A Pure Drop - The Life of Jeff Buckley

A Pure Drop is an amazing story of the intricate and difficult life of an amazing musician who really never came to grips with his gifts inherented from his father Tim. This is the best bio written about Jeff and his stuggles and tragic death. Read it with a heavy heart.

His heritage is that of vocal royalty. His voice lives up to genetic expectation. His end was just as tragic as his childhood. And the
characters that appear at every stage of his life all seem be deserving of biographies themselves!

If you didn't know:
Jeff Buckley was simply amazing! He has managed to impress the best in
the business with his incredible voice, spiritual delivery, skillful
guitar playing and incredible personal presence. His life has long
passed but he has left some amazing recordings that will draw you in
and have you chasing all things Buckley- reviews, live recordings,
the music of his equally talented and troubled father -Tim Buckley and
(need I say?) this book.

I wrote 'near perfect' in my title of my review ONLY because a
complete post-humous biography like this virtually impossible; given
the fact that infinite amounts of details were washed away with the
passing of the subject. Biographies of past rock legends are many -and
sometimes can seem fairly predictable- but few have assimilated the details as delicately as Jeff Apter. This one can truly be called 'better than fiction'.

Deciphering the life of a man - whom was as mysterious and as
complicated as he was an open book- is like putting a puzzle of
infinite pieces together; like collecting scattered broken shards
to re-create the form of fine crystal. Apter has done an incredible
job of taking the reader into the the complex life of this talented
troubadour and into all the facets of his personality (a star, a man, a
boy, a lamb) without loosing the true essence of the story. He aims to
take us on an unbiased historical/emotional/MUSICAL,and in a way, 'spiritual' journey of a young talent by interviewing amazing acts, musical colleagues, production insiders and music legends, all of whose personal opinions are generally hard to come by. In all aspects, no stone was left unturned.

It must be said that Jeff Buckley's legacy has gained cult-like status
since his death, and has caused all sorts of (sometimes contradicting
and vague) details to be published and scattered thoughout the media. A few bios on Jeff (and his father, Tim) have been published before, but none has put all the facts in perspective while addressing and comparing all the contrasting theories that came along though the years.

For me, the book goes way beyond others into the vinyl world of a young
boy's bedroom in Orange County, the harsh L.A scene of the 80's and of
course, New York's musical stellar nurseries.

Most impressively, the author scours through the interior walls of
the mega recording label: showing all the cogs that make it work for a
young artist; the big wigs and decision makers; how Buckley came to be
granted exceptional power as a young artist through his past, presence
and his undeniably bright future; and his ultimate emotional downfall
from the responsibility of such power.

A Pure Drop is a fantastic book of facts for fans and music historians
and yet, a comprehensive, great read for anyone interested in the 'human condition' and a great life - that of a young boy who struggles thoughout his life with the gift, looks and memory (or a lack thereof of the latter) of an estranged and deceased father, and the delayed consequence of a childhood cut short by the general lack of stability. He rises to affect the life of everyone he met, worked with or sang for and continues to do so years after his tragic end.

As a solid Jeff Buckley fan, this new biography was a must-have for me and I finished reading it in no time. I really enjoyed Jeff Apter's work a lot. He concentrates on Jeff Buckley's lifepath while giving us sufficient information on his surroundings and the time frame to make the picture complete. Also, I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that Jeff Apter gave a couple of new faces in Jeff-Buckley-bio-land a voice, like The Frames' frontman Glen Hansard who has some great things to share about his late friend. In many ways, this biography is complementary to David Browne's "Dream Brother", which I liked a lot too. Only, half of Browne's book tells the story of Tim Buckley. I was glad to read his story too, but sometimes it even got a bit boring since the links with his son Jeff Buckley are rare, but those are the facts.
"A pure drop" seems to me as a result of thorough research and comes from an author who is obviously used to writing about music. I think he does Jeff Buckley's story nothing but honour, as did David Browne. Yet I feel that this new biography goes further in the details and has more stories told by many persons who were close to Jeff. There's also a 10 page long 'coda' that shines a light on all the posthumous releases that Jeff Buckley's music got to see since 1997, combined with good arguments on the critique that certain persons have towards these releases.
I would strongly recommend this book to any Jeff Buckley fan. It offers fantastic stories and a huge amount of facts on the life of this unbelievable artist, as well as on the ever interesting and lived-through and warm though often complicated person that he was.

Having already read the previous books on Jeff from David Browne, Daphne A Brooks & Merri Cry I was sceptical on what more could be disclosed on my favourite artists. Reviews in the UK were good so I though what the hell and picked up a copy¿and boy am I glad I did. The story telling, research and attention to details is 2nd to none and I found myself constantly saying to myself `I didn¿t know that¿. Apter has left no stone unturned with his devotion to telling as fuller story of what, to many, would be a very difficult trick to do given the aforementioned previous efforts.

I think the earlier review says it all but if you have a fleeting interest or borderline obsession with Jeff¿s short life (I¿m somewhere in the middle!) then buy this book. You¿ll not be disappointed.

I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy of Jeff Apter's book, by the author himself. I had contacted him to tell him that I was/am wary of reading biographies of famous people, since most of them have no input into the book. And in Jeff Buckley's case having passed away would defenitely not have anything to say for or against the book.

After I read an excerpt from the book on his website I was intruiged as it was detailed with the history of how the historic Sin-e (shi-nay) cafe came to be in the Lower Eastside of New York City. As well as a detailed description of how and why Jeff Buckley chose to plant his musical roots in the small, intimate venue.

I was defenitely impressed by the excerpt, the honesty. I secured a copy of the book right after Thanksgiving and dove into the pages right away. I was very impressed by the detailed research Jeff Apter had done into the backround of Jeff Buckley's bloodline~ beyond his famous folksinger father (whom he was compared to on a constant basis).

The author takes the route of not peppering the book with preujudice or praise of Buckley as a singer or person. He takes a true unvarnished look into Jeff Buckley's life, which is no easy feat.

Buckley having only met his father once and spent a week with him out of his 30 years here and moved around numerous times as a child defenitely sets up a story about a young man who had a life (although short) is not always the easiest of reads.

The details of the Jeff Buckley's childhood defenitely paints a more than promotional picture for how nature is much stronger than nuture.
Apter takes details not only in Jeff's childhood but throughout his life and uncovers them to find the truth ~ AS THEY SAY THE TRUTH IS IN THE DETAILS.

Jeff Buckley did not want to be seen as tortured, pretty boy of indie rock, nor the voice of his generation. Since his passing 11 years ago all of that and possibly more has been pinned to the surname he so reluctantly (but humbley at times) shared with his father.

You will not find any of that labeling going on in "A Pure Drop: The Life of Jeff Buckley". What you will find is an honest, funny, moving, portrait of a young man who was filled with passion, talent,anger, love, resentment and a wickedly biting sense of humor.

Like I said earlier, the book pours on no sugar coating of Buckley's life. Jeff Apter tells the life story of Jeff Buckley as it was sometimes sad, sometimes sweet, very interesting and far too short in my opinion.