Lost Jeff Buckley Recordings To Be Released In Upcoming Album
Almost twenty years after his untimely death, a number of Jeff Buckley’s unheard songs and covers have been discovered and are being compiled in an album to be released next year.
The album called You & I, a collection of Buckley’s early studio recordings with Columbia Records, will come out in March 2016. Two original tracks will be included in the album – the first ever recording of his hit song “Grace,” and an unheard track titled “Dream of You and I.” Eight covers will be featured including his rendition of legendary country singer Bob Dylan’s “Just Like A Woman” and two Smiths classics “The Boy With the thorn n His Side” and “I Know it’s Over.”
An album of unreleased Jeff Buckley songs is coming out next spring https://t.co/aBe8yQyn9l pic.twitter.com/EQW7VRcar9
— The AV Club (@TheAVClub) November 12, 2015
The recordings – which Buckley’s fans and people in the music industry thought were lost – were actually recorded at Shelter Island Studio in New York, February 1993 and unearthed from the Sony Music archives while conducting research for the upcoming 20th anniversary re-issue of his 1994 debut album Grace.
Jeff Buckley Performs Title Track Of Debut Album Grace On BBC Late Show
“As we began to explore how we might celebrate the 20th anniversary of Jeff Buckley’s Grace, the vault – as it still occasionally and unexpectedly will – presented us with an unbelievable gift: this ‘lost’ cache of studio recordings from the period,” stated Sony Legacy president Adam Block.
“We quickly realized how remarkable they were. They offer an incredible, rare glimpse of an artist, alone, in the sacred space that is the studio. There’s an intimacy and an honesty to the performances that’s literally breathtaking. You & I is an important addition to Jeff’s recorded legacy and will be a thrill for both his devoted longtime fans and newcomers alike.”
Buckley, known for his haunting take on “Hallelujah,” a Leonard Cohen classic, released only one studio album, Grace in 1994 during his entire career. His rising career was cut short when he accidentally drowned while swimming in a channel of the Mississippi River in May 1997. Jeff Buckley was a mere 30 years old when he met his death; however, the his posthumous discography proved to be more prolific than when he was alive.
Jeff Buckley Performs Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” In 1995
Prior to his accidental death, Jeff Buckley was said to have been working on a second album called My Sweetheart the Drunk. It was released in 1998 as Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk.
Another posthumous album, Songs to No One 1991-1992, a collection of recordings during his collaboration with Gary Lucas, was released in 2002 and his 1993 EP Live at Sin-e was made into a full album as well.
His performance for the You & I album was described as “a revelation, an intimate portrait of the artist performing a variety of cover songs and original music expressing a range of emotion channeled through his singular sensibility.”
Check Out The New Jeff Buckley Album, You & I
Buckley is known for injecting his own musical style in his covers, making him known as a good interpreter and artist. Various influences including jazz and blues can be detected in his music, although his unique sound really set him apart from other rock acts in the 1990s.
[Image via YouTube]
