Arlene's Grocery Tribute / NEWS

[simplecitydress]

Hi everyone,

I have some interesting news. I attended the JB tribute at Arlene's Grocery this weekend, featuring Chris Dowd. Chris announced that he is returning with a solo album, dedicated to Jeff. All the songs are about/inspired by Jeff. He sang two called "Fragile" and "Long Live The Cheif" (Which had an interesting line about "Mother Mary", calling her a "cash cow") He said he plans to have some special guests on the album, including "some people who played on Grace."

Chris also spoke a bit about his relationship with Jeff and how hard his death has been on him. It was really touching. There weren't many dry eyes.

I think they are releasing videos of the show soon, and I will post them when I find them.

Just thought you all might like to know!


EDIT: HERE IS A LINK TO 'LONG LIVE THE CHEIF'
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DuOS6_Qn8Q

[nusrat]

Thank you so much for sharing! Amazing how much of an impact Jeff made with his friends. I just read an article last month about Chris Cornell bringing Jeff's telephone with him on tour. Cornell also recently added "Satisfied Mind" to his setlist as another tribute. Anyway, please keep us posted if you come across any more updates in regards to Chris' new solo album! I'm really intrigued.

[secretchord]

Oh, that's really interesting !

I will have some other infos from Angelo Magni who actually performed that night, he came from Italy. Since he came performing at the JB Tribute in Paris in 2007 we are friends. He even came, but as as audience in 2008. I wrote him a few days before he flew to NYC. I knew that Chris Dowd would perform so I asked him for some words for me. I'm in connection with the Flying Buckleys, this secret JB group on Facebook, they're sharing a lot of unseen JB photos too (young Jeff with Mahre Buckham the band he formed at school) and part of these people were also at the show.
Will see what will come out as somebody there wrote it could be possible to have the audio and videos of the night ..... if yes, amazing.

I found this which may be of some interest for you all; it's about the book "A pure drop" from Jeff Apter, read all until the end ..... just to complete what Chris said:

"On "A Pure Drop: the Life of Jeff Buckley", November 8, 2009
By
Eric C. Calderone
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: A Pure Drop: The Life of Jeff Buckley (Hardcover)
Allow me to lay my biases on the table: I am a dyed in the wool Jeff Buckley fan. If I could reshape the world, there would only be one biography about Jeff, and there would be no such thing as rumor mongering and gossiping, for no one would be prone to commit, or listen to, that sort of thing. But this is the real world: I have lost count of biographies written about my hero; and they keep on coming. They have spread so much innuendo, smut, over the Jeff's legacy. With this in mind, I salute Apter's biography: it is factual, generally avoids exploiting gossip or sensationalism. It more often than not demonstrates a dispassionate examination of the subject. When it draws inferences, or throws its weight in one direction, in my opinion it comes fairly close to the truth as a reasonable person with the facts would perceive them.

Apter obviously is familiar with the music scene, coming from Australia's Rolling Stone magazine. The reader benefits from the author's relevant background. Discussions about Jeff Buckley's interactions with fellow musicians and acquaintenances during his short career, from L.A. to New York; the burden of having to deal with his dead father's musical legacy; his being thrust into the paws of the media monster, AKA Columbia/Sony, and how he endeavored to foster his career yet remain true to his professional principles, all make for extremely interesting reading.

On the enticing, but very problematic and subjective topic of Jeff Buckley's frame of mind, his psychology, Apter succeeds in refraining from unsubstantiated melodrama. Unlike Browne in Dream Brothers, he avoids drawing inferences based on hearsay, he refuses to exploit the sensational for the sake of selling more books. Based on what Jeff's closest friends have said, there is absolutely no reason to conclude, or suspect, that Jeff Buckley was ever on the verge of a nervous breakdown or that he ever contemplated suicide. Yes, even as a young adult he can be accused of immaturity, though his prolonged Grace tours seem to have propelled him to emotional maturity towards the very end. He can accurately be suspected of not being professionally focused, though I never would have thought that this constitutes a psychological pathology. Yes, he resented the fact that his biological father, Tim Buckley, abandoned him. Yet, who wouldn't harbor resentment over abandonment by one's parent? Nothning bizarre or pathological about that. And again, yes, Buckley suffered from a writer's block. But that is hardly what most of us would consider a pathology. Apter provides some very good insights on the topic of Jeff's writing inertia. The author draws a portrait of a very talented young man, who is essentially honest, caring and loyal to his friends to a fault. Yes, he had some emotional baggage. But don't we all? I wouldn't mind being the type of person Jeff Buckley was. Not at all.

Apter shows considerable courage in raising the topic of just which parent ultimately may have done Jeff Buckley more harm: his deceased biological father or his still very much alive mother, Mary Guibert? He informs the reader about how Jeff constantly moved from one location to another while growing up. We learn that Buckley was ashamed to apply for a job upon graduation from High School because he never spent more than a few months in any one school and would have had to list the reams of schools he attended within the space of a few years in any job application. He lets the reader know that Jeff as an adult purposefully kept minimal contact with his mother. This topic is quite relevant to the masses of Jeff Buckley fans who very much want to benefit from and enjoy the products of Buckley's genius, and to show their respect for this phenomenal musician, but run into the brickwall known as the Jeff Buckley Estate, controlled by Mary Guibert, its Executor. In the Coda of the book, Apter provides a short but meaningful discussion on just how the Estate has managed, or exploited, the development and release of Jeff Buckley's musical legacy.

A Pure Drop is a well-written and researched biography. It treats its subject with respect and impartiality. It portrays Jeff as human like the rest of us, but doesn't exploit his foibles to the extent that his undeniable genius and basic humanity are overshadowed. Bravo, Jeff Apter, for a work well done!
******
Yes, I agree that it was a great review, however, there are a few misconceptions in it. First, to say that "Jeff was embarassed to apply for jobs after he graduated from high school because he never stayed in any school for more than a few months..." is not accurate. I was Jeff's friend in high school (Loara High in Anaheim). I was his best friend, Jason Hamel's, girlfriend. Jeff started at Loara when we were in 10th grade (1982) and he continued there through 12th (1984). So it was more than a few months. But what I remember about Jeff was that he never stayed focused on one thing for very long and was always very restless. I can see why a traditional job wouldn't appeal to him, and it had little to do with his professed embarrassment about filling out job applications. Besides, going to music college after we graduated was a better path for him anyway due to his musical talent. His high school band Mahre Buckham (Tim Marse, Robin Horey, Jeff Buckley and Jason Hamel) was really good, way beyond your typical garage band.

Also, to say that Jeff resented the fact that his dad abandoned him, I'm not sure that is accurate. My parents went to high school with Timmy Buckley (also Loara High in Anaheim, CA 1963-1966) and I believe he died right after high school. I'd imagine Jeff was just a baby when that happened? I never asked Jeff any questions about that, and I really don't know the whole story there, but I don't think Jeff was "abandoned." I haven't read any of the biography stories, so perhaps I am wrong, I'm just going off what I remember when we were friends.

Anyway, just wanted to add that, but other than that, great review.

Toni Adams-Felts

Toni, how fortunate to receive input from someone who actually was acquainted, and acquainted quite closely, with Jeff! Jeff was being interviewed (this is found on the BBC documentary, "Everybody Here Wants You"), and in response to the subject of his father being raised, he described Tim as abandoning him. However, his main point to the interviewer was that reporters were making more of the Jeff/Tim angle than was appropriate. He emphasized he didn't hate or resent "Tim existing." He simply accepted that Tim was not his real father in a practical sense; Ron Morehead was. So, Toni, I agree with you that there probably was less of an undercurrent of hostility towards Tim than most people believe.

Your good fortune in intimately knowing Jeff leads me to accept your point about his not moving around the last 2 years at Loara High School. Both David Browne and Apter spend some time discussing how Jeff was moving from one location to another during most of his adolescence. He even was reduced to putting his belongings in paper bags and carrying them around. Browne does indicate at one point in his biography that Jeff was so sick of moving he insisted that his mother let him stay with his grandmother. Perhaps this accounts for the 2 years at Loara when he did not move?

I really wish I had the opportunity to speak to you in greater depth. It is highly unusual for me to get so wound up over another individual. While Jeff was alive I never knew of him. But ever since discovering him (only last year!) I have become increasingly amazed and awed (maybe even "transfixed" is not too strong a word) by this wonderful person. Thank you again for being nice enough to permit us to benefit from your personal relationship with Jeff. All of the best to you! Eric Calderone

Hi Eric, I just came across your response to my post several months ago while looking at something in my Amazon account. Despite the mean-spirited post below yours (back in Nov. 2010), no I certainly am not an attention-seeking fake poster. I was simply reading the reviews on the Jeff Buckley book and decided to post what I remembered about the "high school Jeff." I still have my Loara High yearbooks with the funny things Jeff wrote in them. I also have this really funny picture of us when we all went to Magic Mountain in 10th grade. We were eating burgers and fries, and Jeff stuffed almost an entire burger in his mouth and then had me stick in french fries wherever they would fit - I still laugh when I look at that picture. Jeff was a really funny guy. He had a huge crush for years on this one skinny, popular blonde girl named Hollis. I don't think Hollis knew he existed, but it was funny how hung up on her he was. He sat in front of me in 10th grade English (and Hollis was in there, too), and I have many humorous stories about that. That was an interesting point you made about Jeff possibly living with his grandmother between 1982-1984. I remember he lived in a little white house, circa 1940's, off of Lampson and Garden Grove Blvd in Garden Grove, CA. But I think I remember his mother being there at that house when Jason and I went over to visit him one day. So I'm not really sure whose house that was. Whenever I saw him sitting at the bus stop in front of the school waiting to take the city bus home (since our high school was in the next city over, in Anaheim), I would pull over and give him a ride. I lost touch with Jason (Jake) Hamel after high school, so I don't know if Jeff and Jake remained friends after high school or not. If I remember correctly, Jeff went to a music institute (college) up in Los Angeles right after graduation (MIT?), and Jake went, too (BIT?), but Jake played bass, while Jeff played lead guitar. The thing to try and see if it exists is any video tape footage of the Loara High talent show held towards the end of 1982. Maybe Loara keeps those things in their archives? Jeff's band, Mahre Buckham (I'm pretty sure that was their name, but not sure if there is any mention of it in his myriad interviews), won that talent show with thier renditions of Rush's Spirit of Radio and the Police's Roxanne. The students loved them. However, I remember Jake wore these bright red satiny spandex pants (very glam rock looking back then) during their performance at the talent show, and a lot of students laughed at him. They didn't get that rock band dudes in the early 80's really dressed like that. Needless to say, I think his outfit was lost on the high school audience. I'm laughing as I remember that. Of course, Jeff was just wearing jeans, as he always did. No glam or anything over-the-top about him.

Anyway, those were all fun memories, and I have many others. But, by no means, did I know Jeff as well as many other people did. Jeff's mom, Mary Guibert, was in the Loara High orchestra with my mom, Karen Bercsa (that was probably 1963-ish). They both played violin. That is how my parents knew Mary and Tim. My mom recalls that Mary was an extremely talented musician herself. And they remembered Tim Buckley as very eccentric, but they liked his music.

Anyway, hope this gives you a little more info of what I can remember. I'd say we could talk about it further outside this medium, but I'm not sure either of us want to post contact info here (we'd probably be spammed to death). Take care.

Toni, I was pleased and excited to read your post. I attempted to look you up today on Facebook, so I could contact you outside of this context, but no success. I very much would like to further discuss Jeff with you. If you are amenable, look me up on FB, as Eric Calderone, New York City. I am represented by Jeff Buckley's picture. You might be interested to know that I have a copy of Seaxe 1984. So when you mentioned Hollis, I looked her up and found Hollis K. Reynolds. So, Jeff liked blonds (lol). In FB, you can send me a message; we can trade e-mail addresses.

I really hope to hear from you. But, regardless, thank you for your informative and very readable response.
LEE UNDERWOOD ABOUT A PURE DROP
I knew Jeff Buckley. I know Jeff Apter as a writer. I played lead guitar with Tim Buckley and wrote about Tim and Jeff Buckley in my book, Blue Melody: Tim Buckley Remembered. Having explored Tim and Jeff Buckley's lives in depth, I can vouch 100% for Apter's Pure Drop.
His research is solid and comprehensive. His insights are right-on. His appreciation for Jeff Buckley's struggles and accomplishments is above reproach. His understanding of Jeff's domineering mother, Mary, is unmatched for accuracy, insight, and mature judgment. Five stars for Jeff Buckley, five stars for Jeff Apter, and five stars for A Pure Drop!"

amazing to find school mates of Jeff just reading a review of a book !

[simplecitydress]

Secret Chord - Thanks for the reviews, very interesting. The Flying Buckley's sounds awesome. And I remember Angelo, he was great!

I think Chris said they were putting together a site that would hopefully be up soon.

I just modified my original post with a link to a Youtube video!

[secretchord]

there are some videos from the Tribute:

youtu.be/avD_UFHOGn8 MIKE LINKENS I WANT SOMEONE BADLY

youtu.be/2dgagMhpDd4 mike linkens HALLELUJAH I KNOW ITS OVER

youtu.be/7DuOS6_Qn8Q CHRIS DOWDS Long Live the Chief

Angelo will tell me when the other stuff will be ready. He spoke for me with Chris who loved the fact I organized the tributes in Paris and wrote something for me. Just have to wait Angelo sends it. He suggested I had to invite Chris for the next Tribute in Paris. Would be a pleasure.