Jeff Buckley biography, creativity, personal life and interesting facts

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Jeff Buckley is an American singer-songwriter and musician. After ten years as a guitarist, he began to perform cover versions, gradually moving on to his own material, until he released the studio album Grace in 1994. Rolling Stone considers him one of the greatest singers of all time.

Jeff Buckley: biography

The future singer was born in Orange County, California in 1966 and tragically died in an accident in Memphis on 05/29/97. He was the only son of Mary Gilbert and Tim Buckley. He was raised by his mother and stepfather Ron Morehead. Jeff's biological father was a singer and songwriter who released a series of folk and jazz music albums in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Jeff grew up in a musical environment: his mother had a classical musical education, and his stepfather introduced him to the work of Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Queen, and singer Jimi Hendrix at a young age.

Jeff Buckley appeared on the avant-garde club scenes of New York in the 1990s as one of the most visiblemusical artists of his generation, recognized by the public, critics and fellow musicians. His first commercial recording was Live At Sin-é, a 4-song mini-album, which was released in December 1993 on Columbia Records. On the record, Buckley accompanied himself on electric guitar in a small New York cafe in the East Village.

Debut album

By the release of Grace's first album in the fall of 1993, Buckley had already been in the studio with Mick Grondal (bass), Matt Johnson (drummer) and producer Andy Wallace and had recorded seven original songs (including "Grace" and "The Last "Goodbye") and three covers (among them "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen and "Corpus Christy Carol" by Benjamin Britten). Shortly before the release of the album, guitarist Michael Taye became a permanent member of the Jeff Buckley Ensemble and joined in to co-write and perform on So Real.

Peyote Radio

In early 1994, from mid-January to early March, shortly after the release of Live At Sin-é in stores, Buckley toured clubs, lounges and coffee shops in North America as a solo artist, and from March 11 to 22 also in Europe. After lengthy rehearsals in April-May 1994, Jeff and his band made the "Peyote Radio Theater" tour from early June to mid-August. The full-length album Grace was released in the United States on 08/23/94. At the same time, Buckley and the musicians began their European tour from Dublin. The tour lasted until September 22, and 2 days later they were already performing at a CMJ concert.at the New York Super Club. The band returned to clubs in America for a two-month fall tour.

Global recognition

On New Year's Eve 1995, Buckley returned to Sin-é again to perform solo. On the first of January, he read the original poem at the annual poetry marathon organized by the Church of St. Mark. The band was back in Europe 2 weeks later with gigs in London, Bristol and Dublin before extensive tours of Italy, France, Belgium, Japan, UK, Germany and the Netherlands from late January to early March. News soon arrived that Buckley Jeff's Grace album had won the prestigious 1995 International Grand Prix in France. It is awarded by a jury of journalists, producers, the president of the French Culture Society, as well as music industry professionals. Previously received by Edith Piaf, Jacques Brel, Yves Montand, Bob Dylan, Georges Brassant, Bruce Springsteen, Leonard Cohen, Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell. France also awarded Buckley the status of a gold disc holder.

World Tour

From March 5th to April 20th, Buckley and his band rehearsed for their US spring tour, which ran from April 2nd to June 22nd. Jeff then went on tour with the team to the United Kingdom, France, Denmark, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Switzerland. From late August to early September 1995, the band played six shows in Australia. In November, Buckley performed two unannounced solo shows. On December 17 he acceptedfeatured on WXRK-FM's Idiot's Pleasure and celebrated the arrival of 1996 with performances at New York's Mercury Lounge and Sin-é.

After that, Jeff Buckley and the band returned to Australia, where Grace was also certified gold, to perform on the Hard Luck tour until early spring 1996. Drummer Matt Johnson left the band after the last show in Australia. The posthumous album Mystery White Boy brings together some of his best live performances from 1995-1996. The DVD and video release fully documented the artist's concert at the Chicago Metro cabaret on May 13, 1995.

US performances

In May '96, Jeff Buckley's friend Nathan Larson's side project Shudder To Think played bass on four shows with Mind Science of The Mind. In September '96, he gave another unannounced solo concert in his favorite Sin-é. December 1996 the musician devoted to preparing for his "phantom solo tour". Designed to experiment with new songs live (as they did during the Sin-é days), these sudden solo shows throughout the Northeastern United States were played under various aliases: Crackrobats, Possessed by Elves, Father Demo., Smacrobiotic, Crit Club, the Halfspeeds, Topless America, Martha & the Nicotines and more

At midnight on February 9, 1997, at the Arlene Grocery on New York's Lower East Side, Jeff Buckley introduced his new drummer, Parker Kindrid. During the first months of 1997he played a couple of solo shows in New York City: at the Daydream Cafe (featuring band members Mick Grondal and Michael Tiye as "special guests") and a solo concert on February 4 as part of the 10th anniversary of the Knitting Factory.

Working in Memphis

Buckley Jeff and his band with Tom Verlaine as producer during the summer and fall of 1996 and early winter of 1997 in New York, and in February 1997 in Memphis recorded a new album. After completing these sessions, he sent the musicians back to New York, and in March and April 1997 he remained in Memphis and continued to work. Jeff Buckley recorded the songs at home, creating various four-track versions of them to present to his bandmates later. Some of them were reworkings of songs recorded with Verlaine, some were brand new and some were amazing cover versions. The new songs debuted on February 12 and 13 at Barrister's in Memphis.

Tragic death

Beginning March 31, Jeff performed a series of regular evening solo shows at Barrister's on Mondays. His last performance took place on May 26, 1997. On the night of his death, Buckley was on his way to meet his band to begin three weeks of rehearsals. Producer Andy Wallace, who directed the recording of Grace, was scheduled to join them in Memphis at the end of June to record the new album.

Collaboration with other artists

In addition to the Columbia Records releases Live At Sin-é and"Grace" Buckley has appeared as a guest singer on a number of recordings by other artists. Jeff can be recognized on the Jolly Street track on the 1994 Jazz Passengers album. His tenor was featured on John Zorn's Taipan and D. Popylepis Live At The Knitting Factory (1995). In the songs of Rebecca Moore, Brenda Kahn, Patti Smith, the musician plays the bass guitar, drums and acts as a backing vocalist.

An ardent enthusiast of many musical forms, Jeff became a champion among young American musicians, working with the world's leading kavalli (Sufi music) singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Buckley and Nusrat gave an extensive interview to Interview magazine (January 1996) and wrote the liner notes for the singer's disc, released on Mercator/Caroline Records in August 1997. On May 9, 2000, Columbia Records released an album of Jeff Buckley's live performances, Mystery White Boy and Jeff Buckley - Live in Chicago, a full-length concert available on DVD and VHS, which was recorded at the Metro Cabaret in Chicago on May 13, 1995., in the midst of the Mystery White Boy tour.

Mysterious youth

As mentioned, after the release of "Grace" on August 23, 1994, Jeff and his band spent most of 1994-1996 touring around the world on the Unknown, Mystery White Boy and Hard Luck tours. The release in May 2000 of Mystery White Boy first mixed some of the best performances at these shows. Produced by Michael Tiye (the band's guitarist throughout the band's international tour and recording of "Grace") and Mary Glber (the singer's mother), the album offers a memorable cross-section of the repertoire. Jeff Buckley, consisting of previously unreleased compositions, breathtaking recordings from the studio album, as well as incomprehensible and amazing cover versions. The recordings were hand-picked from dozens of live tapes by Mary and members of Jeff's band, who played a big part in helping Jeff realize his musical vision.

According to Mary, the compositions of the album "are individual performances that presented the transcendent moments of each of the concerts, which were categorized as outstanding."

Jeff Buckley: "Hallelujah"

Years after the death of a talented artist, his legacy continues to grow. His fans include rock legends, artists, loyal followers as well as a whole new generation of music lovers. Grace, Jeff's only studio album released during his lifetime, continues to be popular.

Also, 1998 saw the release of Jeff's unfinished Memphis work Sketches (For My Sweetheart The Drunk). The 2000 release of Mystery White Boy arrived in time for the release of a DVD with a recording of a concert in the Chicago Metro hall. In 2003, Sony re-released Live at Sin-e and in 2004 Grace, which were supplemented with rare tracks and performance excerpts. In 2007, the album So Real: Songs From Jeff Buckley was released with updated tracks for ardent fans and music lovers. In 2009, the opportunity arose to see Jeff during the Grase Live DVD tour - around the world. In 2014, to mark the 20th anniversary of the studio recording, a limited edition of 2000 copies was released.180-gram vinyl disc "Lilac Whirlwind". In March 2015, a new album with previously unknown material was released.

Leonard Cohen cover by Jeff Buckley, Hallelujah hit 1 on the Billboard list in March 2008, thanks to American Idol contestant Jason Castro's performance of the song. In the same year, British X Factor winner Alexandra Burke released her cover version of Hallelujah for Christmas. Jeff Buckley climbed to number 2 on the UK Singles Chart thanks to the efforts of his fans who launched a campaign against Burke.

Interesting facts

• Jeff Buckley grew up as Scott Morehead.
• Rolling Stone considers him one of the greatest singers of all time.
• Jeff saw his father Tim Buckley only once when he was 8 years old, a few months before his death from an overdose.
• The first performance of the singer took place in the Episcopal Church of St. Anna in Brooklyn in April 1991, where he performed 3 of his father's songs.
• Musician almost auditioned for Mick Jagger's solo concerts, but the Rolling Stones leader's musical director rejected him.
• Jeff chose Sony Columbia Records because his idol Bob Dylan worked with it.
• The impetus for Buckley's career was not given by the single "Grace", but by the song "The Last Goodbye".
• In May 1995, Jeff was named one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World by People magazine.