Liz luvs Jeff (IDT INDT)

* Broken link for ‘Grace’ fixed!!!

On the 12th May 1995, Jeff Buckley was playing at Prince‘s club, ‘First Avenue’, in Minneapolis. On the same night, a session he recorded in Atlanta a couple of weeks earlier (probably) on the 22nd April was broadcast on the radio. It was later released on a bootleg CD simply titled ‘Sessions‘. I paid about £15 for my CD at the Barrowlands market one Sunday, way back before the internet was freely available and file sharing was all the rage. Of all the Jeff Buckley bootlegs and odds ‘n’ sods I have, the ‘Sessions‘ CD is probably the one I go back to the most, so in the spirit of the internet and Plain Or Pan’s ‘Hard To Find’ policy, the whole session is available for download below.

Played in front of a small studio audience, this is a mostly acoustic session even though Buckley plays with his band. It sounds intense, focussed and crystal clear. The one minor gripe I have with the session though is the way he bends, twists and strangles his voice into different sounds. I know that’s supposed to be part of the appeal, but sometimes during this session it can all get a bit much. He growls, yelps, warbles and yodels, and makes sounds that probably only dogs can hear. Round about this time he was shagging Liz Fraser (Cocteau Twins). There was a documentary on the telly when she said so and admitted her undying love for him. Who knew?!?!? Whereas some unfortunates get STD’s for their troubles, it seems Ms Fraser passed on some of her annoying vocal tendencies to lucky Buckley instead.

I am now ducking…

Of course, he also sings. And that’s what I always focus on when I listen to him. Well, that and his fantastic guitar playing. I still don’t know how he does it both at the same time.

Last Goodbye
So Real
Mojo Pin
Grace
Lover, You Should Have Come Over

Reduce! Reuse! Recycle! For those of you who are relatively new to Plain Or Pan?, you’ll find various Jeff Buckley stuff scattered around the site. You could look here, or here, or just click on a month on the sidebar and see what turns up. You won’t be disappointed. You could also do worse than check out Buckleyesque, a decent wee blog that has loads of Jeff rarities (although it could do with a bit of an update).

voice of an angel, wings of an angel