Grace

Our three children are of the 1990’s and Millenial Eras. 

They spent a lot of time in the family car (s) and serving a dual purpose of entertaining them as well as keeping us, as parents, sane was the CD player. 

Being, rightly so, firmly strapped into child seats, booster cushions or in the normal seat belts meant that us adults, up front, were in reasonably complete physical control of what was played in that slot in the dashboard. 

Of course there were times when only the soundtrack from a Disney movie or one of those singalong releases by popular performers  could pacify a fractious trio after a long day of travelling or just on the usual about town pursuit of chores. 

It became quite a regular parental role to drive from our home at that time in a suburb of Hull along the motorway to Goole and back. In this 50 mile or under the hour journey a state of calm sleepiness was produced in one or more of our offspring for the benefit of all. 

In spite of the concessions to cheesy lyrics and plonk-plonk tones I like to think that we had and, to a large extent, still have a good taste in music across a range of genres and artistes. 

To this day, with those same infants now ranging in years from 22 to 28, they are still in the total belief that I, alone and single handedly discovered and championed the likes of Elbow, Just Jack and Eva Cassidy amongst a whole host of megastars and music industry phenomena to whom they were introduced whilst in the captive environment of a vehicle. 

My wife and myself introduced said offspring to the musical influences from our own developmental years and so they were brought up being familiar with the likes of (in no particular order or favouritism) Led Zeppelin, The Eagles, David Bowie, Simple Minds, Abba, Wishbone Ash, Roxy Music, Dire Straits, Elvis Presley, Talking Heads and so many more wonderful combinations of words and music. 

It could sometimes be a clash of cultures with our own influences being firmly based in the 1960’s and 70’s and with that hard fought debate about what was actually the greatest decade for pop and rock. That remains as a subject of much populist discussion although I can say truthfully that everything, bar very little, from the late 1990’s and early 21^st century is just a load of highly produced, over hyped and talentless rubbish. 

It is a matter of great personal excitement to come across a musician for the first time even though they may have been around for some time. 

There is the anticipation of exploring a back catalogue of work, learning a bit about the development and influences that shaped that performer and catching up on what they are doing now if effectively retired from the industry or just hanging about on its margins picking up a few guest slots on end of year reviews, reality TV shows or the occasional appearance on “what are they doing now?” features in the media. 

One such persona that assumed this status with me was Jeff Buckley. 

I cannot exactly recall when I first heard of him but something about his voice and style appealed to me. 

His was a combination of strong vocals against a good guitar riff and yet melodic and poignant. 

After buying a CD of his studio album "Grace" I looked forward to a long relationship with Buckley.

He was in my opinion certainly destined for great things for his musical skill and also he had the full package for a rock star of looks and character. 

He was a global tourer and performed at the Glastonbury Festival in the UK as well as collaborating with Patti Smith and Tom Verlaine. 

Tragically his was a prematurely shortened life as at the age of 30 he drowned accidentally whilst swimming in the Mississippi River in Memphis. 

The accolades have followed consistently since his death in 1997 and his airplay time and the perception of the public of his talent has not diminished in the intervening 20 years. 

The shelf on my CD storage unit that I had originally reserved for Jeff Buckley CD’s remains with just the sole occupant but I am reluctant to let anyone other artiste share that space out of respect for what he could have achieved in a normal life expectancy in rock music.

Buckley perform live on BBC's The Late Show 1995