Jeff Buckley / Unheard studio cuts premiered with "You and I"

Look out for You and I, a ten-track collection Jeff Buckley’s earliest studio recordings for Columbia Records, set for release in March next year…

Rumours have circulated for many years about a cache of unreleased early Buckley recordings, but the tracks on You And I were only recently discovered in Sony Music archives during research for a 20^th anniversary edition of Buckley’s Grace album. Previously unheard outside the studio, they have never been bootlegged or released to the public in any form.

“We quickly realised how remarkable they were,” says Adam Block, President, Legacy Recordings, Sony Music’s catalogue division. “They offer an incredible, rare glimpse of an artist, alone, in the sacred space that is the studio. There’s an intimacy and an honesty to the performances that’s literally breathtaking. You And I is an important addition to Jeff’s recorded legacy and will be a thrill for both his devoted longtime fans and newcomers alike.” The endorsement of Buckley’s mother, Mary Guibert, who has ‘overseen’ this album release adds some heft to Block’s claims.

After moving from Los Angeles to New York in the early Nineties, Buckley had earned a passionate fanbase playing gigs in small venues, most notably Sin-é in the East Village. The ensuing bidding war to sign him was won by Columbia in October 1992, and he went into the studio in February 1993 where he laid down the newly uncovered tracks on You And I (most of the ten songs on this album were cut in Steve Addabbo’s Shelter Island Sound studio). However, it seems these recordings got left behind as Columbia’s focus shifted to capturing the essence of his live performances with the 1993 EP, Live at Sin-é.

Regular SDE readers might be cynical about PR claims of an album of early recordings that promises of ‘a significant look into the creative process of a developing genius’ following the bloated and pricey Kurt Cobain Montage of Heck deluxe box set which incorporated Cobain answering the phone, burping and farting among other delights (and don’t forget the free puzzle!). However, bearing in mind Buckley’s slim discography due to his tragically premature death, the prospect of ten fully-formed, if experimental, songs (for around £12 on CD) might justify You And I’s billing as a ‘Holy Grail’ for Buckley disciples.

The album features Buckley’s personal interpretations of eight songs by artists he admired, including Bob Dylan (Just Like A Woman), The Smiths (The Boy with the Thorn In His Side and I Know It’s Over) and Led Zeppelin (Night Flight). And Buckley really took his cover versions seriously, as he told Plane Truth magazine in an interview in 1994: “Any time I take a cover and wear it on my sleeve, it’s because it had something to do with my life and still marks a time in my life when I needed that song more than anything ever.”

Two Buckley originals complete the album – the first-ever studio recording of his signature song Grace and the haunting Dream Of You And I.

You and I will be issued on 2LP vinyl as well as the CD edition and to whet appetites for the long-player, a limited edition seven-inch single of Buckley’s version of Everyday People is being issued for Record Store Day/Black Friday, with the original recording of the song by Sly & The Family Stone on the B-side.

You And I is released on 11 March 2016.

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CD Edition

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2LP Vinyl

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HMV (UK only)

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1. Just Like A Woman (Bob Dylan cover)
2. Everyday People (Sly & The Family Stone cover)
3. Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Cryin’ (First recorded by Louis Jordan)
4. Grace (original)
5. Calling You (Jevetta Steele cover)
6. Dream Of You And I (original)
7. The Boy With The Thorn In His Side (The Smiths cover)
8. Poor Boy Long Way From Home (traditional blues song, Bukka White cover)
9. Night Flight (Led Zeppelin cover)
10. I Know It’s Over (The Smiths cover)