Jeff Buckley

One of the advantages of having a database of guitars, artists and songs is that we can occasionally spotlight a particular combination of the three that really transcends to create a beautiful piece of music.

Guitar: Fender Telecaster American Standard
Artist: Jeff Buckley
Song: Hallelujah

Jeff Buckley was a rising star out of the New York City’s avant-garde club scene in the 1990’s whose time on earth was cut tragically short when he died in a drowning accident in 1997.

Buckley only recorded one studio album, “Grace” (iTunes | Amazon).  But Buckley’s influence has extended well beyond his short career.  He’s inspired legends like Thom York, who after hearing Buckley perform one evening immediately went into the studio that same evening and recorded Radiohead’s classic “Fake Plastic Trees“.  Rolling Stone ranked Jeff Buckley #39 on the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time and “Hallelujah” was ranked #259 of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

“Hallelujah” was originally written and recorded by Leonard Cohen, a poet, novelist and singer whose songwriting ability ranks up there with some of the best of the 20th century.  It took Leonard Cohen over a year to write “Hallelujah”, throwing away over 80 verses until coming to his final version.  Check out the lyrics.

The song gained prominence again in 2008 when it reached #1 on the Billboard’s “Hot Digital Songs” chart following a performance of the song on American Idol.

Jeff Buckley used a Fender Telecaster on this song and performed the song live with the Telecaster as well.  Jeff also used a capo at the 5th fret.

Without further ado - Jeff Buckley “Hallelujah”