Tim Buckley Sefronia CD

Tim Buckley's 8th studio album, released in September 1973. Includes the first-ever cover of the Tom Waits composition, 'Martha'. 11 tracks

Personnel includes: Tim Buckley (vocals, 12-string guitar); Joe Falsia, Lee Underwood, Bob Rafkin (guitar); Tom Scott (tenor saxophone); Fred Selden (flute); Earl Dunier (English horn); Mark Tiernan, Denny Randall (keyboards); Bernie Mysior (bass); Buddy Heim (drums); King Errison (congas, tambourine, percussion); Myrna Matthews, Sharon Beard, Lisa Roberts (background vocals).
Engineers include: Kerry McNabb, Larry Hirsch, Roy Cicalo.
Principally recorded at Paramount Recording Studios, Los Angeles, California.
Digitally remastered by Bill Inglot & Ken Perry.
Personnel: Tim Buckley (vocals, guitar, 12-string guitar); Sharon Beard, Lisa Roberts, Myrna Matthews (vocals, background vocals); Marcia Waldorf (vocals); Joe Falsia, Lee Underwood, Bob Rafkin (guitar); Fred Selden (flute); Earl Dumler (English horn); Tom Scott (saxophone, tenor saxophone); Eric Dumler (horns); Denny Randell, Mark Tieman, Mark Tiernan (keyboards); Bernie Mysior (bass guitar); Buddy Helm, Buddy Heim (drums); King Errisson (congas, tambourine, percussion); Ken Watson (timpani, percussion); Larry Bunker (percussion).
Audio Remixers: Ken Perry; Bill Inglot.
Recording information: Devonshire Sound Studios, North Hollywood, CA; Paramount Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA; Paramount Recording Studios, Lo; Record Plant Studios, New York, NY; Record Plant, NY, NY.
Photographer: Ed Caraeff.
Tim Buckley went deeper into white funk on Sefronia, despite two problems: white funk was not the forte of these L.A. session musicians and female backup vocalists, and not the style for which Buckley himself had the greatest empathy. His voice isn't as stunning as usual on his next-to-last album, but glimmers of quality can be heard on his cover of Fred Neil's "The Dolphins," and the strange two-part title track, which is a throwback to his more ambitious vocal workouts of times past. ~ Richie Unterberger
Tim Buckley went deeper into white funk on Sefronia, despite two problems: white funk was not the forte of these L.A. session musicians and female backup vocalists, and not the style for which Buckley himself had the greatest empathy. His voice isn't as stunning as usual on his next-to-last album, but the bigger problem is the material, which is usually forced and pedestrian. Glimmers of quality can be heard on his cover of Fred Neil's "The Dolphins," and the strange two-part title track, which is a throwback to his more ambitious vocal workouts of times past. ~ Richie Unterberger
SEFRONIA is an occasionally mesmerizing and very strange album, even by Tim Buckley's latter-day standards. Anybody who could open a lyric with the line "I couldn't buy you with one hundred cattle" (as Buckley does in part two of the album's title song) is harboring no illusions about his ability to sell records. The aforementioned two-part title song is a highly original, abstract mix of folk, jazz, and art song, featuring, like the rest of the album, typically spellbinding vocals.
More weirdness is on display in "I'd Recognize Your Face," a duet (with the lost-to-history Marcia Waldorf on vocals) sung from the point of view of a divorced couple in which the guy isn't paying alimony and has never seen his own son. It's autobiographical, although most listeners at the time had no idea. Buckley closes the album with a version of the most ambiguous and spooky song in rock history--the Jaynettes' "Sally Go Round the Roses."