Just learned a fun fact from reading 'Total F*cking Godhead: The Biography of Chris Cornell'. Turns out, one of my all-time favorite Soundgarden songs was almost left on the cutting room floor, were it not for the intervention of Studio Litho's owner.
Here is an excerpt, including a quote from producer, Adam Kasper.
“Tighter & Tighter” proved to be a surprisingly contentious cut. Kim was strongly against including it on Down On The Upside. An outside voice broke the stalemate. “It’s Stone Gossard’s favorite song,” Kasper said. “Stone had mentioned it a few times, so Kim was like ‘Alright, whatever.’ Everyone in Pearl Jam loved that song.”
Cool!
Is the book worth picking up?
It was a nice read, especially considering there are not many books dedicated to Chris Cornell or Soundgarden. After the childhood stuff, each chapter revolves around a single album and accompanying tour, developing a broad retrospective of Cornell's career. Although the book contains some exclusive interviews with record producers and video directors, the author relies heavily on previously published articles for quotes from his closest collaborators. He admits in the introduction that legal issues surrounding Chris' estate prevented a host of others from sharing their stories, which is a bummer.
A diehard fan might not learn much new info. This is not an in-depth tome on Chris Cornell or his bands. But unlike many other biographies strung together from old interviews, this does not read like some haphazard cash grab. The admiration and love of the subject's work is very apparent in the writing.
So here's the latest incarnation of the "songs everyone doesn't play on" list now with guest appearances added (not counting Boom who obviously plays keys on several tracks from 2002-onward), and tracks where the band members don't play their usual instruments. Feel free to add to it or correct it. Especially you @pleatherman
-Do The Evolution: Jeff doesn't play (Stone on bass) -No Way: Jeff doesn't play (Stone on bass) -I Got Shit: Jeff, Mike and Stone don't play (Neil Young on guitar, Brendan O'Brien on bass) -Long Road: Mike and Stone don't play. (Neil Young on pump organ) -Soon Forget: Eddie only -2,000 Mile Blues: Stone doesn't play (per the liner notes, he was at the dentist). -Jeremy: Walter Gray on cello, Rick Parashar on hammond organ -Better Man: Stone on mellotron -Sometimes: Mike on piano -Around The Bend: Brendan O'Brien on piano -Arc: Eddie only -Bee Girl: Eddie and Jeff only -Dead Man: Eddie and Jeff only -Footsteps: Eddie and Stone only -Stupid Mop: Eddie, Jeff, and Jack only (I think) -Angel: Eddie and Dave only -Smile: Jeff on guitar, Stone on bass -Pendulum: Mike doesn't play -Driftin': Eddie and Stone (maybe) only -Strangest Tribe: Eddie and Stone only (from same day as Driftin') -Satan's Bed: Dave isn't playing. His drum tech Jimmy Shoaf is -Rock Around Barack: Eddie doesn't play -Master/Slave: Eddie, Jeff, and Rick Parashar only (Rick on programmed keyboards) -Gremmie Out of Control: Brendan O'Brien on guitar, Mike and Stone don't play -Aye Davanita: Per pleatherman, Dave posted on his Facebook that he plays bass and guitar on this. -You Are: Stone doesn't play (Matt on rhythm guitar) -Parting Ways: April Cameron on Viola, Justine Foy on Cello -Rival: Mitchell Froom on keyboards -Oceans: Tim Palmer on pepper shaker and fire extinguisher -Just Breathe/The End: Richard Deane, Danny Laufer, Bruce Andrus, Justin Bruns, Cathy Lynn, Christopher Pulgram, Susan Welty (strings/brass) -Backspacer tracks with keys: Brendan O'Brien -Future Days: Brendan O'Brien on keys -Lighting Bolts tracks with strings: Ann Marie Calhoun -My Father's Son: Mike on six-string bass
Gigaton instrumentation per wikipedia: -Jeff: bass guitar, keyboards and guitar on "Dance of the Clairvoyants" and "Quick Escape", drum loop on "Quick Escape", keyboards on "Alright" and "Seven O'Clock", Mbira on "Alright" and "River Cross", programming on "Seven O'Clock", piano on "Buckle Up" -Matt: drums, drum programming on "Dance of the Clairvoyants", guitar on "Alright" and "Take the Long Way", vocals and programming on "Take the Long Way", -Stone: guitar, bass on "Dance of the Clairvoyants", percussion on "Buckle Up", vocals on "Buckle Up", keyboards on "Retrograde", -Mike: guitar, percussion on "Dance of the Clairvoyants", keyboards on "Retrograde", -Eddie: lead vocals, guitar, keyboards on "Seven O'Clock", pump organ on "River Cross", -Brendan O'Brien – keyboards on "Quick Escape" and "Retrograde" -Josh Evans – keyboards on "Superblood Wolfmoon", "Never Destination", "Buckle Up" and "River Cross", drum programming on "Alright"
Still not sure if Stone plays on Yellow Ledbetter. I can't really hear second guitar. Also not sure who's playing what on Bugs besides Eddie on accordion. And anyone that wants to break down the specific Backspacer and Lightning Bolt tracks that O'Brien and Calhoun play on, please do.
So here's the latest incarnation of the "songs everyone doesn't play on" list now with guest appearances added (not counting Boom who obviously plays keys on several tracks from 2002-onward), and tracks where the band members don't play their usual instruments. Feel free to add to it or correct it. Especially you @pleatherman
-Do The Evolution: Jeff doesn't play (Stone on bass) -No Way: Jeff doesn't play (Stone on bass) -I Got Shit: Jeff, Mike and Stone don't play (Neil Young on guitar, Brendan O'Brien on bass) -Long Road: Mike and Stone don't play. (Neil Young on pump organ) -Soon Forget: Eddie only -2,000 Mile Blues: Stone doesn't play (per the liner notes, he was at the dentist). -Jeremy: Walter Gray on cello, Rick Parashar on hammond organ -Better Man: Stone on mellotron -Sometimes: Mike on piano -Around The Bend: Brendan O'Brien on piano -Arc: Eddie only -Bee Girl: Eddie and Jeff only -Dead Man: Eddie and Jeff only -Footsteps: Eddie and Stone only -Stupid Mop: Eddie, Jeff, and Jack only (I think) -Angel: Eddie and Dave only -Smile: Jeff on guitar, Stone on bass -Pendulum: Mike doesn't play -Driftin': Eddie and Stone (maybe) only -Strangest Tribe: Eddie and Stone only (from same day as Driftin') -Satan's Bed: Dave isn't playing. His drum tech Jimmy Shoaf is -Rock Around Barack: Eddie doesn't play -Master/Slave: Eddie, Jeff, and Rick Parashar only (Rick on programmed keyboards) -Gremmie Out of Control: Brendan O'Brien on guitar, Mike and Stone don't play -Aye Davanita: Per pleatherman, Dave posted on his Facebook that he plays bass and guitar on this. -You Are: Stone doesn't play (Matt on rhythm guitar) -Parting Ways: April Cameron on Viola, Justine Foy on Cello -Rival: Mitchell Froom on keyboards -Oceans: Tim Palmer on pepper shaker and fire extinguisher -Just Breathe/The End: Richard Deane, Danny Laufer, Bruce Andrus, Justin Bruns, Cathy Lynn, Christopher Pulgram, Susan Welty (strings/brass) -Backspacer tracks with keys: Brendan O'Brien -Future Days: Brendan O'Brien on keys -Lighting Bolts tracks with strings: Ann Marie Calhoun -My Father's Son: Mike on six-string bass
Gigaton instrumentation per wikipedia: -Jeff: bass guitar, keyboards and guitar on "Dance of the Clairvoyants" and "Quick Escape", drum loop on "Quick Escape", keyboards on "Alright" and "Seven O'Clock", Mbira on "Alright" and "River Cross", programming on "Seven O'Clock", piano on "Buckle Up" -Matt: drums, drum programming on "Dance of the Clairvoyants", guitar on "Alright" and "Take the Long Way", vocals and programming on "Take the Long Way", -Stone: guitar, bass on "Dance of the Clairvoyants", percussion on "Buckle Up", vocals on "Buckle Up", keyboards on "Retrograde", -Mike: guitar, percussion on "Dance of the Clairvoyants", keyboards on "Retrograde", -Eddie: lead vocals, guitar, keyboards on "Seven O'Clock", pump organ on "River Cross", -Brendan O'Brien – keyboards on "Quick Escape" and "Retrograde" -Josh Evans – keyboards on "Superblood Wolfmoon", "Never Destination", "Buckle Up" and "River Cross", drum programming on "Alright"
Still not sure if Stone plays on Yellow Ledbetter. I can't really hear second guitar. Also not sure who's playing what on Bugs besides Eddie on accordion. And anyone that wants to break down the specific Backspacer and Lightning Bolt tracks that O'Brien and Calhoun play on, please do.
I only heard Stone's Gigaton Track-by Track show once, but I recall him speaking about struggling to find a place in Take the Long Way. Perhaps he did not contribute to that track at all. Then again, my memory is fuzzy, so maybe someone else has a better recollection, or access to that radio special?
I am also not certain if Stone plays on Yellow Ledbetter. A little off topic, but that particular studio take predates the recording of Ten. Yellow Ledbetter (or Yellow Letter as it was originally called) was made back in January '91. Quite possible it was even culled from the same session as the songs on the Alive promo EP (Jan. 29, 1991).
So here's the latest incarnation of the "songs everyone doesn't play on" list now with guest appearances added (not counting Boom who obviously plays keys on several tracks from 2002-onward), and tracks where the band members don't play their usual instruments. Feel free to add to it or correct it. Especially you @pleatherman
-Do The Evolution: Jeff doesn't play (Stone on bass) -No Way: Jeff doesn't play (Stone on bass) -I Got Shit: Jeff, Mike and Stone don't play (Neil Young on guitar, Brendan O'Brien on bass) -Long Road: Mike and Stone don't play. (Neil Young on pump organ) -Soon Forget: Eddie only -2,000 Mile Blues: Stone doesn't play (per the liner notes, he was at the dentist). -Jeremy: Walter Gray on cello, Rick Parashar on hammond organ -Better Man: Stone on mellotron -Sometimes: Mike on piano -Around The Bend: Brendan O'Brien on piano -Arc: Eddie only -Bee Girl: Eddie and Jeff only -Dead Man: Eddie and Jeff only -Footsteps: Eddie and Stone only -Stupid Mop: Eddie, Jeff, and Jack only (I think) -Angel: Eddie and Dave only -Smile: Jeff on guitar, Stone on bass -Pendulum: Mike doesn't play -Driftin': Eddie and Stone (maybe) only -Strangest Tribe: Eddie and Stone only (from same day as Driftin') -Satan's Bed: Dave isn't playing. His drum tech Jimmy Shoaf is -Rock Around Barack: Eddie doesn't play -Master/Slave: Eddie, Jeff, and Rick Parashar only (Rick on programmed keyboards) -Gremmie Out of Control: Brendan O'Brien on guitar, Mike and Stone don't play -Aye Davanita: Per pleatherman, Dave posted on his Facebook that he plays bass and guitar on this. -You Are: Stone doesn't play (Matt on rhythm guitar) -Parting Ways: April Cameron on Viola, Justine Foy on Cello -Rival: Mitchell Froom on keyboards -Oceans: Tim Palmer on pepper shaker and fire extinguisher -Just Breathe/The End: Richard Deane, Danny Laufer, Bruce Andrus, Justin Bruns, Cathy Lynn, Christopher Pulgram, Susan Welty (strings/brass) -Backspacer tracks with keys: Brendan O'Brien -Future Days: Brendan O'Brien on keys -Lighting Bolts tracks with strings: Ann Marie Calhoun -My Father's Son: Mike on six-string bass
Gigaton instrumentation per wikipedia: -Jeff: bass guitar, keyboards and guitar on "Dance of the Clairvoyants" and "Quick Escape", drum loop on "Quick Escape", keyboards on "Alright" and "Seven O'Clock", Mbira on "Alright" and "River Cross", programming on "Seven O'Clock", piano on "Buckle Up" -Matt: drums, drum programming on "Dance of the Clairvoyants", guitar on "Alright" and "Take the Long Way", vocals and programming on "Take the Long Way", -Stone: guitar, bass on "Dance of the Clairvoyants", percussion on "Buckle Up", vocals on "Buckle Up", keyboards on "Retrograde", -Mike: guitar, percussion on "Dance of the Clairvoyants", keyboards on "Retrograde", -Eddie: lead vocals, guitar, keyboards on "Seven O'Clock", pump organ on "River Cross", -Brendan O'Brien – keyboards on "Quick Escape" and "Retrograde" -Josh Evans – keyboards on "Superblood Wolfmoon", "Never Destination", "Buckle Up" and "River Cross", drum programming on "Alright"
Still not sure if Stone plays on Yellow Ledbetter. I can't really hear second guitar. Also not sure who's playing what on Bugs besides Eddie on accordion. And anyone that wants to break down the specific Backspacer and Lightning Bolt tracks that O'Brien and Calhoun play on, please do.
I only heard Stone's Gigaton Track-by Track show once, but I recall him speaking about struggling to find a place in Take the Long Way. Perhaps he did not contribute to that track at all. Then again, my memory is fuzzy, so maybe someone else has a better recollection, or access to that radio special?
I am also not certain if Stone plays on Yellow Ledbetter. A little off topic, but that particular studio take predates the recording of Ten. Yellow Ledbetter (or Yellow Letter as it was originally called) was made back in January '91. Quite possible it was even culled from the same session as the songs on the Alive promo EP (Jan. 29, 1991).
So here's the latest incarnation of the "songs everyone doesn't play on" list now with guest appearances added (not counting Boom who obviously plays keys on several tracks from 2002-onward), and tracks where the band members don't play their usual instruments. Feel free to add to it or correct it. Especially you @pleatherman
-Do The Evolution: Jeff doesn't play (Stone on bass) -No Way: Jeff doesn't play (Stone on bass) -I Got Shit: Jeff, Mike and Stone don't play (Neil Young on guitar, Brendan O'Brien on bass) -Long Road: Mike and Stone don't play. (Neil Young on pump organ) -Soon Forget: Eddie only -2,000 Mile Blues: Stone doesn't play (per the liner notes, he was at the dentist). -Jeremy: Walter Gray on cello, Rick Parashar on hammond organ -Better Man: Stone on mellotron -Sometimes: Mike on piano -Around The Bend: Brendan O'Brien on piano -Arc: Eddie only -Bee Girl: Eddie and Jeff only -Dead Man: Eddie and Jeff only -Footsteps: Eddie and Stone only -Stupid Mop: Eddie, Jeff, and Jack only (I think) -Angel: Eddie and Dave only -Smile: Jeff on guitar, Stone on bass -Pendulum: Mike doesn't play -Driftin': Eddie and Stone (maybe) only -Strangest Tribe: Eddie and Stone only (from same day as Driftin') -Satan's Bed: Dave isn't playing. His drum tech Jimmy Shoaf is -Rock Around Barack: Eddie doesn't play -Master/Slave: Eddie, Jeff, and Rick Parashar only (Rick on programmed keyboards) -Gremmie Out of Control: Brendan O'Brien on guitar, Mike and Stone don't play -Aye Davanita: Per pleatherman, Dave posted on his Facebook that he plays bass and guitar on this. -You Are: Stone doesn't play (Matt on rhythm guitar) -Parting Ways: April Cameron on Viola, Justine Foy on Cello -Rival: Mitchell Froom on keyboards -Oceans: Tim Palmer on pepper shaker and fire extinguisher -Just Breathe/The End: Richard Deane, Danny Laufer, Bruce Andrus, Justin Bruns, Cathy Lynn, Christopher Pulgram, Susan Welty (strings/brass) -Backspacer tracks with keys: Brendan O'Brien -Future Days: Brendan O'Brien on keys -Lighting Bolts tracks with strings: Ann Marie Calhoun -My Father's Son: Mike on six-string bass
Gigaton instrumentation per wikipedia: -Jeff: bass guitar, keyboards and guitar on "Dance of the Clairvoyants" and "Quick Escape", drum loop on "Quick Escape", keyboards on "Alright" and "Seven O'Clock", Mbira on "Alright" and "River Cross", programming on "Seven O'Clock", piano on "Buckle Up" -Matt: drums, drum programming on "Dance of the Clairvoyants", guitar on "Alright" and "Take the Long Way", vocals and programming on "Take the Long Way", -Stone: guitar, bass on "Dance of the Clairvoyants", percussion on "Buckle Up", vocals on "Buckle Up", keyboards on "Retrograde", -Mike: guitar, percussion on "Dance of the Clairvoyants", keyboards on "Retrograde", -Eddie: lead vocals, guitar, keyboards on "Seven O'Clock", pump organ on "River Cross", -Brendan O'Brien – keyboards on "Quick Escape" and "Retrograde" -Josh Evans – keyboards on "Superblood Wolfmoon", "Never Destination", "Buckle Up" and "River Cross", drum programming on "Alright"
Still not sure if Stone plays on Yellow Ledbetter. I can't really hear second guitar. Also not sure who's playing what on Bugs besides Eddie on accordion. And anyone that wants to break down the specific Backspacer and Lightning Bolt tracks that O'Brien and Calhoun play on, please do.
I only heard Stone's Gigaton Track-by Track show once, but I recall him speaking about struggling to find a place in Take the Long Way. Perhaps he did not contribute to that track at all. Then again, my memory is fuzzy, so maybe someone else has a better recollection, or access to that radio special?
I am also not certain if Stone plays on Yellow Ledbetter. A little off topic, but that particular studio take predates the recording of Ten. Yellow Ledbetter (or Yellow Letter as it was originally called) was made back in January '91. Quite possible it was even culled from the same session as the songs on the Alive promo EP (Jan. 29, 1991).
And if so, I thought this was recorded with the mookie demos in October 1990. If not, do you have a copy of the recording you’re talking about?
The recording I am referring to is the standard version that wound up on the Jeremy single. It was originally slated for release on the Even Flow single. I used the notebook from the Ten Super-Deluxe as my source. According to Jeff, the song's development kind of got left by the wayside. This might explain why the words are sometimes non-sensical. Later, the lyrics were published for the live version of YL included on the Daughter single.
Rather than being crushed by the music industry, or any industry for that matter, Pearl Jam strove early on to become a self-sustaining business entity. As their musical catalog has grown, their business ventures also extended. Physically, the companies are all housed at PJ headquarters. Turns out its existence caters to more than a rehearsal space, studio, and Ten Club warehouse. Several names are familiar, like Monkeywrench, Vitalogy Foundation, or Mike’s record label, HockeyTalkter. Also, it is no surprise Ed’s clothing line, Seattle Surf Co. belongs to this location. Others are less recognizable. Panda Bear 71 LLC is the company Jeff created to launch RNDM’s first album. A couple of businesses in Stone’s name, Howyadoing, Inc. and Dust Ripple Music, are infinitesimal, with no releases I could find attached to them.
The most curious one is deke River. Classified for merchandise, the company was deemed important enough for its logo to adorn the entrance of Pearl Jam's building. Yet, no products were ever issued under that name, to my knowledge. The highest claim for notoriety came in the form of a Record Store Day EP by Soundgarden. King Animal Demos hit shelves in 2013. It is well known Soundgardern utilized PJ’s rehearsal space after regrouping to practice and flesh out new material. Instead of crediting the Pearl Jam warehouse as the location for some of the recordings included on the EP, they chose to appropriate another, and dubbed it Deke River Studio.
So here's the latest incarnation of the "songs everyone doesn't play on" list now with guest appearances added (not counting Boom who obviously plays keys on several tracks from 2002-onward), and tracks where the band members don't play their usual instruments. Feel free to add to it or correct it. Especially you @pleatherman
-Do The Evolution: Jeff doesn't play (Stone on bass) -No Way: Jeff doesn't play (Stone on bass) -I Got Shit: Jeff, Mike and Stone don't play (Neil Young on guitar, Brendan O'Brien on bass) -Long Road: Mike and Stone don't play. (Neil Young on pump organ) -Soon Forget: Eddie only -2,000 Mile Blues: Stone doesn't play (per the liner notes, he was at the dentist). -Jeremy: Walter Gray on cello, Rick Parashar on hammond organ -Better Man: Stone on mellotron -Sometimes: Mike on piano -Around The Bend: Brendan O'Brien on piano -Arc: Eddie only -Bee Girl: Eddie and Jeff only -Dead Man: Eddie and Jeff only -Footsteps: Eddie and Stone only -Stupid Mop: Eddie, Jeff, and Jack only (I think) -Angel: Eddie and Dave only -Smile: Jeff on guitar, Stone on bass -Pendulum: Mike doesn't play -Driftin': Eddie and Stone (maybe) only -Strangest Tribe: Eddie and Stone only (from same day as Driftin') -Satan's Bed: Dave isn't playing. His drum tech Jimmy Shoaf is -Rock Around Barack: Eddie doesn't play -Master/Slave: Eddie, Jeff, and Rick Parashar only (Rick on programmed keyboards) -Gremmie Out of Control: Brendan O'Brien on guitar, Mike and Stone don't play -Aye Davanita: Per pleatherman, Dave posted on his Facebook that he plays bass and guitar on this. -You Are: Stone doesn't play (Matt on rhythm guitar) -Parting Ways: April Cameron on Viola, Justine Foy on Cello -Rival: Mitchell Froom on keyboards -Oceans: Tim Palmer on pepper shaker and fire extinguisher -Just Breathe/The End: Richard Deane, Danny Laufer, Bruce Andrus, Justin Bruns, Cathy Lynn, Christopher Pulgram, Susan Welty (strings/brass) -Backspacer tracks with keys: Brendan O'Brien -Future Days: Brendan O'Brien on keys -Lighting Bolts tracks with strings: Ann Marie Calhoun -My Father's Son: Mike on six-string bass
Gigaton instrumentation per wikipedia: -Jeff: bass guitar, keyboards and guitar on "Dance of the Clairvoyants" and "Quick Escape", drum loop on "Quick Escape", keyboards on "Alright" and "Seven O'Clock", Mbira on "Alright" and "River Cross", programming on "Seven O'Clock", piano on "Buckle Up" -Matt: drums, drum programming on "Dance of the Clairvoyants", guitar on "Alright" and "Take the Long Way", vocals and programming on "Take the Long Way", -Stone: guitar, bass on "Dance of the Clairvoyants", percussion on "Buckle Up", vocals on "Buckle Up", keyboards on "Retrograde", -Mike: guitar, percussion on "Dance of the Clairvoyants", keyboards on "Retrograde", -Eddie: lead vocals, guitar, keyboards on "Seven O'Clock", pump organ on "River Cross", -Brendan O'Brien – keyboards on "Quick Escape" and "Retrograde" -Josh Evans – keyboards on "Superblood Wolfmoon", "Never Destination", "Buckle Up" and "River Cross", drum programming on "Alright"
Still not sure if Stone plays on Yellow Ledbetter. I can't really hear second guitar. Also not sure who's playing what on Bugs besides Eddie on accordion. And anyone that wants to break down the specific Backspacer and Lightning Bolt tracks that O'Brien and Calhoun play on, please do.
I only heard Stone's Gigaton Track-by Track show once, but I recall him speaking about struggling to find a place in Take the Long Way. Perhaps he did not contribute to that track at all. Then again, my memory is fuzzy, so maybe someone else has a better recollection, or access to that radio special?
I am also not certain if Stone plays on Yellow Ledbetter. A little off topic, but that particular studio take predates the recording of Ten. Yellow Ledbetter (or Yellow Letter as it was originally called) was made back in January '91. Quite possible it was even culled from the same session as the songs on the Alive promo EP (Jan. 29, 1991).
And if so, I thought this was recorded with the mookie demos in October 1990. If not, do you have a copy of the recording you’re talking about?
The recording I am referring to is the standard version that wound up on the Jeremy single. It was originally slated for release on the Even Flow single. I used the notebook from the Ten Super-Deluxe as my source. According to Jeff, the song's development kind of got left by the wayside. This might explain why the words are sometimes non-sensical. Later, the lyrics were published for the live version of YL included on the Daughter single.
I got ya. I didn't get the Super-Deluxe version of Ten.
‘Gone’ originated out of Eddie’s initial failure to re-learn the Bruce Springsteen song, ‘Atlantic City’. He wanted to cover it while Pearl Jam played a couple shows in that very same town. Eventually he did get a handle on it, but not before morphing the tune into a new composition that happens to be Stone’s favorite on the Avocado album. ‘Gone’ does evokes a Springsteen-like fascination with the open road.
‘Better Man’ is a second example of a Vedder number sired from another 1982 classic, ‘Save It For Later’ by The English Beat. This might not be much of a revelation, considering PJ pays homage to SIFL with a tag at the end of almost every ‘Better Man’ performance. Dave Wakeling wrote the song. The following quote from him is illuminating, not only for highlighting the musical similarities between the two pieces, but also his anecdote answers a couple lingering mysteries surrounding the aborted attempt to record ‘Better Man’ with Chrissie Hynde. The first, why wouldn’t Eddie sing on the track? And the second, how come Chrissie fails to show up for the session?
“I worked with Greenpeace in the 90s and we made a global warming themed album called, ‘Alternative NRG’, and we recorded Pearl Jam live and then we were going to get Chrissie Hynde to do the vocal on this song called, ‘Better Man’, because Eddie Vedder didn’t want to sing it because it was written from a woman’s perspective. So we’re recording the song in this really fancy ranch place in Northern California and I’m looking at the guitarist Stone Gossard and the line he’s playing and he nods at me and I watch him again and he nods at me again and then they took a break and he said, “Yeah, you’re right it’s the same song,” and I went, “What! I thought it might be!”
“He said he used to work at 91X in San Diego as an intern and that was his favorite song when he worked at the radio station. So it is the same song and I think the association is so nice that I’ve never bothered to chase any money on it and they fit together perfectly so when I’m in Seattle I always do a verse of ‘Better Man’ in the middle of ‘Save it for Later’ to give them the honor back."
"Then Chrissie Hynde couldn’t sing it because she was doing an ‘I Love You’* acoustic album and her manager didn’t want her to be interrupted so we didn’t end up using the song at all but it’s absolutely fantastic. Edited from three different live takes with Pearl Jam in full bore playing ‘Better Man’. A really, really great version of it.”
*The Pretenders album Dave is referring to is actually a pun on I Love You, entitled “The Isle of View”.
Amid those one-off shows Green River reunited for in '08-'09, there was serious discussion to record new material for a proper follow-up to 1988’s 'Rehab Doll' album. G.R.’s drummer, Alex Vincent provides further details, including why the project never materialized
“The guys kept talking about ‘Hey, let’s do another recording and a short tour.’ We were all supposed to go and write a couple of songs to bring to the table. So I went and sat down and started to write some music. But for some or other reason, that never materialized – Pearl Jam or Mudhoney had tour dates and that would get in the way, and then after that interest just waned.”
I was intrigued when Stone admitted that Matt Cameron’s suggestion to make the music for ‘Life Wasted’ less complicated led to its eventual inclusion on the "No-Titled" record. Then I read “Pearl Jam: The More You Need - The Less You Get” by Henrik Tuxen and realized how close one of my all-time favorite songs came to not existing. Below is an interview excerpt taken from that book.
Stone: Life Wasted was one that I wrote for the “avocado” album, and I was convinced that it was the greatest piece of rock music I’d ever written, in terms of the individual parts. I brought it to the band and we played it, but it was a little tricky - there was too much math in it. I remember being incredibly disappointed and thinking, “Oh God, how could I have been so wrong about this song?” It wasn’t nearly as direct as I had thought. Near the end of working on songs for the album, Ed said, “Let’s bring that back again and work on it and see what happens.” I was really surprised, because I thought that it had already been canned. But we started to play, Jeff suggested a few simple things, and suddenly it all just worked. And off we went. It had that cool arrangement, a super heavy vibe that I felt was good for the record. It proved to me once again how important the band is. Someone says to you, “Hey, you have something really cool here, chill a bit about it, let it live, feel your way out, don’t make it too complicated.” I think I can have a tendency to overplay an arrangement because I’m not the one singing it. So sometimes the things I bring to the band may be more stiff and complex than necessary. But I love that song and feel like it sums up my songwriting instinct.
Original song titles, or perhaps place-holders is a better term for it, can provide some unique insight into the conception of the music. These are names given before Eddie has a chance to provide lyrics. For instance, Dance of the Clairvoyants was originally called "'80's Song". Then there is "Cody", which Mike named after the receptionist's dog at their headquarters. McCready loved the animal and certainly the riffs are suffused with a sense of playfulness. The song would soon be known as "Down", and take its rightful place with the rest of the Lost Dogs.
So here's the latest incarnation of the "songs everyone doesn't play on" list now with guest appearances added (not counting Boom who obviously plays keys on several tracks from 2002-onward), and tracks where the band members don't play their usual instruments. Feel free to add to it or correct it. Especially you @pleatherman
-Do The Evolution: Jeff doesn't play (Stone on bass) -No Way: Jeff doesn't play (Stone on bass) -I Got Shit: Jeff, Mike and Stone don't play (Neil Young on guitar, Brendan O'Brien on bass) -Long Road: Mike and Stone don't play. (Neil Young on pump organ) -Soon Forget: Eddie only -2,000 Mile Blues: Stone doesn't play (per the liner notes, he was at the dentist). -Jeremy: Walter Gray on cello, Rick Parashar on hammond organ -Better Man: Stone on mellotron -Sometimes: Mike on piano -Around The Bend: Brendan O'Brien on piano -Arc: Eddie only -Bee Girl: Eddie and Jeff only -Dead Man: Eddie and Jeff only -Footsteps: Eddie and Stone only -Stupid Mop: Eddie, Jeff, and Jack only (I think) -Angel: Eddie and Dave only -Smile: Jeff on guitar, Stone on bass -Pendulum: Mike doesn't play -Driftin': Eddie and Stone (maybe) only -Strangest Tribe: Eddie and Stone only (from same day as Driftin') -Satan's Bed: Dave isn't playing. His drum tech Jimmy Shoaf is -Rock Around Barack: Eddie doesn't play -Master/Slave: Eddie, Jeff, and Rick Parashar only (Rick on programmed keyboards) -Gremmie Out of Control: Brendan O'Brien on guitar, Mike and Stone don't play -Aye Davanita: Per pleatherman, Dave posted on his Facebook that he plays bass and guitar on this. -You Are: Stone doesn't play (Matt on rhythm guitar) -Parting Ways: April Cameron on Viola, Justine Foy on Cello -Rival: Mitchell Froom on keyboards -Oceans: Tim Palmer on pepper shaker and fire extinguisher -Just Breathe/The End: Richard Deane, Danny Laufer, Bruce Andrus, Justin Bruns, Cathy Lynn, Christopher Pulgram, Susan Welty (strings/brass) -Backspacer tracks with keys: Brendan O'Brien -Future Days: Brendan O'Brien on keys -Lighting Bolts tracks with strings: Ann Marie Calhoun -My Father's Son: Mike on six-string bass
Gigaton instrumentation per wikipedia: -Jeff: bass guitar, keyboards and guitar on "Dance of the Clairvoyants" and "Quick Escape", drum loop on "Quick Escape", keyboards on "Alright" and "Seven O'Clock", Mbira on "Alright" and "River Cross", programming on "Seven O'Clock", piano on "Buckle Up" -Matt: drums, drum programming on "Dance of the Clairvoyants", guitar on "Alright" and "Take the Long Way", vocals and programming on "Take the Long Way", -Stone: guitar, bass on "Dance of the Clairvoyants", percussion on "Buckle Up", vocals on "Buckle Up", keyboards on "Retrograde", -Mike: guitar, percussion on "Dance of the Clairvoyants", keyboards on "Retrograde", -Eddie: lead vocals, guitar, keyboards on "Seven O'Clock", pump organ on "River Cross", -Brendan O'Brien – keyboards on "Quick Escape" and "Retrograde" -Josh Evans – keyboards on "Superblood Wolfmoon", "Never Destination", "Buckle Up" and "River Cross", drum programming on "Alright"
Still not sure if Stone plays on Yellow Ledbetter. I can't really hear second guitar. Also not sure who's playing what on Bugs besides Eddie on accordion. And anyone that wants to break down the specific Backspacer and Lightning Bolt tracks that O'Brien and Calhoun play on, please do.
I only heard Stone's Gigaton Track-by Track show once, but I recall him speaking about struggling to find a place in Take the Long Way. Perhaps he did not contribute to that track at all. Then again, my memory is fuzzy, so maybe someone else has a better recollection, or access to that radio special?
I am also not certain if Stone plays on Yellow Ledbetter. A little off topic, but that particular studio take predates the recording of Ten. Yellow Ledbetter (or Yellow Letter as it was originally called) was made back in January '91. Quite possible it was even culled from the same session as the songs on the Alive promo EP (Jan. 29, 1991).
And if so, I thought this was recorded with the mookie demos in October 1990. If not, do you have a copy of the recording you’re talking about?
The recording I am referring to is the standard version that wound up on the Jeremy single. It was originally slated for release on the Even Flow single. I used the notebook from the Ten Super-Deluxe as my source. According to Jeff, the song's development kind of got left by the wayside. This might explain why the words are sometimes non-sensical. Later, the lyrics were published for the live version of YL included on the Daughter single.
I was always under the impression that it was an improv jam during one of the first recording sessions that wasn't meant to be turned into an official release, and only later more or less randomly picked to be released as a b-side. Which is why not everyone was present and why there are some nonsensical lyrics that don't seem to ever be the same live. Was there more than one recording of this? If so, I guess that means the whole improv jam thing isn't true.
So here's the latest incarnation of the "songs everyone doesn't play on" list now with guest appearances added (not counting Boom who obviously plays keys on several tracks from 2002-onward), and tracks where the band members don't play their usual instruments. Feel free to add to it or correct it. Especially you @pleatherman
-Do The Evolution: Jeff doesn't play (Stone on bass) -No Way: Jeff doesn't play (Stone on bass) -I Got Shit: Jeff, Mike and Stone don't play (Neil Young on guitar, Brendan O'Brien on bass) -Long Road: Mike and Stone don't play. (Neil Young on pump organ) -Soon Forget: Eddie only -2,000 Mile Blues: Stone doesn't play (per the liner notes, he was at the dentist). -Jeremy: Walter Gray on cello, Rick Parashar on hammond organ -Better Man: Stone on mellotron -Sometimes: Mike on piano -Around The Bend: Brendan O'Brien on piano -Arc: Eddie only -Bee Girl: Eddie and Jeff only -Dead Man: Eddie and Jeff only -Footsteps: Eddie and Stone only -Stupid Mop: Eddie, Jeff, and Jack only (I think) -Angel: Eddie and Dave only -Smile: Jeff on guitar, Stone on bass -Pendulum: Mike doesn't play -Driftin': Eddie and Stone (maybe) only -Strangest Tribe: Eddie and Stone only (from same day as Driftin') -Satan's Bed: Dave isn't playing. His drum tech Jimmy Shoaf is -Rock Around Barack: Eddie doesn't play -Master/Slave: Eddie, Jeff, and Rick Parashar only (Rick on programmed keyboards) -Gremmie Out of Control: Brendan O'Brien on guitar, Mike and Stone don't play -Aye Davanita: Per pleatherman, Dave posted on his Facebook that he plays bass and guitar on this. -You Are: Stone doesn't play (Matt on rhythm guitar) -Parting Ways: April Cameron on Viola, Justine Foy on Cello -Rival: Mitchell Froom on keyboards -Oceans: Tim Palmer on pepper shaker and fire extinguisher -Just Breathe/The End: Richard Deane, Danny Laufer, Bruce Andrus, Justin Bruns, Cathy Lynn, Christopher Pulgram, Susan Welty (strings/brass) -Backspacer tracks with keys: Brendan O'Brien -Future Days: Brendan O'Brien on keys -Lighting Bolts tracks with strings: Ann Marie Calhoun -My Father's Son: Mike on six-string bass
Gigaton instrumentation per wikipedia: -Jeff: bass guitar, keyboards and guitar on "Dance of the Clairvoyants" and "Quick Escape", drum loop on "Quick Escape", keyboards on "Alright" and "Seven O'Clock", Mbira on "Alright" and "River Cross", programming on "Seven O'Clock", piano on "Buckle Up" -Matt: drums, drum programming on "Dance of the Clairvoyants", guitar on "Alright" and "Take the Long Way", vocals and programming on "Take the Long Way", -Stone: guitar, bass on "Dance of the Clairvoyants", percussion on "Buckle Up", vocals on "Buckle Up", keyboards on "Retrograde", -Mike: guitar, percussion on "Dance of the Clairvoyants", keyboards on "Retrograde", -Eddie: lead vocals, guitar, keyboards on "Seven O'Clock", pump organ on "River Cross", -Brendan O'Brien – keyboards on "Quick Escape" and "Retrograde" -Josh Evans – keyboards on "Superblood Wolfmoon", "Never Destination", "Buckle Up" and "River Cross", drum programming on "Alright"
Still not sure if Stone plays on Yellow Ledbetter. I can't really hear second guitar. Also not sure who's playing what on Bugs besides Eddie on accordion. And anyone that wants to break down the specific Backspacer and Lightning Bolt tracks that O'Brien and Calhoun play on, please do.
I only heard Stone's Gigaton Track-by Track show once, but I recall him speaking about struggling to find a place in Take the Long Way. Perhaps he did not contribute to that track at all. Then again, my memory is fuzzy, so maybe someone else has a better recollection, or access to that radio special?
I am also not certain if Stone plays on Yellow Ledbetter. A little off topic, but that particular studio take predates the recording of Ten. Yellow Ledbetter (or Yellow Letter as it was originally called) was made back in January '91. Quite possible it was even culled from the same session as the songs on the Alive promo EP (Jan. 29, 1991).
And if so, I thought this was recorded with the mookie demos in October 1990. If not, do you have a copy of the recording you’re talking about?
The recording I am referring to is the standard version that wound up on the Jeremy single. It was originally slated for release on the Even Flow single. I used the notebook from the Ten Super-Deluxe as my source. According to Jeff, the song's development kind of got left by the wayside. This might explain why the words are sometimes non-sensical. Later, the lyrics were published for the live version of YL included on the Daughter single.
I was always under the impression that it was an improv jam during one of the first recording sessions that wasn't meant to be turned into an official release, and only later more or less randomly picked to be released as a b-side. Which is why not everyone was present and why there are some nonsensical lyrics that don't seem to ever be the same live. Was there more than one recording of this? If so, I guess that means the whole improv jam thing isn't true.
Here's the first recording, which sounds more like an improv than the finished product....
Not really obscure but I was listening to the Live at Orpheum boot today and Ed mentioned the band The Frogs. I've heard of them before but wasn't too familiar with them. Looked them up on wikipedia and one of them, Dennis, died like almost 10 years ago or so. Anywho apparently the song "Future Days" was written about his death.
8/28/98- Camden, NJ
10/31/09- Philly
5/21/10- NYC
9/2/12- Philly, PA
7/19/13- Wrigley
10/19/13- Brooklyn, NY
10/21/13- Philly, PA
10/22/13- Philly, PA
10/27/13- Baltimore, MD
4/28/16- Philly, PA
4/29/16- Philly, PA
5/1/16- NYC
5/2/16- NYC
9/2/18- Boston, MA
9/4/18- Boston, MA
9/14/22- Camden, NJ
9/7/24- Philly, PA
9/9/24- Philly, PA
Tres Mts.- 3/23/11- Philly. PA
Eddie Vedder- 6/25/11- Philly, PA
RNDM- 3/9/16- Philly, PA
Not really obscure but I was listening to the Live at Orpheum boot today and Ed mentioned the band The Frogs. I've heard of them before but wasn't too familiar with them. Looked them up on wikipedia and one of them, Dennis, died like almost 10 years ago or so. Anywho apparently the song "Future Days" was written about his death.
They opened for PJ in the mid-90’s. Ed would come out and sing “I Only Play For Money” with them. They also perform a (in my opinion) terrible cover of Rearviewmirror on the b-side of the Immortality single.
Not really obscure but I was listening to the Live at Orpheum boot today and Ed mentioned the band The Frogs. I've heard of them before but wasn't too familiar with them. Looked them up on wikipedia and one of them, Dennis, died like almost 10 years ago or so. Anywho apparently the song "Future Days" was written about his death.
Yeah, the part in Future Days that relates to Dennis Flemion is "All the missing crooked hearts, they may die but in us they live on". Those crooked hearts Eddie is referring to are, of course, the ones drawn by Dennis and left in E.V.'s notebook back in 1995, accompanied by lyrics from a song his brother, Jimmy, composed entitled 'This Is How I Feel'. That note turned into the lyrics to 'Smile' which included Ed's reference to the doodles as "Three crooked hearts swirls all around."
And no mention of Eddie and the Frogs should go without the inclusion of this video. Always fun to watch those bat wings soar!
(Sorry, looks like it can only be watched on youtube)
Uh-oh, I am starting to go down the youtube rabbit hole. Now I present to you, Sexecutioner! The band is named after a Gwar character and song, which likely explains the homemade costumes. Also, featuring Eddie Vedder on drums. Randy Biro, Alice in Chains guitar tech/ stage manager, explains their origins, as told in "Alice in Chains: The Untold Story" biography.
-Biro said crew members from both bands put together a band called Sexecutioner. “It was a joke band, because there was nobody at the shows. Mookie would play, and Sexecutioner would play, and Alice would play. And we’d take turns out in the audience to applaud the other band, ’cause there was nobody there.
Originally, I believed the words to 'Inside Job' emphasized how personal outlook can alter reality, in a symbolic manner. However, upon the revelation Mike McCready drew lyrical inspiration from the film, 'What the Bleep Do We Know!?', I don't think he intended anything symbolic about it. By linking theories of quantum mechanics with consciousness, the movie posits an individual can literally create their own reality. In other words, "Life comes from within your heart and desire."
Not long after Pearl Jam became the biggest band of the ’90’s, their sound, and in particular, elements of Eddie’s voice became subject to flagrant imitation. And it was exasperated by the void created after the band stepped away from the limelight. Many groups that could tap into a watered down PJ formula found a recipe for commercial success.
One unintended result of the influx in copycats is it subsequently caused Ed to reevaluate his voice and abandon a portion of the singing style he brought to the forefront of modern rock. The following Vedder quote is taken from 2000 and might also offer a clue why he chose to re-record vocals on older songs for Lost Dogs.
“I think in the past, especially if it was like a third-person song, my voice would kind of mimic the emotion, or something like that. It was more mimicry involved on the third record or the second record. It was like, 'this is an angry song so I'm going to use the angry voice.' And that's changed for me. I haven't really addressed this before, but I think it's almost because there are a lot of singers I've noticed who are sounding like they're mimicking me mimicking. I hear a lot of people tell me about it. You know, they'll say 'I heard this song and I thought it was you, then the song sucked so I knew it wasn't you.' So that became a little strange for me, especially when we'd play old songs live and I felt like, 'oh man, this sounds like some other voice.' So I'm feeling pretty good about my singing. I think everyone's got their own voice, it's just a matter of going through the process to find out what that voice is. And I'll just be honest and say that I'm pretty psyched because I think that I did that."
Not really obscure but I was listening to the Live at Orpheum boot today and Ed mentioned the band The Frogs. I've heard of them before but wasn't too familiar with them. Looked them up on wikipedia and one of them, Dennis, died like almost 10 years ago or so. Anywho apparently the song "Future Days" was written about his death.
They opened for PJ in the mid-90’s. Ed would come out and sing “I Only Play For Money” with them. They also perform a (in my opinion) terrible cover of Rearviewmirror on the b-side of the Immortality single.
I listened to that the other day. It was different, that's for sure.
8/28/98- Camden, NJ
10/31/09- Philly
5/21/10- NYC
9/2/12- Philly, PA
7/19/13- Wrigley
10/19/13- Brooklyn, NY
10/21/13- Philly, PA
10/22/13- Philly, PA
10/27/13- Baltimore, MD
4/28/16- Philly, PA
4/29/16- Philly, PA
5/1/16- NYC
5/2/16- NYC
9/2/18- Boston, MA
9/4/18- Boston, MA
9/14/22- Camden, NJ
9/7/24- Philly, PA
9/9/24- Philly, PA
Tres Mts.- 3/23/11- Philly. PA
Eddie Vedder- 6/25/11- Philly, PA
RNDM- 3/9/16- Philly, PA
How E.V. Ukulele Songs Turned into Pearl Jam Music
Between the five members of Pearl Jam, there is no shortage of approaches for creating music.Even so, sometimes it takes an outside source to hear the potential of inclusion on a PJ record.Such was the case for Ed's ukulele songs.Brendan O'Brien rallied to turn "Sleeping by Myself" into a Lightning Bolt track after hearing the initial solo version.Much less known is the decision that lead to revamp "Can't Keep" into a full-fledged band arrangement.At a time when the ukulele music mostly consisted of a batch of songs that felt too personal to release commercially, Ed still passed them along for friends to hear.As Eddie tells it, this method allowed Liam Finn to latch onto "Can't Keep" and persuade him to hand it over to the band.
"I sent Neil (Finn) a copy of some of my ukulele songs. His son, Liam, picked that one for being a crossover and becoming a band song. It's actually more aggressive on ukulele -- a kind of thrash-punk song on ukulele."
Harebrained Side-Note: I absolutely believe it would be a great idea, maybe for an April Fool's concert, to play a mini-set consisting solely of alternate versions (e.g. Speed Wash, No Jeremy, etc.) which includes a Pearl Jam thrash-punk rendition of Can't Keep!
How E.V. Ukulele Songs Turned into Pearl Jam Music
Between the five members of Pearl Jam, there is no shortage of approaches for creating music.Even so, sometimes it takes an outside source to hear the potential of inclusion on a PJ record.Such was the case for Ed's ukulele songs.Brendan O'Brien rallied to turn "Sleeping by Myself" into a Lightning Bolt track after hearing the initial solo version.Much less known is the decision that lead to revamp "Can't Keep" into a full-fledged band arrangement.At a time when the ukulele music mostly consisted of a batch of songs that felt too personal to release commercially, Ed still passed them along for friends to hear.As Eddie tells it, this method allowed Liam Finn to latch onto "Can't Keep" and persuade him to hand it over to the band.
"I sent Neil (Finn) a copy of some of my ukulele songs. His son, Liam, picked that one for being a crossover and becoming a band song. It's actually more aggressive on ukulele -- a kind of thrash-punk song on ukulele."
Harebrained Side-Note: I absolutely believe it would be a great idea, maybe for an April Fool's concert, to play a mini-set consisting solely of alternate versions (e.g. Speed Wash, No Jeremy, etc.) which includes a Pearl Jam thrash-punk rendition of Can't Keep!
Throw in the organ/guitar version of Betterman...or maybe the Bad Radio version with the drums during the intro.
There's a remix of Oceans on the Even Flow single.
The Go single has an acoustic version of Elderly Woman with "Of course you can't see me, for I'm not my former" line.
There's the "avalanche, falling fast" version of Who You Are from Rearviewmirror.
Slow Lukin.
There's two different versions of Hard To Imagine... "Different shades of gray" vs "Forty Shades Of Gray."
Even Flow has the alternative version with the "I died...I died and you just stood there" at the end along with other minor changes.
Speaking of Rearviewmirror, Black, Alive and Once were all remixed. (The ending of that version of Black is fantastic.)
There's uke versions of Can't Keep and Sleeping By Myself.
Presidential Advice from President-Elect Mike McCready: "Are you getting something out of this all encompassing trip?"
How E.V. Ukulele Songs Turned into Pearl Jam Music
Between the five members of Pearl Jam, there is no shortage of approaches for creating music.Even so, sometimes it takes an outside source to hear the potential of inclusion on a PJ record.Such was the case for Ed's ukulele songs.Brendan O'Brien rallied to turn "Sleeping by Myself" into a Lightning Bolt track after hearing the initial solo version.Much less known is the decision that lead to revamp "Can't Keep" into a full-fledged band arrangement.At a time when the ukulele music mostly consisted of a batch of songs that felt too personal to release commercially, Ed still passed them along for friends to hear.As Eddie tells it, this method allowed Liam Finn to latch onto "Can't Keep" and persuade him to hand it over to the band.
"I sent Neil (Finn) a copy of some of my ukulele songs. His son, Liam, picked that one for being a crossover and becoming a band song. It's actually more aggressive on ukulele -- a kind of thrash-punk song on ukulele."
Harebrained Side-Note: I absolutely believe it would be a great idea, maybe for an April Fool's concert, to play a mini-set consisting solely of alternate versions (e.g. Speed Wash, No Jeremy, etc.) which includes a Pearl Jam thrash-punk rendition of Can't Keep!
Throw in the organ/guitar version of Betterman...or maybe the Bad Radio version with the drums during the intro.
There's a remix of Oceans on the Even Flow single.
The Go single has an acoustic version of Elderly Woman with "Of course you can't see me, for I'm not my former" line.
There's the "avalanche, falling fast" version of Who You Are from Rearviewmirror.
Slow Lukin.
There's two different versions of Hard To Imagine... "Different shades of gray" vs "Forty Shades Of Gray."
Even Flow has the alternative version with the "I died...I died and you just stood there" at the end along with other minor changes.
Speaking of Rearviewmirror, Black, Alive and Once were all remixed. (The ending of that version of Black is fantastic.)
There's uke versions of Can't Keep and Sleeping By Myself.
And many Lost Dogs songs. Hard To Imagine like you mentioned, Dirty Frank, Alone, Drifting, Footsteps and maybe some others are all different on Lost Dogs than on their original releases. And in my opinion, not as good.
This is a great thread. I just read through all of it yesterday!
One thing I can possibly contribute here is a really cool find that I discovered partially through this forum. I don't know if this is common knowledge but Andy Wood wrote a melody and lyrics for the Times Of Trouble / Footsteps music.
How E.V. Ukulele Songs Turned into Pearl Jam Music
Between the five members of Pearl Jam, there is no shortage of approaches for creating music.Even so, sometimes it takes an outside source to hear the potential of inclusion on a PJ record.Such was the case for Ed's ukulele songs.Brendan O'Brien rallied to turn "Sleeping by Myself" into a Lightning Bolt track after hearing the initial solo version.Much less known is the decision that lead to revamp "Can't Keep" into a full-fledged band arrangement.At a time when the ukulele music mostly consisted of a batch of songs that felt too personal to release commercially, Ed still passed them along for friends to hear.As Eddie tells it, this method allowed Liam Finn to latch onto "Can't Keep" and persuade him to hand it over to the band.
"I sent Neil (Finn) a copy of some of my ukulele songs. His son, Liam, picked that one for being a crossover and becoming a band song. It's actually more aggressive on ukulele -- a kind of thrash-punk song on ukulele."
Harebrained Side-Note: I absolutely believe it would be a great idea, maybe for an April Fool's concert, to play a mini-set consisting solely of alternate versions (e.g. Speed Wash, No Jeremy, etc.) which includes a Pearl Jam thrash-punk rendition of Can't Keep!
Throw in the organ/guitar version of Betterman...or maybe the Bad Radio version with the drums during the intro.
There's a remix of Oceans on the Even Flow single.
The Go single has an acoustic version of Elderly Woman with "Of course you can't see me, for I'm not my former" line.
There's the "avalanche, falling fast" version of Who You Are from Rearviewmirror.
Slow Lukin.
There's two different versions of Hard To Imagine... "Different shades of gray" vs "Forty Shades Of Gray."
Even Flow has the alternative version with the "I died...I died and you just stood there" at the end along with other minor changes.
Speaking of Rearviewmirror, Black, Alive and Once were all remixed. (The ending of that version of Black is fantastic.)
There's uke versions of Can't Keep and Sleeping By Myself.
And many Lost Dogs songs. Hard To Imagine like you mentioned, Dirty Frank, Alone, Drifting, Footsteps and maybe some others are all different on Lost Dogs than on their original releases. And in my opinion, not as good.
Am I correct in assuming those newer versions on RVM are just remixes and not new recordings? I never listened to the originals enough to notice the difference, although Alone is a great song. Should have made the album (Vs?).
How E.V. Ukulele Songs Turned into Pearl Jam Music
Between the five members of Pearl Jam, there is no shortage of approaches for creating music.Even so, sometimes it takes an outside source to hear the potential of inclusion on a PJ record.Such was the case for Ed's ukulele songs.Brendan O'Brien rallied to turn "Sleeping by Myself" into a Lightning Bolt track after hearing the initial solo version.Much less known is the decision that lead to revamp "Can't Keep" into a full-fledged band arrangement.At a time when the ukulele music mostly consisted of a batch of songs that felt too personal to release commercially, Ed still passed them along for friends to hear.As Eddie tells it, this method allowed Liam Finn to latch onto "Can't Keep" and persuade him to hand it over to the band.
"I sent Neil (Finn) a copy of some of my ukulele songs. His son, Liam, picked that one for being a crossover and becoming a band song. It's actually more aggressive on ukulele -- a kind of thrash-punk song on ukulele."
Harebrained Side-Note: I absolutely believe it would be a great idea, maybe for an April Fool's concert, to play a mini-set consisting solely of alternate versions (e.g. Speed Wash, No Jeremy, etc.) which includes a Pearl Jam thrash-punk rendition of Can't Keep!
Throw in the organ/guitar version of Betterman...or maybe the Bad Radio version with the drums during the intro.
There's a remix of Oceans on the Even Flow single.
The Go single has an acoustic version of Elderly Woman with "Of course you can't see me, for I'm not my former" line.
There's the "avalanche, falling fast" version of Who You Are from Rearviewmirror.
Slow Lukin.
There's two different versions of Hard To Imagine... "Different shades of gray" vs "Forty Shades Of Gray."
Even Flow has the alternative version with the "I died...I died and you just stood there" at the end along with other minor changes.
Speaking of Rearviewmirror, Black, Alive and Once were all remixed. (The ending of that version of Black is fantastic.)
There's uke versions of Can't Keep and Sleeping By Myself.
And many Lost Dogs songs. Hard To Imagine like you mentioned, Dirty Frank, Alone, Drifting, Footsteps and maybe some others are all different on Lost Dogs than on their original releases. And in my opinion, not as good.
Am I correct in assuming those newer versions on RVM are just remixes and not new recordings? I never listened to the originals enough to notice the difference, although Alone is a great song. Should have made the album (Vs?).
Yeah the three remixes on RVM are just remixes of the original recordings. And the remixes on the Ten Reissue are different (and to me, better) than the ones on RVM.
Comments
It was a nice read, especially considering there are not many books dedicated to Chris Cornell or Soundgarden. After the childhood stuff, each chapter revolves around a single album and accompanying tour, developing a broad retrospective of Cornell's career. Although the book contains some exclusive interviews with record producers and video directors, the author relies heavily on previously published articles for quotes from his closest collaborators. He admits in the introduction that legal issues surrounding Chris' estate prevented a host of others from sharing their stories, which is a bummer.
A diehard fan might not learn much new info. This is not an in-depth tome on Chris Cornell or his bands. But unlike many other biographies strung together from old interviews, this does not read like some haphazard cash grab. The admiration and love of the subject's work is very apparent in the writing.
Released sept 3rd in uk.
I love Chris and look forward to this book.
astoria 06
albany 06
hartford 06
reading 06
barcelona 06
paris 06
wembley 07
dusseldorf 07
nijmegen 07
this song is meant to be called i got shit,itshould be called i got shit tickets-hartford 06 -
If I knew where it was I would take you there.
-Do The Evolution: Jeff doesn't play (Stone on bass)
-No Way: Jeff doesn't play (Stone on bass)
-I Got Shit: Jeff, Mike and Stone don't play (Neil Young on guitar, Brendan O'Brien on bass)
-Long Road: Mike and Stone don't play. (Neil Young on pump organ)
-Soon Forget: Eddie only
-2,000 Mile Blues: Stone doesn't play (per the liner notes, he was at the dentist).
-Jeremy: Walter Gray on cello, Rick Parashar on hammond organ
-Better Man: Stone on mellotron
-Sometimes: Mike on piano
-Around The Bend: Brendan O'Brien on piano
-Arc: Eddie only
-Bee Girl: Eddie and Jeff only
-Dead Man: Eddie and Jeff only
-Footsteps: Eddie and Stone only
-Stupid Mop: Eddie, Jeff, and Jack only (I think)
-Angel: Eddie and Dave only
-Smile: Jeff on guitar, Stone on bass
-Pendulum: Mike doesn't play
-Driftin': Eddie and Stone (maybe) only
-Strangest Tribe: Eddie and Stone only (from same day as Driftin')
-Satan's Bed: Dave isn't playing. His drum tech Jimmy Shoaf is
-Rock Around Barack: Eddie doesn't play
-Master/Slave: Eddie, Jeff, and Rick Parashar only (Rick on programmed keyboards)
-Gremmie Out of Control: Brendan O'Brien on guitar, Mike and Stone don't play
-Aye Davanita: Per pleatherman, Dave posted on his Facebook that he plays bass and guitar on this.
-You Are: Stone doesn't play (Matt on rhythm guitar)
-Parting Ways: April Cameron on Viola, Justine Foy on Cello
-Rival: Mitchell Froom on keyboards
-Oceans: Tim Palmer on pepper shaker and fire extinguisher
-Just Breathe/The End: Richard Deane, Danny Laufer, Bruce Andrus, Justin Bruns, Cathy Lynn, Christopher Pulgram, Susan Welty (strings/brass)
-Backspacer tracks with keys: Brendan O'Brien
-Future Days: Brendan O'Brien on keys
-Lighting Bolts tracks with strings: Ann Marie Calhoun
-My Father's Son: Mike on six-string bass
Gigaton instrumentation per wikipedia:
-Jeff: bass guitar, keyboards and guitar on "Dance of the Clairvoyants" and "Quick Escape", drum loop on "Quick Escape", keyboards on "Alright" and "Seven O'Clock", Mbira on "Alright" and "River Cross", programming on "Seven O'Clock", piano on "Buckle Up"
-Matt: drums, drum programming on "Dance of the Clairvoyants", guitar on "Alright" and "Take the Long Way", vocals and programming on "Take the Long Way",
-Stone: guitar, bass on "Dance of the Clairvoyants", percussion on "Buckle Up", vocals on "Buckle Up", keyboards on "Retrograde",
-Mike: guitar, percussion on "Dance of the Clairvoyants", keyboards on "Retrograde",
-Eddie: lead vocals, guitar, keyboards on "Seven O'Clock", pump organ on "River Cross",
-Brendan O'Brien – keyboards on "Quick Escape" and "Retrograde"
-Josh Evans – keyboards on "Superblood Wolfmoon", "Never Destination", "Buckle Up" and "River Cross", drum programming on "Alright"
Still not sure if Stone plays on Yellow Ledbetter. I can't really hear second guitar. Also not sure who's playing what on Bugs besides Eddie on accordion. And anyone that wants to break down the specific Backspacer and Lightning Bolt tracks that O'Brien and Calhoun play on, please do.
Pearl Jam bootlegs:
http://wegotshit.blogspot.com
I am also not certain if Stone plays on Yellow Ledbetter. A little off topic, but that particular studio take predates the recording of Ten. Yellow Ledbetter (or Yellow Letter as it was originally called) was made back in January '91. Quite possible it was even culled from the same session as the songs on the Alive promo EP (Jan. 29, 1991).
Pearl Jam bootlegs:
http://wegotshit.blogspot.com
According to Jeff, the song's development kind of got left by the wayside. This might explain why the words are sometimes non-sensical. Later, the lyrics were published for the live version of YL included on the Daughter single.
Rather than being crushed by the music industry, or any industry for that matter, Pearl Jam strove early on to become a self-sustaining business entity. As their musical catalog has grown, their business ventures also extended. Physically, the companies are all housed at PJ headquarters. Turns out its existence caters to more than a rehearsal space, studio, and Ten Club warehouse. Several names are familiar, like Monkeywrench, Vitalogy Foundation, or Mike’s record label, HockeyTalkter. Also, it is no surprise Ed’s clothing line, Seattle Surf Co. belongs to this location. Others are less recognizable. Panda Bear 71 LLC is the company Jeff created to launch RNDM’s first album. A couple of businesses in Stone’s name, Howyadoing, Inc. and Dust Ripple Music, are infinitesimal, with no releases I could find attached to them.
The most curious one is deke River. Classified for merchandise, the company was deemed important enough for its logo to adorn the entrance of Pearl Jam's building. Yet, no products were ever issued under that name, to my knowledge. The highest claim for notoriety came in the form of a Record Store Day EP by Soundgarden. King Animal Demos hit shelves in 2013. It is well known Soundgardern utilized PJ’s rehearsal space after regrouping to practice and flesh out new material. Instead of crediting the Pearl Jam warehouse as the location for some of the recordings included on the EP, they chose to appropriate another, and dubbed it Deke River Studio.
Pearl Jam bootlegs:
http://wegotshit.blogspot.com
‘Gone’ originated out of Eddie’s initial failure to re-learn the Bruce Springsteen song, ‘Atlantic City’. He wanted to cover it while Pearl Jam played a couple shows in that very same town. Eventually he did get a handle on it, but not before morphing the tune into a new composition that happens to be Stone’s favorite on the Avocado album. ‘Gone’ does evokes a Springsteen-like fascination with the open road.
‘Better Man’ is a second example of a Vedder number sired from another 1982 classic, ‘Save It For Later’ by The English Beat. This might not be much of a revelation, considering PJ pays homage to SIFL with a tag at the end of almost every ‘Better Man’ performance. Dave Wakeling wrote the song. The following quote from him is illuminating, not only for highlighting the musical similarities between the two pieces, but also his anecdote answers a couple lingering mysteries surrounding the aborted attempt to record ‘Better Man’ with Chrissie Hynde. The first, why wouldn’t Eddie sing on the track? And the second, how come Chrissie fails to show up for the session?
“I worked with Greenpeace in the 90s and we made a global warming themed album called, ‘Alternative NRG’, and we recorded Pearl Jam live and then we were going to get Chrissie Hynde to do the vocal on this song called, ‘Better Man’, because Eddie Vedder didn’t want to sing it because it was written from a woman’s perspective. So we’re recording the song in this really fancy ranch place in Northern California and I’m looking at the guitarist Stone Gossard and the line he’s playing and he nods at me and I watch him again and he nods at me again and then they took a break and he said, “Yeah, you’re right it’s the same song,” and I went, “What! I thought it might be!”
“He said he used to work at 91X in San Diego as an intern and that was his favorite song when he worked at the radio station. So it is the same song and I think the association is so nice that I’ve never bothered to chase any money on it and they fit together perfectly so when I’m in Seattle I always do a verse of ‘Better Man’ in the middle of ‘Save it for Later’ to give them the honor back."
"Then Chrissie Hynde couldn’t sing it because she was doing an ‘I Love You’* acoustic album and her manager didn’t want her to be interrupted so we didn’t end up using the song at all but it’s absolutely fantastic. Edited from three different live takes with Pearl Jam in full bore playing ‘Better Man’. A really, really great version of it.”
*The Pretenders album Dave is referring to is actually a pun on I Love You, entitled “The Isle of View”.
The Green River Reunion Album That Never Was…
Amid those one-off shows Green River reunited for in '08-'09, there was serious discussion to record new material for a proper follow-up to 1988’s 'Rehab Doll' album. G.R.’s drummer, Alex Vincent provides further details, including why the project never materialized
“The guys kept talking about ‘Hey, let’s do another recording and a short tour.’ We were all supposed to go and write a couple of songs to bring to the table. So I went and sat down and started to write some music. But for some or other reason, that never materialized – Pearl Jam or Mudhoney had tour dates and that would get in the way, and then after that interest just waned.”
The Pearl Jam Song That Almost Never Was…
I was intrigued when Stone admitted that Matt Cameron’s suggestion to make the music for ‘Life Wasted’ less complicated led to its eventual inclusion on the "No-Titled" record. Then I read “Pearl Jam: The More You Need - The Less You Get” by Henrik Tuxen and realized how close one of my all-time favorite songs came to not existing. Below is an interview excerpt taken from that book.
Stone: Life Wasted was one that I wrote for the “avocado” album, and I was convinced that it was the greatest piece of rock music I’d ever written, in terms of the individual parts. I brought it to the band and we played it, but it was a little tricky - there was too much math in it. I remember being incredibly disappointed and thinking, “Oh God, how could I have been so wrong about this song?” It wasn’t nearly as direct as I had thought. Near the end of working on songs for the album, Ed said, “Let’s bring that back again and work on it and see what happens.” I was really surprised, because I thought that it had already been canned. But we started to play, Jeff suggested a few simple things, and suddenly it all just worked. And off we went. It had that cool arrangement, a super heavy vibe that I felt was good for the record. It proved to me once again how important the band is. Someone says to you, “Hey, you have something really cool here, chill a bit about it, let it live, feel your way out, don’t make it too complicated.” I think I can have a tendency to overplay an arrangement because I’m not the one singing it. So sometimes the things I bring to the band may be more stiff and complex than necessary. But I love that song and feel like it sums up my songwriting instinct.astoria 06
albany 06
hartford 06
reading 06
barcelona 06
paris 06
wembley 07
dusseldorf 07
nijmegen 07
this song is meant to be called i got shit,itshould be called i got shit tickets-hartford 06 -
PEARL JAM - Yellow Ledbetter [DEMO] - YouTube
Pearl Jam bootlegs:
http://wegotshit.blogspot.com
10/31/09- Philly
5/21/10- NYC
9/2/12- Philly, PA
7/19/13- Wrigley
10/19/13- Brooklyn, NY
10/21/13- Philly, PA
10/22/13- Philly, PA
10/27/13- Baltimore, MD
4/28/16- Philly, PA
4/29/16- Philly, PA
5/1/16- NYC
5/2/16- NYC
9/2/18- Boston, MA
9/4/18- Boston, MA
9/14/22- Camden, NJ
9/7/24- Philly, PA
9/9/24- Philly, PA
Eddie Vedder- 6/25/11- Philly, PA
RNDM- 3/9/16- Philly, PA
Pearl Jam bootlegs:
http://wegotshit.blogspot.com
Yeah, the part in Future Days that relates to Dennis Flemion is "All the missing crooked hearts, they may die but in us they live on". Those crooked hearts Eddie is referring to are, of course, the ones drawn by Dennis and left in E.V.'s notebook back in 1995, accompanied by lyrics from a song his brother, Jimmy, composed entitled 'This Is How I Feel'. That note turned into the lyrics to 'Smile' which included Ed's reference to the doodles as "Three crooked hearts swirls all around."
And no mention of Eddie and the Frogs should go without the inclusion of this video. Always fun to watch those bat wings soar!
(Sorry, looks like it can only be watched on youtube)
Uh-oh, I am starting to go down the youtube rabbit hole. Now I present to you, Sexecutioner! The band is named after a Gwar character and song, which likely explains the homemade costumes. Also, featuring Eddie Vedder on drums. Randy Biro, Alice in Chains guitar tech/ stage manager, explains their origins, as told in "Alice in Chains: The Untold Story" biography.
-Biro said crew members from both bands put together a band called Sexecutioner. “It was a joke band, because there was nobody at the shows. Mookie would play, and Sexecutioner would play, and Alice would play. And we’d take turns out in the audience to applaud the other band, ’cause there was nobody there.
Originally, I believed the words to 'Inside Job' emphasized how personal outlook can alter reality, in a symbolic manner. However, upon the revelation Mike McCready drew lyrical inspiration from the film, 'What the Bleep Do We Know!?', I don't think he intended anything symbolic about it. By linking theories of quantum mechanics with consciousness, the movie posits an individual can literally create their own reality. In other words, "Life comes from within your heart and desire."
Pearl Jam Copycat Effect
Not long after Pearl Jam became the biggest band of the ’90’s, their sound, and in particular, elements of Eddie’s voice became subject to flagrant imitation. And it was exasperated by the void created after the band stepped away from the limelight. Many groups that could tap into a watered down PJ formula found a recipe for commercial success.
One unintended result of the influx in copycats is it subsequently caused Ed to reevaluate his voice and abandon a portion of the singing style he brought to the forefront of modern rock. The following Vedder quote is taken from 2000 and might also offer a clue why he chose to re-record vocals on older songs for Lost Dogs.
“I think in the past, especially if it was like a third-person song, my voice would kind of mimic the emotion, or something like that. It was more mimicry involved on the third record or the second record. It was like, 'this is an angry song so I'm going to use the angry voice.' And that's changed for me. I haven't really addressed this before, but I think it's almost because there are a lot of singers I've noticed who are sounding like they're mimicking me mimicking. I hear a lot of people tell me about it. You know, they'll say 'I heard this song and I thought it was you, then the song sucked so I knew it wasn't you.' So that became a little strange for me, especially when we'd play old songs live and I felt like, 'oh man, this sounds like some other voice.' So I'm feeling pretty good about my singing. I think everyone's got their own voice, it's just a matter of going through the process to find out what that voice is. And I'll just be honest and say that I'm pretty psyched because I think that I did that."
I listened to that the other day. It was different, that's for sure.
10/31/09- Philly
5/21/10- NYC
9/2/12- Philly, PA
7/19/13- Wrigley
10/19/13- Brooklyn, NY
10/21/13- Philly, PA
10/22/13- Philly, PA
10/27/13- Baltimore, MD
4/28/16- Philly, PA
4/29/16- Philly, PA
5/1/16- NYC
5/2/16- NYC
9/2/18- Boston, MA
9/4/18- Boston, MA
9/14/22- Camden, NJ
9/7/24- Philly, PA
9/9/24- Philly, PA
Eddie Vedder- 6/25/11- Philly, PA
RNDM- 3/9/16- Philly, PA
How E.V. Ukulele Songs Turned into Pearl Jam Music
Between the five members of Pearl Jam, there is no shortage of approaches for creating music. Even so, sometimes it takes an outside source to hear the potential of inclusion on a PJ record. Such was the case for Ed's ukulele songs. Brendan O'Brien rallied to turn "Sleeping by Myself" into a Lightning Bolt track after hearing the initial solo version. Much less known is the decision that lead to revamp "Can't Keep" into a full-fledged band arrangement. At a time when the ukulele music mostly consisted of a batch of songs that felt too personal to release commercially, Ed still passed them along for friends to hear. As Eddie tells it, this method allowed Liam Finn to latch onto "Can't Keep" and persuade him to hand it over to the band.
"I sent Neil (Finn) a copy of some of my ukulele songs. His son, Liam, picked that one for being a crossover and becoming a band song. It's actually more aggressive on ukulele -- a kind of thrash-punk song on ukulele."
Harebrained Side-Note: I absolutely believe it would be a great idea, maybe for an April Fool's concert, to play a mini-set consisting solely of alternate versions (e.g. Speed Wash, No Jeremy, etc.) which includes a Pearl Jam thrash-punk rendition of Can't Keep!
Throw in the organ/guitar version of Betterman...or maybe the Bad Radio version with the drums during the intro.
There's a remix of Oceans on the Even Flow single.
The Go single has an acoustic version of Elderly
Woman with "Of course you can't see me, for I'm not my former" line.
There's the "avalanche, falling fast" version of Who You Are from Rearviewmirror.
Slow Lukin.
There's two different versions of Hard To Imagine... "Different shades of gray" vs "Forty Shades Of Gray."
Even Flow has the alternative version with the "I died...I died and you just stood there" at the end along with other minor changes.
Speaking of Rearviewmirror, Black, Alive and Once were all remixed. (The ending of that version of Black is fantastic.)
There's uke versions of Can't Keep and Sleeping By Myself.
Pearl Jam bootlegs:
http://wegotshit.blogspot.com
One thing I can possibly contribute here is a really cool find that I discovered partially through this forum. I don't know if this is common knowledge but Andy Wood wrote a melody and lyrics for the Times Of Trouble / Footsteps music.
More details here: https://community.pearljam.com/discussion/278111/did-andy-wood-write-lyrics-to-footsteps-times-of-trouble-music#latest
I never listened to the originals enough to notice the difference, although Alone is a great song. Should have made the album (Vs?).
Pearl Jam bootlegs:
http://wegotshit.blogspot.com