Tune Tag #27 with Nic Briscoe, Pt. 2: Jeff Buckley, Red Hot Chili Peppers, David Bowie, 10cc, Wax + One Historic 150-Year-Old Piano
Nic takes us inside an historic UK recording studio to reveal secrets (like, he used to play that piano!), and little-known factoids emerge!
Hey, Nic!
Tune Tag welcomes backfor his second go-βround!
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F28612080-811e-4993-9665-613bf966325b_637x840.png)
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa062a520-f758-440e-90c6-0c253aad7c53_350x350.webp)
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8d846303-ce8f-406c-a512-327801bf5449_350x350.webp)
Enjoy and subscribe to both here: The Songβs the Thing! and Unleashed & Unlimited. Plus, click here for Nicβs audio/video recording of his βLet Goβ on YouTube!
Nicβs Tune Tag #1:
Nicβs song #1 sent to Brad: Jeff Buckley, βLast Goodbye,β 1994
![Gear Rundown: Jeff Buckley Gear Rundown: Jeff Buckley](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3e081c57-87e1-4087-96a1-c0dc19fd61b7_1500x1000.jpeg)
Nicβs rationale: This song fits into several important categoriesΒ for me:
1. Songs I wish I could sing in the same key/register as the original artist.
2. Songs I wish Iβd written (not for the money, but because itβs beyond awesome,Β otherworldly).
3. Favourite songsβ¦ itβs one of my favourite songs EVER, in many waysβ¦
Best bittersweet βbreakupβ love song ever.
Brilliantly mixed, co-engineered and co-produced by Andy Wallace; album co-engineered by Bryant Jackson, Chris Laidlaw, Reggie Griffith, Steve Sisco, and Clif Norrell, and co-produced by Buckley; Steve Berkowitz, Executive Producer
Brilliant musical performances by the most amazing band (Gary Lucas, guitar; Mick Grondahl, bass; Matt Johnson, drums), with fantastic lyrics, Buckleyβs brilliant vocal delivery and amazingly crafted chord structure and arranging.
Fantastic memories: In about 1995, a good friend recommendedΒ βLast Goodbyeβ and its Grace album whilst visiting him in Sydney, Australia.
And then thereβs Jeff Buckley and his father, Tim BuckleyΒ βΒ what a pedigree and karma they both had, both veryΒ talented musicians/singer/songwriters,Β bothΒ dead by misadventure/bad luckΒ by age thirty.
Bradβs song #1 sent to Nic: Tim Buckley, βMove With Me,β 1972
Nicβs response: Well, looks like Brad is straight in there with the son and father link. So where do I takeΒ this now? Maybe Cat Stevensβ song,Β βFather and Sonβ? Or any adult male experiential advice to younger male song:Β βHey, Judeβ perhaps?
Or, any song from a famous parent or their famous child, I was thinking Miley Cyrusβs cover ofΒ βJolene" βΒ thatβd fox Brad (for a minute or two). Or perhaps βCabaretβ by Liza Minelli (too obvious)? At a push, IΒ could probablyΒ squeeze Tim Buckley into the β27 Clubβ (he died a very rockβnβroll death, aged twenty eight), so any song from any member of thatΒ unfortunateΒ gangβ¦Β βRiders On The Stormβ could work?
Then thereβs the βtrack 1, side 1β status: βMove With Meβ is the opening track of Tim Buckleyβs 1972 album, Greetings from L.A. But, Iβm going to go with that Greetings from L.A. connection. My first thought wasΒ Tom Pettyβs βFree FallinββΒ (my favourite is John Mayerβs live acoustic version).
Bradβs rationale: I wanted to make a more βimpressively obscureβ jump to Nicβs Jeff Buckley song, although in retrospect, pulling βthe daddy cardβ seems a short hop! I refreshed my memory on Jeffβs tragic early passing (at age 30 in 1997), which led me to father, Timβs equally tragic and early passing in 1975 at 28. Is there a more heart-breaking family demise extant (at least in the record biz)?
I was drawn to Timβs Greetings From L.A. 1972 album simply because I used to have it at the timeβin the summer between my junior and senior years in high school. Dad had brought it home (from the radio station where he worked) as part of another promo largesse of new Warner Bros. Records releases (the album was on Frank Zappa and his manager, Herb Cohenβs Straight Records, distributed by WB).
I had the original pressing, which featured a die-cut front cover, with a large, removable postcard. Of course I removed it (thoughts of an eBay and a secondary vinyl market hadnβt occurred to me in 1972)!
I canβt imagine I mailed the postcard, so Iβm sure I just slipped it into the jacket like I did with ripped-from-magazines record reviews, interviews, and articles. That was my filing system for all my LPs! That meant that for the decades that followed, the edges of the perforated βholeβ where the postcard used to be were getting hopelessly bent and folded in between my shelved Lord Buckley and Buckinghams albums!
Timβs βMove With Me,β Iβm just noticing, was co-written by Buckley and Jerry Goldstein. Goldstein, whoβll turn 84 in February, wrote two of my favorite β60s pure-pop teen ditties: 1963βs βMy Boyfriendβs Backβ by The Angels (co-written with Richard Gottehrer and Bob Feldman; all three produced) and 1967βs βCome on Down to My Boatβ by Every Motherβs Son (co-written with eventual Partridge Family music director, Wes Farrell, who produced). Read more about the Partridges, including my 1975 interview with co-star, David Cassidy, here:
Subscribe to Front Row & Backstage to continue reading
Head to the authorβs Substack to subscribe and keep reading.