Alright, How Did Pearl Jam Really Get It's Name?

2

Comments

  • U R A Crazy Breed
    U R A Crazy Breed Posts: 8,370
    LongRd. wrote:
    Who cares, it's actually a really great name for a band.

    I'm sure there's a shitload of bands who wishes they had a better band name. *cough* The Who, Alice In Chains, Goo Goo Dolls, others *cough*
    These bands are good but their names are pretty lame and cheesy.


    I remember when Alice in chains first came out and my buddy asked me

    "do you like Alice in chains?" and i replied "only to my headboard." :D

    (AIC is one of my top 5 bands)

    and "Green day" is cool if you 4:20
  • LONGRD
    LONGRD Posts: 6,036
    Crazy Breed wrote:
    I remember when Alice in chains first came out and my buddy asked me

    "do you like Alice in chains?" and i replied "only to my headboard." :D

    (AIC is one of my top 5 bands)

    and "Green day" is cool if you 4:20
    AIC was actually my favorite between 1994-February 3rd, 1998....then YIELD came out!!!!!
    PJ- 04/29/2003.06/24,25,27,28,30/2008.10/27,28,30,31/2009
    EV- 08/09,10/2008.06/08,09/2009
  • Viggo
    Viggo Posts: 274
    Oops.. Wrong thread..

    Anyways... It's Eddies great grandmother Pearl the name is from... yeah right...
    It's okay, It's okay
    You don't have to run and hide away
    It's okay, it's okay
    I love you anyway
    2007: Pearl Jam concert in Düsseldorf (21. June)
    2007: Chris Cornell concert in Kristiansand (2. July)
    2007: The Who concert in Kristiansand (4. July)
  • hathnoname
    hathnoname Posts: 16
    ovechkin8 wrote:
    Pearl Jam came out of Mother Love Bone.

    Mother Love Bone= giant boner

    Pearl Jam=sperm

    i only wish i was joking.

    Completely 100% true.
    07-11-98, 07-13-98, 07-14-98, 10-30-00, 10-31-00, 06-01-03, 06-02-03, 06-03-03, 06-05-03,
    06-06-03, 10-23-04, 07-09-06, 07-15-06, 07-16-06, 07-18-06.
  • hathnoname
    hathnoname Posts: 16
    Crazy Breed wrote:
    I remember when Alice in chains first came out and my buddy asked me

    "do you like Alice in chains?" and i replied "only to my headboard." :D

    (AIC is one of my top 5 bands)

    and "Green day" is cool if you 4:20

    They came up with Alice in Chains as a joke reference to Pretty Boy Floyd I believe. May have been another hair band with a similar type name.
    07-11-98, 07-13-98, 07-14-98, 10-30-00, 10-31-00, 06-01-03, 06-02-03, 06-03-03, 06-05-03,
    06-06-03, 10-23-04, 07-09-06, 07-15-06, 07-16-06, 07-18-06.
  • bgirl59
    bgirl59 Tucson AZ Posts: 888
    GreenTeaDisease wrote:
    the wiki story is correct. Jeff did some kind of internet radio interview when avacado came out and told the story of how they came up with it. he said that the psychedelic jam story was a huge myth that ed made up on the spot just annoy reporters. He said the whole band started to get annoyed during interviewd being asked the same questions over and over, so they started to get creative at times.
    REALLY??
    as annoyed as I am reading this thread??
    Peace
    PEARL JAM in 2024! Dark Matter and MORE ! THANK YOU!!   
    Peace Love & Pearl Jam forever!!
  • Stone Irons
    Stone Irons Posts: 430
    hathnoname wrote:
    Completely 100% true.

    Nope.
    Can't escape from the common rule...
    If you hate something, don't you do it too
  • bgirl59
    bgirl59 Tucson AZ Posts: 888
    Want to close this thread out?

    From The Sky I Scrape:

    The one we believe is this one, straight from Ed:

    "I remember throwing words and meanings around for band names,..... I was writing songs daily and they seemed more important than the name of the band,.... I didn't grasp at the time how representative it may become,....not to mention we were just making a little record that few people would ever hear,......

    so the words came, 2,... one of which was Pearl. The name of my great grandmother,..... married to a contortionist...... He used to fit himself into a suitcase.... One in a long line of peculiar individuals.

    Pearl is also a surfing term when you go headfirst and eat it on the face of a wave....

    Janis Joplins greatest record was called Pearl,..... And of course, Earl the Pearl Monroe who shared the court with Phil Jackson I believe,.... (I often tell people that it was Phils initials that led us to our name..... ) I thought that was much better than the rumor that Pearl Jam was some sort of slang for "ejaculated liquid"..... harsh,.....

    No,..... I feel that the best justification for the name is in reference to the pearl itself,... and the natural process from which a pearl comes from,...... Basically, taking excrement or waste and turning it into something beautiful,...... This is how our band began,..... taking emotions that we wrestled with personally and letting them evolve into songs,..... In this way the songs became vehicles in which to deal with it all,..... Add the volume of loud instruments, amplified vocals,..... moving chord changes,.... And it wasn't just shit anymore,.... It was kind of beautiful,.... powerful,,...... UNCULTURED! As Johnny Rotten would say later,

    Anger is an Energy...... And Shit can be Beautiful. the proof is in the pearl."

    See you at the show!
    Peace
    PEARL JAM in 2024! Dark Matter and MORE ! THANK YOU!!   
    Peace Love & Pearl Jam forever!!
  • bigshasha
    bigshasha Posts: 38
    eddie confirmed at the wiltern that he did indeed have a grandmom named pearl, but she did not make jam
    I wanna run like the lions.
  • ozpjman
    ozpjman Posts: 872
    In a radio special on an Australian radio station at the end of 2006, after Avocado was released, the interview with Ed talked about how the name came about. Whilst Ed never said the following, the announcer said he was told in the interview the name of the band was sourced from a surfing term (as was mentioned in a previous post from bgirl59):

    Paddling into a wave and getting crunched head on is Pearl, and hearing someone he got jammed, and the name came about.

    So many versions though, I love the variations.

    What we should really be asking though, who is being sung about in the song 'You're so Vain'????
    Stars walk the red carpet because they're famous - I walk the toilet paper because im the shit.
  • TallGuyCM
    TallGuyCM Posts: 328
    ovechkin8 wrote:
    Pearl Jam came out of Mother Love Bone.

    Mother Love Bone= giant boner

    Pearl Jam=sperm



    i only wish i was joking.

    I've heard this since like 6th grade when Ten came out..."Pearls" are white in color, and "Jam", as in a substance with a similiar consistency as sperm.

    I wouldn't be surprised if this is really the truth, especially after Mother Love Bone, and they just make things up now because they're somewhat embarrassed about this which was probably funny 17 years ago.

    A similar question - how did STEELY DAN get their name? I've heard it was the name of a sex toy in some old novel...
  • Given2Fly...SD
    Given2Fly...SD Posts: 146
    MAn does anyone remember during a concert Ed saying it was because Phil Jackson's initials.

    because they would be well coached and champions.

    I like this one.
    San Diego, July 07, 2006
    Los Angeles, July 10, 2006
    Bridge School Benefit, October 21, 2006
    Bridge School Benefit, October 22, 2006
    Lollapalooza, August 5th, 2007
    eV., Los Angeles April 12, 2008
    eV., San Diego April 15, 2008
    Given to Fly___..
  • Lukin66
    Lukin66 Posts: 3,063
    I don't think anyone outside the band will ever know the real story about the name.
    deep, deep blue of the morning
    gets to me every time
  • Stone Irons
    Stone Irons Posts: 430
    Lukin66 wrote:
    I don't think anyone outside the band will ever know the real story about the name.

    Jeff and Mike already revealed the true story in the 2006 Rolling Stone article. I think some people just don't want to believe it because it's not as interesting as the numerous theories and rumors that have popped up over the years.
    Can't escape from the common rule...
    If you hate something, don't you do it too
  • potluck
    potluck Posts: 170
    who really knows but you know what i think they should say "pearl jam" means:

    Lets think about this, what is a pearl?

    A pearl is something beautiful made from individual peices of dirt.

    Those five guys were just grungy dirtbags but when they all came together what they made was beautiful, a beautiful "jam."

    Like a jam session.

    I think that would be a better story! and thats what the name means to me and has since i was 8 years old listening to the Vitalogy cd i stole from the local drug store when my mom wasnt lookin
    06/24/1998 SD
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    10/05/2004 MO
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    09/08/2005 MB
    09/09/2005 ON
    05/17/2006 IL
    05/19/2006 MI
    07/02/2006 CO
    08/05/2007 Lolla
    06/14/2008 B'roo

    Kill Fascists.... or at least make them realize what they are.
  • given2fly10
    given2fly10 Posts: 485
    ovechkin8 wrote:
    Pearl Jam came out of Mother Love Bone.

    Mother Love Bone= giant boner

    Pearl Jam=sperm



    i only wish i was joking.
    i like this the one best, i always have. i could give a shit what the name means to me
    And he still gives his love, he just gives it away, The love he receives is the love that is saved, And sometimes is seen a strange spot in the sky, A human being that was given to fly

    no bed=no brian

    coke sucks
  • Lukin66
    Lukin66 Posts: 3,063
    Stone Irons wrote:
    Jeff and Mike already revealed the true story in the 2006 Rolling Stone article. I think some people just don't want to believe it because it's not as interesting as the numerous theories and rumors that have popped up over the years.
    yeah, well, the grammie Pearl idea was also told by a member of the band to the media. I'm not saying that Jeff and Mike were lying, all I'm saying is why does it matter?
    deep, deep blue of the morning
    gets to me every time
  • URthekey
    URthekey Posts: 1,912
    smithnic wrote:
    You can see Eddie sort of embarrassed about the name in the DVD Imagine in Cornice when he's talking to the guy with the organ.

    lol.... the guy with the organ.

    Not sure about the name but every time I ask for a Pearl necklace all I get is a sticky collarbone.
  • Stone Irons
    Stone Irons Posts: 430
    Lukin66 wrote:
    yeah, well, the grammie Pearl idea was also told by a member of the band to the media. I'm not saying that Jeff and Mike were lying, all I'm saying is why does it matter?

    Why does what matter? I have no reason not to trust Jeff and Mike regarding their story. I'll stick with that one since I don't like to get into speculation or to put my own interpretation into something that has no meaning in the first place.
    Can't escape from the common rule...
    If you hate something, don't you do it too
  • Spunkie
    Spunkie i come from downtown. Posts: 7,095
    "COME back" ->
    "GO" "DOWN" =
    "MMMMNnnn Pearl Jam!"
    "Ed, do you think that's really how they got their name?"
    I was swimming in the Great Barrier Reef 
    Animals were hiding behind the Coral 
    Except for little Turtle
    I could swear he's trying to talk to me 
    Gurgle Gurgle

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