I can't praise this book enough. It's a gift to any Tim Buckley fan from Tim's personal and professional friend, Lee Underwood. It's poignant, honest, revealing, and answered many of my questions regarding Tim. This is Tim's story. This is Lee's story.
For Mr. Underwood, I'm sure this work was cathartic on so many levels. Nothing is sugar coated. Nothing is romanticized regarding him or Tim. It's so real, so real. He has poured out personal memories, both dark and light, and has served them to his readers, one moment in a beautiful jeweled goblet, and in the next—a blood and tear stained napkin.
Lee’s delivery is brilliant. He has a gift of words. I laughed. I cried. I thank Lee for the personal and candid moments he shared, and I love Tim even more.
An artist in Memphis, Tennessee
No one could dance through a melody the way Lee did with his guitar. He did it again with his words in Blue Melody. Having known both Lee and Tim for years, I can say that you must read this book. You will know them both at the finish.
Jesse James, Laguna Niguel, California
Doesn't get better than this! I picked this book up as soon as
it was released, and read it completely soon after. I couldn't put it down.
Daniel, Waco, Texas
Honesty...that's what I found, really refreshing to read...Not just 'all happy days' but the less glorious moments as well. This is not just a book about Tim Buckley, but also about life itself...It's a book I will find myself reading again, and maybe even again...
Riny, Holland
(www.timbuckley.com)
Blue Melody is the kind of book that you don't want to rush through. I found myself having to put it aside in places and listen to some of the music that Lee discusses. Lee provides a wealth of fascinating information for Tim’s fans. . . .I don't think we're likely to get a more nuanced and intimate portrait of Tim than Lee gives us.
. . .He doesn't hold back, even when the self-disclosures reveal his own flaws, insecurities, and past failures. . . In many ways, it's a brave book. I think it took guts to open himself up to scrutiny the way he has.
Lee's insights into Tim's life and struggles have value beyond mere bio-
graphical interest; there's some hard-won wisdom for many of us, I think, in this book.
Dave Robinson
Best biography I've read. EVER. I mean it. So relevant, so beautiful.
I stayed up until three last night reading it until the end, and then I wanted to read it again.
Thank you again. And again.
Rob
A Personal Letter From a Long-time Friend
Dear Lee,
I congratulate you and thank you for the important work that you have done in creating your memoir, Blue Melody.
The book has affected me in a rare way, for it interests me both "professionally and personally"—if that makes any sense. Because of the length and depth of our friendship — and because of the ease and flow of your writing style — there are times when I feel that I am simply reading the longest letter that you ever wrote to me. This makes for an experience that is both sweet and strange.
The sweetness is easy to see. There is beauty and power in your unique life experiences, and I am so happy to see that you have managed to make an honest and living record of these things.
The strangeness comes because, at times, I feel a little bit like you have opened up the side of your head and are letting me peek inside at a wilderness of memory and ability; of frustration and glory; of wonder. I feel, now and then, as if I am standing on a cliff, looking out over a long, deep plunge into ... what? I'm not always sure.
Of course, too, there are so many things that you write about that are painful to see and hear. The confusion and imperfections that are always a part of great talent and creation. The nastiness that went
hand-in-hand with the prettiness of those long-gone yet ever-present days.
The only other book that I remember affecting me in this way, is the autobiography of Miles Davis. . .
I send you my deepest congratulations. You have done something difficult and worthwhile, and you've seen it all the way through.
Also again — always — thanks, Lee. Your presence in my life has made my life a better thing.
John Sorensen
New York City
From and Online Review at SF Gate—
“Troubled Troubadour”
. . .In Blue Melody, Underwood puts forth a powerful argument for remembering Buckley by the radical innovations of his earlier Lorca/Starsailor period and, above all, for the "the fire of his creativity" and the "courageous commitment to this art" that drove him to such daring experimentation.
. . .Underwood's firsthand experience with Buckley's music and his writing chops as a music critic and poet make Blue Melody a rarity among pop-music biographies—one driven by love for both the music and its maker.
. . .Over and over, Underwood brings us back to the music. "It was not neurosis that ultimately drove him," he writes of Buckley, "but selfless service to music as a living force of nature. He did not create to destroy himself, as some people maintain. He created to serve music and fulfill his talent."
For readers who want stories about Tim Buckley's anxieties and quirky behavior, Blue Melody won't disappoint. Underwood was there. . . He provides plenty of colorful anecdotes, punctuating his intelligent prose with almost musical stream-of-consciousness impressions. . .
By Derk Richardson
(Host of "The Hear & Now," KPFA-FM, Berkeley, CA)
