How About a Pearl Jam Obscure Fact Repository

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  • Spiritual_Chaos
    Spiritual_Chaos Posts: 31,511
    CharlieP wrote:
    PJ intended to do an acoustic pre-show in Copenhagen 2012. The heat was almost unbearable and in an effort to cool off the crowd from the beginning they asked for permission to open the side doors while doing the sit-down set but unfortunately weren't allowed to because the venue staff would probably receive complaints from the neighbours living close to the venue. Had they accepted, this easily would have become an instant classic show and the show would have had an entirely different vibe. The latter part is just being speculation on my part, but I have the rest straight from the horses' mouth. Eddie told me this after the show!
    Would have been so great.

    The heat easily destroyed part of the feeling for me that night. Worried about my friend - who the staff refused to get water to (or any of us)!

    Lousy night for a concert. Great concert nonetheless.
    "Mostly I think that people react sensitively because they know you’ve got a point"
  • pleatherman
    pleatherman Posts: 472
    edited February 2023
    Delete
    Post edited by pleatherman on
  • pleatherman
    pleatherman Posts: 472
    From the PJ 20 book:
    “After finishing his second year at the University of Montana, Ament dropped out and moved to Seattle to pursue music with his then band, Deranged Diction.”

    As idealistic as it sounds for Jeff to transplant to Seattle for the sole reason of following his punk rock dreams, the truth is much more pragmatic. He simply wanted to continue his college education after the University of Montana began phasing out the graphic design program.

    "Patrick: Now, did you get an art degree at U of M? That’s what I heard.

    Jeff: Well, I was in the art program. I actually went to school for two years, so I didn’t get a degree. They were kind of shutting their graphics design program down, they were gonna focus more on fine arts. Trying to get me to go that direction. I kind of was more interested in graphics arts than I was in painting and stuff. So I moved to Seattle with the intention of going to college out there, which never happened (laughs)."

    And it was actually a couple months after he moved away that other members of Deranged Diction followed suit, and came out to Seattle.
    At various points in Jeff's life, the notion of going back to art school has crossed his mind. I always understood that to be his backup plan. As it turns out, college was Plan 'A' all along!
  • pleatherman
    pleatherman Posts: 472
    The original plan for recording 'Thin Air' pegged Stone on lead vocals. His desire not to sing it throughout the ensuing tour led to the known version on Binaural.
    Side note: After listening to Stone and Jeff's respective solo albums, it's hard for me not to hear their voices in any Pearl Jam song they wrote lyrics and vocal melodies for. As much as I love most of those songs, I do appreciate Ed back at the helm.
  • majleap3
    majleap3 Posts: 208
    In the 1998 Vitalogy Health Club newsletter PJ claimed to be touring the US to make the profile of Marlin Brando when you connect the dots....tongue planted in cheek I believe.
  • Tonyewald76
    Tonyewald76 Posts: 67
    majleap3 wrote:
    In the 1998 Vitalogy Health Club newsletter PJ claimed to be touring the US to make the profile of Marlin Brando when you connect the dots....tongue planted in cheek I believe.


    Tongue-in-cheek, you say?

    Too bad--that tour could've had class. It could've been a contender. It could've been something, instead of a joke, which is what it was.

    Let's face it--it was us, Ten Club.
    2003--Cleveland. 2010--Columbus. 2013--Wrigley, Oakland. 2014--Cincinnati
  • pleatherman
    pleatherman Posts: 472
    edited January 2014
    "Binaural Tour" aka "H.O.B. Boycott Tour"

    Ticketmaster is forever engraved in Pearl Jam lore. It looms so large that between then and now, the U.S. '95 concerts went from being part of the "Vitalogy" tour to becoming the "Ticketmaster Boycott" tour; an indication of how their music took a backseat to business practices in the eyes of the public. In 1998, the band recanted to reaffirm their role as a rock band, first and foremost.
    It took all but a year for Pearl Jam to institute another boycott on a different corporation. This time their target was the concert promoter, House of Blues. A move that might prompt some insiders to believe the stubborn group had not learned their lesson from last time. But during this go-around Pearl Jam did not let idealism cloud the practicality of sustaining a large-scale tour.
    First, let's backtrack to the reason Pearl Jam severed ties with House of Blues in 1999. During the Yield tour, the concert promoter undercut Pearl Jam's fan-friendly policies by selling the best seats in the house to ticket brokers i.e. scalpers. With zero tolerance for such shady maneuvers, Pearl Jam disassociated with them for their next tour in 2000. To cunningly execute this boycott, the band simply signed an exclusive deal with one of the largest concert promoters at the time, SFX, for the entirety of the N.A. Binaural tour. Unlike the tactics instituted for PJ's mid-nineties tours, this sound business plan kept the focus on music and avoided the toil of multiple deals with local promoters.
    However, a facet of this evoked a predicament identical to their previous boycott, in that Pearl Jam could not perform at places under exclusive contract with House of Blues. For example, an outside amphitheatre presented or owned by House of Blues, like Blossom Music Center, meant Cleveland had to be omitted from the tour itinerary.
    H.O.B. subsequently established new restrictions to prevent scalping and not long afterwards, in 2003, Pearl Jam played at the House of Blues concert hall in Florida.
    Oh, and one more important difference in the boycott between Ticketmaster and H.O.B. is that Pearl Jam was not the lone crusader for the latter. In fact, by their side was arguably the most popular group of the late '90s- The Backstreet Boys!
    Post edited by pleatherman on
  • pleatherman
    pleatherman Posts: 472
    edited January 2014
    image

    Pearl Jam history confuses "Sick o' Pussies" with a children's song.

    Like "Better Man," "Sick o' Pussies" dates way, way back to Eddie's pre-Bad Radio demo days. According to Pearl Jam's official website, the band has performed, or rather tagged "Sick o' Pussies" more than a couple times during the Vs. tour.
    pearljam.com/music/lyrics/all/all/20755/sick_o_pussies
    The very credible Concert Chronology from Two Feet Thick also confirms those dates along with additional performances in '95 (e.g. Constitution Hall and Soldier Field).
    However, this actually turns out to be a case of mistaken song identity. The beginning of the old demo starts as follows:
    "Alright, here's a message for the pro-life pussies:
    My body's nobody's body but mine
    You run your own body, let me run mine    "

    The portion in bold are the lyrics Eddie has sung at the aforementioned PJ shows, which is where the confusion sets in. Those words were not actually written by Ed; rather, they are a direct quote from an old sex-education song called "My Body." It is actually written by Peter Alsop back in 1983 and can be found on the album "Songs On Sex and Sexuality." I wonder how the original author feels an excerpt from the song has been adopted by Vedder to vindicate women's right to choose.

    MY BODY

    My body’s nobody’s body but mine
    You run your own body, let me run mine!
    My nose was made to sniff and to sneeze
    To smell what I want, and to pick when I please!
    My lungs were made to hold air when I breathe,
    I am in charge of just how much I need!
    My legs were made to dance me around
    To walk and to run and to jump up and down!
    My mouth was made to blow-up a balloon
    I can eat, kiss and spit, I can whistle a tune!
    No one knows my body better than me
    It tells me, “Let’s eat!”, it tells me “Go pee!”
    Don’t hit me or kick me, don’t push or shove
    Don’t hug me too hard when you show me your love
    Sometimes it’s hard to say “No!” and be strong
    When those ”No!” feelings come, then I know something’s wrong
    ’Cause My body’s mine from my head to my toe
    Please leave it alone when you hear me say “No!”
    Secrets are fun when they’re filled with surprise
    But not when they hurt us with tricks, threats and lies
    Our body’s one body, one voice is heard
    We each sing for freedom when we sing these words!

    A live rendition can be heard at 5:20
    youtu.be/109qwzYz4A0
    Also, here are a couple links to Pearl Jam's cover of "My Body"
    at the 3:50 mark
    youtu.be/dJKnbAzMbBk
    19:27 mark
    youtu.be/p0gx1i6s-xE


    Sick o' Pussies

    Alright, here's a message for the pro-life pussies:
    My body's nobody's body but mine
    You run your own body, let me run mine
    Jumbalama
    I'm sick
    Sick of pussies
    Sick of pussies in my way
    I'm sick
    Sick of pussies
    Sick of seein' pussies every day
    Rich pussies
    Pretty white pussies
    Never seen a workin' day
    I'm sick
    Sick of pussies
    Sick of pussies, sick with me
    Fuck that pussy shit, yea
    I am a workin' man
    Got blood on my fingers
    Got cracks in my hands
    Gotta --- today, gotta pay to play
    I'm sick of these pussies
    Fuckin with me!
    Fuck that pussy shit
    Fuck that pussy shit
    I'm sick
    Sick of pussies
    Sick of pussies in my way
    I'm sick
    Sick of pussies
    Sick of seein' pussies every day
    Rich pussies
    Pretty white pussies
    Never seen work before
    I'm sick
    Sick of pussies (x2)
    Sick with me
    Fuck that pussy shit
    Fucka fucka fucka fucka fucka
    Fuck that pussy shit
    Let's fuck 'em
    Just fuck 'em
    Fuck that pussy shit....fuck 'em
    Jam-a-lam-a-ding-dong


    Post edited by pleatherman on
  • pleatherman
    pleatherman Posts: 472
    "I'm just gonna live in a fuckin' cave... I don't think I'll be showing my face for a while."
    -Eddie Vedder, April 1994

    And so he did, much to chagrin of his bandmates. Despite that Eddie's conviction prompted Pearl Jam's dispute with Ticketmaster, Jeff and Stone were the ones left to testify at the congressional hearing. As prepared as they were for it, the duo's presence owed more to a lack of unity in the band than anything else. Mike, of course, had the more pressing matter of sobriety to contend with. And even if Dave wasn't on his way out, the apolitical drummer disagreed with any stance against Ticketmaster. As for the most recognizable band member, Ed's disappearance was nothing short of a mystery, even to Kelly and the group. The decision for Stone and Jeff to represent Pearl Jam for the testimony was based partly on necessity, because, as Jeff put it "we didn't even know where Eddie was hanging out. It was all very confusing." As it turns out, he was out of the country, in Rome.
  • majleap3
    majleap3 Posts: 208
    In April of 94 Pearl Jam was already gearing up for a fight with Ticketmaster over their planned summer tour (which was cancelled)

    "One really good thing is how much we've learned being on the road, in terms of the business aspect of it, and how exciting it is to be changing the way that people perceive things from a financial point of view, actually being able to get cheaper tickets, and forcing promoters to deal with only taking 20% of the merchandising. This summer, if Ticketmaster's gonna do something with us, they're gonna have to come around, or we've gonna deal with this tour ourselves. Ticketmaster wants to charge $4 a ticket this summer to print [the tickets] and sell them. The tickets are going to be $18, but when you put a $4 service charge on it, it ends up being 22% of the ticket price, which is more than we're making. When things get to that point, it starts to get a little bit ridiculous. It's the same way with merchandising. All promoters and record companies are in bed with the venues, so they allow each other to charge 35% or 40% of the t-shirts prices, when in a lot of instances, the bands are only making 30%. And the only way the band can make any money is by charging $24 a t-shirt. The one thing that's really, really great about being in the position we're in is having the power to go in there and fuck with those people. It's a beautiful thing", Jeff Ament.
  • majleap3
    majleap3 Posts: 208
    Singles wasn't Stone's first acting experience!


    "I loved Mother Love Bone, so when I was writing the movie that would end up being [1992's] Singles, I wanted to interview Jeff and Stone to explore the whole coffee-culture, "two or three jobs, one of which is your band" lifestyle. The terrible turn of events that took place was that Andy died. And everybody just instinctively showed up at Kelly [Curtis]'s house that night. For me it was the first real feeling of what it was like to have a hometown—everybody pulling together for some people they really loved. That was a pivotal moment, I think, for a lot of people there. It made me want to do Singles as a love letter to the community that I was really moved by. Few people know this, but Stone is actually in [Crowe's 1989 film] Say Anything.... He plays a cab driver, and Ione Skye looks at him and kind of flirts with him a little bit as they're stuck in traffic on her way to graduation", Cameron Crowe (Singles Director).
  • cacarr1
    cacarr1 Posts: 350
    Awesome thread!
    PJ Bootleg Artwork


    Twitter: @cacarr1
  • pleatherman
    pleatherman Posts: 472
    edited January 2014
    image
    This postcard from Eddie Vedder to his roommates in San Diego really alludes to the magical serendipity of Pearl Jam's inception, captured while it was happening.

    Throughout Eddie's transplant to Seattle, he bounced around different places to crash before a permanent residence was found. A few include Kelly Curtis' home, Ament's apartment, or other times just spending the night at Galleria Potato Head. The return address on the postcard reveals Eddie's posh stay at the hip Vance Hotel prior to Mookie Blaylock's first show. It is now dubbed Hotel Max and prides itself on the city's musical heritage, with an entire floor dedicated to Sub Pop.

    And how about that, an Eddie Vedder door!
    image
    Post edited by pleatherman on
  • pleatherman
    pleatherman Posts: 472
    edited January 2014
    The perils of an unknown band.
    Vinyl lovers that they are, Pearl Jam could not win over that ideal on Epic for their first release. August 27, 1991 marked the U.S. date for 'Ten' on compact disc and cassette tape only. As a compromise, the cd cover-art folded out to record sleeve-like proportions. It was not until a few years later (1994) a vinyl pressing of 'Ten' was issued in the U.S. After all, being the biggest band in the country did have its benefits.
    Post edited by pleatherman on
  • BN8419
    BN8419 Posts: 290
    Mike McCready has three nuts
  • PJ_Soul
    PJ_Soul Vancouver, BC Posts: 50,717
    BN8419 said:

    Mike McCready has three nuts

    Four. :D
    With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy. ~ Desiderata
  • majleap3
    majleap3 Posts: 208
    On it's 1993 40-city tour, Pearl Jam lowered it's ticket prices to $18 -- over the objections of concert promoters who urged the band to charge up to three times that amount -- and negotiated lower commissions from T-shirt and souvenir vendors. The result, in the case of T-shirts, was a price lowered from $23 to $18. Promoters estimate the total loss to the band in ticket and merchandise revenues for the '93 tour alone at around $2 million
  • dugangsxr
    dugangsxr Posts: 688
    Best thread ever! Keep it up folks! I'm always looking forward to viewing these post. :D
    Paul D.
  • pleatherman
    pleatherman Posts: 472
    edited January 2014
    The exact role Damien Echols had in the making of 'Army Reserve.'

    'Army Reserve' is not the first time an outsider has contributed lyrics to a Pearl Jam song. In a band with five songwriters, all of which can more than hold their own in the lyrical department, the task to live up to those standards is not an enviable one. But Damien's writing skills suited the song perfectly. However, none of this occured to him when he wrote it down. The collaboration between Echols and Pearl Jam began quite independently of one another. Initially, 'Army Reserve' was just a poem, one of many he wrote during his prison sentence. As perhaps the ultimate compliment, the best lyricist on the planet, Eddie, decided to transplant his poetry and arrange, edit, and embellish it in such a way to take on new life in song. And Ta-daa, it fit in perfectly with Eddie's narrative for a concept record. Although that sequence was later scrapped, 'Army Reserve' doesn't suffer in the least for it.
    Post edited by pleatherman on
  • pleatherman
    pleatherman Posts: 472
    edited January 2014
    "If I want to make a song based on sound effects from the movie Mars Attacks, I can do that." - E.V.

    Eddie Vedder may have written some of the catchiest Pearl Jam songs to date, but an experimental streak runs through his past work, as well. One example, an aural collage created with nothing more than pocket change. The unmistakeable sound of coins reverberating off the ground chime melodiously without a hint of the cacophonous clamor easily rendered from the small metallic objects. Recorded during the Binaural sessions, a snippet of it is sparsely added to 'Of the Girl.' On its own, the coin medley is a few minutes long and even has a title. It's called 'Change.'
    Post edited by pleatherman on

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