I finally read this book while traveling over the holidays. One thing really stood out, and not in a good way. I'm not sure that I've ever seen a book from a major publisher that was so sloppily edited and fact-checked. There are many factual errors, from incorrect song titles (it's "Stardog Champion," not "Star Dog Champion"; and "Long Road," not "The Long Road"-- the title of the book makes the latter error especially egregious) to incorrect song lyrics ("Once" is quoted as "I've got a .16-gauge buried under my nose" instead of "clothes" and "Footsteps" as "I've got scratches all over my arms/One for each day that I fell apart" instead of "since." Hyden writes that the 18-month interval (actually 17 months and 7 days) between the releases of No Code and Yield was the shortest interval between Pearl Jam album releases; no, the 13 months or so between Vs. and Vitalogy was the shortest such interval. (It depends on how you count the early vinyl releases of those albums, but regardless it's 13-and-a-half months at most.) There are even typographical errors. You would expect this kind of product from a self-published work, not a book put out by Hachette, one of the Big Five publishers.
These are just a few examples from memory-- I read the book mostly on a plane three weeks ago and did not keep track of the mistakes-- but there were many examples. I'm not even sure Hyden has Ed's job when he first hooked up with the band right. (Hyden repeatedly describes Ed as having been as a gas-station attendant; my understanding from Ed's description is that he was working a night watchman/security gig at an oil refinery or other oil-and-gas-related facility, but maybe I have misunderstood that.)
These errors made it hard to take any factual claims made by Hyden at face value. At a minimum, the book needs a serious scrub before paperback publication. Hyden thanks his editor and fact-checker by name in the acknowledgments, but they dropped the ball on this one.
I finally read this book while traveling over the holidays. One thing really stood out, and not in a good way. I'm not sure that I've ever seen a book from a major publisher that was so sloppily edited and fact-checked. There are many factual errors, from incorrect song titles (it's "Stardog Champion," not "Star Dog Champion"; and "Long Road," not "The Long Road"-- the title of the book makes the latter error especially egregious) to incorrect song lyrics ("Once" is quoted as "I've got a .16-gauge buried under my nose" instead of "clothes" and "Footsteps" as "I've got scratches all over my arms/One for each day that I fell apart" instead of "since." Hyden writes that the 18-month interval (actually 17 months and 7 days) between the releases of No Code and Yield was the shortest interval between Pearl Jam album releases; no, the 13 months or so between Vs. and Vitalogy was the shortest such interval. (It depends on how you count the early vinyl releases of those albums, but regardless it's 13-and-a-half months at most.) There are even typographical errors. You would expect this kind of product from a self-published work, not a book put out by Hachette, one of the Big Five publishers.
These are just a few examples from memory-- I read the book mostly on a plane three weeks ago and did not keep track of the mistakes-- but there were many examples. I'm not even sure Hyden has Ed's job when he first hooked up with the band right. (Hyden repeatedly describes Ed as having been as a gas-station attendant; my understanding from Ed's description is that he was working a night watchman/security gig at an oil refinery or other oil-and-gas-related facility, but maybe I have misunderstood that.)
These errors made it hard to take any factual claims made by Hyden at face value. At a minimum, the book needs a serious scrub before paperback publication. Hyden thanks his editor and fact-checker by name in the acknowledgments, but they dropped the ball on this one.
I have not read this book yet, so take this for what it's worth: your post sounds so petty and pedantic. Stardog Champion vs. Star Dog Champion? Really? That's one of the things that offended you enough to post here? Don't quit your day job, whatever it is. Holy jeez.
I finally read this book while traveling over the holidays. One thing really stood out, and not in a good way. I'm not sure that I've ever seen a book from a major publisher that was so sloppily edited and fact-checked. There are many factual errors, from incorrect song titles (it's "Stardog Champion," not "Star Dog Champion"; and "Long Road," not "The Long Road"-- the title of the book makes the latter error especially egregious) to incorrect song lyrics ("Once" is quoted as "I've got a .16-gauge buried under my nose" instead of "clothes" and "Footsteps" as "I've got scratches all over my arms/One for each day that I fell apart" instead of "since." Hyden writes that the 18-month interval (actually 17 months and 7 days) between the releases of No Code and Yield was the shortest interval between Pearl Jam album releases; no, the 13 months or so between Vs. and Vitalogy was the shortest such interval. (It depends on how you count the early vinyl releases of those albums, but regardless it's 13-and-a-half months at most.) There are even typographical errors. You would expect this kind of product from a self-published work, not a book put out by Hachette, one of the Big Five publishers.
These are just a few examples from memory-- I read the book mostly on a plane three weeks ago and did not keep track of the mistakes-- but there were many examples. I'm not even sure Hyden has Ed's job when he first hooked up with the band right. (Hyden repeatedly describes Ed as having been as a gas-station attendant; my understanding from Ed's description is that he was working a night watchman/security gig at an oil refinery or other oil-and-gas-related facility, but maybe I have misunderstood that.)
These errors made it hard to take any factual claims made by Hyden at face value. At a minimum, the book needs a serious scrub before paperback publication. Hyden thanks his editor and fact-checker by name in the acknowledgments, but they dropped the ball on this one.
I have not read this book yet, so take this for what it's worth: your post sounds so petty and pedantic. Stardog Champion vs. Star Dog Champion? Really? That's one of the things that offended you enough to post here? Don't quit your day job, whatever it is. Holy jeez.
It is not petty to expect a published work that I paid good money for not to be littered with factual errors, especially a work from a major publisher that employed a fact-checker.
It would be pedantic if "Stardog Champion" were incorrectly referenced and that was all but, as I noted, that is only one of a litany of errors throughout the book. Song titles, lyrics, names, dates, biographical facts-- there are numerous mistakes in each of these areas. Perhaps you should read the book before weighing in. And anyone reading the book should take any of its factual claims with a grain of salt. That's the point of the critique.
Got this for Xmas and will start reading soon. Excited, but expectations are low. Curious that Sirens is his pick for a late career song to write a chapter about.
Long Road: Pearl Jam and the Soundtrack of a Generation by Steven Hyden
Once
upon a time ago, Lara and I went to Jekyll Brewing in Alpharetta, GA.
The guy working the bar had a tattoo on his arm that said, “I am myself,
like you somehow.”
I said, “wow, is that a Pearl Jam lyric?” He
was impressed that I noticed that because hardly anyone ever does. Lara
was too. Who the hell notices the kind of details that I do? Who recalls
such an obscure lyric from a relatively obscure song from an album that
is (now) over 30 years old? *raises hand and looks around nervously*
It’s
from “Release” a not-very radio-friendly track from their first album
(the last track). A deep cut that someone would only choose as
inspiration for a tattoo for some deeply personal reasons and I didn’t
think I knew him well enough to pry. I had already opened up the
conversation and if he wanted to divulge more, he would’ve.
Fast
forward to today and I’m finishing this book and stumble upon a quote
from Eddie Vedder regarding this song just before he played it at a
Pennsylvania show on my birthday (the coincidences abound!) in 2016:
“[Vedder]
dedicated ‘Release’ to the brothers of Colin McGovern, a
twenty-four-year-old Pennsylvanian who had been stabbed to death just
two months prior.
“‘It’s not going to lessen the blow of any kind
of tragedy,’ he says, ‘but in loud volumes or alone or with a lot of
other people sometimes it just helps you get through, because you can’t
get around it, you don’t get under it, you can’t get over it . . . you
got to get through it.’”
When Vedder wrote this song, he was
thinking of his biological father. But pain is pain. Grief is grief. So I
listened to the song again. The lines that get me the most are “I’ll
wait up in the dark / For you to speak to me / I’ll open up / Release
me”
Who should read this book? I dunno. Any Pearl Jam fan, I
guess. Or if this band was never really your jam (ba-dum-tss) and you
just want to understand the grunge and alternative-rock of the 90s, you
might enjoy it.
Read this one over the past couple weeks. I enjoyed it for the most part. Giving Backspacer, Lightning Bolt and Gigaton only a page or 2 each seemed like Hyden was just rushing to finish the book. But still very cool to read from the perspective of a lifelong PJ fan who is a hell of a writer.
Comments
'60 Songs That Explain the ’90s’: But First, Pearl Jam
It’s “Yellow Ledbetter” time, with help from our old friend Steven Hyden
https://www.theringer.com/2022/12/7/23497266/pearl-jam-yellow-ledbetter-podcast
These are just a few examples from memory-- I read the book mostly on a plane three weeks ago and did not keep track of the mistakes-- but there were many examples. I'm not even sure Hyden has Ed's job when he first hooked up with the band right. (Hyden repeatedly describes Ed as having been as a gas-station attendant; my understanding from Ed's description is that he was working a night watchman/security gig at an oil refinery or other oil-and-gas-related facility, but maybe I have misunderstood that.)
These errors made it hard to take any factual claims made by Hyden at face value. At a minimum, the book needs a serious scrub before paperback publication. Hyden thanks his editor and fact-checker by name in the acknowledgments, but they dropped the ball on this one.
I have not read this book yet, so take this for what it's worth: your post sounds so petty and pedantic. Stardog Champion vs. Star Dog Champion? Really? That's one of the things that offended you enough to post here? Don't quit your day job, whatever it is. Holy jeez.
It is not petty to expect a published work that I paid good money for not to be littered with factual errors, especially a work from a major publisher that employed a fact-checker.
It would be pedantic if "Stardog Champion" were incorrectly referenced and that was all but, as I noted, that is only one of a litany of errors throughout the book. Song titles, lyrics, names, dates, biographical facts-- there are numerous mistakes in each of these areas. Perhaps you should read the book before weighing in. And anyone reading the book should take any of its factual claims with a grain of salt. That's the point of the critique.
outrunning.demons
by Steven Hyden
Once upon a time ago, Lara and I went to Jekyll Brewing in Alpharetta, GA. The guy working the bar had a tattoo on his arm that said, “I am myself, like you somehow.”
I said, “wow, is that a Pearl Jam lyric?” He was impressed that I noticed that because hardly anyone ever does. Lara was too. Who the hell notices the kind of details that I do? Who recalls such an obscure lyric from a relatively obscure song from an album that is (now) over 30 years old? *raises hand and looks around nervously*
It’s from “Release” a not-very radio-friendly track from their first album (the last track). A deep cut that someone would only choose as inspiration for a tattoo for some deeply personal reasons and I didn’t think I knew him well enough to pry. I had already opened up the conversation and if he wanted to divulge more, he would’ve.
Fast forward to today and I’m finishing this book and stumble upon a quote from Eddie Vedder regarding this song just before he played it at a Pennsylvania show on my birthday (the coincidences abound!) in 2016:
“[Vedder] dedicated ‘Release’ to the brothers of Colin McGovern, a twenty-four-year-old Pennsylvanian who had been stabbed to death just two months prior.
“‘It’s not going to lessen the blow of any kind of tragedy,’ he says, ‘but in loud volumes or alone or with a lot of other people sometimes it just helps you get through, because you can’t get around it, you don’t get under it, you can’t get over it . . . you got to get through it.’”
When Vedder wrote this song, he was thinking of his biological father. But pain is pain. Grief is grief. So I listened to the song again. The lines that get me the most are “I’ll wait up in the dark / For you to speak to me / I’ll open up / Release me”
Who should read this book? I dunno. Any Pearl Jam fan, I guess. Or if this band was never really your jam (ba-dum-tss) and you just want to understand the grunge and alternative-rock of the 90s, you might enjoy it.
#pearljam #longroad #releaseme