Refreshed

JEFF BUCKLEY & GARY LUCAS
Songs To No One: 1991-1992
(Evolver/Knitting Factory)
JEFF BUCKLEY
The Grace EPs
(Columbia/Legacy)
You'd think the archive for the late, great Jeff Buckley would be tapped out by now. The man completed only one album during his lifetime, the magnificent Grace; while he toured behind it relentlessly, resulting in a wealth of recorded concerts, how many different live versions of the same songs does anyone but the most fanatical devotee need? Sure, there's Sketches For My Sweetheart the Drunk, the surprisingly strong collection of demos for the incomplete follow-up to Grace which functions as a defacto sophomore record, and there's Mystery White Boy and Live at L'Olympia, the two concert records, but there's little else in the vaults. Or so we might have all thought. But David Browne's book Dream Brother: The Lives and Music of Jeff and Tim Buckley revealed the existence of tapes documenting the time Buckley spent in congress with guitar maestro Gary Lucas, plus there were all those promotional EPs floating around, costing Buckley fans limbs as collector's items. The commercial releases of this music may put a crimp in the plans of bootleggers, but it will cause Buckley fans to rejoice. But are they necessary to anyone but diehards?

Songs To No One: 1991-1992 will be like manna from heaven for Buckley fans. Buckley and Lucas began collaborating after appearing together during a tribute to Buckley's father Tim; Buckley was looking for a musical project in which he could grow and Lucas was seeking a more permanent lineup for his free-floating ensemble Gods and Monsters. The combination of the younger man's still-developing but already amazing vocals with the older man's unique guitar stylings must have caused local scenesters to drool uncontrollably, and the near-legendary status of these recordings induced by their mention in Browne's book insured their eventual release. In a boon for Buckley fans, most of the songs here are not only previously unreleased but unheard. Only three songs here have appeared in other incarnations on other Buckley records. "Mojo Pin" and "Grace," both duo recordings intended as demos, show that Buckley was faithful to the original arrangements, merely adding a rhythm section and removing his primitive but charming harmonica licks. ("Grace" also appears in a live version with some bizarre post-performance chatter.) The version of Porter Wagoner's "Satisfied Mind" here isn't terribly different than the one on Sketches For My Sweetheart the Drunk; the addition of Bill Frisell's atmospheric guitar shimmers neither adds to nor detracts from Buckley's mournful performance.

More interesting are the seven new tunes. "She is Free" (which features posthumous overdubs from NYC jazz band Sex Mob) and "Song To No One" are fine pop songs, though the ultra-busy guitar work of the latter betrays its origins as a Lucas solo tune onto which Buckley grafted lyrics and a vocal melody. "Cruel" is a decent heavy rocker that makes the influence of Led Zeppelin on Buckley rather overt; ultimately, though, it doesn't have the power of later Buckley crashers like "Eternal Life." The Middle Eastern blues of "Harem Man" is interesting at first but goes nowhere; it would have probably made more sense once the guitar-and-vocal take here had been married to a rhythm section. The sloppy rocker "Malign Fiesta (No Soul)" has some nice Lucas licks and its aggressive drive to recommend it, but otherwise comes off as filler, and a version of Pat Kelly's "How Long Will It Take" isn't bad, but it's not particularly memorable. The best of the unheard tracks is an absolutely gorgeous version of a French pop song called "Hymn à l'Amour;" Buckley's beautiful vocal blends perfectly with Lucas' haunting guitar swells, conjuring up the sound of the dream world made flesh. It's probably the most successful collaboration here outside of "Mojo Pin" and "Grace," and the only track that truly makes one wonder what any future work by the duo might have accomplished. (more)

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