Beyond Grace

I was not going to do this post till later, but I have decided to do write it today.  Why today?  It's been 25 years since this album changed my mind and countless others.  It transcends generations and give such an emotion to all of us that we talk about it with such affection.  This morning in celebration of it's 25 years the Jeff Buckley estate put out a bunch of unreleased music.  I just picked a random live album for inspiration.  Jeff Buckley Live at Wetlands recorded a week before Grace was to come out.  He has the audience in the palm of his hand.  He did it to us in the studio too.  Grace is an album that just blows my mind every time I play it.  I get excited when the next song comes on.  I get excited about how he does it so well. 

Around the time the album came out I had a copy of Live at Sin-E and was in awe of his take of Van Morrison's "The Way Young Lovers Do."  He did not only cover the song with love, he did it with pure emotion.  When he reaches the high notes, you have to realize it's only him and a guitar.  It's so perfect that you are wanting to play it again.  This goes for Grace.  You are so transfixed by his voice you attempt to sing along but fail on your face.  No-one could do it better.  What was different about Jeff Buckley was that his legacy.  His father was also an awesome vocalist.  Jeff had his genes.  I loved his fathers music too.  It was only natural to like Jeff's.  

I had one problem in 1994.  As much as I wanted Jeff's music to be my own, the world of MTV wanted us to be in love with it too.  Over and over they play his songs "Last Goodbye," "Grace" and "Mojo Pin" all the time.  It got way too much, way too soon.  I would change the channel so I would not spoil my listening to his music.  I had the cassette in my car, but I would not play it all the time.  I felt like I did, I was like countless others watching MTV and being the part of the "hop on the bandwagon fan."  He was a bright star even when he was alive.  He knew all about the industry and I agreed with him.

Fast forward to May of 1995.  I was ready to see him again.  I saw him a few times the year before in much smaller settings, but these were not just him and if they were they were smaller sets and it was not the right frame for Jeff's music.  I saw him at the Supper Club in NYC and that was fun, but I just could not feel it.  Maybe the nervousness of the city, but it still shook my head how great he was.  One show he was not even the headliner, he was working with a John Zorn project called Cobra.  His voice was the main instrument. In May of 1995 that concert changed my life.  That concert Jeff just put me into another world.  The world I loved. When the performance was over I wanted to follow him on this tour.  I did, I saw him the next two shows in Providence and Philadelphia.  Then I took a quick break and saw him in Boston and New York.  I was exhausted but it was totally worth it.

The album Grace, what can I say. If you don't own it, I'm sorry, and you need to get it. If you own it; it's F*&KING Awesome right? I love everything about it. From "Mojo Pin" to "Dream Brother" it's perfect from start to finish.  Every once in a while I will put on other music of Jeff and shake my head that even that music was so moving that other generations would fall immediately in love.  I have a friend who named their dog after him, yep you guessed it Buckley. 

Here is one story I can share with you.  I was in college and brought up the DVD of Jeff Buckley live in Chicago for my friends.  One night instead of going out and enjoying the night life that our college h as to offer I brought this over.  These friends never saw Jeff in live performance, but we talked about him often.  In September of 2003 they rereleased Sin-e as a double CD and a short little DVD. I came over with both.  We made dinner and watched the Live DVD.  At the end of the DVD there was not a dry eye in the house.  It surely was powerful enough for emotion and even more interesting we were all speechless.  This is not only what music can do, but what Jeff meant to all of us.

                                        

Grace which clocks in at 51:43 has enough attention span for any listener.  If you are new to the album do then start listening from start to finish.  If you own it, and love it like I do, then try something different.  I did this this morning, play the album from back to front.  Or even try from middle to end then start to middle.  Anyway you do it is perfect.  Music like this needs really no explanation, but for Grace great music is a starting point for discussion.  Enjoy!  Play it loud, shed a tear and soak up all Jeff's music that he had in the brief time he was around.