onstageinthemiddleoftheshow.Hehanded
mehisTelecaster.I said,“Whatarewegonna
do?”Andhesaid,“‘Grace’,ofcourse.”It was
thebest“Grace”I everplayedwithhim.He
wassoaring,hecamealive.I walkedoutof
therefeelingsurethatwe’dworktogether
again,butthatwasthelasttimeI sawhim.
RECORDED:NEWYORK/MEMPHIS,
1996/97
RELEASED:SKETCHESFORMY
SWEETHEARTTHEDRUNK, MAY26, 1998
AgorgeousslowR&Bnumber,inspired
byIsaacHayesandthesoulful
atmospherein Memphis
L ORY:There’sa SmokeyRobinsontypesong,
“EverybodyHereWantsYou”,that would
havebeena frickin’smash!
KINDRED:JeffandI wentouttoa barin
Memphisandwereplayingsomepool,and
IsaacHayes’s“WalkOnBy”cameon.Jeffwas
like,“Let’sdothiskindofthing!”It’sa tough
jam,butit’salsomellow,soweweretryingto
recreatethata littlebit.Butit gotcomical–
Easleywasa bigstudio,it wasthe’90sand
therewasdefinitelya particulardrumsound
happening– andTomkepttellingmetohit
thesnaredrumharderandharder. I’ve never
hita snaredrumsohard!
WA L L AC E:Jeffwasnothappywiththe
albumasit wasandaskedme,“Wouldyou
liketodoanotheralbumtogether,fromthe
groundup?”OfcourseI saidyes.Therewere
incrediblesongs:“EverybodyHereWants
You”,“MorningTheft”,“NightmaresByThe
Sea”.Theintentionwastodoa bandalbum–
I didn’twantit tobea radicaldeparture,but
atthesametimeI didn’twannamakeGrace
II,andI thinkhewasofthesamemind.
ABBOTT:Jeffhada painfultimerecording
downthereinMemphis,hekeptsayinghe
wantedtogiveup.A bitofdrama,ofcourse,
I don’tthinkheeverwouldhavegivenup,but
it wasbecausehefoundthesongwritinghard.
Hehatedthepredictablestuff,andhewasinto
a lotofbandsthatdidn’tworkwithstandard
songformats.HelovedBigStar,andthe
Cocteauswereprobablyhisfavouriteband.
RECORDED:MEMPHIS,SPRING 1997
RELEASED:SKETCHESFORMY
SWEETHEARTTHEDRUNK, MAY26, 1998
Only available as a bonus track on
Buckley’sposthumousalbum,thiswas
oneofthefinestofhisfruitfulfour-track
creations– hisfinalrecordings before
hisdeathin May 1997
L ORY:Whenthesessionsgotcancelled,Jeff
stayeddowninMemphisandstartedwriting
onhisown.That’swhenhegotthemusic
together,justhimandhisfour-track.Because
nobodycanwritewithJeffBuckley,youcan’t.
WA L L AC E:Hewaswritingandoccasionally
playingsologigsata bar.I camedownand
spentfourorfivedayswithhim– notreally
full-tiltpre-production,butjustlisteningto
material,talkingabouthowwewouldtreat
varioussongs.Wearrangedthathewould
havethebandcomedown,they’drehearse
andjam,andthenaftera weekofthatI’dcome
downandbeginseriouspre-production.
KINDRED:WhenI listenedtohisfour-track
recordings,I heardtotalfreedom,freedom
tobetheweirdoagain.Jeffjustneededtoget
onthefour-trackandbreakthroughtothe
otherside,havetotalcreativefreedomand
totalprivacy.Thealbumwouldhavebeen
theZeppelinrecordthatwouldhave
happenedbetweenPhysicalGraffitiand
Presenceorsomething.I heara darkness
toit.Buthewasrebirthing himself, it was
asheddingoftheskin.
WA L L AC E:The night the band were due to
Soaring:at
theRoseland
Ballroom,NYC,
June 2, 1995
Silencing
Glastonbury
witha scream
of pain, 1995
arrivehewasmarkingtime,and
thatwaswhenhedrowned.
KINDRED:It’shardtomakethat
thefinalscene,andyetit is.
TIGHE:WhenSketchesForMy
SweetheartTheDrunkcameout,
everyonewasgrieving;therewas
thissensethatit wasallvery
unfinished– butI listenedtothe
albumagainrecentlyandsome
ofthosesongsarequitecomplete
anddoshowhissongwriting
prowess.On“GunshotGlitter”,
say,hismelodicsensewasso
pureandunique.I think
sometimesit tookhimsometime
tofigureoutwhathewantedto
saylyrically,becausehewanted
it tobetruthfulandthat comes
fromexperience.
L ORY:Formonthsafterhedied,
weweregoingthroughallthe
music,andwefounda Michael
Boltoncassettethatsounded
likePageandPlanttalking,
discussingmimickingpeople.
It tookusa weektofigureoutthatit wasJeff
doinganimpressionofthem!WhenJeffleft
myhousewhenhewenttoMemphis,he
said,“I’mnotafraidtobepopular.”And
I explainedtohim,“Popmeanspopular.
Dylan’spopular,NeilYoung’spopular,
Springsteen’spopular;yousignedto
Columbiatobepopular,it doesn’tmeanyou
sellout.”Hewantedtoplaymusic,andhe
wantedpeopletolistentoit,buthewanted to
doit onefanata time,throughshows.
WA L L AC E:ImissJeffterribly,wegotreally
closeonGrace. I thinkhesawmeasa big
brothertoreelhiminwhenhe’dgeta little
ontheoutside.There’sa lineon“Morning
Theft”,“I missmybeautifulfriend”, and
wheneverI hearit I geta littleteary.Graceis
oneofmyfavouriterecordsI’veevermade,
andI’llneverreallyfeelthatit wasn’ta great
lossthatwedidn’tget the opportunity to have
a second shot. ,
“FATHER,DOYOUHEAR ME?”
DaveLor ononeofhisfavouriteBuckleyperformances
“I
LOVEthatGlastonbury
performanceof‘What
WillYouSay’.It’sa song
thatneverappearedonan
album.Hesings,“Father,do
youhearme...doyoureally
care.../Motherdear,the
world’sgonecold...” Then
hedoesthisscreamin the
middleofthesong,andyou
see 100,000 people go quiet.
Theyweredancing,doing
everythingelseandthen
they’requiet.Thatscream
is thepainofhisupbringing
andit showstheemotionthat
heusedtosingeverynight.I
rememberSteveBerkowitz
saying‘There’snohook’,and
I waslike,‘Dude,it’sabout
emotion!Thisis pain,bro,
coming out of his voice!’
“Peopledidn’trealisethat
hewasanincredibleguitar
player,butwhenyouwatch
thatperformanceyou’llsee
himplaya 12-stringguitar
solothatwillmakeyougo,‘Oh
myGod!’Artistshavetogo
tothatwellthatisn’talways
pleasant,towritesongsthat
areemotional,andI’veseen it
over and over again.”
PATTI OUDERKIRK/WIREIMAGE; MICK HUTSON/REDFERNS
JeffBuckley:HisOwnVoice:TheOfficialJournals,Objects
AndEphemera, editedbyMaryGuibert& DavidBrowne,is
publishedonOctober15,£30,www.octopusbooks.co.uk.Jeff
Buckley:FromHallelujahToTheLastGoodbyebyDaveLoryand
JimIrvin,is availablenowfromPostHillPress,andpublishedin
paperbackonOctober31.ClifNorrell’scurrentprojectscan
befoundatwww.clifnorrell.com/news-1.TheNiro& Gary
Lucas’snewalbum,TheCompleteJeffBuckley& Gary Lucas
Songbook, is out in September on Esordisco
JEFF BUCKLEY
