from Harvey Dog’s Carnival – November 28th, 2005: “Guru T-Lu hates Tim Buckley and the Hated Uncles drop by”
Tim Buckley: Blue Afternoon (1969) **** Tim Buckley: Starsailor (1970) ***** By the time “Chase the Blues Away” barely had a chance to breathe, Guru T-Lu said: “This guy is bringing me down.” I replied: “He always brings you down.” Later on, I remarked: “I find his music beautiful and majestic.” Guru T-Lu said something like, “beautiful and majestic…good for you.” Maybe his music just hits me right. I love his voice and the control he has over it. You can feel him exploring every note. I’ve read comparisons of his voice to Coltrane’s explorations, and that’s fairly apt.
I love the subtle musicianship, which accentuates his voice beautifully. I read Lee Underwood’s bio of Tim Buckley, and it’s obvious Lee loved Tim, but Tim could also be a prick. Typical musical genius. It’s a good read. If you’re interested in Tim’s music definitely check it out. I think I read my copy from the Oakville Public Library.
I’m really digging “Jungle Fire”. I disagree with Guru T-Lu….Good Lord, is “Starsailor” ever freaky. I started hallucinating that I was listening to Amon Duul or something!
Hated Uncles Story #1: London & The Forgotten Rebels
OK. A new feature. Old Hated Uncle stories. We opened for The Forgotten Rebels in Hamilton, Ontario at Willy Woggs in 1986, and played probably our best show up to that point. It was a tough, biker crowd (obviously – with The Rebels being punk heroes & the show being on the Mountain). Our weird original music with trumpet, guitar, bass (no drums) and me yelling my lyrics while rolling on the stage, then walking into the crowd confronting people – that received an “interesting” reaction. We were lucky we didn’t get the shit kicked out of us. Mickey DeSadist (who became a friend), liked us. Maybe – because people didn’t like us? Whatever. We all became friends. He told the crowd they were doing their version of The Hated Uncles and then they did a song similar to our “big” song “Name on a Gravestone”. Of course, they sounded great as always! With our egos fuelled by alcohol, we were hot shit that night. [Aside: That was also the night I first met my friend of many years, Vik…Hi Vik!] Mickey then told us we could open for The Forgotten Rebels in London, Ontario and he gave us the date and location.
Wow! The Hated Uncles on the road! We did what new bands do. We rented a van for too much money, packed the equipment and headed to the show. The big time! This could lead to something! Maybe we could open up for The Forgotten Rebels when they went on tour! Oh God! The possibities!
I’m usually a pretty good driver, but I missed a stop sign and drove through a busy intersection. Not like me at all – I’m a safety elephant on the road. Definitely a bad omen.
We make it to the show far too early, like the eager losers we were. We waited around drinking beer and playing pool. Mickey shows up and the first thing he says is: “Hey, what are you guys doing here?” Um…..well, you remember that show in Hamilton…oh you forget…”It’s ok I’ll get you on” Mickey replies. He comes back and says, “You’re on at 10.” Great. No problem. Thanks!
It’s about 7:30 and I go out with Tanya (Bill’s girlfriend) for dinner and drinks. The other guys stayed behind. I liked to get away from the place for a break and then come back closer to showtime. Our shows were intense, and we definitely worked up to them with a lot of beer and attitude. I liked to come back about 1/2 hour before we went on. Kept it fresh for me.
Tanya and I have a pleasant dinner and head back. It’s about 8:45. Mickey comes running up: “Where the fuck have you been?! They’ve been on stage for 5 minutes waiting!” I rush up on stage and we start off, but everything’s off. The sound was shit, we were shit. I was shit. We get the plug pulled after 3 songs. Surprisingly, the only time that ever happened. I could think of a couple of shows we should have had the plug pulled, but I’ll save that for later stories.
Of course, we all got shitfaced, smoked shitloads of pot outside, bickered and got nasty with each other. We were all tired and wasted. Somehow we got back home, and amazingly, the band stayed together! I remember a weird feeling came over me on the ride back home, and to this day, I’m still not quite sure what that feeling was.
It was an experience!
Hindsight
The Hated Uncles disastrous gig opening for The Forgotten Rebels in London, ON is the basis for a scene in my WIP novel: “Portrait of the Poet as an Angry Soothsayer” (or something like that). At the time it’s a disaster – in hindsight, it makes a great story!
Oh – and I still like Tim Buckley! Tim Buckley’s official home page.