of the two. That sentiment certainly continues here, with the singer/songwriter element of Happy Sad replaced with limp Funk music.

The songs are seemingly about sleeping with anybody who is not his wife. The most straightforward being “Sweet Surrender”, with the gem of an “I can’t be menogomous” lyrics as:

“Now you want to know the reason
Why I cheated on you
Well I had to be a hunter again
This little man had to try

To make love feel new again”
Ick… the whole thing just feels creepy.

 

Do I agree or disagree with the writers as to this being an album you must listen to? Come on, the album was unavailable until shortly after its release until 2004. That’s a pretty late date for a re-release. Something tells me this album is surviving on its rareness and obscurity more than its content.

Rating (Out of 5): .5

Greetings From L.A. Amazon Review (Out of 5): 5

Is this my first time hearing this album? Yes (207/271)

Percentage of Albums that are new to me: 77%