Jeff Buckley recorded one of the best covers ever!
Buckley grew up in California under the name (Jeff) Scott Moorehead, his stepfather’s surname, and his own middle name.
When his stepfather passed away, he took on his biological father’s name and changed Scott to Jeff.
After attending the Musicians Institute (which he disliked) and playing in several struggling bands, as well as working as a session player for unknown artists and doing sporadic studio sessions, he moved to New York in 1990 at the age of 24.
In New York, he started performing as an artist, singing and playing guitar at various clubs, rather than supporting other artists or being part of a band.
Eventually, this led to a Monday night residency at Sin-é, a club in Lower Manhattan, where he mainly performed cover tunes.
Interest began to grow, with A&R representatives from various labels, eventually leading to Columbia Records signing Jeff for a significant three-album deal.
They started by releasing a live EP, Live at Sin-é (1993), and sent him on tour while he also worked on recording demos in the studio.
After a successful start, Jeff began recording his only studio album, Grace, in the renowned Bearsville Studios in Woodstock, New York.
Grace was released in 1994 and wasn’t an immediate success but gradually gained recognition, earning placement in many “best of” lists and receiving praise from renowned artists. David Bowie even referred to it as one of the 10 best albums of all time. Jeff’s rendition of Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen) became one of the top 10 best covers.
Apparently, Jeff also changed the direction of Radiohead as after they’d attended a gig of his, Thom Yorke started to sing in falsetto with more confidence and recorded Fake Plastic Trees with a new approach. I’m sure many other artists have been deeply inspired by Jeff Buckley since then too.
After touring for three years in support of the album, Jeff returned to the studio to record his follow-up. However, tragically, on May 29th, 1997, while halfway through the recording process, he went for a swim in the Mississippi River and never resurfaced.
Jeff Buckley tunes | Related pages
Hallelujah
You can learn how to play Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley and Leonard Cohen using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, TAB, and the original recording.
| G5 | Em7 |
I heard there was a secret chord…
Jeff Buckley on the web
