Of Potato heads and Polaroids

HesCalledDyer

epie said:

Anybody that can read "McCready" that can decipher this for me?

Sure thing, it says "Mike McCready"

mcgruff10

Live and let live! 

ewok pants

Anyone interested in the deluxe version with the photograph for retail? my wife and I went to the event and got signed copies of the book as well. Let me know. THanks

demetrios

https://twitter.com/ElliottBayBooks/status/870015668984324096

Attaway77

Just got my deluxe today, very cool! Nice book and well done. I didn't go through and read all the other posts, but if it hasn't been mentioned, be careful when you open it. May not be the same for others, but my autographed picture was taped to the inside of the box. I usually open my packages in the lobby/mailbox area (apt complex) so I can throw the bulk of packing away there. I had to go back to the trash and look for it cause it wasn't inside the book (more effort to tape it inside the box then place it inside the book I guess). All good, got it and it's a great book!

wwsuicide

star added....nice touch!

kaseylily

The pics in this book are awesome! Really fun picture book. 

mcgruff10

kaseylily said:

The pics in this book are awesome! Really fun picture book. 

Agreed.  It was very well done.

JoeyP21

Obligatory picture of my book and polaroid that came in yesterday. I too was really impressed with the quality and content in this book. Must have for any PJ fan!

tweedyfanjen

wwsuicide said:

star added....nice touch!

Yep, mine has two stars at the bottom and some lines around Mike's head. Not sure what that signifies but I'll go with it.

Gern Blansten

got mine yesterday....love it but it does make me wish he had a decent camera.  Polaroids SUCK

demetrios

https://pearljam.com/shop/featured-items/of-potato-heads-and-polaroids-book

demetrios

‘Of Potato Heads and Polaroids’: Pearl Jam guitarist captures rock life one shot at a time
http://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/of-potato-heads-and-polaroids-pearl-jam-guitarist-captures-rock-life-one-shot-at-a-time

By

Nicole Brodeur

Seattle Times columnist

Mike McCready takes a shot of the crowd gathered at KEXP’s gathering space May 30 for the release of his new book, “Of Potato Heads and Polaroids.” (Nicole Brodeur / The Seattle Times)

“Am I really an author if I just put pictures in a book?” Mike McCready asked.

The capacity crowd at the KEXP gathering space seemed to think so. They had all come out Wednesday to see the Pearl Jam guitarist talk about “Of Potato Heads and Polaroids: My Life Inside and Out of Pearl Jam.”

The book is a collection of 500 photographs McCready has taken over the last 25 years while his band traveled the globe and he grew from a scrawny, gifted guitarist to a husband and father of three with his own record label (Hockeytalkter, which published the book) and a fresh induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

McCready was interviewed onstage by KEXP’s Kevin Cole while a selection of the Polaroids from the book were projected on a large screen. The event was live-streamed on both the Pearl Jam and KEXP Facebook pages, and some 200,000 people tuned in to watch and ask questions.

One shot at a time, McCready has captured everything from Pearl Jam’s increasingly bigger crowds to his ever-changing hair color and growing family. There are shots of the music legends Pearl Jam has played with and the hometown and celebrity friends who have visited backstage.

Most are holding a Mr. Potato Head he found in a Minneapolis drug store in 1995.

“The box said, ‘They’re fun!’ so I thought, “I’ll buy one of those.'”

Mike McCready’s new book, “Of Potato Heads and Polaroids” includes 500 photos taken over 25 years on the road and at home.

So why Polaroids? Cole asked.

“It was this instant, tangible thing,” McCready explained. “Instant gratification.”

But the photos also allowed a certain intimacy. The simple act of shooting a single photo seemed to remove any sense of formality. The subjects are smiling and playful.

And yet, some of the photos are artful, like the silhouette of McCready raising the 12th Man flag atop the Space Needle. The Duomo di Milano and Stonehenge. There’s a double-shot of McCready’s daughter, Kaia, that could be hung in a museum.

In one shot, McCready’s 1956 Stratocaster stands beside Paul McCartney’s Hoffner bass. McCready took it when was asked to help record a song with McCartney (and Lady Gaga).

“It was one of the highlights of my musical life,” McCready said.

Still, he told Cole that he was struck almost speechless until he thought to ask McCartney about his earliest memory of Jimi Hendrix. McCartney told him of stopping into a London pub called The Bag O’Nails for a meal during the “Revolver” era and seeing a three-piece set up on the stage. It turned out to be The Jimi Hendrix Experience. McCartney called some friends — including Pete Townshend of The Who — to come down and see them. Fast.

There are shots of backstage visitors like  Randy “The Big Unit” Johnson, Kate Hudson, Dustin Hoffman and Sting. Neil Young, Venus Williams. Eddie Vedder with Johnny Ramone.

There’s former Pearl Jam drummer Jack Irons with his hands plunged into a bucket of ice. Current drummer Matt Cameron hunched over an open box of Band-Aids. (“Now we’re all trading epsom salts and ointments,” McCready cracked.)

There is a photo of Jack White that McCready took during an interview he did for Sirius XM radio.

“He’s like eight different guys in one guy,” McCready said. “He’s got a label and is in about eight different bands that are all rad. He’s bluesy and nasty and real and effective and I can feel it in my soul.”

There are several photos of Steve Gleason, a friend of McCready’s who was a gifted player for Washington State University and the New Orleans Saints before he was diagnosed with ALS in 2011.

“He was a fan and a hippie dude and a football player and (his diagnosis) didn’t make any sense,” McCready said of Gleason.

There are also people who are gone. Alice in Chains frontman Layne Staley, who died in 2002. And Chris Cornell of Soundgarden, who died May 18.

“It’s tough to look at that right now,” McCready said while a shot of Cornell flashed on the screen.

“I miss him,” McCready said. “It’s everyone’s loss … and I wish we didn’t have to talk about these pictures in that kind of sense … We all know how amazing Soundgarden was, and his solo things and how great his voice was. I mean, he was incredible … I am still at a loss and grieving.”

Said Cole: “We’ve lost the voice of Seattle.”

“Amongst a bunch of others!” McCready said. “And it’s like, ‘Stop! Stop (expletive) dying.’ Sorry, am I swearing a lot on world-wide radio?  Sorry, Prague. Or the South.”

Some of the happiest shots are those McCready has taken from stages around the world: South America, Europe. The Showbox in Seattle. Fans smiling and screaming with their arms held high, or reaching toward him, or holding signs that say, “MIKE IS A HEADBANGER. MIKE IS A PUNK ROCKER.”

“I probably should be playing guitar,” he said of the time he took to take the shots. “I’m generally paying attention to our songs.”

Over 25 years, he took some 20,000 Polaroids. He would toss them in his road case and then, once home, into a box.

Last year, drummer and graphic designer Regan Hagar put the book together, choosing just 500 from the mass of pictures that have captured an extraordinary life.

“This is a dream come true,” McCready told the crowd. “So thank you for being a part of it.”

The entire interview is available on KEXP’s Facebook page, here, beginning at the 28 minute mark.

Nicole Brodeur: 206-464-2334 or nbrodeur@seattletimes.com; on Twitter: @nicolebrodeur. Nicole Brodeur is a Seattle Times columnist.

Blacksheep76

Received mine a couple of days ago.  Be careful when opening the package.  My picture fell out of the box when I pulled the book out of it.

demetrios

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1l95Hd0e_VA

a5pj

pretty sweet, again kicking myself because I didn't preorder.
If anyone has a deluxe version they want to trade I have a bunch of 2000 and 2003 bootlegs for you And you can keep the signed Polaroid. 

amethgr8

blacksheep76, i got the same photo, signed in black along the bottom, signature goes along the bottom in the white and over the picture, then he drew lines around the sign on the right in the background like it's glowing, like a sun. 

anyone know what show it's from or the sign in the background?  all the polaroids he signed were different?  any idea how many signed?

amy

erocshifty

Just picked this up today. Great book and really fun to flip through.

joseph33

HesCalledDyer said:gI received the very same pic today.

epie said:

Anybody that can read "McCready" that can decipher this for me?

Sure thing, it says "Mike McCready"

demetrios

https://twitter.com/MikeMcCreadyPJ/status/872585812184932352