Appearing on the Cobras & Fire podcastWhatever, Never Mind, legendary engineer Dave Hillis has been spoken of Pearl Jam's
intense recording sessions for the Seattle band's groundbreaking 1991
debut LP, Ten, revealing that Eddie Vedder was not the finished article
when first arrived at the studio.
“He wasn’t really the
Eddie Vedder that we know yet,“ said Hillis, who was chief engineer on
Ten, having worked for 10 years alongside producer Rick Parashar at the
famous London Bridge Studios in Seattle. “He showed up first. This
lowrider, tinted window Chevy LUV pickup comes roaring into the parking
lot at crazy speed.
“I’m
like, ‘What the hell!?‘ He gets out and he’s a really nice guy and
everything [but] the point is you don’t see tinted windows, yellow
lowriding Chevy LUVs in wet, rainy, cloudy Seattle. That was kinda,
‘Whoah! That’s not a Seattle dude.’“
It
was all about that magic take – the perfect feel, the perfect groove.
That was what it was all about. You could tell. The record has that
Dave Hillis
Vedder
had got the gig after appearing on Temple Of The Dog, a Seattle
supergroup formed in tribute to former Mother Love Bone vocalist Andrew
Wood, who died on 19 March 1990 after overdosing on heroin. But Vedder
was new to the Seattle scene, having grown up in Illinois and moving to
San Diego County, California, in his teens.
(Image credit: Paul Bergen/Redferns; Dave Hillis Music)
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Engineer Dave Hillis recalls locking Eddie Vedder in the studio during all-night recording sessions for Pearl Jam‘s Ten
By Jonathan Horsley
Hillis says the sessions were the making of Vedder, as the Seattle giants chased perfection on their 1991 debut
https://www.musicradar.com/news/engineer-dave-hillis-recalls-locking-eddie-vedder-in-the-studio-during-all-night-recording-sessions-for-pearl-jams-ten
Appearing on the Cobras & Fire podcast Whatever, Never Mind, legendary engineer Dave Hillis has been spoken of Pearl Jam's intense recording sessions for the Seattle band's groundbreaking 1991 debut LP, Ten, revealing that Eddie Vedder was not the finished article when first arrived at the studio.
“He wasn’t really the Eddie Vedder that we know yet,“ said Hillis, who was chief engineer on Ten, having worked for 10 years alongside producer Rick Parashar at the famous London Bridge Studios in Seattle. “He showed up first. This lowrider, tinted window Chevy LUV pickup comes roaring into the parking lot at crazy speed.
“I’m like, ‘What the hell!?‘ He gets out and he’s a really nice guy and everything [but] the point is you don’t see tinted windows, yellow lowriding Chevy LUVs in wet, rainy, cloudy Seattle. That was kinda, ‘Whoah! That’s not a Seattle dude.’“
Vedder had got the gig after appearing on Temple Of The Dog, a Seattle supergroup formed in tribute to former Mother Love Bone vocalist Andrew Wood, who died on 19 March 1990 after overdosing on heroin. But Vedder was new to the Seattle scene, having grown up in Illinois and moving to San Diego County, California, in his teens.