Once I Was (song)

Last updated
"Once I Was"
Single by Tim Buckley
from the album Goodbye and Hello
ReleasedAugust 1967
RecordedWestern Recorders & Whitney, Los Angeles
Genre Psychedelic folk [1]
Length3:22
Label Elektra
Songwriter(s) Tim Buckley
Producer(s) Jac Holzman

"Once I Was" is a 1967 song by singer-songwriter Tim Buckley, and the sixth track from his album Goodbye and Hello . [2] The song prominently features harmonica played by folk musician and rock photographer Henry Diltz. [3] [4]

Contents

Lyrics

The song reflects the point of view of someone who used to be the lover of an unknown subject, but continues to ponder if the subject ever reflects on the experience similarly. [5]

Other performances

Tim Buckley's son, Jeff, recorded a cover of this song for a tribute concert to Tim in 1991. [6] [7]

The song has also been covered by Gregg Allman. [8] [9]

Use in other media

The song was used during Bruce Dern's final sequence in the film Coming Home about Vietnam War veterans dealing with the conflict of trauma long after the war has ended. [10] This song was also prominently used in the 1969 film Changes. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Buckley</span> American musician (1966–1997)

Jeffrey Scott Buckley was an American musician. After a decade as a session guitarist in Los Angeles, Buckley amassed a moderate following in the early 1990s performing at venues in East Village, Manhattan such as Sin-é. After rebuffing interest from record labels and Herb Cohen—the manager of his father, singer Tim Buckley—he signed with Columbia, recruited a band, and released his only studio album, Grace, in 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duane Allman</span> American guitarist (1946–1971)

Howard Duane Allman was an American rock and blues guitarist and the founder and original leader of the Allman Brothers Band, for which he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Buckley</span> American musician (1947–1975)

Timothy Charles Buckley III was an American musician. He began his career based in folk rock, but subsequently experimented with genres such as psychedelia, jazz, the avant-garde, and funk paired with his unique five-octave vocal range. His commercial peak came with the 1969 album Happy Sad, reaching No. 81 on the charts, while his experimental 1970 album Starsailor went on to become a cult classic. The latter contained his best known song, "Song to the Siren." Buckley died at the age of 28 from a heroin and morphine overdose, leaving behind one biological son, Jeff, and one adopted son, Taylor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gregg Allman</span> American musician (1947–2017)

Gregory LeNoir Allman was an American musician, singer and songwriter. He was known for performing in the Allman Brothers Band. Allman grew up with an interest in rhythm and blues music, and the Allman Brothers Band fused it with rock music, jazz, and country. He wrote several of the band's most popular songs, including "Whipping Post", "Melissa", and "Midnight Rider". Allman also had a successful solo career, releasing seven studio albums. He was born and spent much of his childhood in Nashville, Tennessee, before relocating to Daytona Beach, Florida and then Macon, Georgia.

Hour Glass was an American soul band based in Los Angeles, California in 1967 and 1968. Among their members were two future members of the Allman Brothers Band and three future studio musicians at the FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.

<i>Goodbye and Hello</i> (Tim Buckley album) 1967 studio album by Tim Buckley

Goodbye and Hello is the second album by Tim Buckley, released in 1967. It was recorded in Los Angeles, California, in June of the same year.

<i>Happy Sad</i> (album) 1969 studio album by Tim Buckley

Happy Sad is the third album by American singer-songwriter Tim Buckley, released in April 1969. It was recorded at Elektra Sound Recorders in Los Angeles, California and was produced by former Lovin' Spoonful members Zal Yanovsky and, coincidentally, his subsequent replacement Jerry Yester. It marked the beginning of Buckley's experimental period, as it incorporated elements of jazz that he had never used before. Many of the songs here represent a departure from the binary form that dominated much of his previous work.

<i>Tim Buckley</i> (album) 1966 studio album by Tim Buckley

Tim Buckley is the debut album by Los Angeles based singer-songwriter Tim Buckley, released in October 1966. Most of the songs on it were co-written by Buckley and Larry Beckett while they were in high school. It was recorded at Sunset Sound in Los Angeles, California.

<i>Morning Glory: The Tim Buckley Anthology</i> 2001 greatest hits album by Tim Buckley

Morning Glory: The Tim Buckley Anthology is a compilation album by Tim Buckley. The two cds give an overview of Tim Buckley's career. The compilation contains material from the many phases of Buckley's career, and includes a previously unreleased version of "Song to the Siren", as performed in 1968 on The Monkees. The photo used for the cover art was taken by Linda Eastman, more commonly known as Linda McCartney.

<i>Dream Letter: Live in London 1968</i> 1990 live album by Tim Buckley

Dream Letter: Live in London 1968 is a live album by Tim Buckley. The album was recorded in Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, England on October 7, 1968. Due to a lack of available funds Buckley was unable to tour with regular bass player John Miller and conga player Carter "C.C." Collins. The concert instead features bassist Danny Thompson, guitarist Lee Underwood and vibraphone player David Friedman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry Beckett</span> American poet

Larry Beckett is an American poet, playwright, songwriter, musician, translator, and literary critic. As a songwriter and music arranger, Beckett collaborated with Tim Buckley in the late 1960s and early 1970s on several songs and albums, including the critically acclaimed "Song to the Siren" which has been recorded by many artists, from This Mortal Coil to Robert Plant to George Michael to Kitty Macfarlane and Jann Klose. He has also collaborated with British group The Long Lost Band, and local Portland indie band Eyelids.

"Whipping Post" is a song by The Allman Brothers Band. Written by Gregg Allman, the five-minute studio version first appeared on their 1969 debut album The Allman Brothers Band. The song was regularly played live and was the basis for much longer and more intense performances. This was captured in the Allman Brothers' 1971 double live album At Fillmore East, where a 22-minute, 40-second rendition of the song takes up the entire final side. It was this recording that garnered "Whipping Post" spots on both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll list and Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", which wrote, "the song is best appreciated in the twenty-three-minute incarnation on At Fillmore East."

<i>Laid Back</i> (album) 1973 studio album by Gregg Allman

Laid Back is the debut solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Gregg Allman, released in October 1973 by Capricorn Records. Allman, best known as the vocalist/lyricist/organist of the Allman Brothers Band, first began considering a solo career after internal disagreements with that group. He developed the album as a small creative outlet wherein he would assume full control, and he co-produced the album alongside Johnny Sandlin. Laid Back was largely recorded in March 1973 at Capricorn Sound Studios in Macon, Georgia, with additional recording and mixing taking place at the Record Plant by Manhattan Recording Engineer, Jim Reeves in New York City.

<i>The Best of Tim Buckley</i> 1983 compilation album by Tim Buckley

The Best of Tim Buckley is a compilation LP by Tim Buckley. It presents Buckley as a folk artist with songs written between 1966 and 1970. The album features material from the studio albums Tim Buckley, Goodbye and Hello, Happy Sad and Blue Afternoon, in addition to "Song to the Siren" from his avant garde album Starsailor. This was the first new release, outside of Australia after Buckley's death. The album provides an overview of Buckley's folk beginnings, excluding material from his later albums.

"Song to the Siren" is a song written by Tim Buckley and Larry Beckett, first released by Buckley on his 1970 album Starsailor. It was also later released on Morning Glory: The Tim Buckley Anthology, the album featuring a performance of the song taken from the final episode of The Monkees.

<i>Linda Ronstadt, Stone Poneys and Friends, Vol. III</i> 1968 studio album by The Stone Poneys

Linda Ronstadt, Stone Poneys and Friends, Vol. III is the third and final studio album by The Stone Poneys, released on April 29, 1968. Singer Linda Ronstadt would release her first solo album the following year.

<i>Live at the Beacon Theatre</i> (The Allman Brothers Band video) 2003 video by The Allman Brothers Band

Live at the Beacon Theatre is a live concert DVD by the rock group the Allman Brothers Band. It was filmed at the Beacon Theatre, New York City on March 25 and 26, 2003 and released September 23, 2003. The DVD is certified Platinum in the United States by the RIAA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eddie Hoh</span> American drummer (1944–2015)

Edward Hoh was an American rock drummer who was active in the 1960s. Although primarily a studio session and touring drummer, Hoh exhibited a degree of originality and showmanship that set him apart and several of his contributions have been singled out for acknowledgment by music critics.

<i>Southern Blood</i> (album) 2017 studio album by Gregg Allman

Southern Blood is the eighth and final studio album by American singer-songwriter Gregg Allman, released on September 8, 2017 by Rounder Records, four months after Allman's death. Following the release of his seventh album, Low Country Blues (2011), Allman continued to tour and released a memoir, My Cross to Bear, in 2012. However, that same year, he was diagnosed with liver cancer. His output and schedule in the intervening years gradually slowed, and Southern Blood, recorded in March 2016, became his final album. He and his backing band recorded the album with producer Don Was at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama over a period of nine days.

My Only True Friend is the first track on Southern Blood, the last studio album by the American singer-songwriter Gregg Allman, released posthumously on September 8, 2017, by Rounder Records. It is the only original song on the album and was co-written by Allman with the guitarist and bandleader Scott Sharrard, forming the album's lead single.

References

  1. Greenwald, Matthew. "Tim Buckley: Goodbye and Hello - Review". AllMusic . Retrieved February 6, 2024.
  2. "Tim Buckley - Hello and Goodbye". Discogs. 1967. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  3. Chilton, Martin. "GOODBYE AND HELLO: GET ACQUAINTED WITH TIM BUCKLEY'S FIRST MASTERPIECE". Dig!. Retrieved March 22, 2023.
  4. "Henry Diltz credits". Allmusic.
  5. Kessler, Ted (August 27, 2014). "Jeff Buckley: 'Either cursed, or the luckiest man alive'". The Guardian. Retrieved March 22, 2023.
  6. "When Jeff Buckley played his father's music for the first time". Far Out. 26 April 2022. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  7. "30 Years Ago Today – Jeff Buckley Performs His Father, Tim Buckley's Music For First Time (Listen "Once I Was"". Glide Magazine. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  8. "Once I Was by Gregg Allman". Secondhand Songs. Retrieved March 22, 2023.
  9. "Once I Was - Gregg Allman". Youtube.
  10. "Once I Was by Tim Buckley". Allmusic.
  11. "Changes (1969) - Soundtrack". IMDB.