Uncut UK – October 2019

OCTOBER 2019 • UNCUT• 63

“Artistically,hewanted

toexpresssomeofhis

demons”MICHAEL TIGHE

MICHEL

LINSSEN/REDFERNS

jamonlive,buttheBritishpress
startedwritingbadreviews
[aboutthesong], andSony
wantedhimtostopplayingit.He
waspissed,andI said,“Take
yourangerandturnit intoa
song.”That’swhen“Eternal
Life”thealbumversionturned
into“EternalLife”thelive
version.If youlistentothe
middlewhenthebandstopsand
hesays,“You’rethewhitenoise
oftheworld”, he’sreferringto
theBritishpressandSony.Thetourmanager
callsmethenextmorningandsays,“He
wantsa studio,hewantstore-record‘Eternal
Life.’”Thiswasthepointwherehedyed his
hairblackandworea leatherjacket!
NORRELL:Hetooktheband’sheaviestsong
andmadeit muchheavier.Headdeda super-
heavyriffthatapproacheda metalsound,
andalsostartedsingingit evenmore
intensely.Thebandwerereallyfiringonall
cylindersatthattime.I setupthebandtoplay
liveandthenjustdidmybesttocapturethe
soundandvibethattheyweregenerating.
Jeffwasamazing,ashealwayswas.

RECORDED:NEWYORK/MEMPHIS,

SUMMER 1996

RELEASED:SKETCHESFORMY

SWEETHEARTTHEDRUNK, MAY26, 1998

ThenewgrungiersoundofthisBuckley/
Tigheco-writeheraldedthedarkerfeel
ofmuchofBuckley’smaterial for his
proposedsecondalbum
L ORY:Jeffdidn’twantanycoversonthe
secondrecord.AftertheGracetourended,he
wastryingtowritewithMick,Michaeland
[newdrummer] ParkerKindred.Onthelast
Grace tour in February 1996, Mick was

writingsongsand

singing.Thelabelwere

contactingmesaying,

“Whatthehell?”I said,

“Nobodycomestosee

MickorMichael,they

cometoseeyou.”

GU I BERT:Hewantedto

defyhisaudience,andI

thinkhewantedtoproveto

hislabelthathecoulddo

somethingotherthan

Grace. Theywereliterally

wantingGracePartTwo,becausetheyknew

it wassuccessful,especiallyoverseas.But

hedidn’twanttodothat,hewantedtodo

somethingdifferent,andhethoughtTom

Verlainewastheguywhocouldhelphim

reshapethesesongsthatwereinhishead.

Not only did he have to write everything, he

wasnomorethenewcomer,andAmerica

waslisteningtoHootie& The Blowfish, not

to“CorpusChristiCarol”.

TIGHE:Iwrotethemusicfor“TheSkyIs A

Landfill”aftermaybeoursecondtour;I was

inspiredbyallthebandswewereseeingon

theroad.It’sverygrunge-influenced;I was

probablytryingtochannelKurtorsomeone

likethatwiththatriff.LaterI wasatmy

girlfriend’shouseinNewYorkandI invited

Jeffover.I thinkI’djustgotbackfrom

Vietnam,andI playedhimthatriffandhe

started writing the melody to it. We recorded

thatonewithTomVerlaineonMercerStreet

inNewYorkCity.Thatwasoneagainwhere

hewrotea lotofthoselyricsrightbeforehe

recordedthem– I’mnotsurehowlonghe’d

beenthinkingaboutthem,butit wasa

similarprocessto“SoReal”, except it just

tooka littlelonger.

RECORDED:NEWYORK/MEMPHIS,

SUMMER 1996

RELEASED:SKETCHESFORMY

SWEETHEARTTHEDRUNK, MAY26, 1998

Buckleywasalwaysonthelookoutfor

inspiration,asshownbythisloose,

krautrock-tingedjamthatbecamea

hypnotichighlightofhislatersongs

PARKERKINDRED(drummer):WhenI

walkedintotherehearsalroomforthefirst

timeinNovember1996,JeffhadthatTim

BuckleyrecordHappy/Sadonthewall.It was

crazy.I wondered– hewas 29 then,hisdad

diedat28,sohemighthavebeenwantingto

connect,andmaybehavinga bitmore

compassionforwherehisfathermighthave

been.Wewererehearsingallthesenew

tunes,nothingold.Jeffneversang.Hewas

gettingthebandsoundingamazingfirst,

beforehisvocalcameon.We’drehearseeight

hoursa day,fivedaysa weekprettymuch.

TIGHE:Artistically,hewantedtoexpress

someofhisdemons,andsomedarknesshe

wasfeeling.Hesaidhewantedtomakemusic

thatwouldfrightenpeople,sothatwasthe

wavewewereonforMySweetheartThe

Drunk. Hedefinitelydidn’twanttobe

pigeonholedasthechoirboy.Hesaidtome,

“Iknowthisis gonnadividemyfans,some

areprobablynotgonnafuckwithmeany

moreandsomeareprobablygonnaloveit.”

KINDRED:Whenwestartedrecordingwith

TomVerlaine,I thinktherewasa tonoffear

goingon.I’veneverbeentoanothersession

likethatinallmylife.It didn’tfeelrelaxed.

I didn’tthinktheywerefinishedsongs,and

theyweren’tfiguredoutproperly,youcan

hearit.Nobodyfelton the same page, it felt

alittleconfused.

TIGHE:Itwasn’tanyone’sfaultperse,

buttherewerestill moments where it felt

reallyspecial.

KINDRED:“NewYear’sPrayer”wasa beat

I broughtin.Thetapewasrolling,I started

thatbeat,Jeffjumpedonthetimpani,Mick

wasplayingthatbasslineandthatallgot

recorded.Jeffwaslike,“I’m gonna make

somethingoutofthis.”

L ORY:[WhenJeffwashavingtroublewriting]

I saidtohim,“Whydon’tyougetwithGary

Lucasagain?Maybeheprovokessomething

inyou.”Andhesaid, “Don’t ever bring up his

nameagain.”

LUCAS:Jeffcalledmeinearly 1997 andsaid,

“Doyouhaveanymoreinstrumentals?I’m

gettingmynextrecordtogetherandI’dloveto

seewhatyougot.”SoI senthima cassetteand

hecalledbackandsaid,“Doyouhaveany

more?”I senthimanotherthreeideas,and

thenI didn’thearbackfromhimandI wasa

littleannoyed.Thenwehada momentatthe

Knitting Factory in April – he invited me

JEFF BUCKLEY

Soreal:on

tourin the

Netherlands,

Au g u st 1994