Larry Beckett

Larry Beckett never performed on any of Tim Buckley’s releases, yet the two men forged one of the most vital artistic partnerships in the cult singer-songwriter’s catalog, jointly crafting many of his strongest songs. Their partnership began in the mid-1960s while both were still teenagers in a Southern California ensemble called the Bohemians, where Beckett handled drums. Bassist Jim Fielder also belonged to the group and would later appear on Buckley sessions as well as Buffalo Springfield recordings before becoming a permanent member of Blood, Sweat & Tears. The Bohemians cut a demo that ultimately drew the interest of Elektra Records, though the label chose to sign Buckley as an individual rather than the band as a unit. Beckett nevertheless contributed extensively to the first two Buckley albums, serving both as a frequent co-writer and as an informal adviser whose suggestions regarding arrangements and studio decisions were welcomed.

Roughly half the material on the self-titled 1966 debut and its 1967 successor, Goodbye and Hello, emerged from the Beckett-Buckley team, the remainder being Buckley’s solo efforts. What set their joint compositions apart was the literary and metaphysical character of Beckett’s words, a quality rarely encountered in rock or folk-rock circles at the time. Those lyrics meshed naturally with Buckley’s own introspective and emotionally open persona. Among the notable tracks they created for the debut album were “I Can’t See You,” “Song Slowly Song,” and “Song of the Magician.”

The title song of Goodbye and Hello began as an ambitious Beckett concept involving two separate lyric sets and independent melodies meant to be sung simultaneously, with the texts printed in separate columns on the sleeve. In the end Buckley alternated lines from each set, yet the piece still illustrated their shared desire to move beyond conventional singer-songwriter forms. Additional highlights from that album included the forceful anti-war declaration “No Man Can Find the War,” “Morning Glory” (later covered by Linda Ronstadt under the title “Hobo”), and “Hallucinations,” the sole instance in which the melody preceded the words.

By the time of Buckley’s third album, Happy Sad, the singer elected to compose everything himself. Beckett, meanwhile, had been conscripted and completed a year of service before receiving a discharge as unsuitable. The two remained close and revived their collaboration for the 1970 release Starsailor. That record stands as Buckley’s most daring and exploratory work, with the duo responsible for half its tracks, among them the French-language “Moulin Rouge,” the album’s sole lighter moment, and the title track itself.

Beckett supplied occasional co-writing credits on later Buckley projects, yet his day-to-day involvement diminished after Starsailor and continued at that reduced level until Buckley’s death in 1975. As of 1999 he remained active as a poet, writer, and lyricist based in Portland, OR.