Mystery White Boy - Jeff Buckley

...company:

Mystery White Boy: a collection of his best live performances between '95 and '96.
Sketches For My Sweetheart The Drunk: Demos from the album which Jeff planned as a follow up to Grace.
Live A L'Olympia: One entire gig recorded in France.

So that's what this is, a collection of his finest live performances as selected by his band. About time I got on with this really.

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...Hamburg, Germany. Febuary 22 1995
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The first track is taken from Grace. This live version is far longer and in some ways superior to the studio version. At first the crowd is chatting away to themselves and then the first relaxing notes float across the sound system. the drums drift in after about a minute and the song really starts ... more

Let me get this out of the way, I'm a HUGE Jeff Buckley fan. This means that I like him a lot, not that I'm particularly big in stature. I also believe that his album from 1993, Grace, is the greatest album ever made, so if you don't own it, take a chance and give it a go. Now, because of my obsessivenss with Jeff, this means I'm reviewing this album rather than Grace as I don't yet feel worthy to talk about that. Also, as I'm on planet fan and because I haven't written a review in ages, this will be a long and at times rambling opinion so try to persevere. Thank you for your time.

Jeff Buckley was the son of Tim Buckley, another singer and although he denied this fact extraneously this was where he inherited a lot of his musical talent and one of the finest, most versatile voices ever. He drowned tragically in a Missisippi river (the Wolf River for anoraks) on May 29th 1997. Since that time there have been three releases by his record company:

Mystery White Boy: a collection of his best live performances between '95 and '96.
Sketches For My Sweetheart The Drunk: Demos from the album which Jeff planned as a follow up to Grace.
Live A L'Olympia: One entire gig recorded in France.

So that's what this is, a collection of his finest live performances as selected by his band. About time I got on with this really.

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Dream Brother/ 8:48 / Recorded at Club Logo, Hamburg, Germany. Febuary 22 1995
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The first track is taken from Grace. This live version is far longer and in some ways superior to the studio version. At first the crowd is chatting away to themselves and then the first relaxing notes float across the sound system. the drums drift in after about a minute and the song really starts to take shape. After 2:32, Jeff remembers he's supposed to be singing and begins. His lazy vocals are immaculate and the verse is perfect for taking a snooze to. The lyrics are beautiful:

"The love you lost with her skin so fair,
Is free with the wind in her butterscotch hair,
Her green eyes blew goodbyes,
With her head in her hands and your kiss on the lips of another,
Dream Brother,
with your tears scattered round the world"

In complete contrast with the verse the chorus blasts onto the screen with a burst of drums and a frankly spooky vocal warning us not to "be like the one who made me so old". The guitar from Jeff and his fellow guitarist Michael Tighe is loud and screeching while the drums from Matt Johnson are amazing. This continues in the same vein until the very end, where it goes very quiet until the chorus blasts back in. An absolute gem of a song, though perhaps a little to long at the start. We are however gifted with a customary Jeff scream. YAY!

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I Woke Up In A Strange Place/5:05 / Recorded at Palais Theatre, Melbourne, Austrailia. Febuary 28 1996
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This is a non-album track and is one of my favourites. It starts immediately with guitar and a drum loop. It's instantly rocky, which Jeff doesn't try that often. Jeff's voice rises in parts, showing his incredible vocal range, some accuse him of acting like a bit of a rock god, but i say if you've got it flaunt it, and by God doesn't he do it well? The chorus starts a bit screechy but calms down slightly and the vocals are choc-full of passion, while the guitars, the bass and the drums are played with an almost unbelievable vigour.
I don't know if this song would have appeared on a later album, but if it had gone unheard it would be a huge injustice, just like Spain vs Ireland in this World Cup. Yeah, I know it has no relevance, but I'm Irish and still pissed off dammit. The crowd were really treated at this gig as 5 of the tracks on this album are from this gig. This song really livens up the crowd and they give a massive cheer as the guitar wails. Great song.

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Mojo Pin / 6:06 / Recorded at Theatre De Fourviere, Lyon, France. July 4 1995
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This is the first track from Grace and it's absolutely breathtaking. Jeff starts this track with a bit of vocal warmup which I dare anyone to try and recreate. Actually I don't, as the last time I did the man's vocal chords decided that this was to much and leapt from his throat leaving me with a hefty lawsuit.
The guitar fades in with a slight echo on it and the vocals are dreamlike before suddenly becoming slightly more interesting as Jeff adds in a couple of frills for the sake of it.Tthe lyrics again are exceptional:

"If only you'd come back to me
If you laid at my side
Wouldn't need no Mojo Pin
To keep me satisfied"

Don't know what a Mojo pin is but it sounds damn saucy. the chorus builds, as the drums become more intense until it peaks at the line "Black beauty I love you so". The song also builds to the point of toppling. The song has many gaps before bursting back into the song, but the last of these is one of the greatest gaps in the history of music. Jeff tells us that "It's you I've waited my life to see, it's you I've searched so hard for". The song then stops for 4 seconds before slamming us in the face with an explosion of drums and vocals with enough raw emotion to feed a book club of romance novel readers. Absolutely fantastic, possibly the best song on the album.

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Lilac Wine/5:19 / Recorded at Palais Theatre, Melbourne, Austrailia. Febuary 28 1996
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This song is very strange and slightly mystifying. Written by J. Shelton, it begins with Jeff just stumming a chord then singing a line, playing a chord then singing a line before the chorus bursts in. This song I think had special meaning for Jeff, as he was known to have had a slight alchohol problem and so the lyrics "I drink much more than I ought to drink because it brings me back you..."
have more than a little relevance. The verse is more than a little frightening aswell, and is even scarier on the studio version on Grace.
The chorus is mostly a drum roll continously playing while Jeff sings that "Lilac Wine is sweet and heady, like my love". This is not the greatest song ever written but it's sung with passion and this shines through and makes it altogether enjoyable.

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What Will You Say / 7:34 / Recorded at Theatre De Fourviere, Lyon, France. July 4 1995
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This too is a non-album track, and this is just sheer brilliance. This song was written about his estranged father and the lyrics are powerful and moving. The first lyrics in it are "It's been such a long time and I was just a child then, what will you say when you see my face?" I want to stop the review of the song here to give a quote from Jeff which sums up the way he felt albout his father. Some will accuse me of j ust trying to take up space, but I call it research! He said

"They will accuse me of stealing from my father. They already wait in baited judgement, waiting for my first move, waiting to dump their loads of garbage on me. I face them like the man he never was and say "The only thing I stole from my father was a FLEETING GLIMPSE".

This shows not only is boredom of comparisons but his confusion of his father's departure. This song deals with this issue and the guitar is slightly melancholy while the vocals have more than a little anger in them. An outstanding track which continues perhaps for slightly longer than is necessary.

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Last Goodbye / 4:58 / Recorded at Olympia, Paris, France. July 7 1995
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This song is one of the greatest on Grace and is done more justice than I ever thought possible. Jeff jokes with the crowd displaying his adavanced language skills: "Mange beacoup le fromage" (Eat a lot of cheese). The song starts off with a bit of slide guitar, before a heavy bass line from Mick Grondhal. Then the drums burst in and the song develops a mournful tone and Jeff bursts in with some truly emotional vocals:

"This is our last goodbye, I hate to feel the love between us die,
But it's over, just hear this and then I'll go, You gave me more to live for, more than you'll ever know.
This is our last embrace, must I dream and always see your face?
Why can't we overcome this wall? Maybe it's just because I didn't know you at all"

This song does have the power to move you to tears, at first emotional, then angry, it is so close to perfect that it can smell its eau de cologne. The song goes on its not so merry way till a point where the song feels li ke it can't get any emotional. And then it does. The drum rolls crash while Jeff sings "Did you say `no this can't happen to me`?" This album just like Grace is so full of masterpieces that they are almost impossible to describe. Just believe me if you buy Grace you WILL NOT regret it. This song is one of the best songs ever made. Nuff said, really.

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Eternal Life /5:58 / Recorded at Palais Theatre, Melbourne, Austrailia. Febuary 28 1996
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This is Jeff's only REALLY rocky song and the quality of it makes you wonder why. Packed full of as much distortion as possible and letting the feedback reign as king, Jeff launches into the 5th track from Grace on this album. A guitar riff rules throughout and Jeff sounds as if he's really enjoying himself. The riff appears slightly like a Nirvana riff, though I'm not sure which one. I don't like e'm very much to be honest.

Yes, yes, I do appreciate the irony of him singing about eternal life. I get it. Very clever.

The lyrics again are good although perhaps not his best. I do like the line "Did you really think this bloody road would pave the way for you". Jeff screams and shouts his way through almost 6 minues of madness and we even see the presence of those rarest of creatures with Jeff, a guitar solo!!! AHHH!! What does happen however, is that he stops the song and starts snarling and growling at the crowd. Why? Anybody's guess, really. Drugs, drink, a big sign saying snarl at us... who knows?

It then flings us back headlong into a world where S Club 7 are not welcome. Ahh, rock. Where would we be without you. A highlight on Grace and a highlight on this. Great piece of music.

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Grace /5:39 / Recorded at Palais Theatre, Melbourne, Austrailia. Febuary 28 1996
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The title track from his debut album is next and this is the song that is most improved live. It is a must have for any Jeff fans out there. It starts out with Jeff saying "This is for the Gryffindors" (I smell a libel case, Ms. Rowling.) At least that's what I think he says. The wonderful guitar riff leaks through before turning slightly more rocky (I said slightly) and Jeff's vocals start to play a familiar tune. Before I go any further may I point out that in this song he says "I'm not afraid, afraid to die" and also "I feel them DROWN my name". Coincidence? Well yes, frankly but worth pointing out? No, frankly.

The bridge is beautiful as Jeff exercises that wonderful vocal ability once again. The chorus consists of him telling us to "wait in the fire". For once this song is actually more about the excellence of his band rather than his voice. This song is the perfect blend of vocals, drums bass and guitar. A testimony to his outstanding and often overlooked band, especially seeing as they perform this extremely complex song flawlessly live. Brilliant.

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Moodswing Whiskey / 5:36 / Recorded at Palais Theatre, Melbourne, Austrailia. Febuary 28 1996
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This song I have always found slightly plain, it's just guitar, a bit of bass and Jeff. The lyrics are dark and disturbing such as "Staring at the lemon peel and wishing it was a gun". This song I feel slightly lets down the album, as the guitar is little more than ordinary and the vocals are just above normal standard but compared with the other songs on this album it seems like filler.

I am more dissapointed by the fact that possibly the best song ever made Lover You Should've Come Over is not on this album as he did perform it many times live and it could surely have replaced this track. However it does show that EVEN Jeff can make bad tunes, a fact worth rembering if you plan to become obsessed with an artist to the extent of me with Jeff (-:

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The Man That Got Away / 3:47 / Recorded at Great American Music Hall, San Fransisco, Ca, USA May 4 1995
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The shortest track on this SEVENTY EIGHT AND A HALF MINUTE album. Now if that ain't value for money, I don't know what is. This is available on CD Wow for whatever the English price is. It's damn cheap anyway.

Jeff begins it by whistling to himself in a cool way. The lyrics are good enough, but then Jeff didn't write them. H. Arlen and I. Gershwin did. "The road is bitter, the stars have lost their glitter". It's basically about someone who's sad because of the man that got away. It's funny in a sort of a lame song way. I enjoy it because it's not too serious and Jeff's songs can be a bit heavy at times.

I don't know who originally did this song so if anyone can help me out I'd appreciate it greatly. I've devoted my life to the pursuit of knowledge about Jeff. Whimsical yet a decent song, well worth a listen.

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Kanga Roo / 10:23 / Recorded at The Phoenician Theatre, Sydney, Austrailia. September 6 1995
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The longest track on the album weiging in at a hefty 10 minutes 23 sceonds, and in my humble opinion there is not a bad second in it. Fitting that it should be played in Oz. The vocals are incredibly emotional once again. He breathes incredible passion into each syllable, something unheard of since the great soul singers like Otis Reading and Marvin Gaye. The guitar again is flawless. The lyrics are about the different times he's seen this girl and how incredible she looked, although again I must point out this is not a Jeff song.

The drums are low-key but special. the bass also is non-descript, as this song is all about showing the incredible power of Jeff's voice which could move mountains, probably. Well no, actually it couldn't do anything of the sort. I apologise profusely for undermining your intelligence. The song continues in this manner for about 7 minutes but never drags and always seems fresh when I listen to it. then a cool retro guitar riff dominates for the rest. An incredeliciously fabtastically excellirific song.

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Hallelujah\I Know It's Over (Medley) / 9:17 / Recorded at King Theater, Seattle, WA, USA. May 7 1995
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And so we reach the end. But what an end. This song is just absolutely magnificent. It is a medley of Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen and I Know It's Over by The Simths both outstaning songs in their own right. But together... words fail me. Put it this way. I would spend 15 English pounds on an album for this song alone. Jeff's version of Hallelujah far outdid contender's as the best version, beating Rufus Wainwright and even the mighty Cohen himself.

The song starts and the crowd gives a cheer and then shuts the hell up. They know they are in for a musical experience they will never for get. The crowds at Jeff's concerts appeared to be in awe as they never utter one sound during songs. I know how they felt.

Both of these songs have outstanding lyrics so I'll pick out the best ones from each.

Hallelujah: "Well maybe there's a God above, but all I've ever learned from love was how to shoot somebody who outdrew ya. It's not a cry that you hear at night, it's not somebody who's seen the light, it's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah".

I Know It's Over: "Oh Mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head, and as I climb into an empty bed, oh wow. I know it's over"

This is just breathtaking. It is the greatest song on the album and maybe the second best song of all time. I'd forgotten how good it is, god bless ciao, eh?

C'est fini. Go home to your family's and boast about your now incredible knowledge of Jeff's life. This op took 8 hours and a lot of chocolate to write so I hope you appreciate it. Please comment, it cheers up my otherwise dull world. Goodbye  

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