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 (042626)
There have been many strong music documentaries released in the last few years,
some of which I have reviewed on this page. These include
The Sparks Brothers
(2021),
Moonage Daydream (2022),
Little Richard: I Am
Everything
(2023), No Hamburg No Beatles (2024), Pavements (2024),
Becoming Led Zeppelin
(2025), and
EPIC: Elvis Presley in Concert
(2026). But It's Never Over: Jeff Buckley and a superb American Masters episode
on jazz giant Sun Ra were the best rock documentaries I've seen since
Pavement.
Notably, the film focuses equally on his personal life as on his music.
It's Never Over: Jeff Buckley is a shockingly intimate documentary about an
Indie rock icon who achieved instant critical acclaim and great success in
Europe. But Jeff Buckley lost his life too soon, like Kurt Cobain and Layne
Staley. His dad, who also had considerable acclaim, overdosed on heroin and
morphine when he was 28, while his son drowned at the tender age of thirty, just
as his career was peaking. Buckley was one of those rare artists like Jimi
Hendrix. Amy Winehouse and Lauryn Hill were enormously influential and never
forgotten despite a very limited output. All of these people became more popular
after their deaths, gained a kind of immortality, and remain relevant today.
The film depicts Jeff’s unsatisfying and disheartening relationship with his
dad. Tim was not exactly a model father, and he had hardly any contact with Jeff
or his mom. Then, on one magical day when he was a teenager, Jeff went to see
his dad play and was blown away by his dad's music. After the show, Jeff met his
dad, hit it off, and ended up spending a whole week with him. Tim passed on some
of his wisdom, and he taught his son some things he knew about music. Then Tim
left his number on a card for Jeff with “I Love you” written on it, but Jeff
called him back many times, his dad never answered, and Jeff never saw him
again.
Tim still had an integral role in Jeff’s career. One of the most important early
shows Jeff did was a tribute to his dad, Tim. Many of the most respected
cutting-edge artists were there, like Patti Smith and Laurie Anderson, and Jeff
made a great impression on the media and New York’s arty intelligentsia, even
though people were initially skeptical and thought Jeff was just getting
attention from his dad’s name. The event kind of served as Jeff’s coming-out
party.
The film shows us the exciting post-grunge Indie scene in Southern California,
and it is packed with revealing discussions with its denizens, including Aimee
Mann and his then-girlfriend, Rebecca Moore, who was not always treated well by
the emotionally unavailable and unstable Buckley. He seemed totally committed to
her at times, but he would leave abruptly without warning and disappear for
days. Like many artistic types, his erratic personality and extreme spontaneity
made him extremely unsuited for long-term relationships.
He discusses his influences, including the jazz great Nina Simone, Al Di Meola,
and the acclaimed Pakistani qawwali musician Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Like his
dad, Buckley was interested in world music in general and Asian music in
particular. Both he and his dad had Eastern influences in their unique guitar
work.
He was quite eccentric, and he liked cruising used-record stores for Michael
Bolton tapes specifically so he could record over them. He also enjoyed making
lots of videos of his cat, Spinach, playing the piano. He also liked to walk
around the house in his girlfriend, Rebecca's, clothes. At one point, he tells
her. “I’ve already outlived my father, but I’m not going to last long. I just
wanted to warn you,” as in he was having a premonition.
Jeff was a huge fan of the 70s hard rock group, Led Zeppelin. At one point, when
asked what his biggest influences are, he replied, “love, anger, depression, and
Led Zeppelin.” They taught him how to make the most of wrong notes. Brad Pitt
said that Buckley was like Plant and Page combined, and both Jimmy Page and
Robert Plant were also huge fans of both Jeff and his dad.
There is an interesting story about Jeff Buckley and Zeppelin in the film.
Buckley went to see Led Zeppelin, whom he had always worshipped, and one of his
friends commented that he had seen Tim climb fearlessly up the rafters during
the show. The band knew both his work and his dad's music. He was surprised when
Robert Plant whispered in his ear , "You know you are the best new singer in the
world." At this, the unpredictable and emotionally fragile Buckley turned
completely and white left abruptly, and no one saw him for days. Most will think
that Plant was premature in his proclamation/prediction, but he might have been
right at the time.
Buckley also had a huge influence on other significant artists. One day,
Radiohead, who had been struggling to write songs for their current album, were
so inspired by a concert that they went home early and recorded a whole bunch of
new tracks. Chris Cornell of Soundgarden was inspired by Jeff to leave his band
and try his hand at writing more melodic, gentle songs on his solo albums.
The film also features a David Lynch-like animation sequence by Sara
Gummarsdotir from Iceland. Diary of a Teenage Girl and
My Year of Dicks, which
I put on my top films of the year list a few years back.
It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley played for a few days in Chicago last year, and it
is now streaming on Fandango at Home, Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play, and it
just became available on DVD. This is seen as a significant documentary, and
quite a few local libraries have it. The DVD includes a few outtakes and some
childhood photos, but not much extra material. But this is a strong, fascinating
film about a multi-layered elusive figure. After it was all over, I actually
felt like I knew him a little bit better.
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