1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:19,560 Speaker 1: Disgrayland as a production of Double Elvis. The stories about 2 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:24,480 Speaker 1: Jeff Buckley are insane. He was just thirty years old 3 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:28,680 Speaker 1: when he disappeared. Six days later, his body was found 4 00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:32,360 Speaker 1: floating in the water near Beale Street in Memphis. He 5 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:35,800 Speaker 1: released only one studio album in his lifetime, yet he's 6 00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:41,040 Speaker 1: achieved near icon status. His father, Tim Buckley, a singer 7 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:44,920 Speaker 1: songwriter of his own, also died tragically and at the 8 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:49,360 Speaker 1: age of twenty eight, but Jeff Buckley never knew his father. 9 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:53,280 Speaker 1: Jeff wanted to create his own legacy, so that's what 10 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:58,480 Speaker 1: he did, and in doing so, Jeff Buckley made great music. 11 00:00:59,360 --> 00:01:03,560 Speaker 1: He made the greatest debut records of all time. Unlike 12 00:01:03,640 --> 00:01:05,399 Speaker 1: that music I played for you at the top of 13 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:09,440 Speaker 1: the show. That wasn't great music. That was a preset 14 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:13,040 Speaker 1: loop from my mellotron called Snips and Snails and Puppy 15 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:18,720 Speaker 1: dog Tails MK. Two. I played you that loop because 16 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:22,440 Speaker 1: I can't afford the rights to Bop by Hanson. And 17 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:25,759 Speaker 1: why would I play you that specific slice of flaxen 18 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:30,399 Speaker 1: haired Brotherly Cheese? Could I afford it? Because that was 19 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:33,759 Speaker 1: the number one song in America On May twenty ninth, 20 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:37,119 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety seven, and that was the day that Jeff 21 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:40,920 Speaker 1: Buckley waded into a river in Memphis and never returned 22 00:01:40,959 --> 00:01:47,080 Speaker 1: safely to shore. On this episode Floaters Beale Street, a 23 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:52,800 Speaker 1: great debut, two tragic Deaths, and Jeff Buckley, I'm Jake 24 00:01:52,920 --> 00:02:30,800 Speaker 1: Brennan and this is Disgraceland. Nus Rahat Fata Ali Khan 25 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:36,720 Speaker 1: was dreaming of music. The sound of hands clapping in rhythm, tabla, harmonium, 26 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:41,720 Speaker 1: kuvali singers entering a trance like state, pure ecstasy, their 27 00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:47,680 Speaker 1: throats stretching and vibrating like rubber bands. Music was constant, 28 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:51,880 Speaker 1: Music was endless, Music didn't stop when he fell asleep. 29 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:56,519 Speaker 1: But Nusrat Fata Ali Khan wasn't just dreaming of music. 30 00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:02,120 Speaker 1: He was dreaming of his father, the Great Kuv. Musrat's 31 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:04,640 Speaker 1: father never wanted a son to follow in his footsteps, 32 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:09,880 Speaker 1: but things change. Ten days earlier, Musarat's father had died, 33 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:14,320 Speaker 1: and now he was here. The Nusrat's dream so real, 34 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:18,360 Speaker 1: as real as the music, the pulse throughout Pakistan. He 35 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:22,799 Speaker 1: had one request. He asked his son to sing. Father 36 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:28,200 Speaker 1: Musrat replied, I cannot sing. You must try, his father said, 37 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:32,400 Speaker 1: and then he put his hand on Nuswat's throat, Nusrat 38 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:35,760 Speaker 1: felt a tremor. It percolated there, just beneath the skin 39 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:38,720 Speaker 1: of his neck. He felt something bubble up from his gut. 40 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:42,440 Speaker 1: It course through the blood in his veins. His father's 41 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:47,280 Speaker 1: warm hand guided the vibration through Nusrat's entire body. Nuswrod 42 00:03:47,320 --> 00:03:50,200 Speaker 1: opened his mouth, and then he shot up in bed, 43 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:53,560 Speaker 1: his eyes wide open. His dream stayed a distant memory, 44 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:56,920 Speaker 1: and he was doing something he'd never done before. He 45 00:03:57,120 --> 00:04:04,240 Speaker 1: was singing. Over thirty years later, on May twenty ninth, 46 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:07,800 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety seven, Jeff Buckley was singing as he waded 47 00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:11,760 Speaker 1: into the Wolf River in Memphis, Tennessee. He was wearing 48 00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:14,440 Speaker 1: black jeans, black boots, and a T shirt with the 49 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:18,160 Speaker 1: word Altamont written on it, a nod to the infamous 50 00:04:18,279 --> 00:04:22,120 Speaker 1: Rolling Stones concert from three decades prior. But he wasn't 51 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:24,800 Speaker 1: singing a Rolling Stone song as he waited in deeper. 52 00:04:25,279 --> 00:04:28,520 Speaker 1: He wasn't singing a song by Nusfraut Fatale Khan either. 53 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:32,640 Speaker 1: Even though Nousrat was it for Jeff Buckley, Nousrot was 54 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:37,200 Speaker 1: his guy, his elvis. Neusrot was always in Jeff's voice, 55 00:04:37,240 --> 00:04:40,520 Speaker 1: whether he was screaming like a heavy metal banshee, cooing 56 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:43,479 Speaker 1: like as he once described himself as shan touse with 57 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:47,039 Speaker 1: a penis, or scatting like a jazz singer, venturing in 58 00:04:47,080 --> 00:04:50,599 Speaker 1: the slipstream. Right now, by the light of the blue 59 00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:53,880 Speaker 1: moon hanging in the Memphis sky, Jeff was singing a 60 00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:59,280 Speaker 1: song by his other idol, Robert Plant, specifically led Zeppelin's 61 00:04:59,360 --> 00:05:03,400 Speaker 1: Whole Lot of Las. From the shore, Keith Fody called 62 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:06,320 Speaker 1: out to Jeff, who is now knee deep. What are 63 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:10,080 Speaker 1: you doing man? Keith, the musician in hairstylist, made the 64 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:13,200 Speaker 1: trek from Jeff's adopted home New York City with Jeff's 65 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:15,880 Speaker 1: tour manager all the way to Memphis, where Jeff was 66 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:19,800 Speaker 1: busy recording his second album. Now he found himself here 67 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:22,559 Speaker 1: down by the water, after he and Jeff drove around 68 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:24,560 Speaker 1: town for what seemed like an hour in search of 69 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:27,760 Speaker 1: Jeff's rented rehearsal space to go bash on some instruments 70 00:05:28,440 --> 00:05:31,640 Speaker 1: they had time to kill. Jeff's band members weren't due 71 00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:34,640 Speaker 1: back in town till later that night, but their search 72 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:38,480 Speaker 1: for the studio turned into a boondoggle. Jeff and Keith 73 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:41,479 Speaker 1: didn't know Memphis saw that well This was the nineties. 74 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:44,440 Speaker 1: There were no smartphones, no standard issue GPS. In the van. 75 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:48,040 Speaker 1: Navigation was analog, and that means it was a bitch 76 00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:51,720 Speaker 1: fuck it. They'd find the rehearsal space later. Jeff had 77 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:55,240 Speaker 1: a better idea, a spur of the moment idea. Those 78 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:58,200 Speaker 1: were the best kind. Let's go down to the river, 79 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:01,560 Speaker 1: he told Keith. He brought his guitar and a boombox 80 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:04,560 Speaker 1: from the van. Jeff, of course, had something else in mind. 81 00:06:05,279 --> 00:06:08,240 Speaker 1: Now he was swimming out farther into the wolf while 82 00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:11,320 Speaker 1: Keith yelled at him to come back to shore. It 83 00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:14,960 Speaker 1: made no difference because no one told Jeff Buckley what 84 00:06:15,040 --> 00:06:18,839 Speaker 1: to do. He did his own thing, followed his own muse. 85 00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:24,320 Speaker 1: His label, Columbia Records, legally couldn't tell him what to do. 86 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:27,919 Speaker 1: The contract Jeff signed with Columbia back in nineteen ninety 87 00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:31,160 Speaker 1: two gave him complete control of his music. It also 88 00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:34,440 Speaker 1: gave him space and time to develop. But nearly three 89 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:37,520 Speaker 1: years had passed since the release of his debut album, Grace. 90 00:06:38,320 --> 00:06:41,440 Speaker 1: It was obvious that Jeff had too much space and 91 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:46,800 Speaker 1: too much time. With no real deadline, he procrastinated. He 92 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:49,240 Speaker 1: couldn't get the new songs right. He couldn't get the 93 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:54,440 Speaker 1: sound right. Tom Verlaine tried. Jeff hired the legendary television 94 00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:58,480 Speaker 1: guitarist to produce, but the new songs weren't finished. Verlaine 95 00:06:58,480 --> 00:07:01,160 Speaker 1: wasn't a mind reader. They moved the sessions from New 96 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:03,560 Speaker 1: York to Memphis and hopes that a change of scenery 97 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:07,280 Speaker 1: would lead to inspiration. It only led to Verlaine's patients 98 00:07:07,320 --> 00:07:10,840 Speaker 1: running out. Same for the money, Verlaine went back to 99 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:14,240 Speaker 1: New York. Jeff stayed in Memphis. He played on assuming 100 00:07:14,280 --> 00:07:16,920 Speaker 1: solo gigs at a small place called Barristers, as if 101 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:19,680 Speaker 1: he wasn't a major artist on Columbia Records, as if 102 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:22,680 Speaker 1: he was starting all over again. Who knew what would 103 00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:26,200 Speaker 1: happen next. Maybe he'd buy the small house in Memphis 104 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:29,680 Speaker 1: that he was staying. Maybe he'd get married, Maybe get 105 00:07:29,680 --> 00:07:32,360 Speaker 1: a job working with butterflies at the Memphis Zoo, which, 106 00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:35,960 Speaker 1: no shit, is something he actually applied to do. Jeff 107 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:39,640 Speaker 1: Buckley was spontaneous. He was passionate about moments in life 108 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:43,800 Speaker 1: and about opportunities that needed seizing. He made impulsive decisions 109 00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:46,960 Speaker 1: like wading out into a river in Memphis at nine 110 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:51,120 Speaker 1: o'clock in the evening, fully closed. He inherited that trade 111 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:53,720 Speaker 1: from his father, just like his five and a half 112 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:58,280 Speaker 1: octave vocal range. But Jeff Buckley didn't talk about his father. 113 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:02,200 Speaker 1: Tim Buckley wasn't he a memory. He was a dream, 114 00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:06,960 Speaker 1: just like his songs. All songs were dreams. Some dreams 115 00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:12,559 Speaker 1: could be songs. Music was everywhere. It was endless news. 116 00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:15,560 Speaker 1: Fata Ali Khan knew this, and Jeff Buckley knew it too. 117 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:20,240 Speaker 1: People were divine and eternal. People were here even if 118 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:23,880 Speaker 1: they were gone. That last one rang all too true 119 00:08:23,960 --> 00:08:26,640 Speaker 1: every time someone wanted to talk to Jeff about his dad. 120 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:31,920 Speaker 1: Tim Buckley was dead, but his memory wouldn't leave Jeff 121 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:36,040 Speaker 1: Buckley alone. Tim was one of the so called New 122 00:08:36,120 --> 00:08:40,120 Speaker 1: Dylans of the nineteen seventies, which was a ridiculous albatross 123 00:08:40,160 --> 00:08:43,080 Speaker 1: the press slung over any decent singer songwriter for like 124 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:46,360 Speaker 1: a decade. But Jeff Buckley didn't want the albatross of 125 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:49,640 Speaker 1: his father on his shoulders. Tim wasn't even there when 126 00:08:49,679 --> 00:08:53,440 Speaker 1: Jeff was born. Tim was barely there at all. In 127 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:56,200 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy five, when Jeff was eight years old, he 128 00:08:56,240 --> 00:08:59,160 Speaker 1: spent a few days with his dad, the only days 129 00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:02,560 Speaker 1: they ever spent together. Just a few months after that, 130 00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:07,520 Speaker 1: Tim Buckley, ever impulsive and impetuous, was dead from a 131 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:11,840 Speaker 1: heroin overdose. And although Tim's obituary made no mention of 132 00:09:11,880 --> 00:09:15,760 Speaker 1: Jeff's existence, Jeff still had his father's legacy to contend 133 00:09:15,800 --> 00:09:19,600 Speaker 1: with privately. My blood is cursed, he told his girlfriend. 134 00:09:20,080 --> 00:09:22,360 Speaker 1: He knew he'd wind up like his father, so he 135 00:09:22,440 --> 00:09:25,040 Speaker 1: was surprised when he turned twenty eight, the age at 136 00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:28,160 Speaker 1: which Tim Buckley died, and Jeff still found himself alive. 137 00:09:28,960 --> 00:09:32,400 Speaker 1: And then he even outlived his father, and now he 138 00:09:32,559 --> 00:09:36,040 Speaker 1: was thirty years old. But he still couldn't shake that feeling. 139 00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:40,160 Speaker 1: It never went away, you know. He confided to his girlfriend, 140 00:09:40,520 --> 00:09:44,200 Speaker 1: I'm gonna die young, and maybe the Wolf River would 141 00:09:44,240 --> 00:09:47,520 Speaker 1: get him out of his own head. Aqua therapy, ar carpe, 142 00:09:47,640 --> 00:09:51,120 Speaker 1: DM therapy or some shit. Jeff was still doing his 143 00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:55,040 Speaker 1: best Robbert Plant impersonation while swimming the backstroke. Heading farther 144 00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:58,200 Speaker 1: away from shore, Keith Foty tried to get his attention. 145 00:09:58,960 --> 00:10:01,880 Speaker 1: Get out of the fucking wall. Jeff was about one 146 00:10:01,920 --> 00:10:04,560 Speaker 1: hundred feet from the shore. Now he couldn't see many 147 00:10:04,559 --> 00:10:07,040 Speaker 1: stars of in the Memphis sky, but he knew they 148 00:10:07,080 --> 00:10:11,120 Speaker 1: were there all the same Keith kept yelling, Jeff, man, 149 00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:14,360 Speaker 1: there's a boat coming. Locals used to call this part 150 00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:17,040 Speaker 1: of the river the Shoot because it carries the flow 151 00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:19,600 Speaker 1: of the Wolf right into its convergence with the mighty 152 00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:22,920 Speaker 1: Mississippi River. On the opposite side of the shore where 153 00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:26,480 Speaker 1: Keith Foty stood across the Wolf River was a naturally 154 00:10:26,520 --> 00:10:29,800 Speaker 1: formed sandbar called Mud Island, and it was at the 155 00:10:29,800 --> 00:10:32,080 Speaker 1: tip of Mud Island that the Wolf met the Mississippi 156 00:10:32,080 --> 00:10:35,240 Speaker 1: and whirlpooling eddies that were a lot stronger than they appeared. 157 00:10:36,120 --> 00:10:38,720 Speaker 1: Jeff turned around to see that Keith was right. There's 158 00:10:38,760 --> 00:10:41,920 Speaker 1: a tugboat heading straight in his direction. Jeff didn't have 159 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:45,240 Speaker 1: much time to react. Instead of heading back towards the shore, 160 00:10:45,559 --> 00:10:48,240 Speaker 1: he began to swim toward Mud Island, where so it 161 00:10:48,280 --> 00:10:52,560 Speaker 1: seemed from Keith's perspective. Jeff moved just in time, safely 162 00:10:52,559 --> 00:10:55,360 Speaker 1: out of Harm's way, and the tugboat sailed on by. 163 00:10:56,160 --> 00:10:59,880 Speaker 1: But then in the near distance another boat appeared. This 164 00:11:00,320 --> 00:11:03,720 Speaker 1: was even bigger. Once again, it was headed straight forward Jeff, 165 00:11:04,200 --> 00:11:07,120 Speaker 1: and Jeff kept swimming, managing to get himself clear from 166 00:11:07,120 --> 00:11:10,640 Speaker 1: the approaching vessel. Two close calls in a matter of minutes, 167 00:11:11,559 --> 00:11:14,200 Speaker 1: as the bigger boat passed. However, it kicked up a 168 00:11:14,280 --> 00:11:17,600 Speaker 1: much bigger wake, and the waves swelled all the way 169 00:11:17,640 --> 00:11:20,480 Speaker 1: to the shore where Keith Foty stood. He picked up 170 00:11:20,480 --> 00:11:22,679 Speaker 1: his boombox so that it wouldn't get soaked by the water. 171 00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:25,440 Speaker 1: He put it down safely away from the shoreline, and 172 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:28,880 Speaker 1: then turned back around to face the river. He looked out. 173 00:11:30,080 --> 00:11:34,520 Speaker 1: Jeff Buckley was gone. Keith Foty saw nothing but water, 174 00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:37,640 Speaker 1: rising and falling like the chest of a deep sleeper, 175 00:11:38,400 --> 00:12:10,240 Speaker 1: like it had all been a dream. Gunshots rang out 176 00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:13,040 Speaker 1: from the back of the reggae club. They overpowered the 177 00:12:13,080 --> 00:12:16,120 Speaker 1: sound of sky music coming from the stage. They snapped 178 00:12:16,160 --> 00:12:19,920 Speaker 1: like pop balloons, loud as fuck. The crowd panicked and 179 00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:24,079 Speaker 1: the band stopped playing. More shots rang out. Jeff Buckley 180 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:25,960 Speaker 1: clung to his guitar and looked for a place to 181 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:31,280 Speaker 1: take shelter. Fuck, it's really worth this. Late night gunshots 182 00:12:31,320 --> 00:12:33,080 Speaker 1: were nothing new to a guy living in a shitty 183 00:12:33,080 --> 00:12:37,679 Speaker 1: apartment on Hawthorne Avenue, directly across from Hollywood High Jeff 184 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:40,240 Speaker 1: heard the La Gang's fire off rounds in the football 185 00:12:40,280 --> 00:12:43,160 Speaker 1: field from his bedroom, but to have it happened here 186 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:47,120 Speaker 1: inside while he was working where innocent bystanders were like 187 00:12:47,160 --> 00:12:50,800 Speaker 1: fish in a barrel that was fucked up. La was 188 00:12:50,840 --> 00:12:54,360 Speaker 1: fucked up, and if random gunfire didn't get you, the 189 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:59,200 Speaker 1: Sunset strip eventually would. As the nineteen eighties came to 190 00:12:59,280 --> 00:13:04,960 Speaker 1: a close, the strip was oversaturated tony bands, too many girls, girls, girls, 191 00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:08,480 Speaker 1: and it wasn't about talent anymore. It was all about money, 192 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:12,120 Speaker 1: money talked, and no money having talent fucking walked. You 193 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:14,800 Speaker 1: want to play the strip, you pay to play the strip. 194 00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:17,760 Speaker 1: You want to get on stage, fucking demo tape. You 195 00:13:17,840 --> 00:13:19,800 Speaker 1: need a wallet as thick as the bulch in Tommy 196 00:13:19,880 --> 00:13:22,679 Speaker 1: Lee's pants. You got cash, and you're in, and you 197 00:13:22,760 --> 00:13:25,839 Speaker 1: better fucking look the part too. Again. See Tommy Lee's 198 00:13:25,840 --> 00:13:29,720 Speaker 1: bulch for details. The strip was leather and hairspray and 199 00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:33,440 Speaker 1: stilettos and cocaine. It was Motley, Crue and G and R. 200 00:13:33,679 --> 00:13:37,120 Speaker 1: It was a jungle baby. Jeff Buckley, barely into his 201 00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:39,200 Speaker 1: twenties and a little over an hour north from where 202 00:13:39,200 --> 00:13:42,000 Speaker 1: he grew up in Anaheim, was welcomed into that jungle. 203 00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:45,680 Speaker 1: Like so many other musicians before and after him, nobody 204 00:13:45,760 --> 00:13:49,240 Speaker 1: fucking cared. He had a vocational certificate from a local 205 00:13:49,320 --> 00:13:52,439 Speaker 1: music school called the Musicians Institute, which in theory made 206 00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:56,120 Speaker 1: him feel like Aldmola or John McLoughlin or insert your 207 00:13:56,120 --> 00:13:59,800 Speaker 1: favorite esoteric jazz fusion guitarist here. But in practice it 208 00:13:59,840 --> 00:14:03,360 Speaker 1: was just another piece of paper. Everyone chasing a dream 209 00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:07,040 Speaker 1: in La had a piece of paper. Paperman. Shit, Oh 210 00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:10,720 Speaker 1: you went to school, good student. Fuck you take a number, 211 00:14:11,040 --> 00:14:16,840 Speaker 1: get in line. Now listen. This Jeff Buckley, the one 212 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:20,080 Speaker 1: I'm talking about circa nineteen ninety, is not the same 213 00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:22,840 Speaker 1: one you're currently envisioning. Not the guy with the white 214 00:14:22,920 --> 00:14:25,120 Speaker 1: V neck T shirt and the un buttoned flannel and 215 00:14:25,160 --> 00:14:28,560 Speaker 1: the Fender telecaster slung halfway down his body. Not the 216 00:14:28,600 --> 00:14:32,400 Speaker 1: sublime vocalist with crazy range and acrobatic flair who covered 217 00:14:32,440 --> 00:14:34,440 Speaker 1: songs by some of the greatest artists of all time 218 00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:38,040 Speaker 1: and made them his own. This is Prague. Jeff Buckley, 219 00:14:38,360 --> 00:14:41,240 Speaker 1: hesher Jeff Buckley, the guy who worshiped at the altar 220 00:14:41,360 --> 00:14:44,480 Speaker 1: of Genesis, Yes and Rush, the guy who eked it 221 00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:47,280 Speaker 1: out as a journeyman in metal, pop and SKA bands 222 00:14:47,280 --> 00:14:51,040 Speaker 1: with names like Group Therapy. Sometimes he didn't even go 223 00:14:51,120 --> 00:14:55,680 Speaker 1: by Jeff Buckley. Sometimes he was Scott moorehead, Scott being 224 00:14:55,720 --> 00:14:58,120 Speaker 1: his middle name, the one he was called as a child, 225 00:14:58,520 --> 00:15:01,240 Speaker 1: and Morehead being the last name of the stepfather who 226 00:15:01,280 --> 00:15:05,119 Speaker 1: raised him in his biological father's absence, the same stepfather 227 00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:07,760 Speaker 1: who introduced him to all those staples of classic rock 228 00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:11,640 Speaker 1: like Grand Funk, Railroad Chicago, Crosby Stills in Nash and 229 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:16,600 Speaker 1: of course Led fucking Zeppelin. Sometimes he wasn't even jeff 230 00:15:16,800 --> 00:15:20,120 Speaker 1: Or Scott during his tenure in the AKB Band. He 231 00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:24,960 Speaker 1: was Scalp Cutta. That's Cutta a nickname here, and due 232 00:15:24,960 --> 00:15:27,200 Speaker 1: to the razors sharp reggae rists he chopped on his 233 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:31,440 Speaker 1: electric guitar. If that sounds a little ridiculous, well it is, 234 00:15:31,880 --> 00:15:35,320 Speaker 1: but so was Los Angeles and Jeff Buckley's eyes. La 235 00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:38,480 Speaker 1: had become a creative and inspirational wasteland long before he 236 00:15:38,520 --> 00:15:41,000 Speaker 1: got there, and if he hung around too much longer, 237 00:15:41,280 --> 00:15:44,400 Speaker 1: he'd rot from the inside out. Right now, though at 238 00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:47,240 Speaker 1: this little reggae club, Jeff Buckley was simply trying to 239 00:15:47,280 --> 00:15:50,520 Speaker 1: not get shot. He kept himselves safe behind the stage, 240 00:15:50,920 --> 00:15:54,240 Speaker 1: far away from wherever the commotion was happening. People were 241 00:15:54,240 --> 00:15:57,280 Speaker 1: still screaming and clamoring for the exits. Whoever had pulled 242 00:15:57,280 --> 00:15:59,640 Speaker 1: the trigger was either still inside or maybe they bounced. 243 00:15:59,640 --> 00:16:01,400 Speaker 1: It was hard to tell, but it was easy to 244 00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:04,160 Speaker 1: feel that sinking feeling and hear that voice in the 245 00:16:04,160 --> 00:16:07,000 Speaker 1: back of your head. It's no good here, It's time 246 00:16:07,040 --> 00:16:10,400 Speaker 1: to move on. It's difficult to know for sure if 247 00:16:10,400 --> 00:16:12,920 Speaker 1: the shooting at the AKB Band gig was the thing 248 00:16:12,960 --> 00:16:16,480 Speaker 1: that finally convinced Jeff Buckley to leave LA. Maybe it 249 00:16:16,520 --> 00:16:19,520 Speaker 1: was just another of his impulsive decisions. But in early 250 00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:22,400 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety he packed what few things he had and 251 00:16:22,440 --> 00:16:25,600 Speaker 1: moved to New York City. He worked the guitar for hire, 252 00:16:25,640 --> 00:16:29,080 Speaker 1: angles some more. He auditioned for an eclectic range of groups. 253 00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:32,360 Speaker 1: He didn't really fit in with anyone. Nothing was clicking 254 00:16:33,120 --> 00:16:37,040 Speaker 1: when Jeff's Harlem roommate played him some News Fata Ali Concassetts, though, 255 00:16:37,640 --> 00:16:45,480 Speaker 1: something did click, and it clicked hard. Jeff locked in 256 00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:48,160 Speaker 1: the trance like state of the music. It took him 257 00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:52,120 Speaker 1: somewhere else, somewhere outside his own body. Listening to that 258 00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:55,280 Speaker 1: shit was a physical experience, and he listened to it 259 00:16:55,400 --> 00:16:58,640 Speaker 1: all the time. I felt a rush of adrenaline in 260 00:16:58,680 --> 00:17:00,840 Speaker 1: my chest, he later said, like it was on the 261 00:17:00,920 --> 00:17:03,600 Speaker 1: edge of a cliff, wondering when it would jump and 262 00:17:03,640 --> 00:17:07,359 Speaker 1: how well, the ocean would catch me. Van Morrison's Astra 263 00:17:07,480 --> 00:17:10,879 Speaker 1: Weeks was next. It had the same effect. It was 264 00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:16,639 Speaker 1: cliff jumping music, equally risky and rewarding. It awakened something 265 00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:18,760 Speaker 1: deep inside of him in a way only music can. 266 00:17:19,560 --> 00:17:22,879 Speaker 1: Music is primal. It taps deep into your psyche. It 267 00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:25,960 Speaker 1: reminds you of smells and tastes, of memories that may 268 00:17:26,040 --> 00:17:28,119 Speaker 1: or may not even be real. And if you give 269 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:31,560 Speaker 1: yourself over to the music can change you. It takes 270 00:17:31,560 --> 00:17:34,000 Speaker 1: you on a journey where the u you once knew 271 00:17:34,280 --> 00:17:39,360 Speaker 1: dies and the new you is born. The music transformed 272 00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:42,320 Speaker 1: Jeff from the inside out, walked him to the edge 273 00:17:42,359 --> 00:17:46,240 Speaker 1: and took his breath away. Noose rot and Van held 274 00:17:46,240 --> 00:17:50,480 Speaker 1: his hand and led him there. Robert too, both Roberts, 275 00:17:50,520 --> 00:17:54,520 Speaker 1: actually Plant and Johnson. They all took him to that 276 00:17:54,560 --> 00:17:58,639 Speaker 1: place where jagged cliffs slice into the horizon, where the 277 00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:01,720 Speaker 1: wind blows up from an abit below and carries with 278 00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:04,399 Speaker 1: it not just those smells and tastes and memories that 279 00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:07,960 Speaker 1: live inside of you, but a song. The wind smacked 280 00:18:08,040 --> 00:18:11,320 Speaker 1: him in the face, The song smothered him. There were 281 00:18:11,359 --> 00:18:15,679 Speaker 1: hands on Jeff's throat sing The hands told him they 282 00:18:15,720 --> 00:18:19,320 Speaker 1: were in his father's hands, not Tim. Fuck that guy, 283 00:18:20,359 --> 00:18:22,879 Speaker 1: which is precisely what Jeff first said when Herb Cohen 284 00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:27,960 Speaker 1: called fuck that guy. Herb Cohen was Tim Buckley's former manager, 285 00:18:28,240 --> 00:18:31,639 Speaker 1: and he wanted to help Jeff's budding career. Jeff suspected 286 00:18:31,680 --> 00:18:34,520 Speaker 1: Cohen just wanted him to carry his father's torch, but 287 00:18:34,600 --> 00:18:38,640 Speaker 1: Jeff didn't carry shit. Look, Jeff Buckley didn't hate his 288 00:18:38,640 --> 00:18:41,000 Speaker 1: father all the time, but when it came to his 289 00:18:41,040 --> 00:18:42,879 Speaker 1: own career and his worth as an artist in his 290 00:18:42,920 --> 00:18:45,960 Speaker 1: own right, well, that was one of those times. So 291 00:18:46,080 --> 00:18:49,320 Speaker 1: fuck that guy. That was also his initial response when 292 00:18:49,359 --> 00:18:52,560 Speaker 1: the producers behind Greetings from Tim Buckley, a tribute concert 293 00:18:52,600 --> 00:18:55,040 Speaker 1: held at Saint Anne's in Brooklyn Heights, approached and to 294 00:18:55,040 --> 00:18:57,639 Speaker 1: perform some of his father's songs. After they discovered that 295 00:18:57,720 --> 00:18:59,800 Speaker 1: not only did Tim Buckley have a son, but that 296 00:18:59,880 --> 00:19:02,040 Speaker 1: he is living right under their noses in New York, 297 00:19:02,920 --> 00:19:06,560 Speaker 1: Jeff knew he had a swallow his pride. These were opportunities, 298 00:19:07,119 --> 00:19:11,560 Speaker 1: opportunities that needed seizing. With Cohen's help, he made a 299 00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:15,359 Speaker 1: demo tape, a tape for him, for Jeff, not for 300 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:18,960 Speaker 1: anyone else. That was all. It was a tape and 301 00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:22,200 Speaker 1: with the greetings from Tim Buckley concert. He convinced himself 302 00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:24,240 Speaker 1: that he was simply saying goodbye to the father he 303 00:19:24,320 --> 00:19:27,280 Speaker 1: never knew. But as the buzz grew around his New 304 00:19:27,359 --> 00:19:31,199 Speaker 1: York debut, Jeff remained resolute and wanted to distance himself 305 00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:34,720 Speaker 1: from being known solely as Tim Buckley's kid. I'd really 306 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:36,800 Speaker 1: rather let people not think about me as a face 307 00:19:36,960 --> 00:19:39,080 Speaker 1: or a name or a body, he said, and just 308 00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:42,600 Speaker 1: come and listen. Plus, he had his own journey to make, 309 00:19:43,040 --> 00:19:45,359 Speaker 1: and he had shit to do. There was a cliff 310 00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:49,840 Speaker 1: to walk to, an abyss to marvel at, and somewhere 311 00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:56,040 Speaker 1: down there, way down below, an ocean to jump into. 312 00:19:58,760 --> 00:20:07,160 Speaker 1: We'll be right back after this. We're We're, We're at Shane, 313 00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:10,200 Speaker 1: a little cafe in the East Village. The coffee was 314 00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:15,000 Speaker 1: strong and the rolling rock was cheap. Shane was geographically 315 00:20:15,040 --> 00:20:19,560 Speaker 1: and ideologically far from La. Jeff Buckley didn't pay to play, 316 00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:23,320 Speaker 1: The audience didn't pay to watch. In La, you walk 317 00:20:23,359 --> 00:20:25,439 Speaker 1: into a place with nothing but a white telecaster you 318 00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:27,800 Speaker 1: borrow from a friend and a demo tape, and you 319 00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:30,359 Speaker 1: get laughed right out the fucking door. But not here. 320 00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:34,720 Speaker 1: Shane's Irish expat owner didn't even listen to Jeffs tape. 321 00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:36,800 Speaker 1: Just set you sit up against the back wall and 322 00:20:36,800 --> 00:20:40,200 Speaker 1: give him a hell kit. Monday nights were best. There 323 00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:44,800 Speaker 1: was no pressure on Mondays, no expectations. Monday was who 324 00:20:44,800 --> 00:20:47,359 Speaker 1: the fuck is this guy? Night? It was no, I 325 00:20:47,359 --> 00:20:49,479 Speaker 1: am not the son of a somewhat famous songwriter from 326 00:20:49,480 --> 00:20:52,760 Speaker 1: the seventies. Night, Starting in the spring of nineteen ninety two, 327 00:20:52,840 --> 00:20:55,880 Speaker 1: on every Monday night, Jeff Buckley cast aside the weight 328 00:20:55,960 --> 00:20:59,320 Speaker 1: of Tim Buckley and walked to that cliff. He felt 329 00:20:59,320 --> 00:21:02,159 Speaker 1: the wind kick, he felt the hands touch his throat. 330 00:21:02,520 --> 00:21:05,760 Speaker 1: He could do anything, He could be anyone. His hand 331 00:21:05,840 --> 00:21:09,360 Speaker 1: started to hammer out a rhythm on his reverb. So Telly, 332 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:13,600 Speaker 1: Edith pf OUI Jeff could do, Edith, Jeff could do, 333 00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:16,720 Speaker 1: Edith tre Vien. He picked up speed and volume on 334 00:21:16,760 --> 00:21:19,760 Speaker 1: his telly. He vamped on one note, then in an 335 00:21:19,920 --> 00:21:23,119 Speaker 1: entire chord. How about some Zeppelin. He let his voice 336 00:21:23,160 --> 00:21:26,520 Speaker 1: spiral upwards into another register, like it had grown wings. 337 00:21:27,119 --> 00:21:29,919 Speaker 1: It morphed easily into Robert Plant and then Neustra, and 338 00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:31,800 Speaker 1: then van and then it dropped the O in the 339 00:21:31,960 --> 00:21:34,280 Speaker 1: N and added an E and y and he was Morrissey. 340 00:21:34,400 --> 00:21:37,120 Speaker 1: And then suddenly back to plan again. His right hand 341 00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:40,760 Speaker 1: kept scraping against the telly's strings, the reverb bouncing like 342 00:21:40,800 --> 00:21:44,760 Speaker 1: a springboard old scalp cut of rides again, and then 343 00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:48,280 Speaker 1: with a dramatic chop of his right hand, he stopped strumming, 344 00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:52,679 Speaker 1: but the music was endless. It didn't stop. He was 345 00:21:52,720 --> 00:21:55,760 Speaker 1: now stomping his foot on the floor, accented the rhythm 346 00:21:55,840 --> 00:21:59,560 Speaker 1: by clapping his hands together. He started singing again, this 347 00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:02,919 Speaker 1: time Nina Simone, this time with nothing accompanying him but 348 00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:06,879 Speaker 1: the rhythms of his own body. At Shane, Jeff Buckley was, 349 00:22:06,960 --> 00:22:11,680 Speaker 1: as author Daphne Brooks put it, Spotify before Spotify, which 350 00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:14,119 Speaker 1: reminds me, let's all agree there should be a moratorium 351 00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:17,280 Speaker 1: on performing Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah because Jeff Buckley recorded the 352 00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:19,920 Speaker 1: definitive version, a version that has not only been marked 353 00:22:19,920 --> 00:22:22,520 Speaker 1: for preservation by the Library of Congress, but, as Jeff 354 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:25,200 Speaker 1: himself explained, was meant not as some sad ass tear 355 00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:27,399 Speaker 1: jerk could be played during some heartbreaking scene in a 356 00:22:27,400 --> 00:22:30,240 Speaker 1: stupid movie, but en o to you know, the Hallelujah 357 00:22:30,240 --> 00:22:34,639 Speaker 1: of an orgasm. But I digress at Shanee. Jeff didn't 358 00:22:34,680 --> 00:22:39,080 Speaker 1: just play covers. He workshopped his own songs, Eternal Life, Mojo, 359 00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:42,719 Speaker 1: Pinn Lover, You should have come over, words spread fast. 360 00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:45,720 Speaker 1: This guy at Shane, he sounds like everyone and no one. 361 00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:48,240 Speaker 1: He's an anomaly, a true original and dig it. You 362 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:50,399 Speaker 1: can watch him evolve on stage every week at this 363 00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:53,880 Speaker 1: tiny coffee shop in Saint Mark's Place. The audience has 364 00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:57,479 Speaker 1: got bigger. Soon everybody there wanted him, including reps from 365 00:22:57,520 --> 00:23:00,200 Speaker 1: all of the major labels, and by the audio of 366 00:23:00,280 --> 00:23:06,719 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety two, Jeff was signed to Columbia Records. Almost 367 00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:09,679 Speaker 1: two years later, in August of nineteen ninety four, he 368 00:23:09,760 --> 00:23:14,000 Speaker 1: released his debut LP Grace. It was the height of grundrock, 369 00:23:14,240 --> 00:23:17,080 Speaker 1: just months after the death of Kurt Komaine. But it 370 00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:20,879 Speaker 1: sounded like neither grunge nor Kurt. It sounded like nothing 371 00:23:20,920 --> 00:23:25,240 Speaker 1: else out there. It defied categorization. Some songs were cerebral 372 00:23:25,240 --> 00:23:29,480 Speaker 1: and complex, straight up art rock. Others were slick pop confections. 373 00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:32,600 Speaker 1: But whether it was that untouchable cover of Halleluja or 374 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:35,600 Speaker 1: original songs that ran the gamut from pissed off punk 375 00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:40,440 Speaker 1: to Eastern influenced meditation, the constant was Jeff's voice. It 376 00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:44,879 Speaker 1: was a voice that could do anything, anything, or find 377 00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:48,480 Speaker 1: a mass audience, it seemed. It took nine months before 378 00:23:48,520 --> 00:23:51,720 Speaker 1: Grace even cracked the Billboard Top two hundred, But just 379 00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:55,000 Speaker 1: like Jeff's contract, the record had time and space to 380 00:23:55,040 --> 00:23:59,560 Speaker 1: find that audience. Columbia worked on finding Jeff Buckley's audience 381 00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:03,240 Speaker 1: without dragging Tim Buckley into it. They never mentioned Jeff's 382 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:06,280 Speaker 1: father once in their pr blitz. Jeff even had a 383 00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:09,040 Speaker 1: rider in his tour contract that restricted venues from using 384 00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:12,159 Speaker 1: Tim's name in their advertisements, and if they did, he 385 00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:15,640 Speaker 1: could legally refuse to perform. But the more Jeff gave 386 00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:18,360 Speaker 1: the memory of his father the silent treatment, the more 387 00:24:18,400 --> 00:24:21,880 Speaker 1: it was all anyone wanted to talk about. Jesus Christ. Kid, 388 00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:25,200 Speaker 1: You look just like them, You sound like them too. 389 00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:28,119 Speaker 1: Your song dream brother? Is that a direct response to 390 00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:31,240 Speaker 1: Tim's song dream letter? Did you ever play his songs? 391 00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:33,520 Speaker 1: Why not? Why don't you play one of his songs 392 00:24:33,520 --> 00:24:37,240 Speaker 1: for us? Right now? Tonight? On tour in Denver, the 393 00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:40,639 Speaker 1: constant barrage of requests finally got to him. Against his 394 00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:43,359 Speaker 1: better judgment, Jeff rambled his way through one of his 395 00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:46,840 Speaker 1: dad's old songs, Are you satisfied Now? He asked the 396 00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:49,840 Speaker 1: crowd when he was finished, Are you really now shut 397 00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:52,520 Speaker 1: the fuck up for the rest of the night? Loving 398 00:24:52,600 --> 00:24:59,000 Speaker 1: kisses from the living one. Jeff Buckley the state. He 399 00:24:59,119 --> 00:25:01,040 Speaker 1: told him to get out of it the car. He 400 00:25:01,080 --> 00:25:03,920 Speaker 1: didn't realize that he pulled over Jeff Buckley. He didn't 401 00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:06,680 Speaker 1: know who Jeff Buckley was. This was New Jersey, after all, 402 00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:09,440 Speaker 1: are you Frank Sinatra? No, and get the fuck out 403 00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:12,200 Speaker 1: of the fucking car. Jeff did as he was told. 404 00:25:12,359 --> 00:25:14,520 Speaker 1: In the CoP's eyes, he was just another slacker with 405 00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:17,560 Speaker 1: long hair, a good will wardrobe, and a sorry excuse. 406 00:25:18,320 --> 00:25:20,720 Speaker 1: And when he came to excuses, he could say whatever 407 00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:23,680 Speaker 1: he wanted. Didn't matter. The cops saw him take a 408 00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:25,520 Speaker 1: swig from the beer bottle as the car he was 409 00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:28,600 Speaker 1: riding in blew past where the police cruiser sat, saw 410 00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:31,199 Speaker 1: him with his own two eyes, and where there was smoke, 411 00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:34,399 Speaker 1: there was always fire. The cop told him to empty 412 00:25:34,440 --> 00:25:38,879 Speaker 1: his pockets. Jeff did. The plastic bag was tiny, just 413 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:41,919 Speaker 1: enough weed for one joint, just enough to put him 414 00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:46,119 Speaker 1: in cuffs and head down to the station. At the station, however, 415 00:25:46,480 --> 00:25:48,639 Speaker 1: all it took were a few words from Jeff's friend 416 00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:52,119 Speaker 1: for the police to change their toomb. Hey, man, you 417 00:25:52,160 --> 00:25:56,160 Speaker 1: want me to call your manager? Hold up his manager? 418 00:25:56,520 --> 00:26:00,520 Speaker 1: Who was this kid? A recording artist? A star? Hang on, 419 00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:03,480 Speaker 1: loosen those cuffs a little bit. What do you need, kid, 420 00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:06,080 Speaker 1: Something to drink, something to eat. Maybe we've been a 421 00:26:06,119 --> 00:26:10,280 Speaker 1: little too hard on you. Jesus Christ. This shit was 422 00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:13,200 Speaker 1: even worse than getting arrested. The idea that Just's level 423 00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:16,240 Speaker 1: of fame, which all things considered was moderate at best, 424 00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:18,640 Speaker 1: meant that he'd get treated differently than the next guy. 425 00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:22,520 Speaker 1: It was tough enough navigating whatever the hell his life was. 426 00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:26,760 Speaker 1: His skins flashed, his bones, but to navigate being famous 427 00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:29,200 Speaker 1: on top of all of that, it was a total 428 00:26:29,320 --> 00:26:33,720 Speaker 1: mind fuck. So were the rumors that were set in 429 00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:36,520 Speaker 1: motion when word of Jeff's brush with New Jersey's finest 430 00:26:36,600 --> 00:26:39,760 Speaker 1: hit the press, Rumors that it wasn't weed in Jeff's 431 00:26:39,760 --> 00:26:42,919 Speaker 1: pocket but heroin. It was the same shit he had 432 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:44,880 Speaker 1: to read about when Courtney Love invited him to catch 433 00:26:44,880 --> 00:26:48,040 Speaker 1: a production of Hamlet on Broadway. Kurt had been dead 434 00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:51,480 Speaker 1: a little over a year. Jeff gladly accepted they were 435 00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:55,439 Speaker 1: just friends. The tabloids said, otherwise, they must be lovers, 436 00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:59,160 Speaker 1: at least drug buddies. Jeff was hanging out with Courtney. 437 00:26:59,160 --> 00:27:02,840 Speaker 1: Thus Jeff must be another Kurt Cobain, another Tim Buckley, 438 00:27:03,240 --> 00:27:06,600 Speaker 1: another genius turned attict on his road to tragedy, another 439 00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:10,000 Speaker 1: story that sold their fucking papers. And while it's true, 440 00:27:10,119 --> 00:27:12,520 Speaker 1: based on the accounts of his bandmates and other musicians, 441 00:27:12,560 --> 00:27:16,199 Speaker 1: that Jeff dabbled very occasionally in snorting heroin, he was 442 00:27:16,240 --> 00:27:19,480 Speaker 1: no junkie. He had plenty of other things to worry about. 443 00:27:21,880 --> 00:27:24,720 Speaker 1: There was that second album, the one he couldn't finish 444 00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:28,800 Speaker 1: some days, couldn't even start it. And there was that 445 00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:31,919 Speaker 1: pretty boy bullshit from the last Goodbye video gaining traction 446 00:27:32,040 --> 00:27:35,760 Speaker 1: on MTV. He wasn't pretty, he wasn't soft. He wanted 447 00:27:35,800 --> 00:27:38,680 Speaker 1: the next record to rock hard, and he was nobody's 448 00:27:38,760 --> 00:27:42,160 Speaker 1: puppet to really drive that last point home. He turned 449 00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:44,520 Speaker 1: down The Gap when they asked him to model their clothing. 450 00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:47,840 Speaker 1: He turned down Saturday NightLive, and he turned down David 451 00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:52,680 Speaker 1: Letterman too. Columbia, though, was getting impatient. Not only was 452 00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:55,920 Speaker 1: Jeff rejecting all his media attention, he was way past 453 00:27:55,960 --> 00:27:59,600 Speaker 1: deadline and financially in the hole. Grace had cost the 454 00:27:59,680 --> 00:28:03,919 Speaker 1: label two point two million dollars between recording fees, tour support, 455 00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:08,000 Speaker 1: and promotional expenses, and of that one point eight million 456 00:28:08,080 --> 00:28:11,840 Speaker 1: was recoupable, meaning that one of Jeff's royalties were going 457 00:28:11,880 --> 00:28:15,040 Speaker 1: directly to pay back that deficit. There would be more 458 00:28:15,080 --> 00:28:18,200 Speaker 1: sales and thus more royalties, if only he'd say yes 459 00:28:18,240 --> 00:28:22,080 Speaker 1: to the goddamn gap. But Jeff Buckley didn't do things 460 00:28:22,119 --> 00:28:25,320 Speaker 1: the way that someone else wanted. He did what he wanted, 461 00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:52,360 Speaker 1: even when the signs told him not to do. It 462 00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:54,920 Speaker 1: wasn't a notion, and you didn't have to jump off 463 00:28:54,920 --> 00:28:57,720 Speaker 1: a cliff to dive into it. But the Wolf River 464 00:28:57,840 --> 00:29:01,200 Speaker 1: called out to Jeff Buckley all the same. There was 465 00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:04,240 Speaker 1: something about the water on this night, in this moment. 466 00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:07,960 Speaker 1: It was impossible to explain it, so he didn't try to. 467 00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:13,040 Speaker 1: Just went in first. He waded into the water. Before 468 00:29:13,080 --> 00:29:17,000 Speaker 1: long he was swimming. He ignored his friend shouting at him, 469 00:29:17,080 --> 00:29:19,360 Speaker 1: just like he ignored the nose swimming signs. Back on 470 00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:23,080 Speaker 1: the shore, he sang Zeppelin and heard his voice float 471 00:29:23,120 --> 00:29:26,600 Speaker 1: into the sky. The sky was a landfill of dreams 472 00:29:26,600 --> 00:29:29,520 Speaker 1: and songs, and just like dreams, and just like songs, 473 00:29:29,600 --> 00:29:34,120 Speaker 1: the sky was endless. This moment felt like a dream, 474 00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:36,800 Speaker 1: the kind of dream he could smell, the kind of 475 00:29:36,880 --> 00:29:41,280 Speaker 1: dream he could taste before long, just like nus Fatali 476 00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:43,640 Speaker 1: Khan when he dreamt of his father coming to him, 477 00:29:43,760 --> 00:29:47,000 Speaker 1: touching his throat, telling him to sing. Jeff felt something 478 00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:50,719 Speaker 1: touch his own throat, but it wasn't someone's hands, and 479 00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:53,520 Speaker 1: no one was telling him to do anything. It was 480 00:29:53,560 --> 00:29:55,880 Speaker 1: a rush of water kicked up by a boat's wake, 481 00:29:56,440 --> 00:30:03,040 Speaker 1: and he wanted more than his throat wanted to swallow him. 482 00:30:03,280 --> 00:30:06,000 Speaker 1: Keith Fody was running. He stopped when at last he 483 00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:09,200 Speaker 1: found a payphone. Like many things in Memphis, it wasn't 484 00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:12,040 Speaker 1: all that far from a statue of Elvis. He grabbed 485 00:30:12,080 --> 00:30:14,520 Speaker 1: the receiver and dialed nine to one one told the 486 00:30:14,560 --> 00:30:16,240 Speaker 1: operator on the other end of the line that his 487 00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:19,600 Speaker 1: friend had disappeared. Jeff Buckley was somewhere in the Wolf River. 488 00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:24,360 Speaker 1: It was just about nine thirty pm. Memphis PD sent helicopters. 489 00:30:24,800 --> 00:30:28,160 Speaker 1: They launched boats, and they combed the shoreline. They lit 490 00:30:28,240 --> 00:30:31,440 Speaker 1: up the pitch Black Wolf like a Christmas tree. Jeff's 491 00:30:31,440 --> 00:30:34,200 Speaker 1: banned meanwhile, went back to the small house he was renting. 492 00:30:34,560 --> 00:30:37,160 Speaker 1: Up in the attic, they found skull candles and notebooks 493 00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:40,600 Speaker 1: full of Jeff's handwriting. One particular entry was all about 494 00:30:40,680 --> 00:30:45,760 Speaker 1: quote transition and reincarnation and becoming molecules in rain unquote. 495 00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:49,760 Speaker 1: The next day, Memphis was dry. The clouds were whispy, 496 00:30:50,200 --> 00:30:54,520 Speaker 1: far away, but so close, so real. The clouds moved 497 00:30:54,600 --> 00:30:57,920 Speaker 1: quickly against a backdrop of deep blue, blown from one 498 00:30:57,920 --> 00:31:00,680 Speaker 1: spot in the sky to the next. It was hard 499 00:31:00,760 --> 00:31:02,920 Speaker 1: not to look up that sky. And since that, Jeff 500 00:31:02,960 --> 00:31:07,720 Speaker 1: Buckley too had moved on, which isn't the same as 501 00:31:07,720 --> 00:31:12,400 Speaker 1: saying he was gone. People, like music, like dreams, are 502 00:31:12,520 --> 00:31:16,160 Speaker 1: divine and eternal. People are here, even if you can 503 00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:18,920 Speaker 1: no longer see them with the naked eye. They're in 504 00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:22,240 Speaker 1: the mind's eye, in the mine's ear, and their songs 505 00:31:22,320 --> 00:31:24,800 Speaker 1: drift along with the clouds in the sky, and their 506 00:31:24,840 --> 00:31:29,280 Speaker 1: melodies tumble down to earth in between raindrops. Their voices 507 00:31:29,400 --> 00:31:33,040 Speaker 1: echo from the river's edge, and each day those voices 508 00:31:33,160 --> 00:31:37,680 Speaker 1: rise with the sun. On June fourth, nineteen ninety seven, 509 00:31:38,320 --> 00:31:42,160 Speaker 1: six days after Jeff Buckley disappeared, just hours after his 510 00:31:42,240 --> 00:31:46,080 Speaker 1: band members and friends left Memphis, a passenger on board 511 00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:49,160 Speaker 1: the American Queen Riverboat spotted his body stuck in an 512 00:31:49,320 --> 00:31:52,040 Speaker 1: eddy of branches near Mutt Island, where the Wolf River 513 00:31:52,120 --> 00:31:55,960 Speaker 1: meets the Mississippi. There were no drugs in his system 514 00:31:56,000 --> 00:31:58,880 Speaker 1: and just enough alcohol for one glass of beer or wine. 515 00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:05,280 Speaker 1: Victual cause of death was accidental drowning. Unlike Jeff Buckley's 516 00:32:05,320 --> 00:32:09,040 Speaker 1: short life, the music he left behind is endless. It 517 00:32:09,120 --> 00:32:11,480 Speaker 1: is everywhere. We can take you on a journey and 518 00:32:11,560 --> 00:32:15,400 Speaker 1: change you. It awakens something deep inside you. It is 519 00:32:15,480 --> 00:32:19,240 Speaker 1: cliff jumping music. Listening to it now remains a pathway 520 00:32:19,320 --> 00:32:22,840 Speaker 1: to a trance like state, a state of ecstasy, a 521 00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:28,960 Speaker 1: state of eternal life, a state of grace. I'm Jake 522 00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:46,680 Speaker 1: Brennan and this is Disgraceland. Disgraceland was created by Yours 523 00:32:46,720 --> 00:32:50,120 Speaker 1: Truly and is produced in partnership with Double Elvis. Credits 524 00:32:50,160 --> 00:32:52,280 Speaker 1: for this episode can be found on the show notes 525 00:32:52,320 --> 00:32:55,840 Speaker 1: page at disgracelandpod dot com. 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