My Pearl Jam Story
Being back from Wrigley I had some inspiration to just jot down by 25 year experience with this band. I’m mainly just a lurker here but I read it every day. I’ll start with sometime around 1991. (I am doing this from memory so I may have dates wrong.) I was just a middle class kid, pretty normal, living in Atlanta, a tad bit rebellious but overall a good kid that wasn’t really interested in any particular style of music. My dad was a huge rock guy so I grew up on Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Who, Genesis, stuff like that. I used to watch MTV obviously and liked a few bands, REM, U2, etc. I had seen this Jeremy video a few times and probably didn’t pay much attention to it, wasn’t bad, wasn’t great, who knows. But I kept seeing it, and I started paying attention. I saw this guy. I didn’t know who he was, but there was something about him. Something in his eyes, his intensity, even in what I knew was a rehearsed recorded video I knew this guy was intense and there was something about him. Who was this band? And was the hell is Pearl Jam?
So I went and bought a cassette. It was called Ten. I only knew the song Jeremy so I listened to it over and over, until I eventually started paying attention to the other songs. Porch was next, Alive, Even Flow, and my god Release. Where has this music been? I feel like I have discovered something amazing and it’s all mine. Obviously “alternative music” is getting ready to explode and I am right there with it, discovering all these bands that seemed like they just didn’t give a shit and wanted to play music instead of screw every girl they saw and dress like a chick. Nirvana, STP, Live (god I wore that Throwing Copper album out). I have found the music that I love. Mostly thought I have found a favorite band that I still didn’t know much about but wanted more.
I bought posters, magazines, shirts, anything I could find. I had a huge poster of Eddie leaning against the mic on the ceiling above my bed. I had magazine pictures and articles all over my wall. I was obsessed. My local radio station was advertising that Eddie and I think Jeff? was going to be on something called Rockline. It was a school night but I stayed up to listen to this and record it. I think it might have been the first real time I heard Ed speak and not sing. I remember he seemed a little irritated, like he didn’t want to be there. They played Daughter and at the time it sounded like the greatest piece of music I had ever heard. I remember Bee Girl, Ed telling a caller with a question that he didn’t like that he had just won a harmonica or something. It’s all fuzzy but it was amazing to me at the time. Vs. came out and I bought the cassette the day it was released. God it sounded good. Man this record is angry, intense…..I am complete hooked on this band. This is my religion, please don’t just fade away like so many other bands do. Please……….
Sometime in early 1994 we found out that Pearl Jam was playing at the Fox Theatre downtown. No way. This was like a 5000 seat theatre famous for Broadway-type shows and such. This would be amazing. I needed to be there. I had to be there. My dad got tickets for me and I was going. A friend (huge Nirvana fan but liked PJ) and I went to the show and it was absolutely a religious experience. Ed looked different. His hair was shorter and curly. He was so intense. The whole band was. I remember Better Man. Ed said it was a new song that he wrote a long time ago. Dedicated to the bastard that married his Mama. I remember him saying they don’t have to thank any sponsors, there are no fucking sponsors. I remember the ride home and an exhausted Ed on the radio spinning records of bands I had never heard of. Please don't fade away, please stay with it.
I could write a book, as this is all coming off the top of my head. But I’m not. Vitalogy came out and I was in love. I read every word of the little book. It was the first PJ album that I bought on CD. I discovered the B-side singles and soundtrack stuff that I had been missing out on. Footsteps, Yellow Ledbetter, Breath, SOLAT, Crazy Mary.
No Code came out next. What the fuck is this shit? Ok hold on this might grow on me. Wow, so different, such a Fuck You to the music industry in sorts. This band could have made Ten over and over again and became Gun N Roses or something, but it didn’t. It made a weird little album that seemed like it was for them, not everybody else. No Code is not only my favorite Pearl Jam record, it’s my favorite record of all time and probably always will be.
Yield, Binaural, Riot Act, Avocado, Backspacer, Lightning Bolt. Bootlegs, Bootlegs, Bootlegs. Why is my band better than yours? Cause they give you access to their music in ways that no other band does. Seen them in concert 9 times. Wish it was 50. Saw them on Wrigley this Saturday and it was amazing. I feel so privileged to have been there. I feel so privileged that the band I love has lasted 25 years and don’t seem to be stopping anytime soon. Love this band, love all the fans, here's to keeping it going forever...
So I went and bought a cassette. It was called Ten. I only knew the song Jeremy so I listened to it over and over, until I eventually started paying attention to the other songs. Porch was next, Alive, Even Flow, and my god Release. Where has this music been? I feel like I have discovered something amazing and it’s all mine. Obviously “alternative music” is getting ready to explode and I am right there with it, discovering all these bands that seemed like they just didn’t give a shit and wanted to play music instead of screw every girl they saw and dress like a chick. Nirvana, STP, Live (god I wore that Throwing Copper album out). I have found the music that I love. Mostly thought I have found a favorite band that I still didn’t know much about but wanted more.
I bought posters, magazines, shirts, anything I could find. I had a huge poster of Eddie leaning against the mic on the ceiling above my bed. I had magazine pictures and articles all over my wall. I was obsessed. My local radio station was advertising that Eddie and I think Jeff? was going to be on something called Rockline. It was a school night but I stayed up to listen to this and record it. I think it might have been the first real time I heard Ed speak and not sing. I remember he seemed a little irritated, like he didn’t want to be there. They played Daughter and at the time it sounded like the greatest piece of music I had ever heard. I remember Bee Girl, Ed telling a caller with a question that he didn’t like that he had just won a harmonica or something. It’s all fuzzy but it was amazing to me at the time. Vs. came out and I bought the cassette the day it was released. God it sounded good. Man this record is angry, intense…..I am complete hooked on this band. This is my religion, please don’t just fade away like so many other bands do. Please……….
Sometime in early 1994 we found out that Pearl Jam was playing at the Fox Theatre downtown. No way. This was like a 5000 seat theatre famous for Broadway-type shows and such. This would be amazing. I needed to be there. I had to be there. My dad got tickets for me and I was going. A friend (huge Nirvana fan but liked PJ) and I went to the show and it was absolutely a religious experience. Ed looked different. His hair was shorter and curly. He was so intense. The whole band was. I remember Better Man. Ed said it was a new song that he wrote a long time ago. Dedicated to the bastard that married his Mama. I remember him saying they don’t have to thank any sponsors, there are no fucking sponsors. I remember the ride home and an exhausted Ed on the radio spinning records of bands I had never heard of. Please don't fade away, please stay with it.
I could write a book, as this is all coming off the top of my head. But I’m not. Vitalogy came out and I was in love. I read every word of the little book. It was the first PJ album that I bought on CD. I discovered the B-side singles and soundtrack stuff that I had been missing out on. Footsteps, Yellow Ledbetter, Breath, SOLAT, Crazy Mary.
No Code came out next. What the fuck is this shit? Ok hold on this might grow on me. Wow, so different, such a Fuck You to the music industry in sorts. This band could have made Ten over and over again and became Gun N Roses or something, but it didn’t. It made a weird little album that seemed like it was for them, not everybody else. No Code is not only my favorite Pearl Jam record, it’s my favorite record of all time and probably always will be.
Yield, Binaural, Riot Act, Avocado, Backspacer, Lightning Bolt. Bootlegs, Bootlegs, Bootlegs. Why is my band better than yours? Cause they give you access to their music in ways that no other band does. Seen them in concert 9 times. Wish it was 50. Saw them on Wrigley this Saturday and it was amazing. I feel so privileged to have been there. I feel so privileged that the band I love has lasted 25 years and don’t seem to be stopping anytime soon. Love this band, love all the fans, here's to keeping it going forever...
0
Comments
And you were there live. My 16-year-old self is jealous. Hell, my 40-year-old self is jealous.
for the least they could possibly do