(RockAndMetal.com) (07/07/04)

Edited By Michael Bennett

NEW YORK, NY, USA - A debut album of almost unbearable beauty and soaring emotion will be the subject of the new JEFF BUCKLEY release, "Grace: Legacy Edition," as the 10th anniversary of the release of Buckley's first Columbia Records album (August 23rd, 1994) will be commemorated with a special three-disc, digi-pak set on August 23rd.

"Grace: Legacy Edition" is comprised of the complete original 10-song album on disc one, a 13-song collection of previously unreleased material, promotional rarities, solo tracks, and live performances on disc two, and a multi-faceted, newly-produced DVD on disc three.

Jeff Buckley's too-brief association with Columbia Records -- from the Summer of 1993 (when he was not yet 26 years old) up to the time of his tragic death in the Spring of 1997 -- left an indelible impression on the fans whose hearts he touched in America, Europe, Australia, and the Far East.

He also left behind many fans among his musical brethren, and artists such as Radiohead, Coldplay and Starsailor have all acknowledged Buckley's influence on their work.

Though "Grace" was the only full-length album actually issued during his lifetime, the pace of his recording and the prolific nature of his songwriting left behind many treasures over those years.

The album made its way onto many a fan and critic's list as not only one of the top albums of 1994, but one of the decade's most important recordings as well.

To date, it has sold over 2 million copies worldwide, and is certified Gold in the U.S.

"Grace: Legacy Edition" presents an extensive, in-depth study of that early period of Jeff Buckley's Columbia tenure, with audio, video and film materials that pre-date the album and immediately follow it.

The project was produced for reissue by Steve Berkowitz of Legacy Recordings A&R, Mary Guibert (Jeff's mother, the executor of his estate, who has been closely involved in the various posthumous releases since 1998), and Jerry Rappaport (who has produced for reissue numerous Legacy blues, jazz, reggae, Latin, and rock releases, including last year's "Jeff Buckley Live At Sin-E: Legacy Edition").

Liner notes have been written by Jeff Buckley aficionado and Uncut magazine contributing editor David Peschek.

Disc one of "Grace: Legacy Edition" marks the first digitally remastered version of the original album since its initial release ten years ago.

The remastering was engineered by legendary veteran George Marino, known for his work on the recent Led Zeppelin "How The West Was Won," and more than a thousand other albums since the early '70s.

The original "Grace" album was produced, engineered and mixed by Andy Wallace, and retains its original sequence:

1. Mojo Pin
2. Grace
3. Last Goodbye
4. Lilac Wine
5. So Real
6. Hallelujah
7. Lover, You Should've Come Over
8. Corpus Christi Carol
9. Eternal Life
10. Dream Brother

All compositions on "Grace" were either written or co-written by Jeff Buckley, except 'Hallelujah' by Leonard Cohen, 'Corpus Christi Carol' by Sir Benjamin Britten and 'Lilac Wine' by J. Shelton.

Disc two is slated to contain 13 tracks from a number of sources, including Bearsville Studios in Woodstock, New York, where the principal sessions for the album took place.

As of this writing, the tracks comprise:

1. 'Forget Her' - a previously unreleased, long-rumored track, originally recorded and mixed by Andy Wallace and Jeff Buckley for the first album, but replaced with 'So Real.'

2. 'Dream Brother' - previously unreleased version that features alternate lyrics.

3. 'Lost Highway' - a Hank Williams standard, and the first of five solo tracks recorded at Bearsville during the original recording sessions for Grace that also include:

4. 'Alligator Wine' - previously unreleased, by Screamin' Jay Hawkins.

5. 'Mama, You Been On My Mind' - previously unreleased, by Bob Dylan.

6. 'Blues Medley' (on acoustic guitar) - previously unreleased: 'Parchman Farm Blues' by Bukka White c/w 'Preachin' Blues,' by either Robert Johnson, Son House, or Charley Patton.

7. 'The Other Woman' - previously unreleased, by Nina Simone, written by Simone and Jesse Mae Robinson.

8. "Kanga-Roo" - from Alex Chilton & Big Star, promotion-only rarity from "Peyote Radio Theatre" EP.

9. 'I Want Someone Badly' with Shudder To Think, out-of-print rarity from Epic Records' "First Love, Last Rites" movie soundtrack.

10. 'Eternal Life' - "road version," first of two previously unreleased promotion-only rarities from Columbia Records Radio Hour syndicated radio program, also including:

11. "Kick Out the Jams" - from The MC5.

12. 'Dream Brother' (Nag Champa mix) - promotion-only rarity from "Peyote Radio Theatre" EP.

13. 'Strawberry Street' - previously unreleased, originally written in 1988, and appears here in a rehearsal recording from The Knitting Factory, NY, in May of 1993, with an early try-out combo of bassist Tom Goodkind (of The Washington Squares) and drummer John McNally.

Disc three of "Grace: Legacy Edition" is a full-length DVD whose content is still being coordinated by independent producer/director Ernie Fritz as of this writing.

There will be several elements, beginning with all four promotional videos that were produced for songs on the "Grace" album: 'Last Goodbye,' 'So Real,' 'Grace,' and 'Eternal Life' (which was a live performance in Chicago).

Fritz was assigned to cover the Bearsville Studios sessions back in 1994, and plans call for the DVD to include both video and real film footage, some of which was later used in Columbia's EPK (electronic press kit) to promote and publicize the album.

This may include in-studio takes of 'Grace' and 'Hallelujah' from the EPK, another sequence where Buckley scores the string section, and an interview with him.

There will be new interviews with the original album's producers, Jeff Buckley's bandmates, and music industry insiders discussing his work.

The life of Jeff Buckley, who was born in Anaheim, California, on November 17th, 1966, came to an untimely end on May 29th, 1997, when he died in a swimming mishap by the banks of The Wolf River Marina (a tributary of the Mississippi River) during a recording stint in Memphis.

Posthumous Columbia releases began the following year with the double-CD "Sketches For My Sweetheart The Drunk," which included the bulk of the Memphis sessions, and received a Grammy nomination for "Best Male Rock Vocal."

In 2000, Columbia issued "Mystery White Boy - Live '95-'96," which consisted of DAT recordings from the touring that came after the release of "Grace."

In 2001, Sony Music International released "Live At L'Olympia" (available only as an import in the U.S.), culled from soundboard cassette recordings of his two-night stand at the Paris, France theatre in July 1995.

In November 2002, Columbia issued "The Grace EPs," which collected the five most sought-after of those discs, which were released from 1994 to '96 (commercially or for promotional use) in various foreign territories of Sony Music.

The EPs -- "Peyote Radio Theatre," "Last Goodbye," "So Real" (a.k.a. "Live At Nighttown"), "Live From the Bataclan," and "The Grace EP" -- were collected into one slipcase package with detailed discographical annotations.

Liner notes were written by Mary Guibert, and insightful recollections of key tracks and live performances were also provided by original band members Michael Tighe (guitar), Mick Grondahl (bass), and Matt Johnson (drums).

In July 2003, the "Legacy Editions Series" was launched with three specially designed expanded edition packages: 1968's "Sweetheart Of The Rodeo" by The Byrds (a double-CD), 1978's "Muddy 'Mississippi' Waters Live" (also a double-CD), and Jeff Buckley's most recent release, "Live At Sin-E," a 2 1/2 hour-plus tour de force, culled from recordings of his solo gigs at the Lower East Side coffee-house in July-August 1993.

That package included 34 songs on two CDs, plus a DVD with exclusive interview footage and performances of three songs at Sin-E.

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