Jeff Buckley’s Handwritten Journals to Be Featured in Upcoming Book
Jeff Buckley‘s never-before-seen handwritten journals will be reproduced for the upcoming book Jeff Buckley: His Own Voice.
Buckley’s mother Mary Guibert and Rolling Stone contributing editor David Browne, who penned the Buckley family biography Dream Brother: The Lives and Music of Jeff and Tim Buckley, will compile and edit the journals for release.
Guibert said in a statement, “There have been and probably always will be those who wish to speak for my son, take credit for his success or put words in his mouth. In choosing these pages to share with the world, I’m giving him the chance to speak with his own voice, for the record … and for his fans to see what a sweet, funny, amazing human being he was.”
Da Capo Press aim to publish His Own Voice in the spring of 2019, around the time of the 25th anniversary of Buckley’s Grace. The book marks the first time that Buckley’s handwritten journals – as well as letters, notes and lyric sheets the singer kept – will be published.
His Own Voice will provide a first-person account of Buckley’s life, from the late singer-songwriter detailing his youth in Orange County to entries he wrote in the months prior to his May 1997 death. The book will feature unseen photos and artifacts from the Buckley archive.
A standalone audiobook companion for His Own Voice will also boast unreleased material such as Buckley’s personal recordings, his list of “100 things to do,” his outgoing voicemail messages and other material.
“So many times while working on Dream Brother, I wondered why Jeff, one of the most charismatic and powerful musicians to emerge in the Nineties, made certain decisions or went down certain roads,” Browne added in a statement. “Now, with more of his journals available to us, we can get answers to some of those questions and learn more about his creative process and restlessly searching mind.”
In 2016, the Buckley estate released You & I, a collection of songs from the singer’s previously unheard 1993 sessions. A second release featuring more unearthed recordings from those sessions is also planned.