Jeff Buckley Fans Unite!

And why he thought this song wasn't good enough for Grace is beyond me. It's right up there with Grace, Last Goodbye, and Lover You Should've Come Over as his best song.

 

As I understand it 'Forget Her' was taken off Grace for personal reasons, nothing to do with the quality of the song/recording (& I agree it would have been one of the outstanding tracks if included). Someone might be able to shed more light on why it was taken out.

 

Makes sense - rarely does a 'B-side' fit so well on an album
(I mean that in the more 90s sense of songs left off an album)

 

That's great then, cause there's been such a flood of "Hallelujah" covers. I'm not sure the song would have the same "aura" now without his take on it.

It's good to know Jeff is not forgotten.

I'd read about his cover being based on John Cale's version, but I think Jeff brought an intensity to it that is almost religious or mystical. I get the feeling that's what most people covering the song are trying to reach, because somehow they were impressed by that. But somehow I was wondering if younger generations were aware of Jeff, or if his interpretation of the song had simply ben passed along from performer to performer, without people being necessarily aware of the source of it all.

 

"Morning theft" is fantastic.
I did post a live version I was totally unaware of earlier in the thread, but you seem to know his work pretty well so you probably already know that one.

 

Cale was asked by a French company to cover a Cohen song, he chose Hallelujah for the compilation album, I'm Your Fan, he asked Cohen for the words. Cohen sent Cale all the words he'd written for the song. Some 15 plus verses. Cale chose the verses he was comfortable singing, some he thought were too religious. What Buckley and others have done is chosen the same verses Cale did, so even those who have not borrow Cale's arrangement still perhaps have Cale to thank (something Jeff didn't do.)
Cale was asked to sing the song at a Buckley memorial concert...he declined the invite.
Cale has since covered "So Long Marianne" utilising Suzanne Vega as backing vocalist.

 

I just started a thread about my new musical discovery, Alice Smith. Here she is doing a Buckley tune from Grace and no it's not Hallelujah. Of course, any Buckley cover needs to be done by a singer with PIPES and she's got it, but adds a little bit of a different emotional bent.

Anyway my point is, Buckley is still listened to by a the younguns, of various musical backgrounds.

 

Wow I didn't know about this either. Thank you!

Have you heard it? compared it to other mastering?
Very interested.

 

If I had, I didn't remember it - Thanks!

There's a audience recording around online somewhere of the full band show at Arlene's Grocery in NYC with a nice version too.
It's the show that start's with him having a go at someone recording it...

"You f****** d***!
He's bootleggin' our show man!
Y'wanna study it?
and you can tell your music school friends
and your deadhead friends

you need a miracle

...alright just roll your tape."

haha

 

You're welcome!
I'll try and locate that show you're talking about.
Wow... Being singled out at a Jeff Buckley concert... For taping the show... Not sure if that's something to be proud or ashamed of, but what a memory that must be now.

 

The whole show is on youtube.
A killer setlist and lots of chats.....
Listening to it right now, sounds great; thanks for the tip!

 

It's great, mastered by Kevin Gray, definitely worth a purchase since you could probably pick it up for only 20 bucks. However there is a new reissue being done by Original Recordings Group, a rising audiophile label. It's gonna be a 2x45 lp and is most likely gonna blow our socks off. It's coming sometime in the next few months but will have a price tag of $50 so.....This is something I'm really looking forward to though because the one lp I bought from them, Mingus Ah Um, has amazing packaging and is a reference recording.

 

"Grace"is a masterpiece and one of the finest albums of the 90's.
When I hear all these sissy sounding bearded hipster acoustic 'fake folkies' that are everywhere now, I want to scream thinking about what a truly great and original talent he was.

 

ORG is also releasing Grace as an SACD, presumably with the same Kevin Gray remastering (from analogue tapes, as I understand it). Amazing, an SACD release that's a bit outside-the-box.... Exciting news.

 

Do you know if it will be a hybrid SACD?

 

Not sure, but ORG's other SACD releases have all been hybrids AFAIK. I'm really hoping-- and expecting-- Kevin nailed this one.

 

Well that was Mr. Cale's loss then.

Jeff did in fact credit Cale as the inspiration for his version of Hallelujah. I remember reading Jeff mentioning this in an interview long ago (how he went to a friend's house and fell in love with Cale's version playing in the background). It was actually how I found out Cale had done a version of Hallelujah. Pretty cool.

 

Can't wait, the few Org 2LP 45s I have are all very very good.

 

Ha ha! I couldn't agree with you more... Buckley influenced a lot of "earnest acoustic" types then and now, but it's a bit of a pyrrhic victory as far as his legacy goes. Kind of similar to the tragic events befalling "Hallelujah".

Even with just the two albums, he is one of the most important artists of the decade.

Regarding Post #56, Jeff Buckley didn't need to "thank" John Cale for anything. He covered a song, no one has to be thanked for that. Although he did mention the lineage from L.C. to J.C. in at least one interview, so there you go.

 

Any news on when this 2LP 45rpm is coming out??

 

best song

 

Clearly I've made a mistake by ignoring Jeff Buckley for this long. I've long heard wonderful things, but never took the time to dive in. The question is, which version of Grace do I pick up: standard release or Deluxe version? I'm more interested in sound quality than extras (at this point).

 

I have both and the dlx sounds great to me. Full sound and some fantastic extras (his version of Mama, You've Been On My Mind for instance).

The DVD has all of the videos he did while alive plus one for Forget Her and a nice 40 min documentary about the making of the record.

It's out of print now but I got a like new copy on ebay for 15 bucks after wearing out my store bought one.

 

i think Cale wanted a different kind of credit

 

I love his Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan stuff. His crowd banter was fantastic.

Plus Dream Brothers has always been one of my favourite tracks. What do you guys reckon to Gary Lucas? He has a new project with a great vocalist near me called Pat Fulgoni called 'Ghosts of Prague'. Fulgoni has been generating quite a bit of buzz lately with his work on Camo and Krooked's track 'All Night'. (I realise it's probably not the sort of stuff that normally gets posted here, but it's a good track https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9w7RshwXdQU)