Stories of Jeff Buckley with Dave Lory

Dave Lory with Jeff Buckley by Merri Cyr/Courtesy of Dave Lory

I believe that most people grow up wanting to be rockstars. They sing and dance in the shower, in front of the mirror, and nowadays on TikTok in the hopes of feeling that momentum to say “this is what it must feel like to be a star.” For me, the artist that changed that aspect of my life was Jeff Buckley.

Buckley was an artist of the 90s who tragically lost his life in a river in 1997. Although only one album under his belt, Buckley solidified himself as one of the great artists of his generation, with vocals like Robert Plant and guitar chops similar to that of Jimmy Page. Songs like “Last Goodbye” and “So Real” were played constantly on loop throughout the highs and lows of my time in high school and beyond, so with that in mind, it was an honor to catch up with Buckley’s manager and friend, Dave Lory.

Lory also has a book out titled Jeff Buckley: From Hallelujah to the Last Goodbye, which in my opinion shows the most insight into the life and career of one of my favorite artists of all time. Enjoy our conversation!

First off, the book is great. It’s much more intimate and detailing than a lot of the Jeff Buckley articles and documentaries I’ve seen. How did the idea of writing a book come about?

• I still had the boxes marked Jeff Buckley in my garage, still sealed from the lawsuit against his mother. Like I hadn't opened the boxes in 20 years. So it was a dear family friend, he said, ‘I think it's time for you to write.’ And I said, ‘Why now?’ And he said, ‘You need to put a stamp on his legacy.’ So that's why I took it. I haven't done interviews on Jeff, for well, roughly 20 years. I'd say no to everything. Most of the people that are in the book, haven't really talked about Jeff.

What was the process like to retrace your steps in a sense and go back in time and revisit memories and interviews with past colleagues? I can only imagine how tough and mentally exhausting that could be.

• It took almost two years to write it. The guy who was originally going to write it with me, he said yes. I had just finished writing like five files in five years on people like friends, majors, sellers. And he started his own online magazine. I think it was when Prince died. He was swamped. So he said, ‘I can't do it. I don't have the time and I'm mentally exhausted from department trips and everything.’ Over the last five years, he said, ‘What about your friend, Jim Ervin?’ And Jim was the editor of Mojo Magazine, which is like a huge music publication in the UK. He was with me the night Jeff disappeared. We were in Dublin together for my other artists. He was good. He did a lot of the fact findings. I'd never worked so hard in my life.

  There's probably about five people in that book that haven't read the book yet. Took my wife three years, finally read it. I haven't read it. I just can't do it. But we allowed them to do the interview and then approve what they said. Nobody made any changes, ironically. But you know, we made sure they had total control over what they said. And they were brutally honest.

With Jeff Buckley’s music, particularly Grace, you can hear so much diversity in one album. I think that’s why it just holds on and brings newer generations of fans with passing time.

• He had so many musical influences. I think that's what it was, and I don’t think he thought about it you know. And that's why it came out the way it came out. A lot of what was talked about in the book regarding, you know, he wanted to do scary music or a Pakistani album or whatever. Those were his words to me on paper, like I found notes from him. So that enabled me to put those things in perspective. So no one knows that stuff, but me (laughs), but Jeff told what he wanted certain people to hear, including me. He knew how to play people, and that's fine. All artists have screws loose in their mortality. The more talented they are , the more screws are loose.

What are your thoughts on My Sweetheart the Drunk and unreleased demos and tracks being released after Buckley’s death?

• That’s part of the reason why I got fired. My last memory was Jeff walking out the door saying ‘Don't let Sony get this,’ as well as all the tapes he brought to me. I probably would not have given the fans that they wanted. But I wanted to release this live record because it was a 24 track record right at the end of the term. It'd been hard for me to release Sweetheart just because he said it's not done yet. I listened to the record once.

Buckley made a few covers of things like The Smiths and of course Leonard Cohen, but I was really drawn to a track titled “All Flowers in Time Bend Towards the Sun” which I found as a poorly recorded Youtube video. Do you know anything behind the making of that track which features Cocteau Twins’ Liz Frazer?

• I never heard that song until years after his death. I know when they wrote it. My wife was his promotions manager and was supposed to keep him at the hotel so we could get him to Dublin on time to start this next tour. And Jeff said, I want to go see Liz. [My wife] had one of those big old cell phones, it was like a brick (laughs) and she said ‘Take my cell phone, keep me up to date. Do not be late. Dave will kill me.’ And I do know that that's when they recorded it. They kept their relationship very quiet.

Buckley famously stated that he didn’t care about being remembered and would prefer that the music be carried on. Is there anything you want fans of his to know after reading the book?

• Well, I did a q&a book tour in music venues around the world. I divided it into three segments, there was Siné, Grace takes over the world, and then the aftermath. I used to have to make a joke to get everybody from hanging their head, cause you guys know how this ends. But I said to my very first interview, which was World Cafe. She asked, what am I going to get out of the book and tour; the book was just coming out and the tour was beginning in the next month. I said at the end of the tour, when I fly, sit on a plane in Sydney, I want to look up and say “I hope I did you proud.” I think I did.

Thanks for the conversation Dave Lory.