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The biography of musician Jeff Buckley chronicles his rise to fame and untimely death.

A Pure Drop: The Life of Jeff Buckley chronicles the life of singer Jeff Buckley most widely known for his song, “Hallelujah.” Buckley was the son of singer Tim Buckley, of which he was estranged from since a young age.  Buckley liked to say he was “rootless trailer trash born in Southern California,” yet the author claims the “trailer trash” part was a bit of a stretch. Buckley did live a “rootless” life with his mother constantly moving them.

Buckley barely knew his father and, when Tim overdosed in 1975, Jeff was left deeply conflicted about his feelings for him. Later, he and his mother were not invited to the funeral hurting him further .However, several years later, a tribute concert for his father called, “Greetings from Tim Buckley,” was scheduled for on April 26, 1991 (in Brooklyn, New York) . Jeff was to perform at it and he made his public singing debut there.  Buckley had said he performed there since it bothered him that he hadn’t been to his father’s funeral. His performance opened many eyes to his talent and opened the door for his career as a serious musician.

The book shows Jeff Buckley’ss rise to fame along with his clear discomfort of it. A photographer, Merri Cyr,  who worked with him said Buckley was torn between wanting “to be on this major label and get all this worldwide exposure, but he wanted to act like he was on an indie label.” He was seen out with Courtney Love in 1995 and later, after seeing the two of them photographed together told his friend he wanted to buy all the newspapers showing the picture and burn them.

We also see that just days before his death, Buckley reacted strongly to the death of Brainiac singer Tim Taylor. He announced the death to a crowd his was performing for, and when a fan innocently asked how Taylor died, he exploded. He also yelled at the woman who ran his web page when she asked If he was upset.

Rumors have lead people to speculate Buckley’s cause of death, but according to Keith Foti, a roadie of Buckley’s band, who was with him at the time of his death, it appears to be accidental. Foti said that Buckley went into the Wolf River Harbor fully dressed—including his boots. Foti got distracted on the shore and when he looked out Buckley was gone. Although there was a rescue effort, his body wasn’t discovered until June 4th when his body was found by spotted by a passenger on a riverboat . An autopsy showed no drugs in his system and Foti claimed he was in good spirits that day leading everyone to assume that there is no mystery or drug overdose behind his death and that it was just a tragic accident. An excerpt of his diary was included in the program, “The thing is that I want it all next week, right now, this millisecond. Life should sparkle and rush, burn with fire hot like melting steel, like freeze-burn from a comet.”

A Pure Drop features people who knew Jeff such as friends, peers, people who worked with Buckley, and his ex-loves. We get to know Jeff through their words as well as through his own in personal letters. We learn he suffered from writer’s block and was confused about his rising fame as a musician. Part of him was intrigued by it, part disgusted and wanted to escape that lifestyle. We also see how he tried to distance himself from his father’s legacy although it would prove nearly impossible for him. The author, Jeff Apter, shows us the importance of music in Buckley’s life and we are left to wonder what Buckley would think of his mother releasing so much of his work (which were still what he would have considered in “rough draft” mode) after his death.

The title, A Pure Drop, comes from Bono who said “Jeff Buckley was a pure drop in an ocean of noise.“After reading about Buckley’s being in his father’s shadow, but on the brink of having a career bigger, leaves one to wonder what potential Buckley had begun to tap into. Hearing about his discomfort about being pushed into the celebrity limelight (with Courtney Love) makes you realize how uncomfortable he was and wonder how ready he was for fame. It would be impossible for a book about a talented musician who died young to end on a high note, but this one seems particularly tragic as we never got to see all that he was capable of doing as a musician.

A Pure Drop isn’t just a book for fans of Buckley, but for music lovers everywhere. You don’t have to know who Buckley’s father was or even who Jeff Buckley was to appreciate his talent, all you have to do is listen to his music.

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