...one of a band of people
Story Behind the Story podcast is an audio version of Saturday’s column on Amsterdam’s “Hallelujah” Connection. Monday Podcast "12 Minutes"
Bob Cudmore at The Amsterdam Free Library "Amsterdam Reads"
Go Fund Me 2022 Link https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022
The U.S. Postal Service...Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302
The Historians with Bob Cudmore
Public radio WMHT 89.1FM Albany RISE
Tomorrow, Tuesday, February 1, 2022-From the Archives of the Daily Gazette-A winter flood on the Mohawk
The Mohawk Valley was hard hit by winter floods in February 1938. Although not by any means comparable to today’s devastation in the Gulf Coast, the flooding did get extensive local newspaper coverage.
Wednesday, February 2, 2022-From the Archives-Episode 150, February 10, 2017-Kyle Jenks portrays President James Madison. Madison and Thomas Jefferson toured New York and New England in 1791. The episode was recorded at a meeting of Historic Amsterdam League.
Thursday, February 3, 2022-From the Archives of the Daily Gazette-Amsterdam bridges; a big funeral
If and when the new pedestrian bridge crosses the Mohawk River in Amsterdam, it will not charge tolls. That wasn’t the case in the early to mid 19th century.
According to historian Hugh Donlon’s “Annals of a Mill Town,” the towns of Amsterdam and Florida jointly contracted to build a river bridge in 1813.
Friday, February 4, 2022-Episode 408-Radio station WGY is celebrating its 100th year on February 20. Bob Cudmore, who hosted a WGY talk show from 1980 to 1993, has audio featuring pioneer WGY air personalities Kolin Hager, Martha Brooks, Howard Tupper, Elle Pankin and Earl Pudney. Current WGY news anchor Mike Patrick describes podcasts Patrick has done with many WGY veterans. The podcasts will be available on wgy.com
Amsterdam’s “Hallelujah” Connection
By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History
There is a connection between Amsterdam and singer Jeff Buckley, who recorded the most popular version of Canadian songwriter Leonard Cohen’s anthem “Hallelujah.”
Cohen, who died in 2016, recorded “Hallelujah” himself in 1984. The song took a long time to gain popularity.
After hearing a cover version by John Cale, Jeff Buckley recorded his own “Hallelujah” cover at Bearsville Recording Studio in Ulster County, releasing the song in “Grace,” a 1994 album.
Jeff Buckley’s father was musician Tim Buckley III who spent his early years in Amsterdam and Fort Johnson.
Tim Buckley III died in 1975 of a heroin and morphine overdose at age 28 in Santa Monica, California. His ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean.
Music critic David Browne wrote, “Jeff Buckley, who grew up barely knowing his father and being resentful of it, himself died in 1997 from drowning in Memphis, in the Mississippi River. A sad story, almost a Greek tragedy.” Jeff Buckley’s death was ruled accidental.
Browne is author of the book "Dream Brother: The Lives and Music of Jeff and Tim Buckley.”
Jeff Buckley’s recording of “Hallelujah” did not become popular until after his death. His recording was inducted into the Library of Congress National Recording Registry in 2014. Buckley’s “Hsllelujah” has been featured in film and television dramas.
The first member of the Buckley family to settle in Amsterdam was Tim Buckley, Tim III’s grandfather and Jeff’s great-grandfather,
Tim Buckley had come from Ireland in the early 1900s. He and Frank Graff briefly operated an auto repair shop on Mechanic Street called Buckley and Graff. Buckley and his wife Charlotte lived on Mechanic Street and Buckley, a World War I veteran, was house steward at an American Legion post.
Son Tim II, whose nickname was Buck, was born in 1916. Buck worked at the Strand movie theater and later at Bigelow Sanford Carpet.
Browne wrote, “In 1942, Tim II was drafted and served in the Screaming Eagles (a paratroopers division) in Europe, receiving a Purple Heart but also a head injury that resulted in a head plate, and many psychological problems, like thinking he was still in the war decades later.
“Tim Buckley III--the singer, also known as Timothy Charles Buckley III--was born (on Valentine’s Day 1947) in the District of Columbia, where his father stayed after World War II.”
Tim II, his wife Elaine Scalia Buckley and their son moved back to Amsterdam and lived on Garden Street. Tim II worked for General Electric. Tim III’s mother was a Miles Davis, Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra fan who introduced her son to jazz recordings.
Browne wrote, “In 1955, the family moved to Fort Johnson. When Tim III was in second grade, the family moved again--this time to Southern California, where Tim Buckley's music career began to take root, resulting in a string of albums and tours between 1966 and his death in 1975.”
Buckley did not find commercial success, but is admired for musical innovation and vocal ability. Buckley’s first album in 1966 was mainly folk music. Later he incorporated jazz, psychedelia, funk, soul and a sound in which his voice was used as an instrument.
Tim Buckley fan Charles Frank of Niskayuna said, “He seems to have had a five octave range to his voice and liked to show it.”
Jeff Buckley’s relationship with his father figures in a movie called “Greetings from Tim Buckley” produced in 2012. Penn Badgley played Jeff Buckley and Ben Rosenfeld portrayed his father Tim. “Variety” reported that the film included a train trip to Amsterdam where Jeff’s father once lived.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, January 31, 2022
Today
Sunny, with a high near 25. Wind chill values as low as -10. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph.
Tonight
Mostly clear, with a low around 2. Light east wind.
Tuesday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 31. Southeast wind 5 to 9 mph.
Mohawk Valley News, Monday, January 31, 2022
https://dailygazette.com/
Amsterdam Recorder
Capital Region Customs relocating to Forest Avenue in Amsterdam
AMSTERDAM — An existing customization and fabrication shop in the area will expand its footprint...
https://www.recordernews.com/
Mayfield school district refutes Stefanik remarks about suspended teacher
https://www.leaderherald.com/
