The Name Pearl Jam

Lerxst1992

EnterThanman said:

youngster said:

no one in or affiliated with the band has ever gave an explanation to where the name came from.Ed said it was his Great grandma Pearls jam recipe early on, but later said he was joking.

Not true. Stone has said they wanted to work the word Pearl in because they all liked it, and then after they watched a Neil Young concert they added the word jam. It’s a boring enough story to be true, but I like the OP’s version much more. 

I revived this old thread with a reply immediately above your comment that gives the story. Neil killed it in the early 90s and sonic youth was also a treat back then.

For those of us in the building when this happened, it's pretty damned exciting.. I just found out this morning 27 years later ;-)' Damn wish I knew to hang out with the cool west coast guys with the long hair.

PB11041

There is an additional article out there in some music magazine, where Ament was even more specific.  The Neil and Crazy horse concert placed them in a different venue than Nassau Coliseum, I seem to recall it was either in San Francisco or Seattle and the quote that Ament gave was that they were at the show and during a break he actually said "that was a pearl jam man" and either or Gossard or Vedder or both picked up on it and ran with it.

mace1229

I don't remember where I got this from, but I always assumed the name was a way to give the record company the middle finger for not letting them name it Mookie. It was like "Hey, if we can't use the name we want, we'll just name it semen then" sort of thing.

Shakescky

PB11041 said:

There is an additional article out there in some music magazine, where Ament was even more specific.  The Neil and Crazy horse concert placed them in a different venue than Nassau Coliseum, I seem to recall it was either in San Francisco or Seattle and the quote that Ament gave was that they were at the show and during a break he actually said "that was a pearl jam man" and either or Gossard or Vedder or both picked up on it and ran with it.

Do you have a source (Magazine name, issue number, etc) for this quote?

Jeff Ament's retelling of the name would place them at Nassau Coliseum on 22 February, 1991. Neil Young & Crazy Horse's Smell The Horse tour placed them in the Seattle Center Coliseum on 11 April, 1991. Your recalling of San Francisco would be the show at the Cow Palace in Daly City on 6 April, 1991.

Pearl Jam, then known as Mookie Blaylock if we are going by Ament's recollection, last known documented studio session was 29 January, 1991 at London Bridge Studios in Shoreline, Washington. The next known gathering at the same studio was on 11 March, 1991 to start production on Ten, and the new name would have been Pearl Jam given Ament and Eddie Vedder were on KISW's New Music Hour a day prior announcing the band's name change.

Gern Blansten

EnterThanman said:

youngster said:

no one in or affiliated with the band has ever gave an explanation to where the name came from.Ed said it was his Great grandma Pearls jam recipe early on, but later said he was joking.

Not true. Stone has said they wanted to work the word Pearl in because they all liked it, and then after they watched a Neil Young concert they added the word jam. It’s a boring enough story to be true, but I like the OP’s version much more. 

Pearl has an ocean reference to it....makes sense

PB11041

mace1229 said:

I don't remember where I got this from, but I always assumed the name was a way to give the record company the middle finger for not letting them name it Mookie. It was like "Hey, if we can't use the name we want, we'll just name it semen then" sort of thing.

It wasn't the record company that said no, it was Mookie Blaylock that said no.

karl_chihiro

PB11041 said:

mace1229 said:

I don't remember where I got this from, but I always assumed the name was a way to give the record company the middle finger for not letting them name it Mookie. It was like "Hey, if we can't use the name we want, we'll just name it semen then" sort of thing.

It wasn't the record company that said no, it was Mookie Blaylock that said no.

Correct

PB11041

Shakescky said:

PB11041 said:

There is an additional article out there in some music magazine, where Ament was even more specific.  The Neil and Crazy horse concert placed them in a different venue than Nassau Coliseum, I seem to recall it was either in San Francisco or Seattle and the quote that Ament gave was that they were at the show and during a break he actually said "that was a pearl jam man" and either or Gossard or Vedder or both picked up on it and ran with it.

Do you have a source (Magazine name, issue number, etc) for this quote?

Jeff Ament's retelling of the name would place them at Nassau Coliseum on 22 February, 1991. Neil Young & Crazy Horse's Smell The Horse tour placed them in the Seattle Center Coliseum on 11 April, 1991. Your recalling of San Francisco would be the show at the Cow Palace in Daly City on 6 April, 1991.

Pearl Jam, then known as Mookie Blaylock if we are going by Ament's recollection, last known documented studio session was 29 January, 1991 at London Bridge Studios in Shoreline, Washington. The next known gathering at the same studio was on 11 March, 1991 to start production on Ten, and the new name would have been Pearl Jam given Ament and Eddie Vedder were on KISW's New Music Hour a day prior announcing the band's name change.

I would have been much more specific had my memory worked in that fashion.  I've actually been trying to resurface the article it was discussed in for a while and never have been able to find it.  The timeline that puts them in NY is plausible, but somewhat tricky.  They were doing a small tour in support of Alice in Chains and they had a show in Portland Oregon on February 20, and then in Seattle on the 25th and 26th.  But in terms of it being San Fran or Seattle that clearly makes no sense given the timeline.  I still want to find that article because he definitely indicated it was said as "it/that was a pearl jam"

mace1229

PB11041 said:

mace1229 said:

I don't remember where I got this from, but I always assumed the name was a way to give the record company the middle finger for not letting them name it Mookie. It was like "Hey, if we can't use the name we want, we'll just name it semen then" sort of thing.

It wasn't the record company that said no, it was Mookie Blaylock that said no.

Well yeah, it would be up to him. But I thought they were told via the record company or their lawyers that it wasn't going to be allowed, not Mookie directly. 
Anyway, I don't remember where I heard that or if it was something I just assumed. I don't believe any of the stories about liking the word "Pearl" or anything like that, it clearly was meant as a joke or dig at something. Saying "Pearl Jam" was innocent and just sounded fun is like trying to say "devil's triangle" is just an innocent game. 

PB11041

mace1229 said:

PB11041 said:

mace1229 said:

I don't remember where I got this from, but I always assumed the name was a way to give the record company the middle finger for not letting them name it Mookie. It was like "Hey, if we can't use the name we want, we'll just name it semen then" sort of thing.

It wasn't the record company that said no, it was Mookie Blaylock that said no.

Well yeah, it would be up to him. But I thought they were told via the record company or their lawyers that it wasn't going to be allowed, not Mookie directly. 
Anyway, I don't remember where I heard that or if it was something I just assumed. I don't believe any of the stories about liking the word "Pearl" or anything like that, it clearly was meant as a joke or dig at something. Saying "Pearl Jam" was innocent and just sounded fun is like trying to say "devil's triangle" is just an innocent game. 

It is possible, but to say that it was clearly something that purely speculative when their evidence to the contrary doesn't really float.

Lerxst1992

PB11041 said:

Shakescky said:

PB11041 said:

There is an additional article out there in some music magazine, where Ament was even more specific.  The Neil and Crazy horse concert placed them in a different venue than Nassau Coliseum, I seem to recall it was either in San Francisco or Seattle and the quote that Ament gave was that they were at the show and during a break he actually said "that was a pearl jam man" and either or Gossard or Vedder or both picked up on it and ran with it.

Do you have a source (Magazine name, issue number, etc) for this quote?

Jeff Ament's retelling of the name would place them at Nassau Coliseum on 22 February, 1991. Neil Young & Crazy Horse's Smell The Horse tour placed them in the Seattle Center Coliseum on 11 April, 1991. Your recalling of San Francisco would be the show at the Cow Palace in Daly City on 6 April, 1991.

Pearl Jam, then known as Mookie Blaylock if we are going by Ament's recollection, last known documented studio session was 29 January, 1991 at London Bridge Studios in Shoreline, Washington. The next known gathering at the same studio was on 11 March, 1991 to start production on Ten, and the new name would have been Pearl Jam given Ament and Eddie Vedder were on KISW's New Music Hour a day prior announcing the band's name change.

I would have been much more specific had my memory worked in that fashion.  I've actually been trying to resurface the article it was discussed in for a while and never have been able to find it.  The timeline that puts them in NY is plausible, but somewhat tricky.  They were doing a small tour in support of Alice in Chains and they had a show in Portland Oregon on February 20, and then in Seattle on the 25th and 26th.  But in terms of it being San Fran or Seattle that clearly makes no sense given the timeline.  I still want to find that article because he definitely indicated it was said as "it/that was a pearl jam"

Assuming they can recall the "major" facts of their first major record company deal...NYC and Feb 1991, their itinerary has two plausible breaks from their west coast shows that month. Feb 2 to 6, and Feb 21 to 24.

Neil played Feb 4 at msg, that is very possible, but not too many are going to forget a trip to the famous garden vs a road trip to Nassau. 

Neil also played West Point on the 23rd, but that also is a famous location, and it's a much further car ride than Nassau and very out of the way from NYC

Neil also played Jersey on the 24th. PJs tour history has them in Seattle the 25th, so seems Jersey is unlikely as well.

NM70698

Re: the discussion between PB11041 and Shakescky:

There is a very similar quote by Jeff Ament in 2001 Spin article, which predates the Rolling Stone article by several years.  He stated, "The first time I mentioned Pearl Jam [as a band name] was when Ed, Stone, and I were watching Sonic Youth play with Crazy Horse. In the middle of Crazy Horse I turned to Stone and said, 'what about "Pearl Jam"?' "

The entire Spin piece is transcribed here:

http://www.fivehorizons.com/archive/articles/spin801.shtml

PB11041

NM70698 said:

Re: the discussion between PB11041 and Shakescky:

There is a very similar quote by Jeff Ament in 2001 Spin article, which predates the Rolling Stone article by several years.  He stated, "The first time I mentioned Pearl Jam [as a band name] was when Ed, Stone, and I were watching Sonic Youth play with Crazy Horse. In the middle of Crazy Horse I turned to Stone and said, 'what about "Pearl Jam"?' "

The entire Spin piece is transcribed here:

http://www.fivehorizons.com/archive/articles/spin801.shtml

Shakescky

NM70698 said:

Re: the discussion between PB11041 and Shakescky:

There is a very similar quote by Jeff Ament in 2001 Spin article, which predates the Rolling Stone article by several years.  He stated, "The first time I mentioned Pearl Jam [as a band name] was when Ed, Stone, and I were watching Sonic Youth play with Crazy Horse. In the middle of Crazy Horse I turned to Stone and said, 'what about "Pearl Jam"?' "

The entire Spin piece is transcribed here:

http://www.fivehorizons.com/archive/articles/spin801.shtml

Thank you.

Sonic Youth did support Neil Young and Crazy Horse as noted within their concert chronology - http://www.sonicyouth.com/mustang/cc/1991.html

Unfortunately, I have been unable to find any itineraries showing Mookie Blaylock's break between the 2nd to 6th and 21st to 24th of February 1991. An itinerary for the West Coast tour with Alice In Chains was on display at this year's Home and Away exhibit at MoPOP. The aforementioned dates in question are not on it. While it is possible two events can bleed into one story, it is also possible locations can combine as well in someone's memory as I have seen it done with other Artists.

Lerxst1992

Shakescky said:

NM70698 said:

Re: the discussion between PB11041 and Shakescky:

There is a very similar quote by Jeff Ament in 2001 Spin article, which predates the Rolling Stone article by several years.  He stated, "The first time I mentioned Pearl Jam [as a band name] was when Ed, Stone, and I were watching Sonic Youth play with Crazy Horse. In the middle of Crazy Horse I turned to Stone and said, 'what about "Pearl Jam"?' "

The entire Spin piece is transcribed here:

http://www.fivehorizons.com/archive/articles/spin801.shtml

Thank you.

Sonic Youth did support Neil Young and Crazy Horse as noted within their concert chronology - http://www.sonicyouth.com/mustang/cc/1991.html

Unfortunately, I have been unable to find any itineraries showing Mookie Blaylock's break between the 2nd to 6th and 21st to 24th of February 1991. An itinerary for the West Coast tour with Alice In Chains was on display at this year's Home and Away exhibit at MoPOP. The aforementioned dates in question are not on it. While it is possible two events can bleed into one story, it is also possible locations can combine as well in someone's memory as I have seen it done with other Artists.

According to this book,  it looks unofficial, the band's website had them playing a gig with AIC on Feb 22 but the author goes on to describe that Nassau is the most likely Neil Young show they were at.

Interestingly, pj.com now has a gap in their itinerary from the 21st to the 24th, just enough time to get rich from Epic in NYC.

https://books.google.com/books/about/Pearl_Jam_FAQ.html?id=tsFwDQAAQBAJ

Search inside for Nassau

PB11041

Lerxst1992 said:

Shakescky said:

NM70698 said:

Re: the discussion between PB11041 and Shakescky:

There is a very similar quote by Jeff Ament in 2001 Spin article, which predates the Rolling Stone article by several years.  He stated, "The first time I mentioned Pearl Jam [as a band name] was when Ed, Stone, and I were watching Sonic Youth play with Crazy Horse. In the middle of Crazy Horse I turned to Stone and said, 'what about "Pearl Jam"?' "

The entire Spin piece is transcribed here:

http://www.fivehorizons.com/archive/articles/spin801.shtml

Thank you.

Sonic Youth did support Neil Young and Crazy Horse as noted within their concert chronology - http://www.sonicyouth.com/mustang/cc/1991.html

Unfortunately, I have been unable to find any itineraries showing Mookie Blaylock's break between the 2nd to 6th and 21st to 24th of February 1991. An itinerary for the West Coast tour with Alice In Chains was on display at this year's Home and Away exhibit at MoPOP. The aforementioned dates in question are not on it. While it is possible two events can bleed into one story, it is also possible locations can combine as well in someone's memory as I have seen it done with other Artists.

According to this book,  it looks unofficial, the band's website had them playing a gig with AIC on Feb 22 but the author goes on to describe that Nassau is the most likely Neil Young show they were at.

Interestingly, pj.com now has a gap in their itinerary from the 21st to the 24th, just enough time to get rich from Epic in NYC.

https://books.google.com/books/about/Pearl_Jam_FAQ.html?id=tsFwDQAAQBAJ

Search inside for Nassau

The 22nd date is confirmed as having been a wrong date this snippet is from TwoFeeThick, John Reynolds, Jessica Letkemann and Kathy Davis were as plugged in as any fan back in the day.  

eh, photo wont paste.  scroll and see here http://www.twofeetthick.com/concert-chronology/pj1991/

PB11041

Long and short, I have colored my memory a bit with things, it is nearly a certainty that the band was in NY, and the Horse event was at the Coliseum.  Makes most logical sense.

hedonist

Among the many discussions about the name's origin over the years, I remember a mention of the pearl meaning on the old Sony BBS, I think.  I kinda like it, makes sense to me.

The formation of a natural pearl begins when a foreign substance slips into the oyster between the mantle and the shell, which irritate­s the mantle. It's kind of like the oyster getting a splinter. The oyster's natural reaction is to cover up that irritant to protect itself. The man­tle covers the irritant with layers of the same nacre substance that is used to create the shell. This eventually forms a pearl.

Jvfireman416

Funny thing is that in 1992 I assumed the name was referring the the creation of a pearl.... sand under pressure and all. It wasn’t until much later that I realized that it was a semen reference. Let’s not forget that the two founding members came from Mother Love Bone which is as obvious a genital references as you can have and using names like that was pretty common to the scene. Can anyone say Helmet, Hole, Third Eye Blind, Meat Puppets, etc.
I get that people don’t want to think that their idols were ever so juvenile that they named their band after jism. They were a bunch of kids having fun. They weren’t taking themselves nearly as seriously as you are taking them.

PB11041

Jvfireman416 said:

Funny thing is that in 1992 I assumed the name was referring the the creation of a pearl.... sand under pressure and all. It wasn’t until much later that I realized that it was a semen reference. Let’s not forget that the two founding members came from Mother Love Bone which is as obvious a genital references as you can have and using names like that was pretty common to the scene. Can anyone say Helmet, Hole, Third Eye Blind, Meat Puppets, etc.
I get that people don’t want to think that their idols were ever so juvenile that they named their band after jism. They were a bunch of kids having fun. They weren’t taking themselves nearly as seriously as you are taking them.

The youngest member of the band in 1991 was Stone Gossard at 24 (turned 25 in July).  Ament was 28. Vedder was 26.  And Mike, god love em, was not naming the band.  

These were not kids.  

If they intended it even to be a double entendre they would have at some point in 28 years said so, it is not like it is some horrible embarrassment.