Dream Brother: The Lives and Music of Jeff and Tim Buckley

Description

When Jeff Buckley drowned in 1997, the music world was shaken to its foundations, not least because of the echoes of his father Tim's demise. He too had been a brilliant and innovative musician with an extraordinary five-octave voice; and he too had died young, 28 in fact, after an accidental drugs overdose. But there the similarities end. Jeff hardly knew Tim, spending little more than a few weeks with him as a boy. Their careers were very different, Tim releasing eight albums in his lifetime, including the beautiful "HappySad" and the extraordinary "Starsailor", while Jeff released just one - the brilliant "Grace", generally acknowledged as one of the great albums of the 90s. More than just a biography of two musicians, "Dream Brother" is the story of what happens when The Business hooks up with The Artist, ultimately to neither's benefit. The first biography of either man, written with the full co-operation of Mary Guibert, Jeff's mother and Tim's first wife

David Browne is the staff music critic at Entertainment Weekly, during which time he has hung with Beck, gone shopping with Leonard Cohen and roadied for Kiss. His articles have appeared in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Musician and other publications. This is his first book.

'Are the Buckleys the Kennedys of rock 'n' roll - talented but cursed? A highly accomplished, dual biography by the well respected writer David Browne has dug deep into both men's lives and the entire Buckley family history to throw some light on this enigmatic tale. Extensively researched and featuring previously unpublished letters and diaries, Dream Brother does a great service to the legacy of these two talented musicians.' Irish Times 'David Browne is a sensitive and committed writer eminently qualified to write the book his subjects so richly deserve There is a wealth of detail and a series of memorable vignettes which will fascinate those who have embraced Starsailor and Blue Afternoon or Grace and Live At Sin-E as part of their lives.' Uncut 'A rich and moving portrait of two damaged, gifted people' Esquire