Ed & Jeff on 34 years of Pearl Jam on The Bill Simmons Podcast

I am glad to hear others noticed the awkwardness between Ed and BS, because it just seemed like Ed wasn't feeling it at all. He mostly seemed to be questioning the questions.

BF25394 said:

Tim Simmons said:

I'm willing to bet an interview by fans where people ask questions like "Why isn't this song played" or Why do this or that" would be just as cringe as some of these questions were. this interview was just fine. 

I'm thinking more of an interview by a professional who actually has a deep knowledge of the band's entire history, not just the first few years of it. The problem with someone like Simmons as an interviewer is that he obviously stopped paying anything more than casual attention to the band after the first three albums. It doesn't make him a bad person; it just makes him ill-equipped to ask interesting questions about the band's career. Do you think if you asked Bill Simmons to name a song on Riot Act or Pearl Jam that he would be able to do so? (I don't think he would.)

I nominate Steven Hyden

pjl44 said:

BF25394 said:

Tim Simmons said:

I'm willing to bet an interview by fans where people ask questions like "Why isn't this song played" or Why do this or that" would be just as cringe as some of these questions were. this interview was just fine. 

I'm thinking more of an interview by a professional who actually has a deep knowledge of the band's entire history, not just the first few years of it. The problem with someone like Simmons as an interviewer is that he obviously stopped paying anything more than casual attention to the band after the first three albums. It doesn't make him a bad person; it just makes him ill-equipped to ask interesting questions about the band's career. Do you think if you asked Bill Simmons to name a song on Riot Act or Pearl Jam that he would be able to do so? (I don't think he would.)

I nominate Steven Hyden

Hmmm, that's a controversial one for me. I read his book and found it littered with mistakes and inaccuracies. I couldn't believe that a major publisher let it go to print without proper fact-checking. I almost submitted a list of errata to the publisher to be addressed before the paperback came out.

And by his own admission, he fit the profile of the Pearl Jam fan who drifted away from the band after 1998 and then only circled back to them later. Some of what he thinks he knows about the early days are based on apocryphal stories that circulated at that time but that he didn't know had been debunked because he had stopped paying attention to the band. And much of what he writes about the period when he wasn't paying attention is indirect, secondhand knowledge that he hasn't really internalized because he didn't live it.

BF25394 said:

pjl44 said:

BF25394 said:

Tim Simmons said:

I'm willing to bet an interview by fans where people ask questions like "Why isn't this song played" or Why do this or that" would be just as cringe as some of these questions were. this interview was just fine. 

I'm thinking more of an interview by a professional who actually has a deep knowledge of the band's entire history, not just the first few years of it. The problem with someone like Simmons as an interviewer is that he obviously stopped paying anything more than casual attention to the band after the first three albums. It doesn't make him a bad person; it just makes him ill-equipped to ask interesting questions about the band's career. Do you think if you asked Bill Simmons to name a song on Riot Act or Pearl Jam that he would be able to do so? (I don't think he would.)

I nominate Steven Hyden

Hmmm, that's a controversial one for me. I read his book and found it littered with mistakes and inaccuracies. I couldn't believe that a major publisher let it go to print without proper fact-checking. I almost submitted a list of errata to the publisher to be addressed before the paperback came out.

And by his own admission, he fit the profile of the Pearl Jam fan who drifted away from the band after 1998 and then only circled back to them later. Some of what he thinks he knows about the early days are based on apocryphal stories that circulated at that time but that he didn't know had been debunked because he had stopped paying attention to the band. And much of what he writes about the period when he wasn't paying attention is indirect, secondhand knowledge that he hasn't really internalized because he didn't live it.

I don't know about all that but Steven Hyden 

BF25394 said:

pjl44 said:

BF25394 said:

Tim Simmons said:

I'm willing to bet an interview by fans where people ask questions like "Why isn't this song played" or Why do this or that" would be just as cringe as some of these questions were. this interview was just fine. 

I'm thinking more of an interview by a professional who actually has a deep knowledge of the band's entire history, not just the first few years of it. The problem with someone like Simmons as an interviewer is that he obviously stopped paying anything more than casual attention to the band after the first three albums. It doesn't make him a bad person; it just makes him ill-equipped to ask interesting questions about the band's career. Do you think if you asked Bill Simmons to name a song on Riot Act or Pearl Jam that he would be able to do so? (I don't think he would.)

I nominate Steven Hyden

Hmmm, that's a controversial one for me. I read his book and found it littered with mistakes and inaccuracies. I couldn't believe that a major publisher let it go to print without proper fact-checking. I almost submitted a list of errata to the publisher to be addressed before the paperback came out.

And by his own admission, he fit the profile of the Pearl Jam fan who drifted away from the band after 1998 and then only circled back to them later. Some of what he thinks he knows about the early days are based on apocryphal stories that circulated at that time but that he didn't know had been debunked because he had stopped paying attention to the band. And much of what he writes about the period when he wasn't paying attention is indirect, secondhand knowledge that he hasn't really internalized because he didn't live it.

Man if Long Road upset you that much I have some terrible news about Five Against One & Not For You: Pearl Jam and the Present Tense. There are much much worse books than Hyden’s.

kmcmanus said:

BF25394 said:

pjl44 said:

BF25394 said:

Tim Simmons said:

I'm willing to bet an interview by fans where people ask questions like "Why isn't this song played" or Why do this or that" would be just as cringe as some of these questions were. this interview was just fine. 

I'm thinking more of an interview by a professional who actually has a deep knowledge of the band's entire history, not just the first few years of it. The problem with someone like Simmons as an interviewer is that he obviously stopped paying anything more than casual attention to the band after the first three albums. It doesn't make him a bad person; it just makes him ill-equipped to ask interesting questions about the band's career. Do you think if you asked Bill Simmons to name a song on Riot Act or Pearl Jam that he would be able to do so? (I don't think he would.)

I nominate Steven Hyden

Hmmm, that's a controversial one for me. I read his book and found it littered with mistakes and inaccuracies. I couldn't believe that a major publisher let it go to print without proper fact-checking. I almost submitted a list of errata to the publisher to be addressed before the paperback came out.

And by his own admission, he fit the profile of the Pearl Jam fan who drifted away from the band after 1998 and then only circled back to them later. Some of what he thinks he knows about the early days are based on apocryphal stories that circulated at that time but that he didn't know had been debunked because he had stopped paying attention to the band. And much of what he writes about the period when he wasn't paying attention is indirect, secondhand knowledge that he hasn't really internalized because he didn't live it.

Man if Long Road upset you that much I have some terrible news about Five Against One & Not For You: Pearl Jam and the Present Tense. There are much much worse books than Hyden’s.

I've read both. 5 Against 1 definitely has problems. Ironically, some of the apocrypha in Hyden's book that I referenced in my previous post come from Neely's book. The issues about Not for You are more subjective-- Giveny has some takes about things that are way off (and also some takes that are spot on)-- but it does not have the factual accuracy (and sloppy editing) issues that Long Road has.

BF25394 said:

Spiritual_Chaos said:

200 dollars per nosebleed ticket place right there




(Cool video even though I know shit about baseball. Why can't they like mainstream horror like normal people)

Don't feel bad. Simmons doesn't know as much as he thinks he does, either. Hack Wilson's record is 191 RBIs in a season, not 190. (It used to be thought to be 190, but new research found that he actually drove in 191 runs in 1930. It was a whole thing when this was discovered in the '90s but Simmons apparently missed it.)

One thing I'm confused about: Eddie showed Simmons an Astros jersey with "Tartabull" on the back, and Simmons said "Danny Tartabull," which is a reasonable assumption, but the thing is that neither Danny Tartabull nor his father Jose ever played for the Astros, and there is no one else named Tartabull in MLB history. So whose jersey is that?

Jose Tartabull managed the Gulf Coast Astros in the 80s.  The single A team for the Astros.