Jeff Buckley

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Jeff Buckley
Jeff Buckley in 1995
Background information
Birth name	Jeffrey Scott Buckley
Born	November 17, 1966(1966-11-17)
Origin	Anaheim, California, U.S.
Died	May 29, 1997 (aged 30) Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Genre(s)	Rock Alternative rock
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter
Instrument(s)	Vocals, guitar
Years active	1991–1997
Label(s)	Columbia
Associated acts	Tim Buckley, The A.M., Shinehead, Gods and Monsters
Website	www.jeffbuckley.com

Jeffrey Scott Buckley (November 17, 1966 – May 29, 1997), raised as Scotty Moorhead,^[1] was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was the son of the late Tim Buckley, also a musician. Buckley gained popularity in the early 1990s by playing cover versions at venues in Manhattan's East Village, such as Sin-é, and he gradually focused more on his own material. After much interest from record labels he signed with Columbia and, after recruiting a band, recorded his debut studio album, Grace (1994).

Over the following two years the band toured widely to promote the album, including concerts in the U.S., Europe, Japan and Australia. In 1997 he stopped touring and moved to Memphis, Tennessee, to experiment with new material for a second album. During his time there he recorded many four-track demos and completed his third recording session for his new album with his band, with Tom Verlaine as producer. While awaiting the arrival of his band from New York, he drowned during an evening swim in the Wolf River. His body was found on June 4, 1997.^[2][3]

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 Drunk and expansions of debut album Grace and his Live at Sin-é EP. Buckley's first #1 came posthumously in March 2008 when "Hallelujah" topped Billboard's Hot Digital Songs following a performance of the song on American Idol. Buckley and his work continue to remain popular and regularly feature in 'greatest' lists in the music press.^[4][5][6]

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 Early career 1.3 Grace 1.4 Concert tours 1.5 My Sweetheart the Drunk 1.6 Death and legacy 2 Tribute concerts 3 Documentaries 4 Awards and nominations 5 Guest appearances and collaborations 6 Discography 6.1 Albums 6.2 Video 6.3 Singles 7 Unreleased recordings 8 Tribute songs 9 Notes 10 References 11 Further reading 12 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Born in Anaheim, California,^[1] Buckley was the only son of Mary Guibert and Tim Buckley. His mother was a Panama Canal Zonian of mixed Greek, French, American and Panamanian descent,^[7] while his father was the descendant of Irish immigrants from Cork.^[8] Buckley was raised by his mother and stepfather, Ron Moorhead, in Southern California, and had a half-brother, Corey Moorhead.^[9] Buckley moved many times in and around Orange County while growing up with a single mother, an upbringing Buckley called "rootless trailer trash".^[10] As a child, Buckley was known as Scott "Scotty" Moorhead based on his middle name and his stepfather's surname.^[1] His father, Tim Buckley, was also a singer-songwriter who released a series of highly acclaimed folk and jazz albums in the late 1960s and early 1970s. However Buckley was not close to his father, due in part to his parents' divorce and his father's touring schedule, and would later comment, "I never knew him... I met him once, when I was 8."^[11] Tim Buckley died of a drug overdose in 1975.^[12] After his father died, he chose to go by Buckley and his real first name which he found on his birth certificate.^[13] To members of his family he remained "Scotty".^[14]

Buckley was brought up around music. His mother was a classically trained pianist and cellist.^[15] His stepfather introduced him to Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, and Pink Floyd at an early age.^[16] Buckley grew up singing around the house and singing in harmony with his mother.^[17] "Everybody in my family sang,"^[18] Buckley said. He found an acoustic guitar in his grandmother's closet that he started playing with at the age of 6.^[15] Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti was the first album he ever owned;^[19] the hard rock band Kiss was also an early favorite.^[20] At the age of 12, he decided to become a musician,^[19] and received his first electric guitar, an imitation black Gibson Les Paul, at the age of 13.^[21] He attended Loara High School,^[22] and developed an affinity for progressive rock bands such as Rush, Genesis, and Yes, as well as jazz fusion guitarist Al Di Meola.^[23] Buckley played in the Loara school jazz band.^[24]

In 1984, he graduated from high school and moved north to Hollywood to attend the Musicians Institute.^[25] He graduated from the one-year course at the age of 18.^[26] "It was the biggest waste of time,"^[19] Buckley once stated about the school. However, Buckley did appreciate studying music theory there saying, "I was attracted to really interesting harmonies, stuff that I would hear in Ravel, Ellington, Bartók."^[27] "He had some of the most interesting chords and chord progressions of my generation,"^[28] musician Ben Harper said about Buckley years later.

[edit] Early career

Buckley spent the next 6 years working in a hotel and playing guitar in various struggling bands, spanning a diverse range of styles from jazz, reggae, and roots rock to heavy metal.^[29] He toured with the dancehall reggae artist Shinehead^[30] and he also played the occasional funk and R&B studio session, collaborating with fledgling producer, Michael J. Clouse to form X-Factor Productions.^[31] Throughout this period, Buckley limited his singing to backing vocals.

Buckley moved to New York City in February 1990,^[32] but found few opportunities to work as a musician. He was introduced to qawwali, the devotional music of Pakistan, and to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, one of its best-known singers.^[33] Buckley was an impassioned fan of Khan,^[34] and during his cafe days Buckley had often covered his songs. He interviewed Khan for Interview magazine in January 1996 and wrote liner notes for Khan's The Supreme Collection compilation.^[35] Buckley also became interested in blues-legend Robert Johnson and hardcore punk during this time.^[15] Buckley moved back to Los Angeles in September when his father's former manager, Herb Cohen, offered to help him record his first demo of original songs. Buckley completed Babylon Dungeon Sessions, a four song cassette that included the songs "Eternal Life", "Unforgiven" (later titled "Last Goodbye"), "Strawberry Street" (heard on the Grace Legacy Edition), and punk screamer "Radio".^[36] Cohen and Buckley hoped to attract attention from the music industry with the demo tape.^[37]

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".^[38] The event, produced by show business veteran Hal Willner, was held at St. Ann's Church in Brooklyn on April 26, 1991.^[38] Buckley chose simply to pay his respects to his father saying, "This is not a springboard, this is something very personal."^[39] He performed "I Never Asked To Be Your Mountain", a song Tim Buckley wrote about an infant Jeff Buckley and his mother, accompanied by experimental rock guitarist Gary Lucas.^[40] 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 cappella ending, due to a snapped guitar string.^[40] "He blew the whole place away," Willner recalled.^[41] When questioned about that particular performance Buckley said, "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."^[19] The concert proved to be his first step into the music industry that had eluded him for years.^[42]

On subsequent trips to New York in mid-1991, Buckley began co-writing with Gary Lucas resulting in the songs "Grace" and "Mojo Pin",^[43] and by late 1991 he began performing with Lucas' band Gods and Monsters around New York City.^[44] 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 Side at the end of 1991.^[45] The day after Gods and Monsters officially debuted in March 1992, Buckley decided to leave the band.^[46]

Buckley began performing at several clubs and cafés around Lower Manhattan,^[47] but Sin-é in the East Village became his main venue.^[16] Buckley first appeared at the small Irish café in April 1992,^[48] and quickly earned a regular Monday night slot there.^[49] His repertoire consisted of a diverse range of folk, rock, R&B, blues and jazz cover songs, much of it music he had newly learned. Through their music, singers such as Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, Van Morrison, and Judy Garland became his teachers.^[50] Buckley performed favorites from Led Zeppelin, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Bob Dylan, Elton John, The Smiths, The Creatures,^[51] Bad Brains, Leonard Cohen, Édith Piaf, Robert Johnson, and Sly Stone as well.^{[50][49][52][36]} "I became a human jukebox," Buckley said.^[19] Original songs from the Babylon Dungeon Sessions, and the songs he'd written with Gary Lucas were also included in his set lists.^[50] He performed solo, accompanying himself on a borrowed Fender Telecaster.^[48] "I figured if I played in the no-man's land of intimacy, I would learn to be a performer," Buckley said.^[11]

Over the next few months, Buckley attracted admiring crowds and attention from record label executives.^[53] Industry maven Clive Davis even dropped by to see him.^[11] By the summer of 1992, limos from executives eager to sign the singer lined the street outside Sin-é.^[53] for a three-album, essentially million-dollar deal in October 1992.^[54] Recording dates were set for July and August 1993 for what would become Buckley's recording debut, an EP of four songs which included a cover of Van Morrison's "The Way Young Lovers Do".^[55] Live at Sin-é was released on November 23, 1993, documenting this period of Buckley's life.^[56]

[edit] Grace

In mid 1993, Buckley began working on his first album with record producer Andy Wallace, who had mixed Nirvana's multi-platinum album Nevermind. Buckley assembled a band, composed of bassist Mick Grondahl and drummer Matt Johnson, and spent several weeks rehearsing.^[57][58] In September, the trio headed to Bearsville Studios in Woodstock, New York to spend 6 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 Berger wrote and conducted string arrangements with Buckley assisting at times.^[59] Buckley returned home for overdubbing at studios in Manhattan and New Jersey where he performed take after take to capture the perfect vocals and experimented with ideas for additional instruments and added textures to the songs.^[60]

In January 1994, Buckley left to go on his first solo North American tour to support Live at Sin-é.^[60] It was followed by a 10-day European tour in March.^[61] Buckley played clubs and coffeehouses and made in-store appearances.^[60] After returning, Buckley invited guitarist Michael Tighe to join the band and a collaboration between the two resulted in "So Real", a song which was recorded as a late addition to the album.^[62][63] In June, Buckley began his first full band tour called the "Peyote Radio Theatre Tour" that lasted into August.^[64] Pretender Chrissie Hynde,^[65] Soundgarden's Chris Cornell, and The Edge from U2^[66] 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", based on the version by Nina Simone,^[50] "Corpus Christi Carol", from Benjamin Britten's A Boy Was Born, Op.3, a composition that Buckley was introduced to in high school, based on a 15th century hymn,^[67] and "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen, based on John Cale's recording from the Cohen tribute album, I'm Your Fan.^[50] Buckley's rendition of "Hallelujah" has been called "Buckley's best" and "one of the great songs"^[68] by Time magazine, and is included on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".^[69]

While sales were slow and the album garnered little radio airplay, it quickly received critical acclaim.^[70] The UK's Melody Maker called it, "a massive, gorgeous record,"^[71] while The Sydney Morning Herald proclaimed it, "almost impossibly beautiful."^[72] The album did go gold in France and Australia over the next two years,^[64] eventually achieving gold status in the U.S. in 2002. As of 2008, Grace has sold over 2 million albums worldwide and has gone platinum in Australia over six times.

Grace won appreciation from a host of revered musicians, including members of Buckley's biggest influence, Led Zeppelin.^[73] Jimmy Page considered Grace close to being his "favorite album of the decade."^[74] Robert Plant was also complimentary.^[75] Others who had influenced Buckley's music^[76] lauded him: Bob Dylan named Buckley "one of the great songwriters of this decade,"^[75] David Bowie called Grace "one of the 10 albums he'd bring with him to a desert island."^[77]

[edit] 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 Festival and the Meltdown Festival at the invitation of Elvis Costello).^[78] On February 11, 1995 Following Buckley's Peyote Radio Theater tour, the band began a European tour on August 23, 1994, starting with performances in the UK and Ireland. The tour continued in Scandinavia and throughout September numerous concerts in Germany were played. The tour ended on September 22 with a concert in Paris. 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.^[79]

A tour of Canada and the US began on October 19, 1994 at renowned, and now defunct, venue CBGB's. The tour was far reaching with concerts held on both east and west coasts of the US and a number of performances in central and southern states. The tour ended two months later on December 18 at Maxwell's in New Jersey.^[79] After another months rest and rehearsal the band commenced a second European tour, this time for mainly promotion purposes. The band began the tour in Dublin, Ireland; Buckley has remained particularly popular in Ireland to this day.^[80] The short tour largely consisted of promotional work in London, UK and Paris, France.

In late January the band did their first tour of Japan, 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 European countries before returning to the US on March 6. Amongst the gigs performed during this period Buckley and his band performed at a 19th century built French venue, the Bataclan, and material from the concert was recorded and later released in October of that year as a four track EP, Live from the Bataclan. Also, songs from a performance on February 25, at the venue Nighttown in Rotterdam, were subsequently released as a promotional-only CD, So Real.

Touring recommenced in late April with dates across the US and Canada. During this period Buckley and the band notably played Metro in Chicago, which was recorded on video and later released as Live in Chicago on VHS and later on DVD. In addition, on June 4 they played at Sony Music Studios 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, on April 6 and 7 Buckley played two concerts at the Paris Olympia, a venue made famous by the French vocalist Édith Piaf, 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 Qasimov, an Azerbaijani mugham singer. Sony BMG has since released a live album, 2001's Live at 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 Melbourne, Australia, lasted between August 28 and September 6 and recordings of these performances were compiled and released on the live album Mystery White Boy. 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 Zealand and Australia in February the following year.^[64]

From the beginning of September until February, 1996 Buckley and the band finally finished touring after over a year and a half. The band was inactive during this period but Buckley played at his old haunt, Sin-é, various times and also performed a New Year's Eve concert at Mercury Lounge in New York.^[79] 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 band and drummer Matt Johnson. The concert on March 1, 1996 was the last gig he played with Buckley and the band.

Much of the material from the tours of 1995 and 1996 was recorded, and has been released either on promotional EPs such as the Grace EP 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.

After this the band, now without a drummer, was put on hold and did not perform live until February 12, 1997.^[81] Following the pressure from extensive touring Buckley spent the majority of the rest 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 Think.^[64] Buckley returned to playing live concerts when he went on his "phantom solo tour" of cafés in the Northeast 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.^[79] By way of justification, Buckley posted a note on the Internet stating that he missed the anonymity of playing in cafes and local bars:

There was a time in my life not too long ago when I could show up in a cafe and simply do what I do, make music, learn from performing my music, explore what it means to me, i.e., have fun while I irritate and/or entertain an audience who don't know me or what I am about. In this situation I have that precious and irreplaceable luxury of failure, of risk, of surrender. I worked very hard to get this kind of thing together, this work forum. I loved it and then I missed it when it disappeared. All I am doing is reclaiming it.^[82]

[edit] 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 Smith on her 1996 album Gone Again and met fellow collaborater Tom Verlaine, an ex-Television member. Buckley asked Verlaine to be producer on the new album and he agreed.^[83] In the middle of 1996, Buckley and his band began recording sessions in Manhattan with Verlaine. Eric Eidel played the drums through these sessions as a stop-gap between the dates drummer Matt Johnson left and before Parker Kindred joined as full time drummer.^[84] Around this time Buckley worked on Kerouac: Kicks Joy Darkness, a Jack Kerouac tribute album, with Nymphs member Inger Lorre.^[83] After this collaboration, Buckley struck up a friendship with Lorre and subsequently recorded a cover of The Nymphs' song "Yard of Blonde Girls" with her; this recording later appeared on Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk. 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 live concert at The Knitting Factory featuring a selection of his new songs: "Jewel Box", "Morning Theft", "Everybody Here Wants You", "Sky is a Landfill" and "Yard of Blonde Girls". Lou Reed was there to watch and expressed an interest in working with Buckley.^[85] The band played their first gig with Parker Kindred, their new drummer, at Arlene's Grocery 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 bootlegs.^[86] Later that month, Buckley recorded a spoken word reading of the Edgar Allan Poe poem, "Ulalume", for the album Closed on Account of Rabies.^[87] This would be his last recording in New York; shortly after, he moved to Memphis, Tennessee.

Buckley became interested in recording at Easley McCain Recording in Memphis, at the suggestion of friend Dave Shouse from the Grifters.^[88] He rented a shotgun house there, of which he was so fond he contacted the owner about the possibility of buying it.^[89] Throughout this period, February 12 to May 26, 1997, Buckley played at Barrister's, a bar located in downtown 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 band and then solo as part of a Monday night residency.^[90] 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 Wallace, to step in as Verlaine's replacement.^[83] Buckley started recording demos on his own 4-track recorder in preparation for a forthcoming session with Wallace.^[83] 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 Drunk. 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 were scheduled to return to Memphis for more recording sessions on May 29.

[edit] Death and legacy

On the evening of May 29, 1997 Buckley's band arrived by plane with the intent to join him in his Memphis studio and work on the newly written material. That same evening Buckley went swimming in Wolf River Harbor,^[91] a tributary of the Mississippi River, while wearing boots, all of his clothing, and singing the chorus of the song "Whole Lotta Love" by Led Zeppelin.^[92] A roadie of Buckley's band, Keith Foti, remained ashore. After moving the radio and a guitar out of reach of the wake from a passing tugboat, Foti looked up to see that Buckley was gone. Despite a determined rescue effort that night, Buckley remained missing. On June 4, his body was spotted by a tourist on a riverboat and was brought ashore.^[92]

The night before his death, Buckley excitedly told his girlfriend Joan Wasser that he believed he had found the cause of his dramatic moods, namely bipolar disorder. The autopsy to clarify the cause of Buckley's death confirmed that Buckley had taken no illegal drugs before his swim, and a drug overdose was ruled out as the cause of death. Soon afterwards a memorial service was held at St. Ann's Church; the same place where Buckley paid tribute to his father five years earlier. His body was cremated and his ashes interred at his estate. He was thirty years old.

A recent statement from the Buckley estate insists:

Jeff Buckley's death was not "mysterious," related to drugs, alcohol, or suicide. We have a police report, a medical examiner's report, and an eye witness to prove that it was an accidental drowning, and that Mr. Buckley was in a good frame of mind prior to the accident.^[93]

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 Drunk - the compilation being overseen by his mother, Mary Guibert, band members and old friend Michael Clouse, as well as Chris Cornell. Three other albums composed of live recordings have also been released, along with a live DVD of a performance in Chicago. A previously unreleased 1992 recording of "I Shall Be Released", sung by Buckley over the phone on live radio, was released on the album For New Orleans.

Director Brian Jun has announced plans to make a film biography of Buckley, in cooperation with his mother. It is to be called Mystery White Boy, but as of 2008 the project has not progressed beyond the scripting stage. Buckley's mother and Michelle Sy are producing the film but as of yet, no one has been cast in the role of Buckley. A separate project involving the book Dream Brother was allegedly cancelled.^[94]

On March 7, 2008, Buckley’s version of the Leonard Cohen song, “Hallelujah”, went to No. 1 on the iTunes chart, selling 178,000 downloads for the week, after being performed by Jason Castro on the seventh season of the television series American Idol.^[95] The song debuted at #1 that week on Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart, giving Buckley his first #1 on any Billboard chart. The song also topped the New Zealand iTunes chart and subsequently charted the following week at No. 22 on the official New Zealand Music Chart. Preceding this the song was also used in the movie The Feast of Love, starring Morgan Freeman, which was released on September 28, 2007.

An hour long documentary about Buckley called Amazing Grace: Jeff Buckley has been shown at various film festivals to critical acclaim,^[96] however due to distribution and copyright issues the film has yet to be released commercially on DVD.^[97]

[edit] Tribute concerts

2007 marked the 10th anniversary of Jeff Buckley's death. His life and music was celebrated globally in May and June 2007. There were tributes in Australia, Belgium, Canada, United Kingdom, Iceland, Ireland, Macedonia, France and the USA.

Many of Buckley's family members attended and also in part helped to organize the various tribute concerts across the globe. The 'Fall in Light' Jeff Buckley tribute concert was held on June 2, 2007 at the Forum Theatre Melbourne, Australia. His cousin Adam Buckley opened the show with a short memorial speech on Jeff's life.

[edit] Documentaries

• Fall in Light (1999), French TV
• Goodbye and Hello (2000), Netherlands TV
• Everybody Here Wants You (2002), BBC
• Amazing Grace: Jeff Buckley (2004)

[edit] Awards and nominations

• Grammy Award nomination for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for "Everybody Here Wants You", 1998.^[98]
• MTV Video Music Award nomination for Best New Artist in a Video for "Last Goodbye", 1995.^[98]
• Rolling Stone magazine nomination for Best New Artist, 1995.^[99]
• Triple J Hottest 100 awarded No. 14 best song for that year in the worlds largest voting competition for "Last Goodbye", 1995.^[100]
• "Hallelujah" was ranked #259 of the 500 Greatest Songs by Rolling Stone magazine in 2004.^[69]
• Grace was ranked #303 of the 500 Greatest Albums by Rolling Stone magazine in 2003.^[101]
• On April 13, 1995, it was announced that Jeff Buckley's Grace had earned him France's prestigious "Grand Prix International Du Disque -- Académie Charles Cros -- 1995"; an award given by a jury of producers, journalists, the president of France Culture, and music industry professionals, it had previously been given to Édith Piaf, Jacques Brel, Yves Montand, Georges Brassens, Bruce Springsteen, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell among other musical luminaries. ^[64]

[edit] Guest appearances and collaborations

Buckley was immersed in music and when not working on his own material, or with his band, he contributed numerous times on projects with his friends and musical peers. John Zorn regularly held collaborations at the Knitting Factory and Buckley performed vocals on the tracks "Taipan" and "D.Popylepis" that appeared on 1992 album Live at The Knitting Factory. Buckley contributed vocals on "Jolly Street" from The Jazz Passengers' 1994 album In Love. He played six string bass and drums on tracks from his ex-girlfriend Rebecca Moore's album Admiral Charcoal's Song. Buckley also performed backup vocals and guitar on, Brenda Kahn song, "Faith Salons" which was released on 1996 album Destination Anywhere. On Patti Smith's 1996 album Gone Again Buckley provided vocals on "Beneath the Southern Cross" and played esraj on "Fireflies". Buckley co-wrote "Despite the Tears" with Chris Dowd, then lead singer of The Seedy Arkhestra, for the album Puzzle and also contributed vocals and guitar on two more tracks, "A Thousand Tears" and "Flog Your Dead Horse". Buckley's drummer Matt Johnson also played on the album as did Joan Wasser and Joseph "Amp" Fiddler. Chris Dowd had previously co-written "What Will You Say" with Buckley, which appeared on Mystery White Boy.

Buckley also collaborated with other musicians on different projects. Buckley appeared on the soundtrack of First Love, Last Rites, performing vocals on "I Want Someone Badly" backed by the group Shudder to Think. This song later appeared on Grace (Legacy Edition). Buckley performed two tributes to writers he admired: he read Edgar Allan Poe's poem "Ulalume" for the album Closed on Account of Rabies, and on Kerouac: Kicks Joy Darkness, (a tribute to beat poet Jack Kerouac, Buckley performed "Angel Mine" with Inger Lorre.. In Los Angeles Buckley co-wrote and recorded the song "Hollywould" with Sandy Bell, which she later released in 2000.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Year	Title	Release Date
1993	Live at Sin-é (EP)	November 23, 1993
1994	Grace	August 23, 1994
1995	Live from the Bataclan (EP)	October 1995
1995	Eternal Life (EP)	1995
1998	Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk	May 26, 1998
2000	Mystery White Boy	May 9, 2000
2001	Live a L'Olympia	July 3, 2001
2002	Songs to No One 1991-1992	October 15, 2002
2002	The Grace EPs	November 26, 2002
2003	Live at Sin-é (Legacy Edition)	September 2, 2003
2004	Grace (Legacy Edition)	August 24, 2004
2007	So Real: Songs from Jeff Buckley	May 22, 2007

[edit] Video

Year	Title	Release Date
2000	Live in Chicago	May 9, 2000
2007	Amazing Grace: Jeff Buckley	TBA

[edit] Singles

Year	Title	Release Date
1995	"Grace"	January 1995
1995	"Last Goodbye"	January 1995 (Japan) March 1995 (Australia)
1996	"So Real"	February 1996
1998	"Everybody Here Wants You"	May 26, 1998
2004	"Forget Her"
2008	"Hallelujah"	March 22, 2008

[edit] Unreleased recordings

Since Jeff Buckley only completed one album, many posthumous releases, as well as bootlegged unreleased live recordings, have proved popular with fans. These recordings come from all periods of Jeff's career and in particular Buckley made many soundboard recordings of the concerts from his 1995-1996 tours. Mary Guibert, his mother and head of his estate, expressed an interest in releasing these live concerts as a special subscription series, leaving the recordings uncut: "warts and all".^[102] However, this project has yet to come to fruition.

A number of Buckley's 4 track demos for My Sweetheart the Drunk have been leaked over the internet but the majority of the demos from this period have remained out of the public domain. Michael Tighe has made reference in particular to one track, "Sky Blue Skin", that he personally feels is a very important song of Buckley's.^[103] Other names of unreleased songs from the demos have circulated amongst fans including: "The Morning After", "Open Up and Bleed", "Dendrils of Death", "Don't Listen to Anyone But Me", and "Pleasure Seeker". A version of "Dendrils of Death" has been recorded by Buckley's old bassist, Mick Grondahl, and his band Tongue.^[104]

Certain live performances by Buckley have specifically been held in high regard. "Dido's Lament", an aria from Dido and Æneas by Henry Purcell, was performed live at the Meltdown festival in 1995, directed by Elvis Costello. The falsetto operatic piece is unusual in Buckley's catalogue, having similarities only with Buckley's version of "Corpus Christi Carol" featured on Grace. Although unreleased, an excerpt of this version of "Dido's Lament" has appeared on the soundtrack of BBC documentary Everybody Here Wants You. "Edna Frau" was written with Mick Grondahl, Buckley's bassist and was performed live on at least one occasion on The Hard Luck Tour. Grondahl also sings on this song and it was the only occasion he did so during the time he was a member of Buckley's band. Other popular recordings are a performance of "We All Fall in Love Sometimes" by Elton John and Bernie Taupin recorded on October 11, 1992 for WFMU's "The Music Faucet" and "Three is The Magic Number", by Schoolhouse Rock, from Buckley's Mercury Lounge 1996 New Year's Eve concert.^[105]

Michael Tighe also mentioned Buckley's collaboration with Elizabeth Fraser of The Cocteau Twins, describing "All Flowers in Time Bend Towards the Sun" as a beautiful piece worthy of release.^[103] Buckley contributed to a piece of music about alien abduction called "Ozark Melody". The song was recorded in the middle of 1996, with lyrics written by Joe Tripician while the music was composed by Buckley and Frederick Reed.^[106] This song is available to download on the internet with permission from the Estate of Jeff Buckley but has not had an official release.

[edit] Tribute songs

Due to the fact that Buckley died prematurely, many artists he knew or influenced have written and recorded songs in tribute to the late singer. PJ Harvey 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".^[107] Rufus Wainwright, whose fledgling career had barely started when he met Buckley, wrote "Memphis Skyline" in tribute to him, singing "then came hallelujah sounding like Ophelia, for me in my room living, turn back and you will stay, under the Memphis Skyline".^[108] Wainwright has also recorded his own version of "Hallelujah", which appeared on the soundtrack for the movie Shrek . Other songs dedicated to Buckley and songs that reference him include:

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Browne, David. Dream Brother: The Lives and Music of Jeff and Tim Buckley. HarperEntertainment. 2001, 2002. ISBN 0-380-80624-X
• Kane, Rebecca. "Kingdom For A Kiss - The Jeff Buckley F.A.Q.". 1998, 1999. Retrieved on February 9, 2007.
• Biography from jeffbuckley.com Retrieved on February 9, 2007.

[edit] Further reading

• 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 0-6340-2265-2
• Cyr, Merri and Buckley, Jeff. Wished for Song: A Portrait of Jeff Buckley Hal Leonard. 2002. ISBN 0-6340-3595-9

[edit] External links

• Official site
• Jeff Buckley at MySpace
• Amazing Grace documentary
• Jeff Buckley Videos

v • d • e Jeff Buckley Albums Studio albums: Grace · Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk · Songs to No One 1991-1992 · Live albums: Live at Sin-é · Live from the Bataclan · Mystery White Boy · Live at L'Olympia · Live at Sin-é (Legacy Edition) Compilation albums: The Grace EPs · So Real: Songs from Jeff Buckley Singles "Grace" · "Last Goodbye" · "So Real" · "Everybody Here Wants You" · "Forget Her" DVDs Live in Chicago Related articles Tim Buckley · Gary Lucas · Mick Grondahl · Matt Johnson · Michael Tighe · Parker Kindred · Chris Cornell · Amazing Grace: Jeff Buckley

Persondata
NAME	Buckley, Jeff
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Buckley, Jeffrey Scott (birth name); Moorhead, Scotty (raised as)
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Singer-songwriter and guitarist
DATE OF BIRTH	November 17, 1966
PLACE OF BIRTH	Anaheim, California
DATE OF DEATH	May 29, 1997
PLACE OF DEATH	Memphis, Tennessee