Is You & I a chance to celebrate his talent, or a major label cash-in?
Not everyone's happy about the release of You And I, a collection of unreleased Jeff Buckley material unearthed from the vaults of Columbia Records being released today.
When we announced that the record was coming, some fans decried the release of the material.
Some argued that Buckley would have released the songs when he was alive if he wanted them out there, others thought there was no point as real fans already had the songs on bootlegs.
Buckley's friend and A&R representative Steve Berkowitz disagrees with all these points.
He didn't put You & I together – that was Columbia/Legacy Records' Darren Salmieri and Buckley's mother Mary Guibert – but he has been on the promo trail discussing the album. He's well qualified to do so; he booked the recording session and was in the room when the songs were recorded. He took some time to explain it to Double J.
He would ingest this music, ruminate in it, take the lyrics to heart. It would naturally emit out of him.Steve Berkowitz on Jeff Buckley
Buckley signed to Columbia Records, where Berkowitz worked, in 1992.
"He didn't get signed with a demo tape or a plethora of songs, Jeff got signed because of the scene he had built for himself in Sin-é and other clubs on the lower east side of New York City," Berkowitz recalls.
"He got signed because he was wowing the people and created a following and a buzz for himself swiftly over the course of a couple of months."
That's all well and good, but a record company needs to sell records.
By early 1993, Columbia became concerned about the lack of progress made on their star new signing's debut album. So Berkowitz arranged to have him set up with his friend Steve Addobo at New York's Shelter Island Studios.
"We thought that if he went in, maybe he could break his own ice of starting to perform, record and play like he did in the clubs," Berkowitz says.
"He had a bit of trepidation about going in, about playing for the man – the record company.
"We thought it'd be a good idea for him to record a table of contents of music that he had with the idea that perhaps he would select a couple of songs as the beginning of a pathway towards the next album."
It worked. One day in the studio turned into three and Buckley recorded a stack of songs. These included early renditions of soon-to-be-classic tracks from his debut album Grace and covers by Bob Dylan, The Smiths, Bukka White and more. These are the recordings we now hear as You & I.
Berkowitz recalls what struck him – and still does – about those performances.
"His improvisational skills, his harmonic skills, his sense of dynamics and timing are really second to none," he says. "He had so much music in him.
"You don't often hear the words Piaf and Rush next to each other. Or Bukka White and Judy Garland, or Led Zeppelin and Count Basie. But Jeff had all of this music in him and was able to conjure it.
I don't wanna be callous. But you don't have to buy it if you don't want to. No one makes you do this.Steve Berkowitz on You & I
"Yet he didn't imitate anybody or mimic them. He would ingest this music, ruminate in it, take the lyrics to heart. He would start to play it.
"I don't know that he would think over which direction he was going in. It would naturally emit out of him."
The performances might be great, but is it right to buy them?
Are we disrespecting the wishes of the artist by listening to tapes he never released while he was alive?
Berkowitz is ready for the question.
"I don't wanna be callous, but, you don't have to buy it if you don't want to," he says. "No one makes you do this.
"In all honesty, I was friends with Jeff. My main job was to keep people away from Jeff so that he could do what he was gonna do.
"If it means anything, I think this is a beautiful album. I think the performances are great, I think it's a tasteful way for it to come out.
"In all fairness and openness, if you're interested you should really listen to it, because it's a very good record. If it offends you in some way, then play Grace and enjoy yourself."
From a historical point of view, Berkowitz sees You & I as a way of completing the short story of Jeff Buckley's recording career.
"There are four chapters of Jeff Buckley recording for Columbia Records in New York City," he says.
"You know about chapters two, three and four. Two would be the recordings at Sin-é (1993 EP Live at Sin-é), three would be the only album he completely finished, which was Grace, and four would be Sketches For My Sweetheart the Drunk.
"In a way, this is chapter one – the first time he goes and records for Columbia Records. If you already know about Jeff, I urge you strongly to go back and listen to these.
"If you don't know Jeff Buckley, perhaps it's convenient to start at the beginning and go through the chapters and see what happens to a brilliant artist over the course of a couple of years moving towards what he was seeking."
So, are there more chapters hiding in those Columbia Records vaults?
"There could be," Berkowitz teases knowingly. "It's not up to me. It would be up to Mary Guibert, Jeff's mum. I'm sure there are other things in the future that could come out. Whether they will or not? Stay tuned."
For some Jeff Buckley fans, You & I is a treasure and blessing. For others, it's a travesty that it has ended up on record shelves. In the end, you've got to do what feels right to you.
Source: http://doublej.net.au/news/features/is-it-disrespectful-to-buy-the-new-jeff-buckley-album
