Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Be Your Husband
2. Lover, You Should've Come Over
3. Mojo Pin
4. Monologue - Duane Eddy, Songs For Lovers
5. Grace
6. Monologue - Reverb, The Doors
7. Strange Fruit
8. Night Flight
9. If You Knew
10. Monologue - Fabulous Time For A Guinness
11. Unforgiven (Last Goodbye)
12. The Twelfth Of Never
13. Monologue - Cafe Days
14. Monologue - Eternal Life
15. Eternal Life
16. Just Like A Woman
17. Monologue - False Start, Apology, Miles Davis
18. Calling You

Disc 2:

1. Monologue - Nusrat, He's My Elvis
2. Yeh Jo Halka Saroor Hae
3. Monologue - I'm A Ridiculous Person
4. If You See Her, Say Hello
5. Monologue - Matt Dillon, Hollies, Classic Rock Radio
6. Dink's Song
7. Monologue - Musical Chairs
8. Drown In My Own Tears
9. Monologue - The Suckiest Water
10. The Way Young Lovers Do
11. Monologue - Walk Through Walls
12. Je N'en Connais Pas La Fin
13. I Shall Be Released
14. Sweet Thing
15. Monologue - Good Night Bill
16. Hallelujah

Disc 3:

1. Interview With Jeff Buckley (DVD Video)
2. The Way Young Lovers Do (DVD Video)
3. Kick Out The Jams (DVD Video)
4. New Year's Eve Prayer (DVD Video)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7599 in Music
• Released on: 2003-09-22
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: CD+DVD

CD Description
Listeners shouldn't get too hung up about Jeff Buckley's bloodlines--although they're impossible to ignore. His father was Tim Buckley, one of the most poignant, enigmatic figuresof the 1960s' folk scene; but young Jeff grew up with his mother and didn't even meet his father until one Easter when he was eight--two months before Tim Buckley's death. While the ecstatic, keening quality of Jeff Buckley's vocals recallthe haunting timbre of his father's voice, there are also overtones of a young Robert Plant, Van Morrison, Delta blues legend Robert Johnson, Pakistani vocal master Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and something indefinable--the sound of an individual talent beginning to blossom.
On this expanded version of the splendid live EP, LIVE AT SIN-E, we hear Jeff Buckleytransmuting, transforming, and ultimately transcending his influences before an audience at a small Irish club in Manhattan's East Village. Standing there with nothing but his voice and an electric guitar, Buckley is simply mesmerising. Buckley's Telecaster playing on "Mojo Pin" and "Eternal Life" is exceptional--orchestrating his vocals with a torrid stream of chords and melodic counterpoint, a la Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page. He never descends into stock licks or hackneyed accompaniment; his classical arpeggios on Edith Piaf's "Je N'en Connais Pas La Fin" impart a calliope-like grace to her tune.
The ecstatic nature of Buckley's art is showcased on his extended journey through Van Morrison's "The Way YoungLovers Do", where the lyrics gradually dissolve into long scatting choruses of wordless moans and cries, as his voice and flamenco-styled guitar evoke an almost gospel fervour. Buckley's lyrics are just as personal as his voice. "Mojo Pin"is a dreamscape full of delirious visions and moody imageryof lost love, while on "Eternal Life", his rolling blues chords set the tone for nightmares about his own mortality, recalling the tormented hellhounds of Robert Johnson. A talentlike Jeff Buckley's comes along once in a lifetime, and LIVE AT SIN-E certainly whets the appetite for his first group recordings, GRACE.

Customer Reviews

One of the best live albums you will ever buy
I've been a fan of Jeff Buckley since 1994 when his only studio album Grace was released. This live album was recorded between his signing with Columbia and Grace. It was originally released as a four track "Live AT Sin-e" EP. It showcased his brilliant vocal range and original interpretation of classics as well as a taster of his own compositions. This Legacy Edition of the Sin-e recordings not only gives you early versions of Grace and Last Goodbye but is an astonishing insight to Jeff Buckley's musical
tastes that ranged from Led Zeppelin to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and everything in between. It gives you a real sense of being there with his infectious sense of humour shining through and he makes the cover versions sound new and fresh with his own original take on classics such as Sweet Thing by Van Morrison and Nina Simone's If You Knew. If you ever wished you could see him live but never got the chance you have now because this will be the closest you will ever get to experience the genius that was Jeff Buckley.

What a Joy
Its almost like 'Grace' only scratched the surface of what Jeff Buckley had to offer. Tragically his early death meant that he was unable to complete a follow up album in a studio (although 'My Sweetheart the Drunk' does piece together what that might have been like) but what we do have are a handful of live albums that really serve to exhibit the length and breadth of his talents and 'Live at Sin-e (Legacy Edition)' really is the pick of the crop.

Sin-e was a small club where Jeff Buckley would often play sets while still trying to make it and this basic setting really allowed him to learn just what he could achieve with a guitar and that wonderful voice of his.

There are early versions of his songs that would eventually end up on 'Grace' and a whole bevy of ecclectic songs from Bob Dylan numbers to his version of a Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan tune. Even with all these different styles Buckley delivers an accomplished and infinately enjoyable performance and his enjoyment in sharing all this stuff he has inside him comes out beautifully in his music and his witty monologues (musical chairs is great).

It would take too long to mention highlights as the whole double CD is littered with real gems and one time you'll say 'Lover, You Should Have Come Over' is the best, then you'll disagree with yourself and go on about 'Je N'en Connais Pas La Fin' or 'If You See Her, Say Hello'. For me the real highlight lies on the bonus DVD and the poem 'New Years Eve Prayer' as it really shows all the sides of what made Jeff Buckley such a capitivating artist as it is at times moving, funny and thouroughly heart wrenchingly honest.

If you own 'Grace', and everyone should, then you will no doubt be desperate to find something more and you can't go wrong with Live at Sin-e (Legacy Edition). It is a reminder of just what can be done through music and how powerful it can be when placed within the hands of a true genius. Wonderous.

Immersive
Listening to this CD, however good it is, inevitably leaves you feeling sad. The little humorous monologues between songs and random comments ("Those are nice sandals." "I don't look like Matt Dillon do I?") make you feel as if you are really there - in a small café in 1993. But then the CD ends and you take the disc out, perhaps wiping a solitary tear from your eye.

If you can forget about the dark clouds on the horizon, though, you will be dazzled by almost every song he performs. Jeff Buckley's technical skill on the guitar was fairly obvious on Grace, but being primarily a songwriter, Buckley apparently knew better than to crowd his record with excessive guitar showmanship. In other words, nothing can prepare you for the stunning guitar work on this album.

I remember, back when I was forcing all my friends to listen to "Yeh jo halka halka saroor hai", the first question everyone asks is "How many guitarists are there? 2 or 3?". I then smirk and reply "Only one," watching their faces show first confusion, then awe. He basically carries three melodic and rhythmic lines side by side, without any apparent strain, placing him among the best guitarists I have ever heard.

Of course, the vocals are there to complement the guitar, and what vocals they are. Sensitive as ever, but with a few outstanding flourishes on songs like Yeh Jo Halka Halka Saroor Hai and The Way Young Lovers Do (in which he reaches the highest note I've heard anyone sing - the third C above middle C, I believe). The emotional connection is heightened by the intimacy of the tiny café, so that when you hear climaxes like those on Just Like a Woman and Hallelujah you are completely transported.

The relative looseness of the recording may be off-putting to Buckley newcomers (I know I was annoyed at first by the ubiquitous monologues), but for anyone who already owns and appreciates Grace or the other live CDs, this purchase will be the jewel in the crown of your CD collection.