Dave Lory - Jeff Buckley: From Hallelujah to the Last Goodbye

DAVE LORY

WITH

JIM IRVIN

A POST HILL PRESS BOOK

Jeff Buckley:

From Hallelujah to the Last Goodbye

2018 by Dave Lory, with Jim Irvin

All Rights Reserved

ISBN: 978-1-68261-574-4

ISBN (eBook): 978-1-68261-575-1

Cover art by Ryan Truso

Cover photo by Merri Cyr

Interior Design and Composition by Greg Johnson, Textbook Perfect

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author and publisher.

Post Hill Press

New York Nashville

posthillpress.com

Published in the United States of America

This book is dedicated to the memory of Jeff Buckley,
who gave me the opportunity to witnessand contribute to,
in a small waysome of the greatest moments in music history.
I miss jumping off those cliffs with you, my friend.
Without you, I would never have met my wife,
nor had my two beautiful daughters.
Samantha and I miss you each and every day.
Heres to eternal life.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Sunday, October 10, 1993

The guys late. I dont really need this. I dont care how much buzz there is about him. Im fried from booking the New Music Seminarthe largest music conference in the worldwhich has just finished, and there are a whole lot of things I could be doing with my Sunday morning: watching football, doing my laundry. I hate having to wear my work suit on a Sunday. I dont really want to get into a management situation with an attorney, and I resent people jerking me around by being late.

But the sun is shining; St. Marks Place is humming gently after the usual Saturday-night maelstrom. Its quiet in here; the brunch crowd hasnt come out yet. This coffees pretty good, and George Stein, my ex-lawyer, who has been acting as this kids manager, is taking care of the conversation. Ill smoke another cigarette and then Ill leave.

George has seen him. Hes standing up to welcome him.

Hey, Jeff!

Hes cute. Not tall, only about five foot eight. Hair cropped short, stuffed under a fedora. Rumpled looking. Like he was asleep ten minutes ago. Black jeans and a white V-neck T-shirt, scuffed Doc Marten boots and a keychain tucked into his pocket. Good-looking kid, but forty-five fucking minutes late. Thats just rude.

George isnt a hugger. He shakes the guys hand and introduces us. Good to see you. This is Dave Lory. Dave, Jeff Buckley.

We shake hands. He says hello in the softest voice and apologizes for being late. He orders a cappuccino.

George is doing all the talking. Hes into his sales pitch:

Dave, you have to understand that if youre involved, Jeff is a huge priority for Columbia. All the labels were bidding on him. Jeff came to me to get him off the Imago deal and Im his manager, but I need someone to take the touring role and you have that experience.

Im biting my lip. George is implying Im just a tour manager. Ive just come off managing Gregg Allman and Ronnie Spector. I brought the Allman Brothers Band back after ten years away and co-managed them for five years, with Danny Goldberg, whos managing Nirvana at this moment. I know my way around.

George continues. Jeffs first release is an EP, Live at Sin- , thats coming out next month. Recorded at that Irish caf down the street. Its great. He does two of his own songs and covers Van Morrison and Edith Piaf. Its very eclectic, very Jeff. We wanted something that showcased his voice, showed how he is in front of a crowd.

Crowd is a stretch. Sin- holds about forty people. but I know that Columbia insisted George get a partner and thats why hes taking these meetings.

Im a fan of planning. It sounds as if all the plannings coming from the record company. Columbia is a good label, but thats not okay. It should be the artist and his management calling the shots.

Meanwhile, this kids saying nothing. Just nodding his head occasionally. He drinks his coffee, and when he does speak its in this soft, almost feminine voice. George rambles on about how great Jeff is and how much great stuff hes done for him, for about half an hour. Then he announces he is leaving so we can visit alone. Decent of him. He pays the check, shakes our hands again, and goes.

I have a pet peeve, I say once George has gone.

Oh yeah? says Jeff.

Lateness. I hand him a piece of paper with my bio, a list of the things Ive done in the business, and the acts Ive managed.

Why am I so upset with him just for being late? Perhaps because I really dont want to co-manage an artist with George Stein. Managing the Allmans with Danny Goldberg was okay; he was experienced and we complemented each other. With George, a lawyer whos never managed a rock act before, I figure Ill be doing all the work and making half the money, so I dont care about blowing this kid off. I agreed to take a meeting on my precious Sunday, and he couldnt be bothered to show up on time. He is already behaving like a wild horse that needs someone to jerk the reins. Theres a lack of structure to this whole deal.

122 St. Marks Place, New York City. The site of Sin- in 2017. Photo by Jim Irvin

Look, I dont care what George says, I say, as he looks at my bio. Im not a tour manager. I have other options. If you want to work with me, Ill put together a plan for youitll take a few weeks to get to know you and what you wantand then well follow that plan together. Piss-poor planning equals piss-poor results. The record company doesnt dictate whats to be done. That has to come from you and your team. Anyway, Ive got somewhere else Id rather be right now. The football aint gonna watch itself.

I get up and leave.

Ive gone about thirty feet down St. Marks Place when Jeff catches up with me.

Youre the first person that hasnt kissed my ass, he says.

Listen, man, I say. If I were you, Id be scared, because with all the hype Im hearing about you, the industry could very easily chew you up and spit you out.

His head tilts almost imperceptibly to one side.

Can we start over? Come back inside and lets talk about that.

Okay, I say. Im no use until Ive had at least two coffees anyway.

We start talking about music. Jeff says hes a fan of the Allmans; he asks about my time managing them. Hes delighted I toured with Savatage, Megadeth, and Dio in the 1980s.