#147 Jeff Buckley, 'Grace' (1994)
Previously #303
Jeff Buckley is one of the most tragic artists of our time. This was probably one of the new albums that I bought completely on recommendation without hearing one song. A friend had been telling me for years how amazing he was. Eventually, I found the album on an overseas trip and bought it. It only took about 2 listens to make it into my favourite albums of all-time list. Buckley’s voice was arresting and unique. Since I’ve heard many imitators, but no one that could sing quite like Jeff Buckley. The album opens with ‘Mojo Pin’. At 18 seconds we hear his pure falsetto that continues to grow for around half a minute before his soft vocals eventually begin. But it’s at three minutes, fifty six seconds that his voice grabs hold of you and does not let go for the next 10 songs. On the title track, the album takes flight with beguiling guitar and Buckley’s four octave vocal range; the same range as Pavarotti. And it continues. Each track unique, each an emotional journey. His cover of ‘Lilac Wine,’ previously mentioned on this list as sung by Nina Simone (‘Wild Is The Wind, #212), is the best I’ve ever heard. And speaking of covers, Buckley breathed life into Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah,’ (almost literally as he releases a puff of air at the beginning of the song), making it the most definitive version of the song. Cohen spent his life perfecting the song, Buckley managed to perfect it in under 7 minutes.
Buckley got his big break at a tribute show for his late father, whom he had only ever met briefly once when he was 8. Having not beein invited to the funeral, Buckley decided to use that tribute show as a chance to pay his last respects. He sang ‘I Never Asked To Be Your Mountain,’ a song of his father’s detailing his own abandonment. After that performance he was hounded by labels and managers until finally signing with Columbia. David Bowie once said that ‘Grace’ was the best album ever made and that it would be his desert island album. Bob Dylan considered him to be one of the greatest songwriters of the decade and Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page considered ‘Grace’ to be his favourite album of the decade. The album features one of my all-time favourite lyrics, “My kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder” from ‘Lover, You Should’ve Come Over,’ as well as “Too young to hold on/And too old to just break free and run,” lyrics that rang in my head over and over in my mid-twenties as I was formulating life-changing decisions. Buckley tragically drowned accidentally in 1997 while taking an early evening dip in the Mississippi River. He was pulled in, fully clothed, by the wake of a passing boat. His body was only discovered a week later. I truly believe, that had he survived, Buckley would have been one of the greatest artists of our time. Alas, his life was cut short after only releasing one album, a perfect album at that.
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