February, 1995
Submitted by Ananula
Translated by me
Son of Tim Buckley, an avant-garde folk-singer discovered in 1966 by Jimmy Carl Black, the Indian drummer of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention, Jeff Buckley feels a bit like he's looking for that father he practically did not know, first crossing his path at the age of 8, just a few months before his death by overdose in June, 1975. Raised by a pianist and classical cellist mother and a mechanic stepfather focused on Led Zeppelin, he lived as a traveling teen, abandoning his family at 17, just to settle once and for all in Los Angeles. Musically, he tried everything: blues, hard-rock and even reggae. Until, as a result of genetic inheritance, he decided to opt for an unclassifiable new-folk hope, opening his phonographic career with the curious Live At Sin-e featuring five solo recorded songs, in front of a handful of drunks, in a New York cafe. Since then, Jeff Buckley has released a first "real" album, Grace, in trio this time, on arranged by a former figure of free jazz, the Austrian vibraphonist Karl Berger. This is not surprising from a boy who swears by three names: Bob Dylan, Robert Johnson, and Thelonious Monk.
Submitted by Ananula
Translated by me
Son of Tim Buckley, an avant-garde folk-singer discovered in 1966 by Jimmy Carl Black, the Indian drummer of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention, Jeff Buckley feels a bit like he's looking for that father he practically did not know, first crossing his path at the age of 8, just a few months before his death by overdose in June, 1975. Raised by a pianist and classical cellist mother and a mechanic stepfather focused on Led Zeppelin, he lived as a traveling teen, abandoning his family at 17, just to settle once and for all in Los Angeles. Musically, he tried everything: blues, hard-rock and even reggae. Until, as a result of genetic inheritance, he decided to opt for an unclassifiable new-folk hope, opening his phonographic career with the curious Live At Sin-e featuring five solo recorded songs, in front of a handful of drunks, in a New York cafe. Since then, Jeff Buckley has released a first "real" album, Grace, in trio this time, on arranged by a former figure of free jazz, the Austrian vibraphonist Karl Berger. This is not surprising from a boy who swears by three names: Bob Dylan, Robert Johnson, and Thelonious Monk.
Curious detail, Jeff Buckley, although he counts among his American fans characters as notorious as Chrissie Hynde or John McEnroe, has really taken off commercially in Europe, especially in France, where it still exists, it is true , a genuine cult for his father. This father, who died at 27 (his age) and seems to exert on him, whatever he says, a strange fascination. Like him, he sometimes sings in French (I Do Not Know the End by Edith Piaf) and especially to maintain a strange relationship with the fatal heroin (Mojo Pin, one of the most beautiful songs of Grace). "My dad has influenced my life but not my music," says Jeff Buckley, "I've never listened to his records for fun, I just observed them. I'm tired of those old hippies hoping to find him in me, I know that I will disappoint them. " Perhaps. But we can not help but think that Jeff Buckley will definitely be fulfilled the day he can cover Fortunate Son. And this without the slightest irony.
(Jeff Buckley, with Bettie Serveert opening: Toulouse February 8, Montpellier the 9, Lyon the 10, Bataclan Paris the 11, Rennes the 13, Strasbourg the 14.)
(Jeff Buckley, with Bettie Serveert opening: Toulouse February 8, Montpellier the 9, Lyon the 10, Bataclan Paris the 11, Rennes the 13, Strasbourg the 14.)
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