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A Pure Drop: The Life of Jeff Buckley
It was Bono who said that “Jeff Buckley was a pure drop in an ocean of noise.” During his 30 years, Jeff Scott Buckley lived many suburban loner, music school misfit, and rock and roll gypsy. His real life was only revealed after his tragic death 10 years ago, when he was found in the Mississippi river just hours before he was due to start rehearsals for the follow-up album to Grace ., In this startling new bio, Jeff Buckley's friends, peers, enemies, lovers, collaborators, and others all speak of the Jeff Buckley they knew – or, in some cases, thought they knew. The contents of his many personal letters are revealed for the first time. His struggle with writer's block is explored, as are his battles with the concept of stardom, his desire for escape, and his attempts to deal with the unavoidable legacy of his equally gifted father, Tim Buckley. Even 10 years after his death, Buckley is still influential – Radiohead and Coldplay readily confess to the debt they owe him.
- GenresMusicNonfictionBiography
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
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476 people want to read
About the author
Jeff Apter
50 books50 followersJeff Apter is the author of more than 30 books, many dealing with the world of music. He has written biographies of Keith Urban, Malcolm and Angus Young of AC/DC, Jeff Buckley and the Bee Gees. As ghostwriter, he has worked with ARIA Hall of Famers Kasey Chambers and Richard Clapton, and AC/DC’s Mark Evans. He was also the creative consultant for the award–nominated live production A State of Grace: The Music of Jeff and Tim Buckley and spent four years on staff at Rolling Stone Australia.
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January 20, 2022Jeff Buckley is the tear that hangs inside my soul forever
April 13, 2012
A PURE DROP is Jeff Apter's biography of the musician Jeff Buckley, who released the 1994 album Grace that garnered near-universal acclaim, struggled with a follow-up, and drowned in the Mississippi River at the age of only 30. Buckley has been the subject of biography before, namely in David Browne's Dream Brother that alternates between Jeff's life and that of his folk troubadour father Tim, who also died young. However, Apter's biography is focused entirely on Jeff Buckley, with only a couple of pages discussing his father, and it is more independent of the Buckley estate. Apter chose to contact some of Buckley's acquaintances, though not all agreed to speak about their late friend.
For me, one of the most intriguing things about Jeff Buckley is that he appeared at the age of 26 as some kind of outsider to the music industry, singing and strumming his guitar at New York coffeehouse Sin-E before being signed by Columbia. But in fact, since he was a teenager Buckley had been playing in a whole host of bands and had hundreds or thousands of concerts under his belt. Apter gives a good amount of detail on Buckley's early career.
The discussion of the singer's last two or three years is interesting, but somewhat frustrating. At this point, Buckley was usually touring internationally, and it's likely that most of his friends did not see or talk to him enough to really know how he felt. Multiple informants note that he was in a deteriorating state, but their comments are generally speculative. No one knows for sure what was really eating him. The great weakness of the book is that the reader cannot really be sure whether the people Apter talked to were Jeff's bosom friends or just casual contacts. One person that Apter invited to an interview declined by saying, "I've watched as his mythology has been built up and poked at by fans and journalists and 'former friends' whom I've never heard of." That comment makes one view the people who did contribute in a different light.
Unlike Browne's biography, which states that smoking had done considerable damage to Buckley's voice, Apter doesn't note any decline in the singer's powers. Apter claims that the lack of highs in his last demo recordings are instead an artistic choice made the singer. Although I love GRACE, I suspect that Buckley would have been a one-hit wonder, and this chronicle of his life only strengthens that feeling.
But one thing seems clear about the singer's last days and legacy: Buckley did not have a close relationship with his mother Mary Guibert, and her takeover of Buckley's output immediately after the singer's death seems scheming and manipulative. In a coda, Apter goes through the endless list of posthumous releases (live bootlegs, home demos) that Guibert has assembled, all of material that Buckley would not have wanted the world to hear. Whether it's the frenzy of a bereaved mother or just a straight-up cash-in, it's still inappropriate. Apter ends the book by saying we haven't seen the last of this posthumous exploitation, and with a major motion picture on the way about the singer's life, that's probably true.
If you just want a general biography, I'd recommend Browne's Dream Brother, as the life of Tim Buckley is fascinating as well (and he was arguably the superior musician). But if you want more detail on Jeff's interesting though mysterious and unsatisfied life, A Pure Drop is a worthwhile read.
For me, one of the most intriguing things about Jeff Buckley is that he appeared at the age of 26 as some kind of outsider to the music industry, singing and strumming his guitar at New York coffeehouse Sin-E before being signed by Columbia. But in fact, since he was a teenager Buckley had been playing in a whole host of bands and had hundreds or thousands of concerts under his belt. Apter gives a good amount of detail on Buckley's early career.
The discussion of the singer's last two or three years is interesting, but somewhat frustrating. At this point, Buckley was usually touring internationally, and it's likely that most of his friends did not see or talk to him enough to really know how he felt. Multiple informants note that he was in a deteriorating state, but their comments are generally speculative. No one knows for sure what was really eating him. The great weakness of the book is that the reader cannot really be sure whether the people Apter talked to were Jeff's bosom friends or just casual contacts. One person that Apter invited to an interview declined by saying, "I've watched as his mythology has been built up and poked at by fans and journalists and 'former friends' whom I've never heard of." That comment makes one view the people who did contribute in a different light.
Unlike Browne's biography, which states that smoking had done considerable damage to Buckley's voice, Apter doesn't note any decline in the singer's powers. Apter claims that the lack of highs in his last demo recordings are instead an artistic choice made the singer. Although I love GRACE, I suspect that Buckley would have been a one-hit wonder, and this chronicle of his life only strengthens that feeling.
But one thing seems clear about the singer's last days and legacy: Buckley did not have a close relationship with his mother Mary Guibert, and her takeover of Buckley's output immediately after the singer's death seems scheming and manipulative. In a coda, Apter goes through the endless list of posthumous releases (live bootlegs, home demos) that Guibert has assembled, all of material that Buckley would not have wanted the world to hear. Whether it's the frenzy of a bereaved mother or just a straight-up cash-in, it's still inappropriate. Apter ends the book by saying we haven't seen the last of this posthumous exploitation, and with a major motion picture on the way about the singer's life, that's probably true.
If you just want a general biography, I'd recommend Browne's Dream Brother, as the life of Tim Buckley is fascinating as well (and he was arguably the superior musician). But if you want more detail on Jeff's interesting though mysterious and unsatisfied life, A Pure Drop is a worthwhile read.
August 6, 2010
I love Jeff Buckley but... this book was a bit much for me. The writer is clearly an obsessed fan that obtained access to a few people close to JB. If Buckley was alive, he was have a restraining order against this writer.
July 30, 2012
The unbiased look at one of the most talented musicians of our time. Read this biography because the author isn't affiliated to the family, the other main biography of him was written by his Mother and it was very skewed.
September 26, 2024
how was this man actually real
November 15, 2021
This is the first book on Jeff Buckley I have read. It's ok but not great. The author does a decent job of listing all Jeff's recordings and gigs. The author uses a lot of quotes from previously made documentaries. The comments the author made about Kurt Cobain were unnecessary and I disagree with them. In the version I had, there were quite a few typos that a good proof reader would have corrected, which is quite annoying. I see that Apter has also written about Silverchair, but although I am a fan I will not be seeking it out.
May 4, 2022
he is the tear that hangs inside my soul forever. miss you jeff.
April 3, 2023
I Love Jeff Buckley so much, but this was kind of an annoying book. It was mean at times and also silly. Rest in peace though 🕊️🕊️🕊️🪦🪦🪦💔💔💔
May 27, 2020
This book was kind of amazing. Whereas Browne's book went between Jeff and his father and I'll add, maybe might have brought up particular issues, Apter focuses just on Jeff. So much more info and If I felt some compassion for Mary, by the end of this one, it actually went away. What's kind of funny to me though is that both books had the same start, regarding Tim's and Mary's family as well as ancestors.
October 2, 2022
This book somehow made me feel simultaneously like an insider in Jeff’s 90s Seattle coffee shop music scene and like I knew less about him than before I read it. What a wonderfully mysterious and complex mythical creature.
November 11, 2024
didn’t love the writing style but i do love jeff buckley
March 19, 2019
Apter brings Jeff Buckley to life. Well written.
October 3, 2014
I'm late to the posthumous Jeff Buckley party but this book brought me up to speed. Jeff Apter has clearly gone to great lengths to make sure he presents as balanced a picture as possible.
A musician gifted so magnificently that he had few peers Jeff was also hobbled by the abandonment of his father, the equally gifted Tim Buckley.
Apter traces Tim's life as it intersects, very briefly, with the birth of his son. Then Apter follows Jeff as he grows into his talent. Known as the human jukebox, Jeff could effortlessly mimic virtually any kind of music. He listened to so much, played so many different styles of music because of his deep musical curiosity. I'm guessing that his chameleon skills may have proved to be more inhibiting than freeing, though. He experimented right up to his untimely end. It wasn't even clear that the new album-to-be was really what he wanted.
I so enjoyed reading this. Apter, a well-known and prolific writer, allows the reader to glimpse what it must have been like to have the sort of musicality that went far beyond three verses, a chorus and a bridge. Jeff was pushing into musical galaxies that were inconceivable to most of his fellow musicians.
One note: Apter dismisses the release of the legacy edition of Live at Sine. I agree that Jeff's music shouldn't be milked. This set is imperfect and it certainly isn't what Jeff would have wanted released had he been alive.
But, to be factual, he's not. And for those of us who never had the chance to see Jeff perform, it provides some small sample, of what it was to witness that rare thing -- a genuine musical moment that reaches deep into the human experience and changes it forever.
A musician gifted so magnificently that he had few peers Jeff was also hobbled by the abandonment of his father, the equally gifted Tim Buckley.
Apter traces Tim's life as it intersects, very briefly, with the birth of his son. Then Apter follows Jeff as he grows into his talent. Known as the human jukebox, Jeff could effortlessly mimic virtually any kind of music. He listened to so much, played so many different styles of music because of his deep musical curiosity. I'm guessing that his chameleon skills may have proved to be more inhibiting than freeing, though. He experimented right up to his untimely end. It wasn't even clear that the new album-to-be was really what he wanted.
I so enjoyed reading this. Apter, a well-known and prolific writer, allows the reader to glimpse what it must have been like to have the sort of musicality that went far beyond three verses, a chorus and a bridge. Jeff was pushing into musical galaxies that were inconceivable to most of his fellow musicians.
One note: Apter dismisses the release of the legacy edition of Live at Sine. I agree that Jeff's music shouldn't be milked. This set is imperfect and it certainly isn't what Jeff would have wanted released had he been alive.
But, to be factual, he's not. And for those of us who never had the chance to see Jeff perform, it provides some small sample, of what it was to witness that rare thing -- a genuine musical moment that reaches deep into the human experience and changes it forever.
March 22, 2016
A very insightful look at the late great's beginning and (tragic) end. There's still a little bit of information left unknown but alas, fate has made it this way. I would have loved to have seen his experiences first hand in his own words but I believe this will suffice for now. What astounded me was although he was suffering inside due to the pressures of touring and impending fame, he managed to still be somewhat positive right up to his passing. Definitely well done.
October 3, 2009
By far the best of the Buckley biographies out there.
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January 2, 2019Feel mixed on this one. I enjoyed it as a Buckley fan, particularly the way it delves further into some of the stories around JB that David Browne only touched on briefly (the Dylan fall-out story, for example.) It is more well rounded in that respect. It allows critical voices space, which show JB wasn't a complete angel and did tread on a few toes, which, perhaps due to timing (many were written close to his death) doesn't come through in other books. At times though this feels a little gossipy, and a few times I remember thinking, Did that need to be included? There are also a few frustrating times the author lets his own musical opinions intrude on the narrative, which if you don't share just make him seem petty. His snootiness about prog in particular seems at odds with the generous, open-minded musical attitude of his subject.
Overall it largely retreads old ground, but if you haven't read David Browne's book in a while, this is a good update. And occasionally it is quite astute, for example suggesting some of the Sketches material may have been influenced by the band Shudder to Think, which I've not read elsewhere but have always suspected.
Overall it largely retreads old ground, but if you haven't read David Browne's book in a while, this is a good update. And occasionally it is quite astute, for example suggesting some of the Sketches material may have been influenced by the band Shudder to Think, which I've not read elsewhere but have always suspected.
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