They are most famous for their recording of Rupert Holmes’s “Timothy”, a song deliberately written to get banned, based on a theme of cannibalism. Holmes himself selected the group to record the song, although The Glass Prism had been his first choice. Because The Glass Prism were under contract to RCA, Holmes and C. Michael Wright had to go to their Plan B. Recorded at Scepter Recording Studios in New York City and released by Scepter Records, with whom the Buoys had been signed but previously ignored, the song hit No. 17 on US charts in 1971. The song was recorded after the 1963 mine cave-in in Sheppton, PA, a small mining community outside of Hazleton, PA. Rupert Holmes told rock journalist Maxim Furek, “I learned about the Sheppton Mine Disaster after Timothy was on the charts. If I had known about that at the time, I probably never would have written the song because I don’t want to make fun of something that’s tragic.”Scepter executives did not catch what the song was about until after it started climbing the charts, after which they claimed that Timothy was a mule, a concept Holmes found more offensive than cannibalism, which he intended. Holmes, with D. Jordan, wrote a less-successful hit for them titled “Give Up Your Guns” (1972), an epic narrative dealing with an escaped bank robber. Much more serious in tone than their previous hit, “Give Up Your Guns” reached only No. 84. By contrast it was a massive hit twice in mainland Europe, when originally released, and when re-released in 1979. Holmes wrote a number of other songs for the band, including “The Prince of Thieves”, “Blood Knot”, and “Tomorrow”, most of which had much of the darkness but little of the humor of “Timothy”. Like “Give Up Your Guns”, they are complaints by criminals. Holmes now writes Broadway musicals.
Musically The Buoys combined CSN-style harmonies blended with assorted musical approaches. Their eclectic style combines piano as a major instrument, with guitar, drums, strings, winds, brass, and harp, but tends to vary in sound heavily from the 1950s rock ‘n’ roll sound (“Good Lovin'”, “Sunny Days”) to more 1960s-influenced songs of protest (“Look Back America”, “Pittsburgh Steel”), 1930s-style pop like “These Days”, to Renaissance-influenced prog like “Castles”. Without Holmes, the darker lyrical aspects largely went away, though “Pittsburgh Steel” contains more dark humor; Pittsburgh steelworkers plot to kill their foreman by dumping him in a vat of ore.
Track listing
01. “Timothy” (Rupert Holmes) - 2:49
02. “Give Up Your Guns” (Rupert Holmes) - 4:16
03. “Sunny Days/Memories” - 5:02
04. “Tell Me Heaven Is Here” - 3:33
05. “The Prince of Thieves” (Rupert Holmes) - 4:17
06. “Castles” - 2:27
07. “Bloodknot” (Rupert Holmes) - 2:13
08. “Tomorrow” (Rupert Holmes) - 3:26
09. “Streams Together” - 2:48
10. “Good Lovin'” - 2:30
11. “Pittsburgh Steel” - 4:13
12. “Absent Friend ” - 3:51
13. “These Days” - 2:47
14. “Sunny Days” - 1:25
15. “Don’t Try to Run” (Brozena, Kelly, Hludzik) - 3:21
16. “Dreams” (Brozena, Kelly, Hludzik) - 3:26
17. “Look Back America” - 6:34
18. “Liza’s Last Ride” - 2:55
Credits
The Buoys:
Billy Kelly - vocals
Chris Hanlon - guitar
Fran Brozena - keyboards
Gerry Hludzik - bass
Carl Siracuse - drums
Sally Rosoff - Cello
Design - Dick Smith
Photography By - Ronald Naschak
Arranged By - Howard Reeves, Rupert Holmes
Producer, Engineer - Michael Wright
Notes
All songs written by the Buoys except where noted
Because of the photograph this album is often called ‘The Buoys’, but (for this issue) it’s just ‘Timothy’.
Genre: Soft Rock, Psychedelic Rock
Length: 1:01:59
© 1971 Skepter Records
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