Jeffrey Scott "Jeff" Buckley (November 17, 1966 – May 29, 1997), raised as Scotty Moorhead, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was the son of
Tim BuckleyTimothy Charles Buckley III was an American vocalist, and musician. His music and style changed considerably through the years; his first album was mostly folk oriented, but over time his music incorporated jazz, psychedelia, funk, soul, avant-garde and an evolving "voice as instrument," sound...
, also a musician. After a decade as a guitarist-for-hire in
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, Buckley amassed a following in the early 1990s by playing cover songs at venues in
ManhattanManhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
's
East VillageThe East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...
, such as
Sin-éSin-é was the name of a music venue in New York City which helped launch the careers of several noted musicians in the early 1990s.-Original café:...
, gradually focusing more on his own material. After rebuffing much interest from record labels and his father's manager
Herb CohenHerbert "Herb" Cohen was an American personal manager, record company executive, and music publisher, best known as the manager of Frank Zappa, Tom Waits, and many other Los Angeles-based musicians in the 1960s and 1970s.-Life and career:Cohen was born in New York...
, he signed with
ColumbiaColumbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, recruited a band, and recorded what would be his only studio album, Grace.
Over the following two years, the band toured widely to promote the album, including concerts in the U.S.,
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
,
JapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. In 1996, they stopped touring and made sporadic attempts to record his second album in
New YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
with
Tom VerlaineTom Verlaine is a singer, songwriter and guitarist, best known as the frontman for the New York rock band Television.-Biography:...
as producer. In 1997, Buckley moved to
Memphis, TennesseeMemphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
, to resume work on the album, to be titled My Sweetheart the Drunk, recording many
four-trackMultitrack recording is a method of sound recording that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources to create a cohesive whole...
demosA demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
while also playing weekly solo shows at a local venue. While awaiting the arrival of his band from New York, he drowned during a spontaneous evening swim — fully clothed — in the
Wolf RiverThe Wolf River is a alluvial stream in western Tennessee and northern Mississippi, whose confluence with the Mississippi River was the site of various Chickasaw, French, Spanish and American communities and forts that eventually became Memphis, Tennessee....
, when he was caught in the wake of a passing boat. His body was found on June 4, 1997.
Since his death, there have been many posthumous releases of his material, including a collection of four-track demos and studio recordings for his unfinished second album
My Sweetheart the DrunkSketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk is a collection of polished studio tracks and four-track demos recorded by Jeff Buckley. Being dissatisfied with material recorded in the summer of 1996 and early in 1997, Buckley worked on many demos to reach the sound he was hoping to achieve...
and expansions of debut album Grace and his
Live at Sin-éLive at Sin-é is a live EP by Jeff Buckley. The four-song EP was Buckley's first commercial recording and was released in December 1993 on Columbia Records. The EP captured Buckley, accompanying himself on a Fender Telecaster, in the Sin-é coffeehouse in New York City's East Village, the...
EPAn EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
. Chart success also came posthumously; with
Leonard CohenLeonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
's song, "Hallelujah" he attained his first #1 on Billboards
Hot Digital SongsThe Hot Digital Songs chart ranks the best-selling digital singles in the United States, according to Billboard.Beginning in February 2005, digital sales have been incorporated into many of Billboards music single charts. It was decided to do so mainly because of the dramatic rise in popularity of...
in March 2008 and reached #2 in the
UK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
in Christmas 2008. Buckley and his work remain popular and are regularly featured in 'greatest' lists in the music press.
Early life
Born in
Anaheim, CaliforniaAnaheim is a city in Orange County, California. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was about 365,463, making it the most populated city in Orange County, the 10th most-populated city in California, and ranked 54th in the United States...
, Buckley was the only son of Mary Guibert and
Tim BuckleyTimothy Charles Buckley III was an American vocalist, and musician. His music and style changed considerably through the years; his first album was mostly folk oriented, but over time his music incorporated jazz, psychedelia, funk, soul, avant-garde and an evolving "voice as instrument," sound...
. His mother was a
Panama Canal ZonianA Zonian is a person associated with the Panama Canal Zone, a political entity which existed between 1903 and the absorption of the Canal Zone into the Republic of Panama between 1980 and 2000....
of mixed Greek,
FrenchThe French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
, American and
PanamaPanama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
nian descent, while his father was the descendant of
ItalianThe Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
on his mother side and
IrishThe Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
immigrants from
CorkCork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...
. Buckley was raised by his mother and stepfather, Ron Moorhead, in
Southern CaliforniaSouthern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
, and had a half-brother, Corey Moorhead. Buckley moved many times in and around
Orange CountyOrange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
while growing up with a single mother, an upbringing Buckley called "rootless
trailer trashTrailer trash is a derogatory North American English term for poor people living in trailers or mobile homes, especially in trailer parks.-Television:...
". As a child, Buckley was known as Scott "Scotty" Moorhead based on his middle name and his stepfather's surname. His biological father, Tim Buckley, was a singer-songwriter who released a series of highly acclaimed
folkFolk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
and
jazzJazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
albums in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Buckley said he only met him once at the age of eight. After his father died of a
drug overdoseThe term drug overdose describes the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities greater than are recommended or generally practiced...
in 1975, he chose to go by Buckley and his real first name, which he found on his birth certificate. To members of his family he remained "Scotty".
Buckley was brought up around music. His mother was a classically trained pianist and cellist. His stepfather introduced him to
Led ZeppelinLed Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
,
QueenQueen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
,
Jimi HendrixJames Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
,
The WhoThe Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
, and
Pink FloydPink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
at an early age. Buckley grew up singing around the house and in
harmonyIn music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
with his mother, later noting that all his family sang. Buckley began playing guitar at the age of five after discovering an acoustic guitar in his grandmother's closet. Led Zeppelin's
Physical GraffitiPhysical Graffiti is the sixth studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released on 24 February 1975 as a double album. Recording sessions for the album were initially disrupted when bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones considered leaving the band...
was the first album he ever owned; the
hard rockHard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
band
KissKiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
was also an early favorite. At the age of 12, he decided to become a musician, and received his first electric guitar — a black
Les PaulThe Gibson Les Paul was the result of a design collaboration between Gibson Guitar Corporation and the late jazz guitarist and electronics inventor Les Paul. In 1950, with the introduction of the Fender Telecaster to the musical market, electric guitars became a public craze. In reaction, Gibson...
— at the age of 13. He attended
Loara High SchoolLoara High School is a public, four year International Baccalaureate American high school in the Anaheim Union High School District, located in the city of Anaheim in Orange County, California. The campus consists of 2,578 students and 111 certificated staff. As of 2008 the student to teacher...
, and played in the school's jazz band. During this time, he developed an affinity for
progressive rockProgressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
bands such as
RushRush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...
,
GenesisGenesis are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks , Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins . Past members Peter Gabriel , Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips , also played major roles in the band in its early years...
, and
YesYes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
, as well as
jazz fusionJazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
guitarist
Al Di MeolaAl Di Meola is an acclaimed American jazz fusion and Latin guitarist, composer, and record producer of Italian origin. With a musical career that has spanned more than three decades, he has become respected as one of the most influential guitarists in jazz to date...
.
After graduating from high school, he moved north to
HollywoodHollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
to attend the
Musicians InstituteMusicians Institute is a privately owned for-profit music vocational school located in Hollywood, California. Although not a regionally accredited school, the school offers a variety of unaccredited Bachelor Degree, Associate Degree and Certificate programs in fields including contemporary music...
, completing the one-year course at the age of 19. Buckley later told
Rolling StoneRolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
the school was "the biggest waste of time", but noted in an interview with Double Take Magazine that he appreciated studying
music theoryMusic theory is the study of how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It seeks to identify patterns and structures in composers' techniques across or within genres, styles, or historical periods...
there, saying, "I was attracted to really interesting harmonies, stuff that I would hear in
RavelJoseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...
,
EllingtonEdward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
,
BartókBéla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
."
Early career
Buckley spent the next six years working in a hotel and playing guitar in various struggling bands playing in styles from jazz,
reggaeReggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
, and
roots rockRoots rock is a term now used to describe rock music that looks back to rock's origins in folk, blues and country music. It is particularly associated with the creation of hybrid sub-genres from the later 1960s including country rock and Southern rock, which have been seen as responses to the...
to
heavy metalHeavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
. He toured with the
dancehallDancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably,...
reggae artist
ShineheadShinehead is an English-born Jamaican reggae singer/toaster/rapper.-Career:He began his music career by performing for different New York reggae dancehall sound systems in the 1980s, most notably Tony Screw's Downbeat The Ruler, based in The Bronx.His recording debut was in 1986 on the African...
and also played the occasional
funkFunk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
and R&B studio
sessionSession musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
, collaborating with fledgling producer
Michael J. ClouseMichael J. Clouse , an American record producer and songwriter was born in Boston, Massachusetts in the mid-1950s....
to form X-Factor Productions. Throughout this period, Buckley limited his singing to
backing vocalsA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
.
He moved to New York City in February 1990, but found few opportunities to work as a musician. He was introduced to
QawwaliQawwali is a form of Sufi devotional music popular in South Asia, particularly in the Punjab and Sindh regions of Pakistan, Hyderabad, Delhi, and other parts of northern India...
, the devotional music of
PakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, and to
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, one of its best-known singers. Buckley was an impassioned fan of Khan, and during his cafe days, he often covered Khan's songs. In January 1996, he interviewed Khan for
InterviewInterview is an American magazine which has the nickname The Crystal Ball Of Pop. It was founded in late 1969 by artist Andy Warhol. The magazine features intimate conversations between some of the world's biggest celebrities, artists, musicians, and creative thinkers...
and wrote liner notes for Khan's Supreme Collection, Vol. 1 compilation. Buckley also became interested in blues musician Robert Johnson and
hardcore punkHardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
band
Bad BrainsBad Brains is an American hardcore punk band formed in Washington, D.C., in 1977. They are widely regarded as among the pioneers of hardcore punk, though the band's members objected to this term to describe their music. They are also an adept reggae band, while later recordings featured elements of...
during this time. Buckley moved back to Los Angeles in September when his father's former manager,
Herb CohenHerbert "Herb" Cohen was an American personal manager, record company executive, and music publisher, best known as the manager of Frank Zappa, Tom Waits, and many other Los Angeles-based musicians in the 1960s and 1970s.-Life and career:Cohen was born in New York...
, offered to help him record his first
demoA demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
of original songs. Buckley completed Babylon Dungeon Sessions, a four-song
cassetteThe Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...
that included the songs "Eternal Life", "Unforgiven" (later titled "Last Goodbye"), "Strawberry Street" (a different version of which appears on the Grace Legacy Edition), and punk screamer "Radio". Cohen and Buckley hoped to attract attention from the music industry with the demo tape.
Buckley flew back to New York early the following year to make his public singing debut at a tribute concert for his father called "Greetings from Tim Buckley". The event, produced by show business veteran
Hal WillnerHal Willner is an American music producer working in recording, films, TV and live events. He is best known for assembling tribute albums and events featuring a wide variety of artists and musical styles...
, was held at
St. Ann's ChurchSt. Ann and the Holy Trinity Church is an historic Episcopal church located at the corner of Montague and Clinton streets in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. The building was built as Church of the Holy Trinity, and opened in 1847. Following years of controversy, the...
in
BrooklynBrooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
on April 26, 1991. Buckley rejected the idea of the concert as a springboard to his career, instead citing personal reasons regarding his decision to sing at the tribute. With accompaniment by experimental rock guitarist
Gary LucasGary Lucas is an American guitarist, a Grammy-nominated songwriter, a soundtrack composer for film and television, and an international recording artist with over a dozen solo albums to date. He has been described as "one of the best and most original guitarists in America" ; a "legendary leftfield...
, Buckley performed "I Never Asked To Be Your Mountain", a song Tim Buckley wrote about an infant Jeff Buckley and his mother. Buckley returned to the stage to play "Sefronia – The King's Chain", "Phantasmagoria in Two", and concluded the concert with "Once I Was" performed acoustically with an impromptu
a cappellaA cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
ending, due to a snapped guitar string. Willner, the show's organizer, later recalled that Buckley's set closer made a strong impression. Buckley's performance at the concert was counter-intuitive to his desire to distance himself musically from his father. Buckley later explained his reasoning to
Rolling StoneRolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
: "It wasn't my work, it wasn't my life. But it bothered me that I hadn't been to his funeral, that I'd never been able to tell him anything. I used that show to pay my last respects." The concert proved to be his first step into the music industry that had eluded him for years.
On subsequent trips to New York in mid-1991, Buckley began co-writing with Gary Lucas resulting in the songs "Grace" and "
Mojo Pin"Mojo Pin" is the first song on Jeff Buckley's 1994 album Grace. It was written by Jeff Buckley and Gary Lucas, and was first introduced on his EP, Live at Sin-é. Buckley stated that the song was about a dream of a black woman. Through a wash of bizarre images, the lyrics convey a feeling of...
", and by late 1991 he began performing with Lucas' band
Gods and MonstersGods and Monsters is an American psychedelic rock band from New York City, known for once having singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley as a member in the early 1990s....
around New York City. After being offered a development deal as a member of Gods and Monsters at Imago Records, Buckley moved back to New York to the
Lower East SideThe Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
at the end of 1991. The day after Gods and Monsters officially debuted in March 1992, Buckley decided to leave the band.
Buckley began performing at several clubs and cafés around
Lower ManhattanLower Manhattan is the southernmost part of the island of Manhattan, the main island and center of business and government of the City of New York...
, but
Sin-éSin-é was the name of a music venue in New York City which helped launch the careers of several noted musicians in the early 1990s.-Original café:...
in the
East VillageThe East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...
became his main venue. Buckley first appeared at the small Irish café in April 1992, and quickly earned a regular Monday night slot there. His repertoire consisted of a diverse range of
folkFolk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
,
rockRock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
,
R&BRhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
,
bluesBlues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
and jazz cover songs, much of it music he had newly learned. During this period, he discovered singers such as
Nina SimoneEunice Kathleen Waymon , better known by her stage name Nina Simone , was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music...
,
Billie HolidayBillie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
,
Van MorrisonVan Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
, and
Judy GarlandJudy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
. Buckley performed an eclectic selection of covers from a range of artists from Led Zeppelin,
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan,
Bob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
,
Édith PiafÉdith Piaf , born Édith Giovanna Gassion, was a French singer and cultural icon who became widely regarded as France's greatest popular singer. Her singing reflected her life, with her specialty being ballads...
,
Elton JohnSir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
,
The SmithsThe Smiths were an English alternative rock band, formed in Manchester in 1982. Based on the song writing partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr , the band also included Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce...
,
Bad BrainsBad Brains is an American hardcore punk band formed in Washington, D.C., in 1977. They are widely regarded as among the pioneers of hardcore punk, though the band's members objected to this term to describe their music. They are also an adept reggae band, while later recordings featured elements of...
,
Leonard CohenLeonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
, Robert Johnson and
Siouxsie SiouxSiouxsie Sioux is an English singer-songwriter. She is best known as the lead singer of the critically acclaimed rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees and of its splinter group The Creatures . The Banshees produced eleven studio albums and a string of hit singles including "Hong Kong Garden",...
. Original songs from the Babylon Dungeon Sessions, and the songs he'd written with Gary Lucas were also included in his set lists. He performed solo, accompanying himself on a borrowed
Fender TelecasterThe Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is typically a dual-pickup, solid-body electric guitar made by Fender.Its simple yet effective design and revolutionary sound broke ground and set trends in electric guitar manufacturing and popular music...
. Buckley stated that he learned how to perform onstage from playing to small audiences.
Over the next few months, Buckley attracted admiring crowds and attention from
record labelIn the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
executives. Industry maven
Clive DavisClive Davis is an American record producer and music industry executive. He has won five Grammy Awards and is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer. From 1967 to 1973 he was the President of Columbia Records. He was the founder and president of Arista Records from 1975...
even dropped by to see him. By the summer of 1992, limos from executives eager to sign the singer lined the street outside Sin-é. Buckley signed with
Columbia RecordsColumbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, home of Bob Dylan and
Bruce SpringsteenBruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
, for a three-album, essentially million-dollar deal in October 1992. Recording dates were set for July and August 1993 for what would become Buckley's recording debut, an
EPAn EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
of four songs which included a cover of Van Morrison's "
The Way Young Lovers Do"The Way Young Lovers Do" is one of the songs included on Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison's second solo album Astral Weeks that was recorded in 1968 in New York City...
".
Live at Sin-éLive at Sin-é is a live EP by Jeff Buckley. The four-song EP was Buckley's first commercial recording and was released in December 1993 on Columbia Records. The EP captured Buckley, accompanying himself on a Fender Telecaster, in the Sin-é coffeehouse in New York City's East Village, the...
was released on November 23, 1993, documenting this period of Buckley's life.
Grace
In mid-1993, Buckley began working on his first album with record producer
Andy WallaceAndy Wallace is a Grammy Award-winning music studio engineer with a long track record of successful productions, beginning with the 1986 production of the Run-DMC/Aerosmith collaboration on "Walk This Way" with Rick Rubin...
, who had
mixedIn audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
Nirvana'sNirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
multi-platinumIn the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
album
NevermindNevermind is the second studio album by the American rock band Nirvana, released on September 24, 1991. Produced by Butch Vig, Nevermind was the group's first release on DGC Records...
. Buckley assembled a band, composed of bassist Mick Grondahl and drummer
Matt JohnsonMatt Johnson is an American drummer who played in the band of Jeff Buckley, appearing and co-writing one song on his album Grace in 1994, as well as on subsequent live releases and EPs...
, and spent several weeks rehearsing. In September, the trio headed to
Bearsville StudiosBearsville Studios was a recording studio at Bearsville, New York just west of Woodstock, New York.The studio was opened in 1969 by Albert Grossman, manager of Bob Dylan, The Band, Janis Joplin and Todd Rundgren....
in Woodstock, New York to spend six weeks recording basic tracks for what would become Grace. Buckley invited ex-bandmate Lucas to play guitar on the songs "Grace" and "Mojo Pin", and Woodstock-based jazz musician
Karl BergerKarl Hanns Berger is a musicologist with a PhD in Music Sociology, jazz composer, jazz vibraphone and piano player.-Biography:...
wrote and conducted string arrangements with Buckley assisting at times. Buckley returned home for
overdubbingOverdubbing is a technique used by recording studios to add a supplementary recorded sound to a previously recorded performance....
at studios in
ManhattanManhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
and
New JerseyNew Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
where he performed take after take to capture the perfect vocals and experimented with ideas for additional instruments, and added textures to the songs.
In January 1994, Buckley left to go on his first solo
North AmericaNorth America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n tour to support
Live at Sin-éLive at Sin-é is a live EP by Jeff Buckley. The four-song EP was Buckley's first commercial recording and was released in December 1993 on Columbia Records. The EP captured Buckley, accompanying himself on a Fender Telecaster, in the Sin-é coffeehouse in New York City's East Village, the...
. It was followed by a 10-day European tour in March. Buckley played clubs and coffeehouses and made in-store appearances. After returning, Buckley invited guitarist
Michael TigheMichael Tighe is an American singer/songwriter, guitarist, and actor.-Biography:As a teenager, Tighe was in many New York Downtown theater productions in the 1990s, where he met Jeff Buckley. Though having had no experience, he was drafted into Buckley's band, with which he toured until the...
to join the band and a collaboration between the two resulted in "
So Real"So Real" is the third single from Jeff Buckley's 1994 album Grace, and also had an accompanying video.Michael Tighe, a guitarist who joined Buckley late in the recording of Grace, brought with him what was to become the main riff on "So Real" that is played during the verses."Forget Her" was...
", a song which was recorded as a late addition to the album. In June, Buckley began his first full band tour called the "Peyote Radio Theatre Tour" that lasted into August.
PretenderThe Pretenders are an English rock band formed in Hereford, England in March 1978. The original band consisted of initiator and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde , James Honeyman-Scott , Pete Farndon , and Martin Chambers...
Chrissie HyndeChristine Ellen "Chrissie" Hynde is an US musician best known as the leader of the rock/new wave band the Pretenders. She is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist, and has been the only constant member of the band throughout its history.-Early life and career:Hynde is the daughter of a part-time...
,
Soundgarden'sSoundgarden is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984 by singer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto...
Chris CornellChris Cornell is an American rock musician best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for Soundgarden and as the former lead vocalist for Audioslave. He is also known for his numerous solo works and soundtrack contributions since 1998...
, and
The EdgeDavid Howell Evans , more widely known by his stage name The Edge , is a musician best known as the guitarist, backing vocalist, and keyboardist of the Irish rock band U2. A member of the group since its inception, he has recorded 12 studio albums with the band and has released one solo record...
from
U2U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
were among the attendees of these early shows.
Grace was released on August 23, 1994. In addition to seven original songs, the album included three covers: "
Lilac Wine"Lilac Wine" is a song written by James Shelton in 1950. It was introduced by Hope Foye in the short-lived theater musical revue, "Dance Me a Song." It was covered by Eartha Kitt , by Judy Henske on her first, self-named album , by Nina Simone on her album Wild Is The Wind , was a solo hit by...
", based on the version by Nina Simone; "
Corpus Christi CarolCorpus Christi Carol is a Middle or Early Modern English hymn , first found by an apprentice grocer named Richard Hill in a manuscript written around 1504. The original writer of the carol remains anonymous....
", from
Benjamin Britten'sEdward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
A Boy Was Born, Op.3, a composition that Buckley was introduced to in high school, based on a 15th century hymn; and "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen, based on
John Cale'sJohn Davies Cale, OBE is a Welsh musician, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the experimental rock band The Velvet Underground....
recording from the Cohen tribute album,
I'm Your FanI'm Your Fan: The Songs of Leonard Cohen is a tribute album to Leonard Cohen, released in 1991, produced by the French music magazine Les Inrockuptibles. The album features Cohen's songs interpreted by some of the most respected rock acts of the time...
. Buckley's rendition of "Hallelujah" has been called "Buckley's best" and "one of the great songs" by
TimeTime is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
, and is included on
Rolling Stone'sRolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
list of "
The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time"The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" was the cover story of a special issue of Rolling Stone, issue number 963, published December 9, 2004, a year after the magazine published its list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time"....
".
Sales of Grace were slow and it garnered little radio airplay, despite critical acclaim.
The Sydney Morning HeraldThe Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
proclaimed it "a romantic masterpiece" and a "pivotal, defining work". Despite slow initial sales the album went
goldMusic recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
in France and Australia over the next two years, achieving gold status in the U.S. in 2002, and selling over six times platinum in Australia in 2006.
Grace won appreciation from a host of revered musicians and artists, including members of Buckley's biggest influence, Led Zeppelin.
Jimmy PageJames Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...
considered Grace close to being his "favorite album of the decade".
Robert PlantRobert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...
was also complimentary, as was
Brad PittWilliam Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
, saying of Buckley's work, "There's an undercurrent to his music, there's something you can't pinpoint. Like the best of films, or the best of art, there's something going on underneath, and there's a truth there. And I find his stuff absolutely haunting. It just... it's under my skin."
Others who had influenced Buckley's music lauded him: Bob Dylan named Buckley "one of the great songwriters of this decade", and, in an interview with Village Voice,
David BowieDavid Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
named Grace as one of the ten albums he would take with him to a desert island. The album eventually went on to feature in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2003, appearing at #303.
Concert tours
Buckley spent much of the next year and a half touring internationally to promote Grace. From the album's release, he played in numerous countries, from Australia, to the UK (
Glastonbury FestivalThe Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
and the 1995 Meltdown Festival — at which he sang
Henry PurcellHenry Purcell – 21 November 1695), was an English organist and Baroque composer of secular and sacred music. Although Purcell incorporated Italian and French stylistic elements into his compositions, his legacy was a uniquely English form of Baroque music...
's '
Dido's Lament"Dido's Lament" is the commonly-used name for the noted aria, "When I am laid in earth", from the opera, Dido and Aeneas, by Henry Purcell ....
' — at the invitation of
Elvis CostelloElvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
). Following Buckley's Peyote Radio Theater tour, the band began a European tour on August 23, 1994, starting with performances in the UK and
IrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. The tour continued in
ScandinaviaScandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
and, throughout September, numerous concerts in Germany were played. The tour ended on September 22 with a concert in
ParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. A gig on September 24 in New York dovetailed on to the end of the European tour and Buckley and band spent the next month relaxing and rehearsing.
A tour of
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and the U.S. began on October 19, 1994 at
CBGBCBGB was a music club at 315 Bowery at Bleecker Street in the borough of Manhattan in New York City.Founded by Hilly Kristal in 1973, it was originally intended to feature its namesake musical styles, but became a forum for American punk and New Wave bands like Ramones, Misfits, Television, the...
's. The tour was far reaching with concerts held on both east and west coasts of the U.S., and a number of performances in central and southern states. The tour ended two months later on December 18 at
Maxwell'sMaxwell's is a music club in Hoboken, New Jersey that also has a restaurant. The intimate venue often attracts a wide variety of acts looking for a change from the New York City concert spaces across the river.-History:...
in
New JerseyNew Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. After another month of rest and rehearsal, the band commenced a second European tour, this time mainly for promotion purposes. The band began the tour in
Dublin; Buckley has remained particularly popular in
IrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. The short tour largely consisted of promotional work in London and Paris.
In late January, the band did their first tour of
JapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, playing concerts and appearing for promotion of the album and newly released Japanese single "Last Goodbye". The band returned to Europe on February 6 and toured various
Western EuropeWestern Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
an countries before returning to the U.S. on March 6. Among the gigs performed during this period, Buckley and his band performed at a 19th century built French venue, the
BataclanThe Bataclan is a "salle de spectacle" at 50 boulevard Voltaire in the 11th arrondissement of Paris. It was built in 1864 by the architect Charles Duval. Its name refers to Ba-Ta-Clan, an operetta by Offenbach...
, and material from the concert was recorded and later released in October of that year as a four track
EPAn EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
,
Live from the BataclanLive from the Bataclan is a live EP by singer/songwriter Jeff Buckley, released in October 1995 .It was recorded at the Bataclan in Paris, France on February 11, 1995,-Track listing:...
. Also, songs from a performance on February 25, at the venue Nighttown in
RotterdamRotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
, were subsequently released as a promotional-only CD,
So RealThe Grace EPs is a boxset of Jeff Buckley recordings released in 2002. It contained five EPs, two of which, Peyote Radio Theatre and So Real, had previously been promotional only releases...
.
Touring recommenced in April with dates across the U.S. and Canada. During this period Buckley and the band notably played
MetroThis page is about the concert hall; for the metro region surrounding Chicago, see Chicago metropolitan area.Metro is a concert hall at 3730 N. Clark Street in Chicago, Illinois that plays host to a variety of local, regional and national emerging bands and musicians. The Metro was first opened in...
in
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, which was recorded on video and later released as
Live in ChicagoLive in Chicago is a live DVD by Jeff Buckley, recorded on May 13, 1995 at Cabaret Metro during the Mystery White Boy tour. Originally broadcast on Chicago music video program JBTV, it was released on DVD and VHS on May 9, 2000...
on
VHSThe Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
and later on
DVDA DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
. In addition, on June 4 they played at
Sony Music StudiosSony Music Studios was a well-known former music recording and mastering facility in New York City. The music and broadcasting complex was located at 460 W. 54th St., at 10th Avenue, in the Hell's Kitchen section of Manhattan...
for the Sony Music radio hour. Following this was a month long European tour between June 20 and July 18 in which they played many summer music festivals. During the tour, Buckley played two concerts at the
Paris OlympiaThe Olympia is a music hall in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. Located at No. 28, Boulevard des Capucines, its closest métro/RER stations are Madeleine, Opéra, Havre – Caumartin and Auber....
, a venue made famous by the French vocalist
Édith PiafÉdith Piaf , born Édith Giovanna Gassion, was a French singer and cultural icon who became widely regarded as France's greatest popular singer. Her singing reflected her life, with her specialty being ballads...
, that he considered the finest performances of his career. Shortly after this Buckley attended the Festival de la Musique Sacrée (Festival of Sacred Music), also held in France, and performed "What Will You Say" as a duet with
Alim QasimovAlim Qasimov is an Azerbaijani musician, and one of the foremost mugam singers in Azerbaijan. He was awarded the International Music Council-UNESCO Music Prize in 1999, one of the highest international accolades for music. His music is characterised by his vocal improvisation and represents a move...
, an
AzerbaijanAzerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
i
mughamMugam also known as Azerbaijani Mugham is one of the many folk musical compositions from Azerbaijan, contrast with Tasnif, Ashugs. Mugam draws on Iranian-Arabic-Turkish Maqam....
singer. Sony BMG has since released a live album, 2001's Live a L'Olympia, which has a selection of songs from both Olympia performances and the collaboration with Qasimov.
Buckley's Mystery White Boy tour, playing concerts in both Sydney and
MelbourneMelbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia, lasted between August 28 and September 6 and recordings of these performances were compiled and released on the live album
Mystery White BoyMystery White Boy is a live album by Jeff Buckley released in 2000 . This is a compilation of live recordings that Buckley's mother Mary Guibert compiled from DAT recordings of his supporting tour for Grace.- Track listing :...
. Buckley was so well received during these concerts that his album Grace went gold in Australia, selling over 35,000 copies, and taking this into account he decided a longer tour was needed and returned for a tour of
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in February the following year.
Between the two
OceaniaOceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...
n tours Buckley and the band took a break from touring. Buckley played solo in the meantime with concerts at
Sin-éSin-é was the name of a music venue in New York City which helped launch the careers of several noted musicians in the early 1990s.-Original café:...
and a New Year's Eve concert at
Mercury LoungeThe Mercury Lounge is a club/music venue, in the Lower East Side section, of New York City. The structure, at 217 East Houston Street, housed the servants to the Astor Mansion, connected to it by an underground labyrinth of tunnels...
in New York. After the break, the band spent the majority of February on the Hard Luck Tour in Australia and New Zealand, but tensions had risen between the group and drummer
Matt JohnsonMatt Johnson is an American drummer who played in the band of Jeff Buckley, appearing and co-writing one song on his album Grace in 1994, as well as on subsequent live releases and EPs...
. The concert on March 1, 1996 was the last gig he played with Buckley and his band.
Much of the material from the tours of 1995 and 1996 was recorded and released on either promotional EPs, such as the
Grace EPThe Grace EPs is a boxset of Jeff Buckley recordings released in 2002. It contained five EPs, two of which, Peyote Radio Theatre and So Real, had previously been promotional only releases...
, or posthumously on albums, such as Mystery White Boy (a reference to Buckley not using his real name) and Live a L'Olympia. Many of the other concerts Buckley played during this period have surfaced on bootleg recordings.
Following Johnson's departure, the band, now without a drummer, was put on hold and did not perform live again until February 12, 1997. Due to the pressure from extensive touring, Buckley spent the majority of the year away from the stage. However, from May 2 to May 5 he played a short stint as bass guitarist with Mind Science of the Mind, with friend Nathan Larson, then guitarist of
Shudder to ThinkShudder to Think is an American indie rock group. Formed in 1986, they released three albums on the Washington, D.C.-based label Dischord Records and were a post-hardcore band, although they drew upon a wide range of stylistic influences, including pop....
. Buckley returned to playing live concerts when he went on his "phantom solo tour" of cafés in the
NortheastThe Northeastern United States is a region of the United States as defined by the United States Census Bureau.-Composition:The region comprises nine states: the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont; and the Mid-Atlantic states of New...
in December 1996, appearing under a series of aliases: The Crackrobats, Possessed by Elves, Father Demo, Smackrobiotic, The Halfspeeds, Crit-Club, Topless America, Martha & the Nicotines, and A Puppet Show Named Julio. By way of justification, Buckley posted a note on his Internet site stating that he missed the anonymity of playing in cafes and local bars:
Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk
After completing touring in 1996, Buckley started to write for a new album to be called My Sweetheart the Drunk. Buckley worked with
Patti SmithPatricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....
on her 1996 album
Gone AgainGone Again is an album by Patti Smith, released June 18, 1996 on Arista Records. The production of the record was preceded by the deaths of many of Smith's close friends and peers, including her husband Fred "Sonic" Smith, her brother Todd, Robert Mapplethorpe, Richard Sohl and Kurt Cobain, with...
and met fellow collaborater
Tom VerlaineTom Verlaine is a singer, songwriter and guitarist, best known as the frontman for the New York rock band Television.-Biography:...
, an ex-
TelevisionTelevision was an American rock band, formed in New York City in 1973. They are best known for the album Marquee Moon and widely regarded as one of the founders of "punk" and New Wave music. Television was part of the early 1970s New York underground rock scene, along with bands like the Patti...
member. Buckley asked Verlaine to be producer on the new album and he agreed. In the middle of 1996, Buckley and his band began recording sessions in
ManhattanManhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
with Verlaine.
Eric EidelEric Eidel is an American musician who has most notably played with Jeff Buckley on his final album "My Sweet Heart the Drunk". He has also played with singer-songwriter Camille Davila.-References:...
played the drums through these sessions as a stop-gap between the dates drummer Matt Johnson left and before
Parker KindredParker Kindred is an American drummer who played in the band of Jeff Buckley, appearing on his unfinished second album, Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk in 1997, as well as playing live with Buckley and the rest of his band at Arlene's Grocery on February 9, 1997...
joined as full-time drummer. Around this time Buckley met
Inger LorreInger Lorre is an American singer who is best known for her bands The Nymphs and Motel Shootout.-The Nymphs:...
of
The NymphsThe Nymphs were an alternative rock band of the late 1980s and early 1990s with lead singer Inger Lorre. The band was signed to Geffen Records, and released their only album in 1991. The Nymphs were known for their wild stage shows and their rebellious attitude towards record companies...
in an
East VillageThe East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...
bar, and struck up a fast and close friendship. Together, they contributed a track to
Kerouac: Kicks Joy DarknessKerouac: Kicks Joy Darkness is a 1997 spoken word tribute album performed by various artists in tribute to late beat poet Jack Kerouac. Kerouac died at the age of 47 from cirrhosis of the liver, brought on by excessive alcohol consumption . The star-filled album features performances of Kerouac's...
, a
Jack KerouacJean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...
tribute album. After Lorre's backup guitarist for an
upcoming albumTranscendental Medication is a 1999 album by Inger Lorre, formerly of The Nymphs. The album includes a duet with Jeff Buckley as well as the song "Yard of Blonde Girls" which Jeff covered on his acclaimed posthumous album Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk...
quit the project, Buckley offered to fill in. He became very attached to one of the songs from the album, "
Yard of Blonde Girls"Yard of Blonde Girls" is a song written by sisters Audrey Clark of the Boston band the 360s and Lori Kramer of the Paper Squares, who were performing together in the late nineties as Pendulum Floors. Inger Lorre contributed additional lyrics on the second verse, which were written about...
", and covered it on
Sketches for My Sweetheart the DrunkSketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk is a collection of polished studio tracks and four-track demos recorded by Jeff Buckley. Being dissatisfied with material recorded in the summer of 1996 and early in 1997, Buckley worked on many demos to reach the sound he was hoping to achieve...
. Another recording session in Manhattan followed in early 1997, but Buckley and the band were unsatisfied and the album was not considered finished.
On February 4, 1997, Buckley played a short set at The Knitting Factory's tenth anniversary concert featuring a selection of his new songs: "Jewel Box", "Morning Theft", "Everybody Here Wants You", "The Sky is a Landfill" and "Yard of Blonde Girls".
Lou ReedLewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...
was there to watch and expressed an interest in working with Buckley. The band played their first gig with
Parker KindredParker Kindred is an American drummer who played in the band of Jeff Buckley, appearing on his unfinished second album, Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk in 1997, as well as playing live with Buckley and the rest of his band at Arlene's Grocery on February 9, 1997...
, their new drummer, at
Arlene's GroceryArlene's Grocery is a bar and music venue in the Lower East Side, Manhattan. It is located at 95 Stanton Street, and has been a bar/venue since 1996....
in New York on February 9. This set featured much of Buckley's new material that would appear on Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk and a recording has become one of Buckley's most widely distributed
bootlegsA bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging...
. Later that month, Buckley recorded a
spoken wordSpoken word is a form of poetry that often uses alliterated prose or verse and occasionally uses metered verse to express social commentary. Traditionally it is in the first person, is from the poet’s point of view and is themed in current events....
reading of the
Edgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
poem, "
Ulalume"Ulalume" is a poem written by Edgar Allan Poe in 1847. Much like a few of Poe's other poems , "Ulalume" focuses on the narrator's loss of a beautiful woman due to her death. Poe originally wrote the poem as an elocution piece and, as such, the poem is known for its focus on sound...
", for the album
Closed on Account of RabiesClosed On Account of Rabies is a double-CD with poems and tales of Edgar Allan Poe performed by various artists, and produced by Hal Willner...
. This would be his last recording in New York; shortly after, he moved to
Memphis, TennesseeMemphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
.
Buckley became interested in recording at
Easley McCain RecordingEasley McCain Recording is an American recording studio, based in Memphis, Tennessee, notable for recording musicians such as Tav Falco's Panther Burns, Grifters, Pavement, Sonic Youth, Come, White Stripes, Townes Van Zandt, Pezz, Jeff Buckley, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Guided by Voices, Lydia...
in Memphis, at the suggestion of friend Dave Shouse from the Grifters. He rented a
shotgun houseThe shotgun house is a narrow rectangular domestic residence, usually no more than 12 feet wide, with doors at each end. It was the most popular style of house in the Southern United States from the end of the American Civil War , through the 1920s. Alternate names include shotgun shack,...
there, of which he was so fond he contacted the owner about the possibility of buying it. Throughout this period, February 12 to May 26, 1997, Buckley played at Barristers', a
barA bar is a business establishment that serves alcoholic drinks — beer, wine, liquor, and cocktails — for consumption on the premises.Bars provide stools or chairs that are placed at tables or counters for their patrons. Some bars have entertainment on a stage, such as a live band, comedians, go-go...
located in
downtown MemphisDowntown Memphis, Tennessee is the central business district of Memphis, Tennessee and is located along the Mississippi River between Interstate 40 to the north, Interstate 55 to the south and I-240 to the east, where it abuts Midtown Memphis....
underneath a parking garage in an alley off of Jefferson Avenue. He played numerous times in order to work through the new material in a live atmosphere, at first with the band then solo as part of a Monday night residency. In early February, Buckley and the band did a third recording session with Verlaine, in Memphis, but Buckley expressed his dissatisfaction with the sessions and later called Grace producer,
Andy WallaceAndy Wallace is a Grammy Award-winning music studio engineer with a long track record of successful productions, beginning with the 1986 production of the Run-DMC/Aerosmith collaboration on "Walk This Way" with Rick Rubin...
, to step in as Verlaine's replacement. Buckley started recording
demosA demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
on his own
4-trackMultitrack recording is a method of sound recording that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources to create a cohesive whole...
recorder in preparation for a forthcoming session with Wallace. Some of these demos were sent to his band in New York, who listened to them enthusiastically, and were excited to resume working on the album. These recordings would go on to compose the first disc of
Sketches for My Sweetheart the DrunkSketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk is a collection of polished studio tracks and four-track demos recorded by Jeff Buckley. Being dissatisfied with material recorded in the summer of 1996 and early in 1997, Buckley worked on many demos to reach the sound he was hoping to achieve...
. However Buckley was not entirely happy with the results and he sent his band back to New York while he stayed behind to work on the songs. The band was scheduled to return to Memphis for rehearsals and recording sessions on May 29.
Death
On the evening of May 29, 1997, Buckley's band flew to Memphis intending to join him in his studio there to work on the newly written material. That same evening, Buckley went swimming in
Wolf River HarborThe Wolf River is a alluvial stream in western Tennessee and northern Mississippi, whose confluence with the Mississippi River was the site of various Chickasaw, French, Spanish and American communities and forts that eventually became Memphis, Tennessee....
, a
slackwaterSlack water, which used to be known as 'The stand of the tide', is a short period in a body of tidal water either side of high water or low water essentially when the water is completely unstressed, and therefore with no rise or fall of the tide and no movement either way in the tidal stream, and...
channel of the
Mississippi RiverThe Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
, while wearing boots, all of his clothing, and singing the chorus of the song "
Whole Lotta Love"Whole Lotta Love" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin. It is featured as the opening track on the band's second album, Led Zeppelin II, and was released in the United States and Japan as a single. The US release became their first hit single, it was certified Gold on 13 April 1970, when it...
" by
Led ZeppelinLed Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
. Buckley had gone swimming there several times before. A roadie in Buckley's band, Keith Foti, remained on shore. After moving a radio and guitar out of reach of the wake from a passing
tugboatA tugboat is a boat that maneuvers vessels by pushing or towing them. Tugs move vessels that either should not move themselves, such as ships in a crowded harbor or a narrow canal,or those that cannot move by themselves, such as barges, disabled ships, or oil platforms. Tugboats are powerful for...
, Foti looked up to see that Buckley had vanished. Despite a determined rescue effort that night, Buckley remained missing. On June 4, two locals spotted his body in the Mississippi River near a riverboat, and it was brought to land.
Buckley's
autopsyAn autopsy—also known as a post-mortem examination, necropsy , autopsia cadaverum, or obduction—is a highly specialized surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse to determine the cause and manner of death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present...
showed no signs of drugs or alcohol in his system and the death was ruled as an accidental drowning. The following statement was released from the Buckley estate:
Legacy
After Buckley's death, a collection of demo recordings and a full-length album he had been reworking for his second album were released as
Sketches for My Sweetheart the DrunkSketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk is a collection of polished studio tracks and four-track demos recorded by Jeff Buckley. Being dissatisfied with material recorded in the summer of 1996 and early in 1997, Buckley worked on many demos to reach the sound he was hoping to achieve...
— the compilation being overseen by his mother, Mary Guibert, band members and old friend
Michael J. ClouseMichael J. Clouse , an American record producer and songwriter was born in Boston, Massachusetts in the mid-1950s....
, as well as
Chris CornellChris Cornell is an American rock musician best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for Soundgarden and as the former lead vocalist for Audioslave. He is also known for his numerous solo works and soundtrack contributions since 1998...
. The album achieved gold sales in Australia in 1998. Three other albums composed of live recordings have also been released, along with a live
DVDA DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
of a performance in Chicago. A previously unreleased 1992 recording of "
I Shall Be Released"I Shall Be Released" is a 1967 song written by Bob Dylan.The Band played it on their debut album, Music from Big Pink , with Richard Manuel singing lead vocals, and Rick Danko and Levon Helm harmonizing in the chorus...
", sung by Buckley over the phone on live radio, was released on the album For New Orleans.
Since his death, Buckley has been the subject of numerous documentaries: Fall in Light, a 1999 production for French TV, Goodbye and Hello, a program about Buckley and his father produced for Netherlands TV in 2000 and Everybody Here Wants You, a documentary made in 2002 by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). An hour long documentary about Buckley called
Amazing Grace: Jeff BuckleyAmazing Grace: Jeff Buckley is an hour-long documentary that celebrates the legacy of the late musician Jeff Buckley with specific attention given to fans he inspired. The film was officially sanctioned by Jeff's mother and estate...
has been shown at various film festivals to critical acclaim. The film was released worldwide in 2009 by Sony BMG Legacy as part of the Grace Around The World Deluxe Edition. In the spring of 2009 it was revealed that Ryan Jaffe, best known for scripting the movie The Rocker, had replaced Brian Jun as screenwriter for the upcoming film
Mystery White Boy. Orion Williams is also set to co-produce the film with
Michelle SyMichelle Sy is an American film producer and executive producer. She started her career as a production assistant, working on films such as Good Will Hunting and The Mighty. Later on in her career she moved in to producing films herself. Her most successful film to date is Finding Neverland; a J....
. A separate project involving the book Dream Brother was allegedly cancelled.
Tributes
The ChaserThe Chaser are an Australian satirical comedian group, known for their television programmes on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation channel. The group take their name from their production of satirical newspaper, a publication known to challenge conventions of taste...
has mentioned him in "The Eulogy Song".
PJ HarveyPolly Jean Harvey is an English musician, singer-songwriter, composer and occasional artist. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments including piano, organ, bass, saxophone, and most recently, the autoharp.Harvey began her career in...
knew him personally and in the song "Memphis", she takes lines from a song on his unfinished album, "Morning Theft", and in her own words reflects on Buckley's death: "In Memphis...die suddenly, at a wonderful age, we're ready to go".
Rufus WainwrightRufus McGarrigle Wainwright is an American-Canadian singer-songwriter. He has recorded six albums of original music, EPs, and tracks on compilations and film soundtracks.-Early years:...
, whose career had barely started when he met Buckley, wrote "Memphis Skyline" in tribute to him, singing "then came hallelujah sounding like mad Ophelia, for me in my room living, turn back and you will stay, under the Memphis Skyline".
Duncan SheikDuncan Scott Sheik is an American singer-songwriter and composer. Sheik initially found success as a singer, most notably for his 1996 debut single "Barely Breathing". He later expanded his work to include compositions for motion pictures and the Broadway stage, leading him to involvement in the...
also wrote and recorded the song "A Body Goes Down", from his 1998 album
HummingHumming is the second album by Duncan Sheik. Released by Atlantic Records in 1998, it was the follow-up to his self-titled debut album. More understated than his first album, it did not include any major singles, but featured the London Session Orchestra on some tracks.Two of the album's songs,...
in response to Buckley's death.
Steve AdeySteve Adey is a musician and singer-songwriter. His music is characterised by slow tempos, minimalist arrangements, underpinned by a rich baritone vocal and chordal piano playing...
wrote a song tribute entitled "Mississippi" on his 2006 album
All Things RealAll Things Real is the debut album by English singer-songwriter Steve Adey. The album was released on March 6, 2006, through Grand Harmonium Records...
. The song contains the lyrics "Until the morning thief steals the humming of the Lord", a reference to Buckley's song "Morning Theft".
Another song entitled
Mississippi"Mississippi" is the second song on Bob Dylan's 2001 album "Love and Theft". The song was originally recorded during the Time Out of Mind sessions, but was ultimately left off the album; Dylan rerecorded the song for "Love and Theft" in May 2001...
was written by
Bob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
on his 2001 album Love and Theft. The lyrics are supposedly about Buckley.
Willie NileWillie Nile is an American singer-songwriter. In 1980 Nile released his self-titled debut album which according to one critic remains “one of the most thrilling post-Byrds folk-rock albums of all time”...
’s On The Road To Calvary from his 1999 album Beautiful Wreck Of The World was written as a tribute to Buckley.
Juliana HatfieldJuliana Hatfield , is an American guitarist/singer-songwriter and author from the Boston area, formerly of the indie rock bands Blake Babies and Some Girls. She currently lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts....
has written two songs related to her grieving for Buckley: "Trying Not To Think About It" on her EP
Please Do Not DisturbPlease Do Not Disturb is an EP recording by Juliana Hatfield, released in 1997 .-Track listing:all songs by Juliana Hatfield#"Sellout" - 3:58#"Trying Not to Think About It" - 3:03#"As If Your Life Depended on It" - 4:50...
and "Until Tomorrow" on
Beautiful CreatureBeautiful Creature is the fourth solo album by Juliana Hatfield, released in 2000.-Track listing:#"Daniel" – 4:31#"Close Your Eyes" – 3:21#"Choose Drugs" – 3:41#"Cool Rock Boy" – 4:00...
.
Mike DoughtyMike Doughty is an American indie and alternative rock singer-songwriter. He led the band Soul Coughing in the 1990s, and in the 2000s, became a solo artist...
's song "Grey Ghost" from his album
Haughty MelodicHaughty Melodic is an album by Mike Doughty released on May 3, 2005. Doughty described the album as "a bunch of songs about yearning and redemption and happiness and hope." The album's sound is dense, stuffed full of multi-tracked guitars, horns, keyboards, and Doughty's own voice multiplied over...
was written in response to Buckley's death.
Chris CornellChris Cornell is an American rock musician best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for Soundgarden and as the former lead vocalist for Audioslave. He is also known for his numerous solo works and soundtrack contributions since 1998...
wrote a tribute song entitled "Wave Goodbye" on his first solo album
Euphoria MorningEuphoria Morning is the first solo studio album released by American musician Chris Cornell. It was released on September 21, 1999 through Interscope Records. Euphoria Morning sold over 75,000 copies in its first week of release and eventually sold 343,000 copies in the U.S. alone...
.
Patty GriffinPatty Griffin, born Patricia Jean Griffin, March 16, 1964, is an American Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter and musician. She is especially known for her down-home crafting of songs and her connection to musicians including Emmylou Harris, Ellis Paul, and the Dixie Chicks, who have played with...
wrote a tribute song entitled "Goodbye" on her solo album
Flaming RedFlaming Red is Patty Griffin's second album. It was released on June 23, 1998 and reached number 12 on the Top Heatseekers chart. According to Billboard the album has sold 122,000 copies in the U.S. up to May 2004...
.
Mark EitzelMark Eitzel is a musician, best known as a songwriter and lead singer of the San Francisco band American Music Club.-History:Eitzel spent his formative years in a military family living in Okinawa, Taiwan, Ohio and the United Kingdom. He moved to America in 1979.He started making music while he was...
included a song written in tribute to Jeff Buckley, To The Sea, on his The Invisible Man album.
The band
Hey Rosetta!Hey Rosetta! is a six-piece Canadian indie rock band from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. Known for its energized live shows, the band creates a massive, layered sound by incorporating piano, violin and cello into the traditional four-piece garage rock sound.-History:Their influences include...
wrote a tribute song entitled "Lions for Scottie" for their album Plan Your Escape.
Ron SexsmithRonald Eldon "Ron" Sexsmith is a Canadian singer-songwriter from St. Catharines, Ontario, currently based in Toronto. He started his own band when he was fourteen years old, and released the first recordings of his own material seven years later, in 1985...
wrote a tribute song entitled "In a Flash" on his album Whereabouts.
In May and June 2007, Buckley's life and music were celebrated globally with tributes in Australia, Canada, England, France,
IcelandIceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
,
IsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
,
IrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
,
MacedoniaMacedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
,
PortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
and the U.S. Many of Buckley's family members attended the various tribute concerts across the globe, some of which they helped organize. There are three annual Jeff Buckley tribute events: the Chicago-based Uncommon Ground, featuring a three day concert schedule, An Evening With Jeff Buckley, an annual New York City tribute, and the Australia-based Fall In Light. The latter event is run by the Fall In Light Foundation, which in addition to the concerts, runs a "Guitars for Schools" program. The name of the foundation is taken from the lyrics of Buckley's "New Year's Prayer".
American Idol and X-Factor
On March 7, 2008, Buckley’s version of the
Leonard CohenLeonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
song, “Hallelujah”, went to No. 1 on the
iTunesThe iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
chart, selling 178,000 downloads for the week, after being performed by Jason Castro on the seventh season of the television series
American IdolThe seventh season of American Idol, the annual reality show and singing competition, began on January 15, 2008 and concluded on May 21, 2008. Ryan Seacrest continued to host the show with Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson returning as judges...
. The song debuted at #1 that week on Billboards
Hot Digital SongsThe Hot Digital Songs chart ranks the best-selling digital singles in the United States, according to Billboard.Beginning in February 2005, digital sales have been incorporated into many of Billboards music single charts. It was decided to do so mainly because of the dramatic rise in popularity of...
chart, giving Buckley his first #1 on any Billboard chart.
In a similar vein, the 2008 UK
X FactorThe X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. Created by Simon Cowell, it began in September 2004 and is contested by aspiring singers drawn from public auditions. It is the originator of the international X Factor franchise. The seven series of the show to date...
winner,
Alexandra BurkeAlexandra Imelda Cecelia Ewen Burke is a British R&B and pop recording artist who rose to fame after winning the fifth series of British television series The X Factor in 2008...
, released a cover of "Hallelujah" with the intent to top the
UK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
as the Christmas number one single. Buckley fans countered this, launching a campaign with the aim of propelling Buckley's version to the number one spot. The campaign picked up support through social networking websites and it soon spread to the mainstream media. Buckley's version of the song entered the UK charts at #49 on November 30 and by December 21 it had reached #2; in spite of the fact that it had not been released in a physical format.
In 2009, actress and singer
Scarlett JohanssonScarlett Johansson is an American actress, model and singer.Johansson made her film debut in North and was later nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead for her performance in Manny & Lo . She rose to further prominence with her roles in The Horse Whisperer and Ghost World...
covered Buckley's "Last Goodbye" for the soundtrack of her film
He's Just Not That Into YouHe's Just Not That Into You is a 2009 American romantic comedy film directed by Ken Kwapis, based on the self-help book of the same name by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo, which in turn was inspired by a line of dialogue in Sex and the City...
.
Awards and nominations
- The Académie Charles Cros awarded Buckley the "Grand Prix International Du Disque" on April 13, 1995 in honor of his debut album Grace.
- MTV Video Music Award nomination for Best New Artist in a Video for "Last Goodbye", 1995.
- Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine nomination for Best New Artist, 1995.
- Triple J Hottest 100
The Triple J Hottest 100 is an annual music poll, based on the votes of national Australian radio station Triple J listeners, in order to determine their favourite song of the year. Voting is conducted by the internet and begins roughly two weeks prior to the new year for the previous year's songs...
awarded #14 best song for that year in the world's largest voting competition for "Last Goodbye", 1995.
- In 2006, Mojo
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
named Grace the #1 Modern Rock Classic of all Time. It was also rated as Australia's second favorite album on My Favourite Album, a television special aired by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on December 3, 2006.
- Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nomination for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for "Everybody Here Wants You", 1998.
- Grace was ranked #303 of the 500 Greatest Albums by Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
in 2003.
- Buckley's cover of "Hallelujah" was ranked #259 of the 500 Greatest Songs by Rolling Stone in 2004.
- Rolling Stone ranked Buckley #39 in its 2008 list: The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.
- On the Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time, 2009
The Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time was a music poll conducted in 2009 amongst listeners of Australian youth radio network Triple J. Over half a million votes were compiled, with Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" collecting the highest number of votes. Voters could submit a list of up to ten...
, Buckley's version of "Hallelujah" was voted in 3rd place, Last Goodbye was 7th, Lover, You Should've Come Over was 56th and Grace came in 69th.
Equipment
Buckley used several guitars, but mainly played a 1983
Fender TelecasterThe Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is typically a dual-pickup, solid-body electric guitar made by Fender.Its simple yet effective design and revolutionary sound broke ground and set trends in electric guitar manufacturing and popular music...
and a
Rickenbacker 360/12The Rickenbacker 360/12 is an electric guitar made by the Rickenbacker company; it was among the first electric twelve-string guitars. This instrument is visually similar to the Rickenbacker 360...
.
Selected equipment
Guitars
- 1983 Fender Telecaster
The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is typically a dual-pickup, solid-body electric guitar made by Fender.Its simple yet effective design and revolutionary sound broke ground and set trends in electric guitar manufacturing and popular music...
(main guitar) - cream color with chrome pickguard and Seymour DuncanSeymour Duncan is a company that is best known for manufacturing of guitar pickups, and currently has a line of effects pedals. The company was founded in 1976 by guitarist and luthier Seymour W. Duncan and his then-wife Cathy Carter Duncan in Goleta, California, USA...
Hot Lead Stack STK-T2b pickup in the bridge.
- Gibson Les Paul Custom
The Gibson Les Paul Custom is a higher end variation of the Gibson Les Paul guitar. It was developed in 1954 after Gibson had introduced the Les Paul model in 1952.-Notable Les Paul Custom players:...
'Black Beauty'
- Rickenbacker 360/12
The Rickenbacker 360/12 is an electric guitar made by the Rickenbacker company; it was among the first electric twelve-string guitars. This instrument is visually similar to the Rickenbacker 360...
sunburst
- Ibanez Talman
The Talman series is a series of guitars produced by guitar manufacturer Ibanez.This series consists of electric and acoustic guitars and was introduced in 1994....
green color
- Fender Jaguar
The Fender Jaguar is an electric guitar introduced in 1962. A descendant of the Jazzmaster, the Jaguar quickly caught on in the emerging Surf music scene...
cream color
- Guild
The Guild Guitar Company is a USA-based guitar manufacturer founded in 1952 by Alfred Dronge, a guitarist and music-store owner, and George Mann, a former executive with the Epiphone Guitar Company...
acoustic
- Bentley Series 10 Telecaster flower painted
- Hagström
Hagström is a musical instrument manufacturer in Älvdalen, Dalecarlia, Sweden. Their original products were accordions that they initially imported from Germany and then Italy before opening their own facility in 1932. During the sixties, the company started making electric guitars and later...
I black
- Silhouette Music Man
Music Man is an American guitar, and bass guitar manufacturer. It is a division of the Ernie Ball corporation.-Early years:The Music Man story began in 1971 when Forrest White and Tom Walker talked with Leo Fender about starting a company they would call Tri-Sonic, Inc...
black
- Yamaha
Yamaha may refer to:* Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services** Yamaha Motor Company, a Japanese motorized vehicle-producing company...
fg-470S acoustic
- Gibson Guitar Corporation
The Gibson Guitar Corporation, formerly of Kalamazoo, Michigan and currently of Nashville, Tennessee, manufactures guitars and other instruments which sell under a variety of brand names...
Robert JohnsonRobert Leroy Johnson was an American blues singer and musician. His landmark recordings from 1936–37 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that have influenced later generations of musicians. Johnson's shadowy, poorly documented life and death at age 27 have given...
L-1
- Fender Jazz Bass
The Jazz Bass was the second model of electric bass created by Leo Fender. The bass is distinct from the Precision Bass in that its tone is brighter and richer in the midrange and treble with less emphasis on the fundamental harmonic...
black
- Dobro
Dobro is a registered trademark, now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation and used for a particular design of resonator guitar.The name has a long and involved history, interwoven with that of the resonator guitar...
Resonator
- Indian string sitar
The 'Tablaman' is a plucked stringed instrument predominantly used in Hindustani classical music, where it has been ubiquitous since the Middle Ages...
with bow in wooden case
Amplification
- Fender Twin
The Fender Twin is a guitar amplifier made by Fender. It was introduced in 1952, two years before Fender began selling Stratocaster electric guitars. The amps are known for their characteristically clean tone....
Reverb
- Fender Vibroverb
The Fender Vibroverb was a 40-watt combo guitar amplifier originally manufactured in 1963 and 1964. It was the first Fender amplifier to incorporate on-board reverb and vibrato effects, both of which became standard features on many high-end Fender tube amps during the 1960s and 1970s.- Brownface,...
- Mesa Boogie
Mesa/Boogie is a company in Petaluma, California that makes amplifiers for guitars and basses. It has been in operation since 1969....
Tremoverb 33x34x42 Mesa 4x12 guitar cabinets (2)
- Fender Custom Vibrolux Reverb
Effects
- Alesis
Alesis is a company based in Cumberland, Rhode Island, that designs and markets electronic musical instruments, digital audio processors, audio mixers, digital audio interfaces, recording equipment, drum machines, professional audio and electronic percussion products...
Quadraverb
- Boss Hyper Fuzz
- Boss power supply & master switch
- Dunlop
Dunlop Manufacturing, Inc., known colloquially as Jim Dunlop, is a manufacturer of musical accessories based in Benicia, California. Originally founded in 1965 by Jim Dunlop, Sr., the company has grown from a small home operation to being a large manufacturer of music gear for over 40 years.- Way...
Tremolo volume pedal
- MXR Fuzz Unit
- MXR Blue Box
- DOD Buzz Box
- Morley A/B Switch Box
- Real Tube Overdrive
- Marshall Drive Master
- DigiTech Whammy II with Microphones
- Hi band Flanger
- Whirlwind A/B boxes
- Mesa Rectifier Switches
- Boss Chromatic Tuners
- TC Electronic Stereo Chorus
- Electro-Harmonix Hot Tubes Overdrive Simulator
- Boss Power supply and master switch
- Stewart Direct Boxes
Instrumentation
Buckley was primarily a singer and guitarist; however, he also played other instruments on various studio recordings and sessions, including
bassThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
,
dobroDobro is a registered trademark, now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation and used for a particular design of resonator guitar.The name has a long and involved history, interwoven with that of the resonator guitar...
,
mandolinA mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
,
harmoniumA harmonium is a free-standing keyboard instrument similar to a reed organ. Sound is produced by air being blown through sets of free reeds, resulting in a sound similar to that of an accordion...
(intro to
Lover, You Should've Come Over"Lover, You Should've Come Over" is the seventh track on Jeff Buckley's album Grace. Inspired by the ending of the relationship between Buckley and Rebecca Moore, it concerns the despondency of a young man growing older, finding that his actions represent a perspective he feels that he should have...
),
organThe organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
,
dulcimerDulcimer may refer to two types of musical instruments:* Appalachian dulcimer, a fretted, plucked musical instrument which is also referred to as a "mountain dulcimer", "lap dulcimer", "hog fiddle", "fretted dulcimer" or simply "dulcimer"...
(
Dream Brother"Dream Brother", written by Jeff Buckley, Mick Grondahl and Matt Johnson, is the last track on Buckley's album Grace but is the penultimate track on later releases of the album...
intro),
tablaThe tabla is a popular Indian percussion instrument used in Hindustani classical music and in popular and devotional music of the Indian subcontinent. The instrument consists of a pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres...
,
esrajThe esraj is a string instrument found in two forms throughout the north, central, and east regions of India. It is a young instrument by Indian terms, being only about 200 years old. The dilruba is found in the north, where it is used in religious music and light classical songs in the urban areas...
,
harmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
.
Discography
- Grace (1994)
- Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk
Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk is a collection of polished studio tracks and four-track demos recorded by Jeff Buckley. Being dissatisfied with material recorded in the summer of 1996 and early in 1997, Buckley worked on many demos to reach the sound he was hoping to achieve...
(1998)
Further reading
- Price, Chris & Harland, Joe. Live Fast, Die Young: Misadventures in Rock & Roll America. Summersdale. 2010. ISBN 978-1-84953-049-1
- Apter, Jeff. A Pure Drop: The Life of Jeff Buckley. Backbeat Books. 2009. ISBN 978-0-87930-954-1
- Brooks, Daphne. Jeff Buckley's Grace. Continuum International Publishing Group. 2005. ISBN 0-8264-1635-7
- Buckley, Jeff. Jeff Buckley Collection. Hal Leonard. 2002. ISBN 0-634-02265-2
- Cyr, Merri and Buckley, Jeff. Wished for Song: A Portrait of Jeff Buckley Hal Leonard. 2002. ISBN 0-634-03595-9
External links