Ongoing History of New Music: Alan Cross interviews EV
Fifthelement
Lotusland Posts: 6,963
I know links to this have been posted before. I just thought that I would put the transcripts up for those who were interested. Very interesting comment from EV regarding the re-release in part two. Enjoy 
My Conversation with Eddie Vedder/Part 1
Thursday, February 05, 2009
http://exploremusic.com/home/TheMusicGe ... fault.aspx
Last week---inauguration day, to be precise---I ended up with Eddie Vedder on the phone. Among other things, we solved a mystery that’s been on the minds of Canadian Pearl Jam fans for two years.
A couple of years ago, Eddie recorded a song called “Hard Sun” for the “Into the Wild" soundtrack. This is 1989 song from a record called “Big Harvest”. The artist went by the name “Indio,” but his real name is Gordon Peterson, who, at the time, was apparently living in Dundas, Ontario.
It’s still played on Canadian radio, but the album (released on A&M) has been out of print for years. And Gordon? No clue. He just sort of….disappeared.
Which begs the question: how did Eddie Vedder come to cover this obscure Canadian song—written by a hermetic Canadian performer from small-town Ontario—for a movie directed by one of Madonna’s ex-husbands?
Here’s the definitive answer from Eddie himself.
Alan Cross: How did you come across “Hard Sun” for the “Into the Wild” soundtrack?
Eddie Vedder: Ah yeah the Canadian connection. When Shawn first showed me the movie it was in the film, him and I were just watching it in my living room.
And to be honest, it was the first time I have heard it; and I felt like I have heard it before. I couldn’t tell if it was from the late 60’s, mid 70’s. I couldn’t tell. It had this kind of timeless….
AC: So it was Sean Penn who found it?
EV: Sean at one point knew Gordon or had been in contact with him, or had friends that were friends of his, and Sean has really eclectic musical taste.
He can quote Phil Ochs at a drop of a hat or give you a 12 minute Bob Dylan song he could recite in your ear, and at the same time he’ll know stuff like David Baerwald [American singer-songwriter who used to be in David & David and now a solo performer]. He is a good friend of his and I think he knew this fellow Gordon, and loved this song. I think I wrote something for that piece as well.
And then he said “I think that’s good but I think we need to go with “Hard Sun;” and I thought “Great! That’s less work for me to do!” And he said “No, no! YOUR version of it.” And then I thought, "F%$^*!" [Laugh]
So I really tried to make it, you know, every element to mirror something in his... I tried to be really true to his delivery of it.
It’s a really great song. I’ve not met him. I thought to write him but I never did. I had kids and things moved very quick for me. I hope he liked it.
AC: We don’t know because he has gone underground; he has been underground for like 15 years. And we don’t know anything about Gordon Peterson. He never resurfaces.
And the original album which is called “Big Harvest,” and it's from 1989. It's like a hardcore collector’s item now.
EV: Wow! Yeah, apparently he reached out to a website maybe a few years ago... and it seemed like he was alive and well.
And it sounds to me like he had a hard time consolidating music and the business atmosphere that sometimes you have to work with, or the pressures of being on labels and what their visions of music are. And as a solo artist and not a band, it's understandable.
I think it’s very hard, myself. It’s a great job but that’s the tricky part, and for someone that says they could not handle that part, I actually respect it.
My Conversation with Eddie Vedder/Part 2
Friday, February 06, 2009
http://exploremusic.com/home/TheMusicGe ... fault.aspx
This is part 2 of my interview with Eddie Vedder. This time Eddie and I talk about the reissue of the Ten album.
Ten was released in August 27, 1991. Since then, the album sold at least 15 million copies around the world. So the question is: “Why re-issue Ten now?" That’s what I asked Eddie Vedder.
Alan Cross: I have a bunch of questions that came in to me from all over the world about the Ten reissue. Can we go through some of them?
Eddie Vedder: Ok. It’s very nice that they are interested. Thank you.
AC: One of the things that the fans are going to go crazy over is the official release of the re-production of the “Mamasan” cassette. Obviously it's been bootlegged a billion times over the last 18 years. How did this demo of instrumental bits get from the guys in Seattle to you down in San Diego?
EV: Through a guy named Jack Irons, who is the original drummer from the Chili Peppers, and he is a good friend of mine. We were on a camping trip and we listened to Mother Love Bone [the pre-Pearl Jam band featuring Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament which died along when singer Andrew Wood ODed] on the way up. And he mentioned it.
I was living in San Diego at the time, and we were listening to these guys and he [Jack Irons] goes “Yeah they reached out to me, and they told me the story of what had happened with Andrew Wood."
And he said that he had got a call about a drumming job. And they asked him if he knew any singers.
I don’t know if he had the instrumental tape but think he talked to Stone and Jeff and somehow I got the instrumental and I listened to it one night at work after the camping trip. I wrote it mostly surfing the next day.
I don’t know how many times people have heard the real version. I think people heard some demos that we did initially, but I don’t know about the first 3 songs. Jeff was the only one that really heard it. I haven’t heard it since the day that I sent it off.
[Laughs] I heard it for the first time maybe 3 weeks ago. There was one plug in particular that I was laughing at; it was one of the funniest things that I ever recorded.
It's during the song "Once" which the song “Alive” and “Footsteps” are like carbon copies of how we play it to this day--which is kind of stunning in an interesting way to think “Wow,” because it was just recorded on four tracks and me putting vocals on those 2 songs.
But “Once” changed, and it was part of the story. And it was an interesting approach [Laugh]
AC: And we have not heard that yet?
EV: I don’t think so; I don’t think too many people have heard it.
AC: Look forward to that….
EV: Yeah, there’s some good humour, I’m trying to tell a story of a guy that is going to court murdering people or something. And it’s the court room scene, and it turns out pretty hysterical [laughs]. He’s unreceptive.
AC: Why reissue Ten now?
EV: You would have to ask someone else. It was not really my idea. We agreed to it but I didn’t think too long and hard about it; we're working on new stuff and that’s kind of where my head's at.
I figured it was going to happen sometime and I think they might have had a reason for a time line. But I don’t know what it is.
And I don’t particularly care, but once it came up Jeff and I decided to work hard on it and make it something of real good value, and not to mention that it would cost more than a regular record.
And there’s a couple of different versions that you can get: the “scaled down” or the “bump it up.” And then there’s the “ultimate version,” which I think is really worthwhile.
Jeff and I would really appreciate that kind of stuff whether it’s about The Yardbirds or The Who or whatever or Neil [Young].
So we wanted to make it really substantial, and something that we could be really proud of. And we are.
If you missed part one of my conversation with Eddie, check the "blog archive" on the right hand side.
Indio Found! Well, Sort Of…
I just got an email from Vic Goldman of Pacemaker Entertainment in Toronto.
In a strange synchronistic bit of kismet, his label just re-released Indio’s Big Harvest album.
After years as a long-lost deleted item, the record is back.
Here’s Vic’s email to me:
Dear Alan
I don’t know if it’s kismet or just good luck but I was contacted today by two people to let me know that you had done an article in the “Metro” on INDIO.
In the event that it is just good timing I wanted to let you know that we (Pacemaker Entertainment) have just released/reissued the INDIO album through our distributor EMI Music Canada.
As for the package itself, it’s exactly like the original with some minor graphics changes to indicate the license info.
We were hoping to get Gordon Peterson to come out of the woodwork but no luck.
Apparently he’s around the GTA somewhere. I’d love to see what he’s written since 1989.
This was such a brilliant album. What a loss that he disappeared.
Regards,
Vic Goldman
http://www.pacemaker.cd
My Conversation with Eddie Vedder/Part 1
Thursday, February 05, 2009
http://exploremusic.com/home/TheMusicGe ... fault.aspx
Last week---inauguration day, to be precise---I ended up with Eddie Vedder on the phone. Among other things, we solved a mystery that’s been on the minds of Canadian Pearl Jam fans for two years.
A couple of years ago, Eddie recorded a song called “Hard Sun” for the “Into the Wild" soundtrack. This is 1989 song from a record called “Big Harvest”. The artist went by the name “Indio,” but his real name is Gordon Peterson, who, at the time, was apparently living in Dundas, Ontario.
It’s still played on Canadian radio, but the album (released on A&M) has been out of print for years. And Gordon? No clue. He just sort of….disappeared.
Which begs the question: how did Eddie Vedder come to cover this obscure Canadian song—written by a hermetic Canadian performer from small-town Ontario—for a movie directed by one of Madonna’s ex-husbands?
Here’s the definitive answer from Eddie himself.
Alan Cross: How did you come across “Hard Sun” for the “Into the Wild” soundtrack?
Eddie Vedder: Ah yeah the Canadian connection. When Shawn first showed me the movie it was in the film, him and I were just watching it in my living room.
And to be honest, it was the first time I have heard it; and I felt like I have heard it before. I couldn’t tell if it was from the late 60’s, mid 70’s. I couldn’t tell. It had this kind of timeless….
AC: So it was Sean Penn who found it?
EV: Sean at one point knew Gordon or had been in contact with him, or had friends that were friends of his, and Sean has really eclectic musical taste.
He can quote Phil Ochs at a drop of a hat or give you a 12 minute Bob Dylan song he could recite in your ear, and at the same time he’ll know stuff like David Baerwald [American singer-songwriter who used to be in David & David and now a solo performer]. He is a good friend of his and I think he knew this fellow Gordon, and loved this song. I think I wrote something for that piece as well.
And then he said “I think that’s good but I think we need to go with “Hard Sun;” and I thought “Great! That’s less work for me to do!” And he said “No, no! YOUR version of it.” And then I thought, "F%$^*!" [Laugh]
So I really tried to make it, you know, every element to mirror something in his... I tried to be really true to his delivery of it.
It’s a really great song. I’ve not met him. I thought to write him but I never did. I had kids and things moved very quick for me. I hope he liked it.
AC: We don’t know because he has gone underground; he has been underground for like 15 years. And we don’t know anything about Gordon Peterson. He never resurfaces.
And the original album which is called “Big Harvest,” and it's from 1989. It's like a hardcore collector’s item now.
EV: Wow! Yeah, apparently he reached out to a website maybe a few years ago... and it seemed like he was alive and well.
And it sounds to me like he had a hard time consolidating music and the business atmosphere that sometimes you have to work with, or the pressures of being on labels and what their visions of music are. And as a solo artist and not a band, it's understandable.
I think it’s very hard, myself. It’s a great job but that’s the tricky part, and for someone that says they could not handle that part, I actually respect it.
My Conversation with Eddie Vedder/Part 2
Friday, February 06, 2009
http://exploremusic.com/home/TheMusicGe ... fault.aspx
This is part 2 of my interview with Eddie Vedder. This time Eddie and I talk about the reissue of the Ten album.
Ten was released in August 27, 1991. Since then, the album sold at least 15 million copies around the world. So the question is: “Why re-issue Ten now?" That’s what I asked Eddie Vedder.
Alan Cross: I have a bunch of questions that came in to me from all over the world about the Ten reissue. Can we go through some of them?
Eddie Vedder: Ok. It’s very nice that they are interested. Thank you.
AC: One of the things that the fans are going to go crazy over is the official release of the re-production of the “Mamasan” cassette. Obviously it's been bootlegged a billion times over the last 18 years. How did this demo of instrumental bits get from the guys in Seattle to you down in San Diego?
EV: Through a guy named Jack Irons, who is the original drummer from the Chili Peppers, and he is a good friend of mine. We were on a camping trip and we listened to Mother Love Bone [the pre-Pearl Jam band featuring Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament which died along when singer Andrew Wood ODed] on the way up. And he mentioned it.
I was living in San Diego at the time, and we were listening to these guys and he [Jack Irons] goes “Yeah they reached out to me, and they told me the story of what had happened with Andrew Wood."
And he said that he had got a call about a drumming job. And they asked him if he knew any singers.
I don’t know if he had the instrumental tape but think he talked to Stone and Jeff and somehow I got the instrumental and I listened to it one night at work after the camping trip. I wrote it mostly surfing the next day.
I don’t know how many times people have heard the real version. I think people heard some demos that we did initially, but I don’t know about the first 3 songs. Jeff was the only one that really heard it. I haven’t heard it since the day that I sent it off.
[Laughs] I heard it for the first time maybe 3 weeks ago. There was one plug in particular that I was laughing at; it was one of the funniest things that I ever recorded.
It's during the song "Once" which the song “Alive” and “Footsteps” are like carbon copies of how we play it to this day--which is kind of stunning in an interesting way to think “Wow,” because it was just recorded on four tracks and me putting vocals on those 2 songs.
But “Once” changed, and it was part of the story. And it was an interesting approach [Laugh]
AC: And we have not heard that yet?
EV: I don’t think so; I don’t think too many people have heard it.
AC: Look forward to that….
EV: Yeah, there’s some good humour, I’m trying to tell a story of a guy that is going to court murdering people or something. And it’s the court room scene, and it turns out pretty hysterical [laughs]. He’s unreceptive.
AC: Why reissue Ten now?
EV: You would have to ask someone else. It was not really my idea. We agreed to it but I didn’t think too long and hard about it; we're working on new stuff and that’s kind of where my head's at.
I figured it was going to happen sometime and I think they might have had a reason for a time line. But I don’t know what it is.
And I don’t particularly care, but once it came up Jeff and I decided to work hard on it and make it something of real good value, and not to mention that it would cost more than a regular record.
And there’s a couple of different versions that you can get: the “scaled down” or the “bump it up.” And then there’s the “ultimate version,” which I think is really worthwhile.
Jeff and I would really appreciate that kind of stuff whether it’s about The Yardbirds or The Who or whatever or Neil [Young].
So we wanted to make it really substantial, and something that we could be really proud of. And we are.
If you missed part one of my conversation with Eddie, check the "blog archive" on the right hand side.
Indio Found! Well, Sort Of…
I just got an email from Vic Goldman of Pacemaker Entertainment in Toronto.
In a strange synchronistic bit of kismet, his label just re-released Indio’s Big Harvest album.
After years as a long-lost deleted item, the record is back.
Here’s Vic’s email to me:
Dear Alan
I don’t know if it’s kismet or just good luck but I was contacted today by two people to let me know that you had done an article in the “Metro” on INDIO.
In the event that it is just good timing I wanted to let you know that we (Pacemaker Entertainment) have just released/reissued the INDIO album through our distributor EMI Music Canada.
As for the package itself, it’s exactly like the original with some minor graphics changes to indicate the license info.
We were hoping to get Gordon Peterson to come out of the woodwork but no luck.
Apparently he’s around the GTA somewhere. I’d love to see what he’s written since 1989.
This was such a brilliant album. What a loss that he disappeared.
Regards,
Vic Goldman
http://www.pacemaker.cd
"What the CANUCK happened?!? - Esquimalt Barber Shop
Post edited by Unknown User on
0
Comments