Jeff Buckley - 10 years dead

[johnfoyle]

Jeff Buckley

(November 17, 1966 – May 29, 1997)

Where does the time go?

See

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Buckley

and

http://www.elviscostellofans.com/phpBB2 ... 679#102679

[Bad Ambassador]

Yup, still dead.

The more the label/estate continue to milk his legacy to the point of quite disagreeably obvious mony-grabbing desperation, the less I like him. Now, I know this shouldn't reflect on his music but I went through a period of loving his stuff. I played 'Grace' for an age, then I picked up 'Sketches...' and 'Mystery White Boy'. And then 'Live A L'Olympia', then 'The Grace EPs', then the 'Sin-E - Legacy Edition' and most recently the 'Grace - Legacy Edition'. In addition I have the 'Live In Chicago' DVD. Most of these purchases involved seeking out some unheard majesty to match the marvels of his debut album. Nothing was ever quite that engaging. These days, 'Live At Sin-E - Legacy 2CD set' is the one I derive most pleasure from. The random wittering and wandering into tunes aside, there's plenty of outstanding playing and singing on this set and it captures his talent more purely than any other release, in my book at least.
Now you can say, 'well, nobody forced you to buy all of that' and you'd be quite right. But anyone who's even vaguely obsessive about music knows what it's like as a collector and I even bought that 'Songs To No-One' guff featuring Gary Lucas. However, I've drawn the line recently with all of this 'So Real' marketing.
They've released a 7" of 'Hallelujah' this week!! Oh look, here's some more collectible shite for you. Oddly enough, it's a £3 7" rather than a more conventional 99p job. Odd that. In addition there's the 'best of' CD with conveniently added traces of unreleased material to try and get another purchase. Not this time thanks. They've even repacked the 'Live At Chicago' DVD with the same sleeve as the CD best of, and yet in the most clear example of the constant money grabbing, when you turn it over, the back sleeve is the original artwork from the first version of the DVD, looking more than a little out of place.
Still love 'Lover, You Should've Come Over', mind.

[wardo68]

I've backed off of my "buying everything Buckley" stance as well. I liked the expanded Sin-é package, as it gave a better picture of what those nights were like. And the expanded Grace would have been fine if half of it wasn't already on the EP set (which I bought, and recently sold). Listening to Sketches again recently I decided it's a keeper, but not great. Same with the Olympia and Mystery White Boys sets. I was able to find the one (?) rare track on this new set, so I don't need to buy it.
Mary's done a pretty good job of keeping her boy top of mind, but it might be time to toss the key to the vault.

[Mike Boom]

I was lucky enough to see him plat live with his band at the St James Theatre in 1996, and quite frankly , it was absolutely stunning, one of the best Ive ever seen. His band was just fantastic, and his singing was just something else, swooping from high to low, loud to soft. During the quiet bits, you could have heard a pin drop, the crowd were all just transfixed, plus he played a killer version of "I Know Its Over".

The real shame is that he didnt get to complete at LEAST one more album, and as BA, now the vultures are left to pick over the bones.

However, there is no doubt in my mind , the guy was super talented and had one of the most beautiful voices Ive ever heard.

[johnfoyle]

I saw him at The Tivoli , Dublin in Jan. '95 . By then the hype surrounding him was , I've since read, somewhat engulfing him and it was a rather tense show. Part of a series of Midnight shows , I have an abiding memory of being exhausted and wishing I had a seat, just about enduring a crude sound system that was way too loud. It was so different to the subtleties of Grace , an album I just couldn't stop playing at the time. Next time he'll be better , I consoled myself. Not to be.

In those pre-'net days news of his death spread, quite literally, by word of mouth. He went missing on a Thursday. The following Monday John Kelly said on his radio show how Ron Sexsmith had told him the news ,having just flown in for a show on Saturday . It was just unbelievable.



He was hugely popular here , as this article tells -


Jeff Buckley: The Irish Connection

29 May 2007

http://www.muse.ie/music-ireland-music_ ... 52918.html

Elvis worked with Jeff in '95 -

http://www.astheygo.com/meltdown95.htm

“In 1995 I was the musical director of a festival at the London South Bank, and I was looking for voices that I liked, doing music that they wouldn´t usually do. It was clear from Jeff doing Benjamin Britten's “Corpus Christiâ€

[Mechanical Grace]

I wonder if he played "Glad To Be Unhappy". That'd be a treat.

Hey, it ain't his fault what happens after he dies. I think the Live In Chicago DVD is fantastic, but maybe that's because I never got to see him in person. I have a very intense association with Grace, because during a hospital stay four years ago I played it on a loop into headphones for about 9 hours straight, while on a morphine drip after surgery. You'd think it would be too much but in that circumstance it was great.

To be honest I'm far more annoyed, at this point, by our very own re-issue whore, Mr. Costello. Christ! It's put me off him some, I have to say.

[wardo68]

I didn't mention this above, but I'll say it again.

I saw him at Toad's Place in New Haven, probably around 1995. He played a pretty standard set compared to most others of the time, with a couple of detours: 1) "Christine Sixteen" (by Kiss) as an intro, and 2) "Mama You Been On My Mind" as the medley with "Hallelujah". I spent the next two years wondering what he'd do next.

[martinfoyle]

[quote="johnfoyle"]

Elvis worked with Jeff in '95 -

http://www.astheygo.com/meltdown95.htm

“In 1995 I was the musical director of a festival at the London South Bank, and I was looking for voices that I liked, doing music that they wouldn´t usually do. It was clear from Jeff doing Benjamin Britten's “Corpus Christiâ€