Jeff Buckley Quotes (1966-1997)

“Technically, he was the best singer that appeared, I'm not being too liberal about this if I say, in two decades. I started to play Grace constantly, and the more I listened to the album, the more I heard – the more I appreciated of Jeff, and Jeff's talents, and Jeff's total ability, to which he was just a wizard; and it was close to being my favorite album of the decade. We (Jimmy Page and Robert Plant) actually made a point of going to hear him play and sing, and it was absolutely scary. One of the things is a little frightening was that I was convinced that he probably did things in tunings, and he didn't. He was doing things in standard tuning. I thought, oh gee, he really is clever, isn't he? Jeff Buckley was one of the greatest losses of all.”

“We were talking earlier about lyrics and beautiful lyrics. That particular period that we've been dwelling upon this evening, partly, and in fact definitely, was a time for prolific writing. Recently, not too long ago, we lost one of the better, most beautiful, caucasian singers, Jeff Buckley, sadly, way, way out to lose such a talent and such a heart.”

“(Cameron Crowe asked about his inclusion of Led Zeppelin songs in his film, Almost Famous): How’d you secure the rights to the music? They took us across the street to a wine bar. They said, “Well, ‘Stairway to Heaven,’ we gotta say no to, ’cause it’s just too much. We just don’t do anything with ‘Stairway to Heaven.'” We’re like, “Whomp, whomp, whomp.” And Page goes, “But I would like to give you an extra song that’s more of an acoustic busking vibe. We’ll give that to you free.” He replaced “Stairway to Heaven” with “Bron-Yr-Aur.” He gave that to us for free, just to have that texture in the movie, which was amazing. And we ran through the streets afterward. The rest of that meeting was spent talking about how much we all loved Jeff Buckley. Officially the coolest night ever, or the un-coolest night ever. I don’t know. That was a huge kind of buoy to swim to, because without Led Zeppelin, it’s just not the same movie.”

“On the subject of dedication to a craft, in addition talent, it was, and especially the singing, were so original, so powerful, and so accomplished, that the tragedy of his loss, after making only the one record (though a flood of demos and live recordings was released in his wake), seemed ever more poignant. It was clear to me that Jeff Buckley had been one of the few Great Ones, a one-in-a-billion talent, a true voice of his generation, and at thirty, he had hardly begun. Whatever is left behind in the passing of a rare talent, so much is always lost.”

“I was just doing whatever I could, you know. And then I had a delivery job at a place, and then the guy that I was doing that with, he was a wicked bass player, and he was teaching at MI (Musicians Institute), and one of his students was Jeff Buckley, or something (Interviewer: "Really?!")...so, then me and him, and Jeff Buckley, we had a country band together (Interviewer: "You did?!"). Jeff was rad, man. He was a great brother, man. I hung out with him a lot, and then...dude, I'll never forget, like, when we were in that band, though, man, he came in with this demo, it's like, that he did in his apartment. It was four songs, and three of them were on that Grace record (Interview: "On Grace, yeah."), and he programmed all the drums on a SR 16 Alesis, but he didn't program, he did it with his fingers (Interview: "Like, he played it in real time.")...yeah, dude, I could put that on for you, it will blow, no one has (Interview: "Yeah, let's listen to it, later.")...no one has this. And, dude, I just went, kid, you're going to be a star (both laugh). He would, and also, I would like to say, that guy had like a photographical music memory (Interviewer: "He did?"). After those guys would leave, after rehearsal, man, we would play, like, Zeppelin shit ― In My Time Of Dying, and stuff ― he played every lead, note for note, absolutely perfectly, man (Interviewer: "Wow!"). He was the real deal, man. I've never played with another guitar player that (did that?). (Interviewer: "Yeah, people talk about his vocal powers, but his guitar stylings were amazing!"). Dude, right! When he came out with that Grace record, I remember he came, 'man, this is my record' and I was just like...at first I was just like, what's all this singing shit, dude (Interviewer laughs); where's the guitar playing? I was like bummed...that's how bad of an A&R guy I would have been (both laugh). Pretty fucking funny. (Interview: "You should make a fusion record, bro.") Yeah, right, yeah, come on, dude. God, I was (unintelligible), because I didn't recognize the genius of his voice, but the songwriting I did recognize ― I just went, wow, man ― he was an exceptional talent. I feel very lucky to be able to say, dude, I played with him for a couple of years (Interview: "That's incredible!" [Danny laughs]).”

“Jeff was somebody who would have been one of those people that influenced other singers. He was an amazing singer. I had an idea of what his music meant to people, because he did this amazing thing in such a short period of time. He's going to be the most important artist to so many people throughout their lives. We were really good friends, and as an individual he was different from any other friend I've had. I was looking forward to a long friendship with him. As an artist he was one of the few people, that really inspired me. I was counting on him, to be one of the persons, who would pressure me to move my limits, in many years to come. It's very important to have this kind of challenge, someone who inspires you to grow with the challenge. That push, to get you to do new things, is very healthy, and Jeff was one of those people, who inspired you to expand your way of thinking, about yourself and music.”

“Man, I had this guy with me once, and we were sittin' down, and talkin', and jammin'...he played his version of Indifference, for me...man, I tell ya...I’ll never forget the way He did it...I was just fuckin’ speechless...one of the most memorable moments of my life...I just wish I had seen him more.”

“Both songs are beautiful (Lilac Wine, James Shelton, and Corpus Christi Carol by Benjamin Britten). It's my tribute to Jeff. The record he has left is very emotional, very beautiful. An intriguing work, challenging. Using only his voice, he reaches regions of unimaginable feeling. But, while recording the songs he chose for himself, I am not stealing it because they are two very different visions. I think he would approve. I have the impression that Jeff Buckley, although he had a very brief passage through life, has become something like Jimi Hendrix, whose presence remains forever.”

““A SHAMELESS RIP-OFF OF JEFF BUCKLEY AND THE COCTEAU TWINS.” Thom: “Wow! No, but Jeff Buckley gave me confidence to sing in falsetto. And the Cocteaus are cool.” Colin: “When we were recording ‘Fake Plastic Trees’, we went to see Jeff Buckley play at The Garage. He just had a Telecaster and a pint of Guinness and it was just fucking amazing. Then we went back to the studio and tried an acoustic version of ‘Fake Plastic Trees'. Thom sat down and played it in three takes, then burst into tears afterwards. And that’s what we used for the record.””

“I think the Jeff Buckley record, Grace, is...it's on my MP3 player (laughs). And it holds up incredibly well.”

“I'm just, you know, I'm constantly surprised that so many people do not know about him, still, and at the same time, there's something very, very beautiful about that. It just keeps slowly kind of building, expanding...”

“People my age all flocked to see Jeff, you know. Because we were so, just to hear that voice again. He would have been so pissed off with it by now. All these old toothless hags hanging around the stage door, you know. He was just shit hot, I gotta say.”

“Jeff is one of my favorite musicians and singers of all time. Never have I seen such infinite musical potential in anyone. It's just gone. It's chilling how much it hurts.”

“I hope that people who liked him resist the temptation to turn his life and death into some dumb romantic fantasy; he was so much better than that. Not everyone can get up and sing something they take a liking to and make it their own, sing true to their heart, and be curious about all different strains of music. Corpus Christi Carol was a completely conceived interpretation. I'd never heard the piece before, and when I heard the original, I realised what Jeff had done was even more amazing. He'd taken it into his own world. That's something my favorite classical musicians can do, be themselves but use all that expertise to make the music more beautiful. Jeff did that naturally. Only a handful of people are capable of that. I was amazed when he did Meltdown. I asked him what he wanted to sing and he said he'd like to do one of Mahler's Kindertotenlieder in the original German! Absolutely fucking fearless. He was convinced he could sing it without rehearsal, just because he liked it. In the end he did a Purcell song, Dido's Lament, which is in danger of sounding incredibly poignant in retrospect: 'Remember me but forget my fate'. But he also sang Boy With the Thorn In His Side because he liked it, and Grace to show something of himself. When he started singing Dido's Lament at the rehearsal, there were all these classical musicians who could not believe it. Here's a guy, shuffling up on-stage, and singing a piece of music normally thought to be the property of certain types of specifically developed voice, and he's just singing, not doing it like a party piece, but doing something with it. My last memory of him was at the little party in the green room afterwards. There were all these people sitting round Jeff who'd never met before - Fretwork, the viol group, a classical pianist, and some jazz player ― all talking and laughing about music. He'd charmed everybody. I'd much rather remember that than anything.”

“Coming up next is Jeff Buckley. A guy who is not only a great singer and a great player, but at one time was a very nice hotel manager. A lot of people don't realize this, but in about 1985-86, he used to work at the front desk at the Magic Hotel in Los Angeles. And I know because it was a real CD kind of a flophouse for musicians and Jeff worked at the front desk and took a lot of messages from me. So, Jeff, here's to ya.”

“[On recording Jeff Buckley's, Grace] I really wanted to share this because I felt Anthony Snape did such a great job of this seemingly impossible song to cover: Jeff Buckley's 'Grace.' Jeff was like a comet passing through, and he left his mark forever. He is 'gone too soon,' but through his songs, he lives on.”

“GAP: Who is your favorite musical artist? Brandon Boyd: Jeff Buckley. When he came out everyone was a little afraid to commit. Well not everybody, but a lot of popular artists were afraid to commit completely to what they were doing. They kind of used irony as a sheet around them, kind of protecting them from having to own up to what they said. Not only did he have one of the best voices I have ever heard, he was one hundred percent committed to what he was doing. He was unabashedly romantic in his lyrics, and the way he sang. He got some flak for it while he was alive, and it sucks because when someone dies people start to say maybe he was awesome, and they begin to analyze it differently. For those reasons, and I can go on forever about the guy. His voice has been influential to a lot of current artists, to people who might not even admit it, really. Just his range and where he would even try to go with his voice. The guts to go from one octave to two above. Not a lot of people are doing that...so also his falsetto influence has influenced me as well.”

“Once again, this album doesn’t really need explanation. Jeff Buckley’s only album is one of the greatest, most complete albums ever made. Listen to the whole thing. It’s so emotional, it never fails to get under my skin. It can still give me goosebumps, choke me up and inspire me to go deeper as an artist. It’s also one of the loneliest records – it’s most powerful to listen to all alone with headphones. It’s not the kind of album that you think of cranking up in the car when you’re driving down the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) with your buddies – it’s a solo experience. His vocal performance during “Lilac Wine…” God — that song! He sounds like he’s crying. You can feel his pain during that vocal performance. I can feel his pain just thinking about that song now. I often think about what he would have created if he’d stuck around a little longer.”

“Dr. Drew: What will you remember most about the '90s? Sebastian Bach: The album Grace by Jeff Buckley. Unless you've heard it, you wouldn't know why. Dr. Drew: What's your favorite album for a night of steamy monkey love? Sebastian Bach: Jeff Buckley's Grace is the most romantic, sensual album I've heard in my life.”

“My singing used to be awful, admits Folds. I don't have Jeff Buckley's voice. I don't write songs as an excuse to hear myself sing. It's the other way around: I sing so I can hear my songs. It can be kind of scary. You're on the radio next to ― well, on the shelf next to Jeff Buckley. We're in the Bs. People can flip through and pick up his record instead and hear a lot better singer. He has that knack. I've had to really work at it. Of course, he probably doesn't play piano as well as me. I'm not going to get all competitive with the guy because obviously he's not doing so well these days.”

“"I had this really interesting whispering vibrato. It sounded so intimate and spiritual and ethereal, and it reminded me of Jeff a bit. I think I can sing with just about anybody, but he's one of the few singers who truly intimidates me. He's one of the best I've ever heard."”

“Certain people compared us, I've been mourning the fact that it would have been great to sing a duet.”

“The last few records that I bought that I really enjoyed...Jeff Buckley. It wailed me. I was like walking around in tears, just so grateful that I discovered this record.”