Ben Jammin's Autograph

"Owner met him at a press thing and got it signed. It hung in the store behind me from the day I started working there until the day we closed. I drooled over it every day. He gifted it to me along with 2 other autographed Radiohead & Kula Shaker boards. My kids are going to inherit them along with my record collection."-Ben

Lover, You Should've Come Over at The Middle East

What a wonderful gift this version of Lover was, done at the Middle East in Boston on February 19, 1994 💞 (website)

Wetlands

Finally, a new full gig from Sony: Wetlands in NY, August 16, 1994, this show includes the legendary "chocolate" version of "Mojo Pin" (and another sublime "Kanga-Roo") :

Mojo Pin-sound check

1. Chocolate/Mojo Pin

2. Dream Brother

3. So Real

4. Last Goodbye

5. Lilac Wine

6. Grace

7. What Will You Say (with Chris Dowd)

8. Hallelujah

9. Je N'en Connais Pas la Fin

10. Lover, You Should've Come Over

11. Eternal Life

12. That's All I Ask

13. Kanga-Roo

courtesy of Denise Batura

RIP

The location today

Buckley's 'Grace' is poignant and soul-baring

North County Times, November 25, 1994
By Dan Bennett
Submitted by Sai

It's more than lineage that makes Jeff Buckley stand out from the new pop sensations who surround him.
  The provocative young vocalist, who performs at 8 tonight at the La Paloma Theatre (220-TIXS) in Encinitas, mixes a bluesy rock edge with a wailing, haunting voice, sounding only slightly like his cult-favorite father, Tim. The senior Buckley was a maverick troubadour of the '60s, moving effortlessly from folk to modern blues before he died of a drug overdose in 1975.
  Jeff Buckley barely knew his father, in fact, meeting him only a week before he died. But even if their styles were different, the plaintive expressiveness of their music is similar.
  Evidence can be found on "Grace", the full-length debut offering from Buckley on Columbia Records after a frenzy of major labels surrounded the 27-yesr-old singer in an attempt to sign him.
  "It was a chase that kept me up nights," Buckley said in a telephone interview. "It was a worry because I knew how life in the buisness could change you. I'm happy with the choice I made, but now I'm encountering a new phenomenon in the loss of my anonymity. That's been another strange experience."
  The signing came after several years of Buckley playing to dedicated crowds in the East Village, garnering a reputation as one of the earthiest, most alternative sounding artists on the New York circuit. Buckley cut his teeth on modern folk-rock mavericks such as the Knitters and Golden Palaminos, as well as various ethnic sounds, relying early on electric music, acoustic ideals and sonic emotion to carry his message.
  The songs on "Grace" are barren, poignant and soul-baring. Buckley, seemingly ignorant of his powerful presence and matinee-idol looks, often reaches out in his music as an insecure, sometimes desperate partner in ended or never-consummated relationships. 
  "Eternal Life" and "Lover, You Should've Come Over" showcase the Buckley extremes, from advocator of all-together -now spirituality, to remorseful romancer. Many of the same tendencies can be found on "Live at Sin-e," the four-song CD Buckley released last year, featuring a free-form jazz and blues mix.
  "I encourage and ask for improvisation in the different forms of music we do," Buckley said. "In fact, it's not so much improvisation as reinterpretation at a moment's notice."
  Just because Buckley is on the road, he hasn't stopped writing.
  "I have to," he said. "The need inhabits my body. I'm insatiable about writing even when some days it's not the best thing for me."
  Riding high on intense critical support and showing an eagerness to explore new avenues, Buckley appears to be heading in disparate and artistically rewarding musical directions.
  "I'll just go where the songs take me," Buckley said. "I know there are so many new ideas that haven't even occured to me, and it's going to take more time and maturity for me to channel them. I'll just let it happen and try not to rush it too much."

Music Life, Oct. 94

By Yoshinobu Morita
Submitted by Sai
Translated by Tutu Fujimoto 

A new hero of ‘90s American rock, Jeff Buckley. His father is the late Tim Buckley, 27-years-old, single, living in NYC...Apart from the main points, I want you to listen to this singing voice which gives you goosebumps, that's my frank feeling. The excitement of the surroundings doesn’t matter to him, he’s still cool. His steps are forward, down to earth, he is going on a journey where nobody knows what lies ahead without fear. It's not bad to share this journey with him. It wouldn’t be good taste however, to say I even want to see him bumping into the wall and struggling.

When I am in a place where the air is thick, I am so glad of a gust of wind that happened suddenly. Jeff Buckley is like that gust of wind. We’ve prepared ourselves for the worst or underestimated it like “nothing new would be born to our music scene.” But such a man suddenly appeared in our world. Yes, this sound is so fresh no matter what we think. There are many groups in which the appearance of style or music is fresh. There are also many groups that have great constitutionality to collect and unite music in various fields. But in his case, the new and fresh thing is on the inside. It's not an inner reflection that gives you discontent feelings and calculating like Beck's major debut album, but rather an off-track inner reflection without any decorations. The sound of Jeff Buckley certainly goes toward not outside, but inside. But the arrow of his music seems to thrust itself outward, as it goes inside. From delicacy to chaos. From chaos to delicacy. His inner self running wild, moving freely from place to place, may even be trying to jump over the frame of “rock music” in every sense. He is an artist who made such a sound with his debut album. Of course, I’m going to ask him about it.

Do you like to go on trips?

I've always traveled.

When I was listening to your album, I felt that there was some kind of scenery coming up, different with every song. Maybe it's because the place named Corpus Christi was used for the title of the song.

You can write music based on one scene or a memory of the city. Of course, it's not always the same...But if you think about it, life is just like one scene. A view with different wavelengths in every part. Those sceneries, hand-in-hand with music, move people's emotions.

A great variety of emotions is put into your music. Delicacy and chaos. Stability and instability. Sufficiency and anxiety. To sometimes put contradictory feelings into one song is a very natural thing for you.

It's a natural desire for me to have my songs like that. I think every emotion has a sound. Every emotion has a voice. If you hear such a voice, you can put it to music as it is. If you try to forcefully give a framework to something wild like music, it's just going to be weird. Music is not something that you create forcefully, but something you "find." It’s what you discover. It's so simple, and it's so hard that you scratch your head.

For example, a three-minute pop song framework is unthinkable for you, isn’t it?

Nah, it’s not. Of course, a three-minute pop song has its limits and smells artificial like a chemically synthesized nutrient. But at the same time, it's also a very pleasant thing (lol). Sweet chocolate and junk food are all very good, aren't they? So I might make an album with 15 songs of three minutes someday. Yeah, it could be the fourth album.

Seriously?

Yeah, seriously. If it’s the case that the emotional state I'm in wanted me to express that kind of thing.

Your emotional state also includes a three-minute pop song, right?

Yes. A three-minute pop song, and also a fourteen-minute “Kangaroo”. (By Alex Chilton, a song included on Jeff’s mini album for promotion. For about 10 minutes in the second half, it is filled with a truly avant-garde guitar and drum interplay.)

That “Kangaroo” showed us your Far-Out state, speaking in the old way.

I think it's Far-In rather than Far-Out.

I see. I feel like your eyes are looking inside of you once, then looking outside at what's reflected on the inside, rather than looking at the outside directly.

It's hard to get out of yourself. Even if I could get out of myself, what I would find outside is just a picture of “me” taken by other people. But there’re many points in common between humans. We can get connected to each other because of these common points.

So, are your songs also a way to connect with others?

All songs are like that. Of course, the songs exist just as the songs.

However, you told them not to put translations on Japanese editions.

That's just because I was unhappy with the translations of Pakistani CDs and so on that are sold in the states. It's a difficult task to translate words from the languages of mentally and physically different countries into the language of other countries. Of course, I don't deny the translation itself, but there are many things that are lost when translated. Even if it didn't have a translation, I thought the music would be conveyed.

Yeah, I do translations too, so I understand what you're saying.

I think translators need to be poets. The job of a translator is the alchemy of language.  A circus of music. Yeah, it's like trying to tell a friend by telephone what's going on in the circus. I like Rilke’s translations though. Yes, Rilke is the only German poet I like.

Your words are “lyrics”, not words to be read, but words to be listened to.

Yes. But my lyrics are all from my poems. I think all poetry should be expressed as words. Not as literature, but an oral tradition. Poetry is a blueprint for the voice.

Do you already have a melody in your words?

Yes. Words have sounds. Where there's sound, there's a song.

So why did you become a singer instead of a poet?

That's just because “singing a song” was always with me. And I don’t only stick to the form of singing. Sometimes I write songs that are easy for everyone to understand.

Wasn't there any pressure from the record company to make songs that are easy to understand?

No. If they wanted an artist like that, they didn't have to sign a contract with me.

Was the music of the '80s boring for you?

There certainly was a lot of cheap music that were best sellers, wasn't there? But there were a lot of amazing artists. The Smiths were so amazing, and so were Siouxsie & The Banshees. Black Flag, Meat Puppets were also cool, and Minutemen, Jane’s Addiction as well. There was a band like The Clash in the early '80s. But it must be true that all the great bands were pushed to the underground at that time.

So why is it that a singer like you is now rising up “over-ground”?

Who said that I’m “over-ground” (Lol)?  The sound that is so clear to my ears seems so weird to another. It can't be helped. But I'm not a Martian either. I'm not making things no one can understand. As I said a while ago, there are many points in common between humans. They love or hate the same thing, or they share the same sense of beauty. You know, everyone loves vanilla ice cream, and they hate Michel Bolton?

But it's a very difficult task to understand others.

Yeah, I think so. There are times when you can't even believe other people's existence. It takes time (to understand). And to accept others, to have real courage, as well.

So, what do you think about the present situation of your country? 

I don't think it's easy for anyone to live in. Even though it has a lot of talent, it's a child-like country that just runs along the path of self-destruction while having problems. I think that's because our souls are not united as one. I think, basically, we don't realize that human beings need to recognize other people's existence to live. American culture is still a culture of European white men, isn't it? I want it to stop. It’s nothing but boring. In America, we have to go where there are no men or women, no white, black, Mexican or Chinese. We have to have a real human culture that has no such stupid distinctions. Otherwise, this country will surely be a mess. But it's not going to get messy. I guess I do my best not to make our country that way. At least, I want to protect my family.

Do you think about yourself as being negative or positive for the current United States ?

I want to be both negative and positive. Is it not a very healthy condition for the human spirit if the needle is off the scale on either side? I want to live in harmony with both my anger and my positive attitudes. And understand why I feel anger and why I can be positive. Because both anger and pleasure must be necessary for music, art, humans, and this country.

Jeff Buckley’s selections for “This American Band”:

Historic: Bob Dylan, The Band, New York Dolls, Sly & The Family Stone

Recent: Fishbone, Jane’s Addiction

Chrissy's Autograph

Courtesy of Chrissy Lampard 😆❤

Rockin'on, Apr. 1995

By Hiroaki Tanaka, Interpretation by Steve Harris
Translated by Tutu Fujimoto

(audio can be heard here)

  I wrote, "His performance in Japan is going to be a historical moment", however, I didn't mean that I wanted to insinuate an incident that occurs like when Dylan appeared in Newport with his electric guitar. Each person gathered that day had something engraved in their mind, it also would be etched into each life as a permanent memory...I intended the meanining to be that such an incident should be waiting.

     On Jan. 30, the Shinjuku Liquid Room, which was eagerly awaiting Jeff Buckley’s Tokyo debut, had already released the heat of tent shows and the aroma of night cafes before the performance started. The noise in the hall rings as one chord in response to the appearance of the band. A moment of silence given to the man following up the band. If Jeff was an artist, everyone gathered on this day was a director. The band started to play “Mojo Pin”. Jeff's voice was waiting for something to come down to the very last minute of being late for the rhythm. And each audience's memory of life was absorbed into Jeff’s perfect appearance which had started to sing quietly. “Grace”, “So Real”...every moment the audience of 18 years-olds, 35 years-olds, men or women, those who filled the hall bathed in his songs, a small thing at the corner of their memories is led back to a big drama. It tells you that there is a story in life that seems to be nothing unusual, like an encounter, a break-up, taking a test, a family trip or anything. It’s exactly like a story teller, or chanteuse, when speaking of Jeff.  By the time “Hallelujah” was sung at encore, the hall was colored with the pale red and green of revolving lanterns. Quite a few people were standing in a daze after the performance, and I wondered if Jeff could realize that it was in great admiration of him.

     I was able to listen to a demo of a new version of “Eternal Life” while waiting for the interview. I'll report that it was as hard as if Pearl Jam were playing in the background. When I started running the tape, Jeff started to answer quietly putting brand new strings on his Rickenbacker. I was surprised to see that his boyishness was only emphasized when I looked at him closer, contrary to his appearance on the stage.

******************

I was surprised to find that the “Eternal Life” I had just listened in the office downstairs was much harder than the one you recorded in “Grace”. Will that version be released?

Yeah, it seems to be so. There needed to be a song for a B-side. We didn’t know there was a demand for a ‘B-side song’ in Europe or Japan. “Grace” was a complete work by itself, but the arrangement of “Eternal Life” changed while we were doing it in the live shows. I couldn't get one riff out of my head. So, I re-made it way harder based on that. Actually, I've forgotten the old arrangement, and I can't play it even if you asked me to.

Do you think music is going to grow like a living thing?

I think music changes and evolves in ways different from the writer's wishes. While you're playing the same song for years, or months, it may be fine, then you may feel that it's not working well for some reason.  You should either change your approach or not play the song for a while. Also, songs sometimes have a deeper meaning with time. Some songs might lose power. But this is the first time I've ever recorded, I mean properly recorded, all of those changes.

I understand that a guitar riff has come up to your head, is that kind of inspiration coming from the inside or by the stimulus from the outside?

Hmm...Epiphany is something that happens to everyone. To any person who has lived any life. It often happens when you're faced with difficulties and having internal tension or conflict. I suddenly realized that I had found an answer, or the door to a solution had opened. Like that. Everybody is the same, I think. In the creative process, an accumulation of those things that are the words you feel, some vibes, are always written and collected, or deep thinking is necessary to receive inspiration. Because you have to be trained to demonstrate the strength to cling to the inspiration when it flashes. I think other artists do it in that way.

You mean, if you keep your ideas in this way, you can sublimate your inspiration into something concrete, right?

My advice...record your dreams. Your dream is yourself and part of you. It tells you what you want to know. And, respect the ideas that even seem so ridiculous. Don't throw away any ideas that look silly.

What do you mean by “respect”?

It’s about having the strength enough to give them the same space as the most complex and lofty ideas even if they are considered trivial. What the best idea is...the artists, most of them I know are the same, may have deep self-hatred (with bitter smile). The best of our ideas are often the most pointless and stupid of all. The reason is that our attitude towards it change and we feel love for it again. Make sense? It's very useful to accept yourself. It’s difficult though.

I see. You’re saying that you should not throw away the love letter that you failed to send.

(Lol) Never. You shouldn’t burn your own poetry notebook like me. It's certainly too hard to look back on everything in detail. But some of them were certainly very good things. There's always a side to make up for what I thought was bad.

What does it mean that you burned it even though you’ve understood that so well?  Was it a particularly difficult time when you wrote it down?

Well...no, I've always had a destructive feeling, and sometimes I have an urge to break things. Usually break something about myself. It's not self-torture, I can burn things out of my world quite cruelly.

I don't think you would like to tell us the details. By the way, what's the first chord that you're going to play unconsciously when you hold the guitar like that?

The first chord that comes up to my head.

Is it different every time?

Yes.

I see (lol).

Usually, it's a chord that can be pressed with one finger.

Are you attracted to the chords that use open strings?

Yeah, I love it. For example, I think it's similar to going to the piano, dropping my hands, and adopting something that sounds good.

Do you write songs with piano also?

Sometimes. But I mean it's like that kind of approach. If it looks beautiful, the tone is beautiful, and the feeling of play is good, I’m okay with that. I like to use my thumb, as a bass sound. About the chords, there was a time when I could explain complicated things like those used in classical music or jazz. But just like when I studied French, at first I remembered it, but later I forgot them all. Now I play the guitar sensuously.

By the way, you were attending a kind of music school.

I was just satisfied with curiosity, I wanted to know about the chords. I don’t need it anymore. I think that the fact that there was such an intense period of music study taught me the pleasure of playing naturally. Now I think it’s good pursuing the two points; the sounds I can hear, and the feeling that I can obtain from it when I play them.

I see. I feel like I’m listening to the story of the law of casualty. By the way, it’s also my preconception about you, we have an impression of that you’re such a sourpuss and nervous person who sometimes flips out.

Seriously?  How come? Did I do something bad?

(Lol) First of all, I think most people feel that way because of your appearance. Look this cover photo on the CD.

Hmmmm, I certainly look introverted.  But I’m not such a nervous person. I don't particularly care about how I interact with people and I don't ask for irrational things. I’m quite normal. Except for only thinking of something all the time. But...I've actually been fired twice for being like that.

You see what I’m saying.

Yeah, it’s absolutely the cause for one of the two. Even though I was doing my job well, it seemed to my superiors I was distracted from concentration.

What was that job like?

I was a salesperson at Banana Republic on Broadway. I was advising a customer whether the clothes would look good or not, but I couldn't flatter them. I was told that I needed a superficial friendliness, even if I was thinkibg about something else in my mind. But I couldn’t do that. I can only be myself. If you talk with me, I think you'll understand it. There’s a case that you may be deceived by the impression-I'm sure it's going to change from what you expect of me. For those looking for a hero, it would be better that I’m an introvert. Or in the case you want to make me a reckless person. But in actuality I'm not one of them, or I may be all. You can't understand it until I see you one on one.

I can understand it so well. But I just wonder you got fired because you can't say a word of flattery?

Well, specifically speaking, I was told that I had stolen something even though I hadn't. A security guard said, “You look wary. You must be hiding something.” I explained, “basically I'm a musician, so I have a lot of thoughts”, but they couldn’t understand me. I can only be a complete outsider or a complete underdog in general society. I've worked with people who don't drink with me even after work, and I've got such a stupid eye for observation. An inventor and a dreamer...the sound of music is going off in my head all the time anyways. If there wasn’t music, I would be hanging by my neck with a demo tape in my hand.

This may be a silly question, but what does it mean to you singing a piece of work that projects your life in public?

Specifically speaking, in my case, it’s to speak my mind as it is. Music is like a drug, it's similar to telling your secrets with people around you after one hit of Ecstasy. It’s like I'm going to burst into tears saying “I love you, we’re the best of friends, right?” I'll admit that I hadn't been accepted before, so then it make me feel refreshed. Of course the next day, it'll feel like a hangover and I'm going to be in the depths of my regret (lol). It's hard to get used to publishing yourself to others, but I'm getting used to the fact that I'm not used to it. I mean, I dare to expose things that others may not understand at all. Well, I'm trying not to think too much about this but there's a fear of being cheated and knocked down.

You have something like a lone-wolf-feeling that doesn't belong to any of the present school.

There are a lot of lone wolves in this universe. The real meaning of the word "alone" is "all one." Humans usually want to act in groups. And they also need to be properly accepted by others. But if you were there, you can’t make real judgements whether you’re going up or down. So I can’t trust that kind of thing.

It’s like, you have the illusion that you were accepted, even though it wasn't real?

Or you have the illusion that you are right because you are accepted...I don’t know. One of the rules of humans is that they must know what they believe. Even if they ignore it for years. You should know what you believe, live according to it, love according to it, and accept what you are. It may sound like I’ve actually done it, but I haven’t. I'm still looking for it. I need it especially now. Why? Because...the conditions of how you accept yourself are too subjective and you don't know when those conditions will change. I think the more important thing is to know yourself, your own sounds, who you love, why you love and why you are loved than to be accepted.

There are artists who are using their past damaging experiences as a driving force for creative activities. How about you?

Hmmm (he stops playing the guitar that he had been playing during the interview)...I think it's important that art comes out of joy. It’s not good that only sadness drives you, is it? Joy has more power. But there are a lot of cases that you can hear nothing but sadness. I’m often hurt and I've hurt someone as well. What drives me from the core is the fact that it happened. The fact that I've had that much experience as a human being...No matter how much I want to be good to the world, no matter how much the world wants to be good to me, there are countless obstacles here. That’s “the world.” The demons are planted in all humans at some stage of growth.

What you just said seems to be related to the story that your boyhood was a series of moves.

I don’t know but...growing up in such an environment has had both positive and negative effects. It's a positive thing in a way that adaptability has been refined. I have come to observe people's natures deeply. I mean I had to do that. I had to give up my sense that it’s safe because it was a place like school or a school yard or a restaurant. I’m constantly observing around me and constantly checking for myself as well, just like that. But it didn’t bother me because I’m the kind of person who can’t put down roots. The only problem is that it affects relationships with people or things. I don't have any obsessions with pet dogs, foods, money, or friends. I can pick up someone's mind and easily let it go. An eight-year-old boy who had to pack up and move quickly is still inside me. I’m always battling with this. I have to tell myself all the time “Now it’s different, I can settle down here, and I can keep company with these people, I don't have to say goodbye unless I die in a traffic accident.” Well, on the other hand, I think I'm grateful that I came to think “life is short, nothing goes on forever.” No, it’s also a matter of trouble with me.

You mean, you’re a stranger wherever you are?

Yeah. What I've learned is that it all means nothing, no matter how gorgeous and what good conditions people seems to live with.  Fixed rituals, fixed values, they have no meaning at all. I've always been isolated and saying "fuck you" from the time I recognized it. Because I grew up in an average, conservative, white neighborhood like Anaheim and Riverside. There's no racial union, there's a lot of prejudice, and people live in a dream world. I didn't feel too attracted to, and I was by no means a part of it.  I couldn't bear the feeling that I was being tortured just by sitting. If you can't understand that there is a vast world outside, you'll be dead.

The last question. Which do you like better, the idyllic scenery of the country or the bustle of the city?

The city. If I’m living in the country, I’ll be crazy without a situation like I have to run my own farm. I've been to Bearsville once to try writing songs in a remote area of the mountains.  Not surprisingly, there's no 24-hour shops and I can't even drop by a cafe.  There’s nothing there, really. There was a television in the cabin, but why was there a television set where I was trying to create something? And it's just like the one that comes out on “Friday the 13th”, it's almost likely to be done by a chain saw. Anyway, that kind of splatter scene only comes into my mind 24 hours a day. So I don't want to go to the suburbs anymore (lol)...Tokyo looks like Brooklyn in the 20s. Especially Shinjuku, it’s so beautiful. If I could stay longer, I think something would be born.