62 • UNCUT • OCTOBER 2019
MYSTERYWHITEBOY
Mar GuibertremembersBuckley’smusicalearlyyears
“F
ROManearlyageJeff
couldcarrythetunewhile
I wassingingharmony,and
that’snoteasyfora six-year-old.
Bythetimehewas12,I wassinging
themaintuneandhe’dbedoing
harmony.Hehadtheinstrument
- you’rebornwitha certainvoice,
thenyoudevelopit. Songwriting
wasn’thisfirstmusicalinstinct.He
had a garage band when he was
15,calledMahreBuckham,which
wasthefirstfewlettersofthe
namesoftheguysin theband.He
wastheleadsinger,buthewanted
tobea guitargod,hedidn’twant
tobeknownforhisvoice.I think
it wasaninstinctiverejectionof
beingcomparedtohisfather,even
thoughhehada perfectlylovely
voiceandheknewit. Hedidn’treally
think he could write songs, but after
studyingattheMusiciansInstitute
hethought,‘Well,youknowwhat,
if thatdweebovertherecanwrite
songs,thenI can!’Sowehave,from
1988,hisfirstpoem,thatbecame
‘MojoPin’.Aroundthattimehe
wrotea songcalled‘Radio’,and
‘StrawberryStreet’.Theywerenot
thesweetsongsI wantedmyson
tobewriting– sowhenI first heard
Grace I was relieved.”
whateverdirectionhewasgoingin.
L ORY:Mattwasthemusicstarintheband.
ListentoMattie’sdrums– youknowthat
that’sa musician.Thebestwaytobea
musicianis learningwhen not to play, right?
Hewasphenomenal.
WA L L AC E:Ithink“DreamBrother”started
froma jam.Jeffsangsomevocalsasa
referenceandit wasincredible.ButI thinkhe
alwaysfeltthatsomehowhehadn’t done
whathewantedtodoonit.
NORRELL:IwasaskedtohelpJefffinish
“DreamBrother”,becausethealbum
deadlinehadpassedandtherewereno
vocalsonthatsong.JeffwasinLosAngeles,
sotheywantedhimtogetintoa studioand
finishthesong.Wehadtwodays,butJeff
wantedtoworkonothersongsfirst.Onthe
finalnight,Jeffsangjustthechorusesof
“DreamBrother”.Heaskedmewhattimeit
was,I said“11pm”,andhesaid,“OK,I’llmeet
youbackhereat1am!”Hereturnedontime
andsangtheversesa fewtimesandreally
nailedit.I realisedhe’dprobablywritten
thoseversesduringthecouple of hours he
wasoutofthestudio.
ABBOTT:Jeffwasnevera naturalsongwriter
atthestart,so“DreamBrother”wasa
difficultprocessforhim.Hehadthingsofthe
qualityof“Hallelujah”– butthosewere
borrowed,theyweren’this.I rememberfirst
hearing“DreamBrother”,andthatwasa
moment.It wouldhavebeeninterestingif
they’dcarriedonmakingthatalbum,and
recordeda furtherfiveorsixsongs,because
I feellikebytheendofthealbumtheygot
somewhere.It wasmore synergistic.
RECORDED:BEARSVILLE,WOODSTOCK,
1993/1994
RELEASED:GRACE,AUGUST23, 1994
Sparkedbya guitarpartfromnew
guitaristMichaelTighe,thisbecamethe
finalpuzzlepieceofGrace,controversially
replacingthepotentialfirstsingle
TIGHE:Icomposedthechordprogressionfor
“SoReal”whenI like 14 or15.WhenI firstmet
Jeff,I playedthatforhimandhewasreally
takenwithit.A yearortwolater,atsomeof
therehearsalsforthefirsttour,hewaslike,
“Rememberthatsongyourplayedmeonyour
beda coupleofyearsagoatyourparents’
place?”SoI startedplayingit,andhegot
behindthedrumsandcameupwiththatbeat
and started singing the melody of the chorus.
NORRELL:Several
monthsafterGracewas
completed,wewerein
fora sessionatSony
MusicStudiosinNew
YorkCitytorecordtwo
B-sides,“SoReal”and
“KangaRoo”,an
extendedcoverofthe
BigStarsong.Weonly
hadtwodays,andmuch
ofthefirstdaywas
takenupjustgettingthingsworkinginthe
studio.Fortunately,thebandwereableto
performalmostalltheparts live with
minimaloverdubs.
TIGHE:Sowedid“SoReal”inanafternoon.
ThatnightJeffwasfeverishlywritinginhis
notepad,thenhetooka walkaroundHell’s
Kitchen,camebackandrecordedthevocals
forit.SoI thinkhewrotemostofthelyrics
thatnight.It wasprettybeautifulthewayit
allcametogethersoquickly.Then,ofcourse,
hereplacedthesong“ForgetHer”onGrace
with“SoReal”,whichwasa bitscandalous.
L ORY:Iremember[SonyMusicchairman]
DonnieIennerringingmeup;I said,“Jeff
doesnotwantit ontherecord,underany
circumstances.”I’vegotit onspeakerphone
- Donnie’sscreamingatmeandJeff’s
smiling,givingmethethumbs-up.It’soneof
MARTYN GOODACRE/GETTY IMAGES; JACK VARTOOGIAN/GETTY IMAGESthe few times I thought he was wrong. It was
Atthetributeto
hisfatherTim,
StAnn’sChurch,
Brooklyn,April
26, 1991
abouthisgirlfriendRebecca,and
hedidnotwanthertohearthat
songbecauseit was‘forgether’.
Aerosmithwantedtorecordit.I
foundthecontractrecently!That
wouldhavebeena monstersmash.
ABBOTT:Itwasa shockwhenI
firstheardGrace. Jeffwasdoinga
lunchtimegigina pubinHitchin,
andjustbeforehewenton,Dave
Loryturnedupwitha cassetteof
thefirstmixes.It wasshocking,
becausetheyweresopolishedandquite
rocky,andthatwasa realrevelation.If
you’dseenhimearly on it was like seeing
adifferentartist.
RECORDED:SONYSTUDIOS,
NEWYORK, 1995
RELEASED:“ETERNAL LIFE”,
AUGUST 1995
Inspiredbythemountingpressures
ofbeinga successfulartist,Buckley
re-recordedthisGracehighlight as
ariotous,furiousthrash
L ORY:ThebandwasverygreenandJeff
pickedthemthatwaybecausehewantedto
beabletoformulatewhattheyplayed,which
allowedhimthefreedomtogooverthetop.
“Kanga Roo” was the only song they could
JEFF BUCKLEY
Bare
emotionat
theGarage
in Islington,
London,
September
1 , 1994
