Pearl Jam Frequently Asked Questions
Version 7.00
Sunday, January 13, 2002
This page contains questions that have shown up repeatedly on mailing lists, web pages, and the Pearl Jam News group.
This FAQ is, as always, a work in progress. Keep in mind I have no official affiliation with the band or any of their official organizations. I am a fan just like yourself and I work on this in my spare time. Therefore if you have additions or corrections etc. feel free to send them on in to me at my address below. I update the FAQ to new version numbers as information warrants. Also, please remember what I said, this is a hobby for me, not my life. So don't flame me or bash me if I have forgotten something or gotten something wrong. Just respectfully drop me an email and I will investigate. Thanks and enjoy.
Ian Hadfield
How did it get started and where do I submit to?
This FAQ was initiated by Chris Smith (the GoS list manager) and to him we owe a lot (he started this whole darn thing). Chris did most of the questions and answers. Since Chris no longer had Internet access, we (Grace and Michael) decided to revamp the FAQ! Grace added new questions and brought the FAQ list back to our attention (we were tired of answering the same questions on the list). Michael edited the FAQ, formatted it, and added many new questions and comments. Many participants on the GoS list gave answers and, unknowingly, some of the questions that appear here. To them - much thanks. Special thanks also to Caleb Lavergne for his song list compilation. Chris came back to revamp the FAQ but disappeared again. When that happened I felt like it could have used a boost again so I undertook the job. Mostly all of the work here is not mine. I've just (unofficially) been passed the torch.
Disclaimer
Please bear in mind that when this FAQ was started, we were not trying to insult anyone's intelligence about Pearl Jam or how much they like the band. Rather it is just what it should be, questions that find themselves always being asked. Also, it might help those users who fear being flamed or just too shy to ask certain PEARL JAM related questions.
The FAQ
Here is what we have so far. Send in your corrections, comments and other stuff you think should be in the FAQ as it is far from complete. It is helpful when supplying information to have documentation or other items to support your theories. We'd appreciate those that submit questions supply anything they know about possible answers, since we don't know it all. Keep in mind, this is a FAQ about Pearl Jam and their fans, not an obscure PEARL JAM trivia file. This FAQ is also meant to accompany other Pearl Jam info accumulated through GoS, stuff like the Discography, Family Tree, Song Book, etc. These items either are readily available and are most likely on my Pearl Jam web page : "Lukin"
Common Sense
An additional thing to consider is that many questions are answered in, of all places, the liner notes on the album. Please look there before posting a question. Also, there are numerous versions of certain songs, please be specific about a song's origin (live, single, EP, album, boot, etc...) when referring to it.
Also, have fun and see if you can learn something. I sure did! :-)
If your browser does not support the script on this page (if you cannot see the
questions or the answer once you click on the question) please see the
old version of the FAQ here.
Jeff Ament : Bass Guitar, backing vocals Stone Gossard : Rhythm guitar, backing vocals Matt Cameron : Drums, percussion Mike McCready : Lead Guitar, backing vocals Eddie Vedder : Lead Vocals, rhythm guitar
Dave Krusen - September 22, 1990 thru May 25, 1991 Matt Chamberlain - July 2, 1991 thru August 03, 1991 Dave Abbruzzese - August 23, 1991 thru April 17, 1994 Jack Irons - October 01, 1994 thru March 29, 1998 Matt Cameron - May 01, 1998 thru (current member)
The band, as a whole, is from Seattle, Washington, although originally Eddie Vedder is from Evanston, Illinois and later, San Diego, California. Jeff Ament originally hails from Big Sandy, Montana. Jack Irons is from Los Angeles. Mike McCready was born in Pensacola, Fl. but was raised in Seattle WA.
Pearl Jam formed in late 1990 after the demise of Seattle singer Andrew Wood which broke up the band, Mother Love Bone, of which Ament and Gossard were members.
Dave Krusen was the original drummer for Pearl Jam. It is him that you hear on the album Ten. Dave left the band in 1991 to attend to personal problems at the time. Dave has come out to say that he was having problem with alcohol at the time of his leaving the band.
Matt Chamberlain was Dave Krusen's replacement as the drummer for Pearl Jam. Matt can be seen in the Alive video and did not drum on any studio albums. Matt later left Pearl Jam to join another band. He suggested, as he left, that Pearl Jam should check out a drummer named Dave Abbruzzese in the Texas funk band, Dr. Tongue.
No one knows the exact story behind the firing of Dave A. All that is known so far is that he was fired by Stone, during breakfast, around August 1994. The story released to the media, at first, said that it was an amicable split and that Dave A. left the band to study music. Then Dave A. later released to the press his version of the story. According to Dave A., he was fired by the band for reasons that are still unclear to him. Why the band released the first statement that Dave left the band is still unknown. Dave A. posted a letter in the Pearl Jam folder in AOL. There used to be a web site that had the letter (if anybody can find it, I would like to add it to the FAQ here).
It begins with early Seattle bands such as Stone Gossard's March of Crimes and The Ducky Boys, Ament's Deranged Diction, and Mark Arm's Mr. Epp. These early bands boiled down into Green River with Stone Gossard and Steve Turner on guitar, Ament on Bass and Arm on vocals (again see the family tree for complete representation). After a couple personnel changes, Green River parted ways with Arm and Turner going on to form Mudhoney and Ament and Gossard going through a couple bands and finally settling down in Mother Love Bone with ex-Malfunkshun vocalist Andrew Wood. MLB started to gain some momentum commercially with a record deal in the works with a major label some air play on Mtv, after being "discovered" by Kiss bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons. Unfortunately, Andrew Wood passed away due to a heroin overdose stopping Mother Love Bone in their tracks. Wood's roommate, vocalist/guitarist Chris Cornell of Soundgarden, hit hard by the death of Wood wrote the songs Say Hello To Heaven, and Reach Down about his deceased roommate and decided to record them as a tribute to Wood. This project developed into an entire album entitled Temple of the Dog after a line in the Mother Love Bone song Man of Golden Words. This project included Cornell on vocals and guitar, Stone Gossard on guitar, Jeff Ament on bass, Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron, and recent Gossard/Ament recruit Mike McCready also on guitar. At the same time that Temple was being designed/written Gossard, Ament, and McCready had just finished a three song instrumental demo with Matt Cameron helping them out on drums. The demo was driven by the Gossard creation Dollar Short that would eventually evolve into the AOR anthem Alive. This tape made it into the hands of a young San Diego gas station attendant named Eddie Vedder through friend and ex-Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Jack Irons at a game of one on one at a local basketball hoop. According to Vedder, after listening to the tape several times and then went surfing with the music playing in his head over and over. It was then that he put some of his lyrics to the music. Vedder dubbed his vocals onto the tape and titled the tape Mamasan ....it consisted of Part 1--Alive, Part 2--Once and part 3--Footsteps. He sometimes refers to this in interviews as his little Mini-Opera. Ament, Gossard and McCready were impressed and eventually arranged a jam session to test the waters of a possible band formation. Things went well and Vedder joined in on the Temple of the Dog project with backing vocals and co-lead vocals on Hunger Strike. With Temple in the can, the band Mookie Blaylock was born with the addition of Dave Krusen on drums. The band took their name in reference the then New Jersey Nets point guard of the same name. This name was changed in favor of Pearl Jam (after briefly considering the name Reenk Roink) and the band was solidified.
No one is sure but the consensus says (and Eddie has said this in an early interview) that Vedder's grandmother, Pearl, was married to a Native American that influenced her cooking style. She had a recipe for a preserve that included a Native American hallucinogenic substance called Peyote, hence, "Pearl's Jam.".
Bad Radio is the San Diego band that Eddie Vedder was in prior to Pearl Jam. You might have heard of Bad Radio since there are bootlegs available now with Eddie's stuff with his old band. Also, "Better Man," one of the songs off of Vitalogy is an old Bad Radio song.
His real name is Eddie Vedder. His biological name is Edward Louis Severson III. He was adopted by the man he not so fondly calls "that lawyer fuck" and had the name Edward Jerome Mueller. After his mother divorced, he took her maiden name, Vedder.
One is named Jason, and one is named Chris. His third half-brother's name is either Brian or Mike.(??) Jason is the one that played with Pearl Jam in Den Haag, 1992. Eddie wished Chris Happy Birthday during the DJ segment of their Atlanta broadcast. Also, in the liner notes of Ten, Eddie thanks (amongst others) his brothers Mueller and also sister Parish.
Eddie sports a tattoo of a crossed tomahawk and a wrench on his right calf. This tattoo is the logo of Earth First, a radical environmental group. Former Pearl Jam member Dave Abbruzesse also sported a tattoo, the famous Pearl Jam stick man logo, on his arm. Jack Irons also sports several tattoos, which of course is a requirement of anyone that is or ever was a member of The Red Hot Chili Peppers. ;-)
All the band members have side projects when they are not playing music with Pearl Jam. The side projects also change quite a bit so the best place to see up-to-date information on side projects would be the official site's side project page. The old FAQ answer is below...
Eddie has done guest spots with the remaining members of The Doors for their induction in the rock and roll hall of fame,and has appeared on the Bad Religion album, Recipe For Hate. Vedder and McCready played at the Bob Dylan 30th anniversary and Vedder played at the Daltrey sings Townsend Who special. Vedder also lends his services on the Mike Watt album Ballhog or Tugboat, singing lead vocals on "Against the 70's" and playing guitar on "Big Train". Stone Gossard has released an album called Shame with his side band Brad. Stone also appears in another side project called Thermadore with an album called Monkey on Rico. Other members on the album include Chad Smith of the Chili Peppers on drums and the guitar player from Mary's Danish. Dave Abbruzzese plays drums on God's Jig by Course of Empire. Jeff and Mike also appear as M.A.C.C. in "Stone Free: A tribute to Jimi Hendrix". And also some of the members are featured along with Cypress Hill on "Real Thing" on the Judgment Night soundtrack. Mike has also done an album with Layne Staley of Alice in Chains under the name Mad Season (they were earlier called Gacy Bunch). Mcready also appears in the band $10,000 Gold Chain on The Cable Guy motion picture soundtrack. Jeff Ament has an album out called "Three Fish" with is side band of the same name. Ament has been the most active person in the side project area as he has been touring with Three Fish in spring/summer of 1996. Mcready's Mad Season has also played out a few times but has not had any kind of a structured tour. There have been confirmations of a second Mad Season double-album as I write this (11/96). Also, as a side note (no pun intended), Pearl Jam also released an album in 1995 with Neil Young, entitled "Mirror Ball". I myself don't really consider this a side project since it is a Pearl Jam album and also a Neil Young album. I like to think that for 1995, Neil Young was a member of Pearl Jam. Or maybe, with proper respect to the elder musician and living legend, I should say that Pearl Jam joined up with Neil Young in 1995 as his backing band. Either way, I consider them a united entity when I think of 1995. Jack Irons is credited on the Reality Bites Soundtrack. Eddie Vedder has worked on the Dead Man Walking soundtracks. Pearl Jam as a whole also appear on the soundtrack of The Basketball Diaries. Eddie has also be involved with his wife's band, Hovercraft. As of late 1996, Mike Mcready, in an effort to simultaneously belong to as many bands at one time as humanly possible is said to be recording a jazz styled album in a band called Tuatara that also includes Peter Buck of R.E.M. Actor Kevin Bacon has been quoted as saying that he fears that Mike Mccready will replace him as the center of all human contact (just kidding of course!)
Stop, think hard for the name of a band, and you'll have probably just picked one of Pearl Jam's influences. The band claims many punk, classic rock, and blues oriented bands as influences as well as many of there contemporaries such as Soundgarden and Mudhoney. Former drummer, Dave A. sights John Henry Bonham of Led Zeppelin as his biggest influence.
"While Springsteen and U2 have taken action to keep scalpers from turning the expense of concert going into a fan's nightmare, it took Pearl Jam to say enough's enough and take up the long-overdue fight to bring down the cost of a concert ticket being bought via legitimate means. On June 30th, 1994 bassist Jeff Ament and guitarist Stone Gossard gave three hours of testimony before government subcommittee on Capitol Hill about the ever-escalating expense involved in purchasing tickets to entertainment events, singling out Ticketmaster and charging that the computerized ticket service prices its tickets for rock concerts far higher that the band's young fans can afford. When Pearl Jam and the ticket conglomerate could reach no agreement on the specific issue of pricing tickets for their summer tour (the band proposed charging a face value of $18 plus a 10% service charge, which falls well below the usual service charge on concert tickets), Pearl Jam filed an antitrust suit with the Justice Department claiming they were forced to cancel their summer tour because Ticketmaster had prompted a national boycott against the band be members of a national association of concert promoters; and that Ticketmaster has a virtual monopoly on the national distribution of concert tickets since no competing ticket service exists as an alternative for fans. Ticketmaster has denied all of Pearl Jam's allegations. The band has garnered support of artists such as R.E.M., Garth Brooks, Neil Young, Grateful Dead, and Aerosmith, whose manager Tim Collins testified at the House hearings and read a statement that Aerosmith had issued from Italy where they were on tour, quoting Steven Tyler's view of how Ticketmaster relates to the music industry: "Mussolini may have made trains run on time but not everyone could get a seat on those trains." The Justice Department continues its investigations into the matter."
Attorney General Janet Reno (Chewbacca's sister) dropped the investigation against Ticketmaster and Pearl Jam use non-Ticketmaster venues and alternative ticketing agencies, when they can, for their tours. Most of the 1998 and 2000 tours (for example) were at Ticketmaster venue's thus having to use Ticketmaster (sounds like a monopoly to me!).
Matt Cameron : November 28, 1962 - San Diego, CA.
Jeff Ament : March 10, 1963 - Big Sandy, MO.
Eddie Vedder : December 23, 1964 - Evanston, IL.
Mike McCready : April 05, 1966 - Pensacola, FL.
Stone Gossard : July 20, 1966 - Seattle, WA.
Eddie's birth year has always been a source of controversy. This is why we state that his b-day is December 23, 1964. In many publications, it has been printed as being 1964, 1965 or 1966. When I started reading/collecting Pearl Jam interviews in early 1992, Eddie was always described as being 27 years old..(which would make his birth year to be 1964 or 1965).. After that, different sources listed his birth year differently each time. In fall of 1994, Rolling Stone published a special issue that had a mini-biography of several musical bands and listed each band members birth date. It listed Eddie's birthday as December 23,1964. Also in the Jan. 1995 issue of SPIN magazine (which was available to the public in December 1994), Eddie was described as "on the verge of turning 30".. Hence we come to the conclusion using these two sources that Eddie's birth year is indeed 1964.
Jeff Ament went to University of Montana to study art (he also played basketball there) and dropped out before he could graduate. Mike also went to community college but not straight out of high school. As far as we know, Stone, Matt, Jack, Dave A., and Dave K. graduated from high school but never went to college. Eddie dropped out of high school but later received his GED and briefly went to community college in Chicago before returning to San Diego.
While no one has an official answer, Eddie's middle name is Jerome and he took most of the 144 polaroids that make up the album cover. That is why most people think it is him.
Again, like No Code, no one has an official answer. But, again, Carpenter is a middle name of one of the band members. This time it just happened to be Stone's.
Whenever someone writes and publishes a song they have to have some way to identify it as their own (legal stuff). Most musicians make up names to go by. Members of Pearl Jam have the following names...
Eddie Vedder -- Innocent Bystander Stone Gossard -- Write Treatage Music Jeff Ament -- Scribing C-Ment Mike McCready -- Jumpin' Cat Music Matt Cameron -- Walpurgis Night Music
Dave Krusen -- 3 Kick Heads Matt Chamberlin -- (unknown) Dave Abbruzzese -- Pickled Fish Jack Irons -- Mr. Brootz Music
Ten - Epic ZK 47857 Vs - Epic ZK 53136 Vitalogy - Epic EK 66900 No Code - Epic EK 67500 Yield - Epic EK 68164 Live On Two Legs - Epic EK 69752 Binaural - Epic EK 63665 Entire European 2000 Tour Entire US 2000 Tour (first leg) Entire US 2000 Tour (second leg)
Ten - August 27, 1991 Vs - October 19, 1993 (on CD) Vitalogy - December 06, 1994 (on CD) No Code - August 27, 1996 (on CD) Yield - February 03, 1998 Live On Two Legs - November 24, 1998 Binaural - May 23, 2000
Ten : 10 million copies in the US Vs : 6 million copies in the US Vitalogy : 5 million copies in the US No Code : 1 million copies in the US Yield : 2 million copies in the US
Also, Vs. had set the record for selling more copies (950,000) in its opening week than any other album since SoundScan started keeping track in 1991. Vitalogy also debuted at No. 55 in the Billboard top 200 when it was released as a vinyl, the first vinyl record release to chart since the inception of Compact Disk's.
Ten - Once, Even Flow, Alive, Why Go, Black, Jeremy, Oceans, Porch, Garden, Deep, Release, Wash (European Album), Dirty Frank (European Album), Alive (live) (European Album), I Got A Feeling (Japanese Album), Master/Slave (Part of "Once" and "Release." Not Labeled)
Vs - Go, Animal, Daughter, Glorified G, Dissident, W.M.A., Blood, Rearviewmirror, Rats, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Leash, Indifference
Vitalogy - Last Exit, Spin The Black Circle, Not For You, Tremor Christ, Nothingman, Whipping, Pry, To, Corduroy, Bugs, Satan's Bed, Better Man, Aye Davanita, Immortality, Hey Foxymophandlemama, That's me (Stupid Mop)
No Code - Sometimes, Hail, Hail, Who You Are, In My Tree, Smile, Off He Goes, Habit, Red Mosquito, Lukin, Present Tense, Mankind, I'm Open, Around the Bend
Yield - Brain Of J, Faithfull, No Way, Given To Fly, Wishlist, Pilate, Do The Evolution, "The Color Red," MFC, Low Light, In Hiding, Push Me Pull Me, All Those Yesterdays, Hummus (Part of "All Those Yesterdays" [Not Labeled - On CD only])
Live on Two Legs - Corduroy, Given To Fly, Hail Hail, Daughter, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Untitled, MFC, Go, Red Mosquito, Even Flow, Off He Goes, Nothingman, Do The Evolution, Better Man, Black, Fucking Up (all songs live from the 1998 US tour)
Binaural - Breakerfall, Gods' Dice, Evacuation, Light Years, Nothing As It Seems, Thin Air, Insignificance, Of The Girl, Grievance, Rival, Sleight Of Hand, Soon Forget, Parting Ways, Writers Block (Part of "Parting Ways" [Not Labeled])
Pearl Jam has always been fond of releasing extra songs as b-sides on their singles and also, foreign copies of Ten have extra songs. All the releases can be seen here.
"Even Flow" was re-recorded (with Dave A. on drums) for the release of the "Alive" EP. Many stations play this version. It is very similar but at the beginning you hear Eddie yell "Haah!" as the riff kicks in and in the end he says.."I died, I died...etc" This version is also the one they use for the video (see question 3.05) It is worth noting that someone submitted to me (without an exact page number) that the phrase that Eddie mumbles is a quote from the book "A Prayer For Owen Meany" by John Irving. Well, after doing some digging, I found the quote in question. In Even Flow, Eddie mumbles "I died, I died and you just stood there. I died and you watched me. I died and you walked by and said, 'No, I'm dead'.". Now, on page 21 of "A Prayer for Owen Meany" the character says "You let me drown! You didn't do anything! You just watched me drown! I'm already dead! Remember that: you let me die." Now, I might agree that perhaps the quotes might be related in some fashion, but obviously it is not an exact quote. So judge for yourself because I'm not convinced that the quote came from this source.
Well, put your headphones on, and turn up the volume WAY up, you can hear Eddie whisper "Oh father" before he starts moaning and the song starts. Some people also claim that they hear Eddie mistakenly begin to sing the first line from the song "Oceans."
Officially, songs released as b-sides, the "Dissident" singles (which is most of the Atlanta show from 1994), the album Live on Two Legs (which are parts of the 1998 US tour), the entire 2000 tour (made up of 72 double CD sets), and the Video/DVD "Touring Band 2000" which shows the band live thru various stops on the 2000 US tour.
Unofficially, there are tons of live and un-released Pearl Jam available on both CD's, on tape's and on videos from stores and traders throughout the world. Don't pay money for shows though. If you want a special CD that is one thing, but for tapes, just ask around the Internet and you will be able to find a network of traders who will share their "wealth" for mutual benefit. Also, try to refrain from purchasing boot (or import) CD's. I'm not preaching (I own a couple myself) but Pearl Jam has a very liberal policy about their live music that allows fans to record their shows more or less freely and uninhibited and also allows these tapes to be traded freely. The key word here is "FREELY". This is a privilege and if people BUY this material from people that sell it, then that privilege will become endangered and potentially taken away. Pearl Jam doesn't get any money when you buy a boot cd or tape and yet they own the rights to the performances as well as the right to sell or distribute them as THEY see fit, not how ANYONE else sees fit. If they want it sold then they will sell it (the entire 2000 tour is for sale on CD). Enjoy the taping policy and trade as much as you want.
It is not rare. The track is called "Master/Slave" and is used to introduce the album Ten before the song "Once" and is developed more completely after the song "Release" to close the album. While this title appears nowhere on the packaging, you can see that it is the official name if you look up the copyright information for Ten in the Library of Congress. The recorded version was played as an opener to the 1992 shows and was written by Jeff.
Gossard's song was given to Eddie as part of the Gossard demos. The song was also given to Chris Cornell (singer for Soundgarden) for a tribute album he was starting for the late Andrew Wood (the project became Temple of the Dog). "Footsteps" emerged as Vedder's song and "Times of Trouble" emerged as Chris's. So, even though it is the same music, the lyrics are different but technically speaking, Vedder's came first. As Vedder says, "Chris has his version and I have mine."
After being forced to chang their name from Mookie Blaylock to Pearl Jam (via Mookie's management) the band named their debut album after Blaylock's basketball number, 10.
Well, most people (including the band) say that if you listen hard to the songs, you will develop your own interpretations and special meanings that will be ten times more valuable to you than knowing the "cut and dry" story behind the song. For the record, since it is the most often asked question about song meanings, the basic structure of the mini-opera is as follows:
Part 1 : A young teen is told that the man he thought was his father is actually his step father and that his real father has died. He is further plagued by the fact that he is the spitting image of his true father. This leads to an incestuous act conducted by the boys mother and much anger and confusion by the boy afterwards. This is the song "Alive."
Part 2 : The song "Once" finds the youth, grown up and very violent taking out his anger on his fellow humans raping and killing them.
Part 3 : Part 3 finds the man on death row (the song "Footsteps") and making his final statements on his feelings towards his Mother, blaming her for what happened.
Also, the trilogy was performed in order, complete with explanations, in Zurich, on June 18, 1992.
Again, listen, absorb and develop your own interpretations, that is what music is all about. People say the Mini-Opera and especially "Alive" is about Vedder, but as with all good writers, it most likely developed from a grain of truth that was character sketched factitiously into a story.
Yellow Ledbetter was written by Mike (can you hear the Jimi Hendrix tribute?), Jeff, and Eddie. It can be found on the "Jeremy" single and a live version can be found on the "Daughter" single. This is another song that people ask what its meaning is and what the heck the lyrics are. NO ONE but the band really knows what the meaning of this song is or what the title refers to. Heck, we don't even know what Eddie is singing on it! Like a lot of Pearl Jam songs, it's pretty much open to your own interpretation. The song book has what we think is a good guess to the lyrics but again who knows. The Japanese CD single with "Yellow Ledbetter" also has some lyrics on it but they don't seem to fit with what Eddie is singing. All we know is that there is a porch where people don't wave, someone doesn't want to stay and there's a box or a bag somewhere. Eddie also tends to improvise the song's lyrics when Pearl Jam plays it live. So again, the best thing to do is sit back, absorb and enjoy the beautiful, haunting music. Don't drive yourself crazy by analyzing it for its true meaning. Find out what it means to you.
Simply put, yes. They have at one time or another played every song they have recorded for release and many they haven't. One exception to this last statement may be some of the more experimental songs on Vitalogy like "Bugs," "Pry, To," and "Stupid Mop." They may have slipped in portions of them live here and there. For a complete list of songs and when they were played, visit the Tour History Song Book at: http://www.lukin.com/Archive/songs/
The keeper, and maintainer, of the original song book was Joe Danziger when he went to Rutgers University. He had an "Unofficial Pearl Jam Song book Page" but it stoped being updated after Yield came out.
Song lyrics can be found on many web sites including http://www.lukin.com/Lyrics/index.html. Please bear in mind that non of lyric sites are "officially" sponsored by the band or their organization and as such no one's interpretation of the lyrics are "official". It is all what we hear (which may, or may not, be 100% correct).
Ben is in reference to the Michael Jackson song "Ben". "Ben" was the song from the 70's movie also named "Ben" which was a sequel to the movie "Willard". Willard was a movie about a young loner who befriends a rat named Ben. Ben turns into a killer rat that leads other rats into harming others, etc. The killer rat returns in the movie sequel called "Ben". Eddie Vedder has always said that he was a big Motown fan and a big Jackson 5 fan when he was a young boy. He has said that one of the first records he ever listened to was "ABC" by the Jackson 5 and he gets "chills" when he sees the Motown logo. And yes, in the Atlanta April 03, 1994 show, when Eddie says "Michael Jackson is innocent", it IS in reference to Michael Jackson and the molestation charges against him at the time.
The inspiration for "Dirty Frank" was Pearl Jam's tour bus driver in the early days. In an early interview, members of PJ described him as being just a bit odd. They would be driving all night to some gig and would find several empty cans of beer under the driver seat. The band members had an inside joke that he was probably some serial killer and psycho that ate people. Thus the song "Dirty Frank" was born. This written around the same time they were on tour with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Hence the funky feel to the song as a sort of tribute to them..(This was explained during an interview with Guitar Player Mag in 1992). The song basically askes, "What would happen if Jeffrey Dauhmer was the band's tour bus driver."
Also, one of the lines in "Dirty Frank," "Dirty Frank was a bad mutha..shut yer mouth..etc.." was "copied" from the "Theme from Shaft", a song from another 70's movie called "Shaft", about a detective named John Shaft. The line "Cook'em just to see the look on their face" is taken directly from the RHCP song, "Freaky Styley", where they say "Fuck'em just to see the look on their face."
In an interview with the LA times in Nov. 1994, Eddie has said that "Immortality" was not about Kurt Cobain. The song did have different lyrics when Pearl Jam started playing it during the spring '94 tour than the final version on Vitalogy. And yes during the Atlanta April 03, 1994 show Eddie did mention that he hoped Kurt was ok. Eddie also dedicated "Go" to Kurt (this was the period after Kurt Cobain's overdose in Rome when he was missing). Sadly enough, Kurt Cobain died a few days after this broadcast.
With the release of No Code, came the existence of Pearl Jam No Code lyric cards. There are 4 sets of 9 trading cards, series C, O, D, AND E (yes you guessed it, that spells "Code"). The pictures on the cards are from the panel art work on the No Code album. If that wasn't specific enough for you, here is the list of the cards that are out there:
Set C
23615106091-1C - Hail Hail
23615106091-2C - Smile
23615106091-3C - Off He Goes
23615106091-4C - Mankind
23615106091-5C - Around The Bend
23615106091-6C - Sometimes
23615106091-7C - Red Mosquito
23615106091-8C - Present Tense [copyright card]
23615106091-9C - Habit
Set O
23615106091-1O - Hail Hail
23615106091-2O - Smile
23615106091-3O - Off He Goes
23615106091-4O - Mankind
23615106091-5O - Around The Bend
23615106091-6O - Sometimes
23615106091-7O - Red Mosquito
23615106091-8O - Present Tense [copyright card]
23615106091-9O - Habit
Set D
23615106091-1D - Hail Hail
23615106091-2D - Smile
23615106091-3D - Off He Goes
23615106091-4D - Mankind
23615106091-5D - Around The Bend
23615106091-6D - Who You Are
23615106091-7D - I'm Open
23615106091-8D - In My Tree [copyright card]
23615106091-9D - Habit
Set E
23615106091-1E - Hail Hail
23615106091-2E - Smile
23615106091-3E - Off He Goes
23615106091-4E - Mankind
23615106091-5E - Around The Bend
23615106091-6E - Who You Are
23615106091-7E - I'm Open
23615106091-8E - In My Tree [copyright card]
23615106091-9E - Lukin
The cards for the songs "In My Tree" & "Present Tense" are not supplied with lyrics. Presumably, that would be because of the band's long standing position that listeners should "feel" the songs and interpret (not translate) their own meanings. These songs appear to be introspective to Eddie and perhaps he feels to personally attached to share the lyrics with the world in printed form. This was the case with "Release" and you can't find those lyrics in any official song or tab book.
If you are asking this, you probably live in North America. "Hail Hail" is indeed the single but has been released in Germany, Holland, and Australia. The U.S. and the United Kingdom will inevitably carry this imported version. The single's B-side is the song "Black Red Yellow."
This refers to Matt Lukin, a band member in the band Mudhoney. The song, as Eddie has described it, is just about Matt's place. In concert, Eddie has joked about how maybe Lukin should have been called "Can't find A Better Kitchen", a poke at the song "Better Man."
Mainly because it's not Eddie that sings lead on this song! Eddie does do some backing vocals but the lead vocals on this song are done by Stone Gossard.
The dictionary lists this word as "referring to a drunken celebration initially in the honor of Bacchus or a person that goes to such an event, a reveler." In addition, a recent article wrote that the "Bacchanal" is the name of a club in San Diego that Eddie frequently played in with his former band, Bad Radio.
There is no "official" answer, but it would appear that this is simply a misspelling of the name "Abruzzesse", as in Dave. I have also seen that this isn't on every copy of the European Ten so it must have been corrected at some point.
These are Pearl Jam sponsored radio broadcasts. Sometimes they get catchy names associated with them that would make them sound like albums. Monkeywrench radio is actually the name of the pirate radio organization that broadcasted Pearl Jam's July 11, 1995 Chicago show. Checkpoint Charlie was the pet name of the November 03,1996 Berlin, Germany show. Other radio shows include April 03, 1994 show in Atlanta and November 1995 shows from San Diego and San Jose. As with other live shows, you can get them from tape traders. Also, listen to your local radio stations, as sometimes they are rebroadcast occasionally. Finally, some stations such as WBCN 104.1 in Boston press CD's of the shows to give away as promo items. The only one that ever was released commercially by the band was the three "Dissident," "Live in Atlanta" singles. This version of the Atlanta show is missing a few songs though ("Better Man," "Sonic Reducer," "Whipping," and "Satan's Bed").
It means (basically) "to listen with both ears." To record an album in binaural, one must use TWO microphones for every instrument just as the human ear would hear it.
If anybody had bought bootleg CD's from a record store they would know that they would have to pay somewhere around $30.00 for a single CD and $60.00 for a double CD which usually was only ONE show. Not only were the bootlegs expensive, they were usually poor quality.
What the band did was release every show (uncut) from their 2000 world tour (72 shows) and sell the double disk sets for only $10.95 online for fanclub members for a month before it hit stores. Once the shows hit the stores they were only around $15.00 for a double disk set. And, to top it off, they were all soundboard quality and uncut.
The band released "Single Video Theory" which showed the band (with Jack Irons) recording the album Yield. They then released a DVD/Video of songs from the 2000 US tour called "Touring band 2000".
Yes. They released a video called "Single Video Theory". The title is a poke at the "Single Bullet Theory" that some believe was the way JFK was killed. The video is the band recording the album Yield which happened to feature a song called "Brain Of J". They also released songs from their 2000 US tour on a Video/DVD called "Touring Band 2000".
Also, there are tons of video bootlegs out there of live stuff. There is an excellent listing of these unofficial live videos called the "Concert Video Guide" (Video Discography) that can be found on the Pearl Jam web pages. It has ratings on camera work, set lists, etc., location, running time of several of the bootleg live videos that are traded between Pearl Jam fans. Remember, TRADE, DON'T PAY.
"Alive" - RCKCNDY, Seattle, WA.
"Even Flow" - Moore Theater, Seattle, WA.
"Oceans" - Hawaii
"Jeremy" - London, England -- Shot in a warehouse in Kings Cross (an area of central London - famed for it's prostitutes) in early 1992. In an old interview at the time of the British tour, the interviewer went to this warehouse to interview Eddie.
"Do The Evolution" - Cartoon created by Todd MacFarlane (ex animator for Marvel comics and creator/animator of the comic book Spawn).
Well, Eddie Vedder's lyrics are hard to decipher, and like everyone, music books have to "translate" them so they too get them wrong. The tab is usually correct, but the lyrics are use at your own risk. Also, keep in mind that the band improvises a lot during their live performances. Eddie sometimes changes lyrics to songs so, if you do try and transcribe lyrics yourself, you should try to transcribe the studio version if you want transcribe "official" lyrics.
Pearl Jam, the illustrated biography by Brad Morrell. (very cool pictures and brief bio of band) Pearl Jam - The Illustrated Story by Allan Jones, published by Melody Maker books (I think) it costs UK pounds 7.99, though there is a marketing war between big bookstores and some are selling for 5.99) I don't know if this is available in the US and how much it would cost here.
Also, someone has posted this info: I received a copy of the Pearl Jam biography written by Mick Wall. It was imported from the UK. The price was rather steep at $32 and there is nothing "new" in it, but it explained the history of the Seattle music scene very well, including a family tree of the bands directly related to Pearl Jam. If anyone wants a copy here`s the info:
Music Machine
11459 Cronhill Dr. Suite 0
Owings Mills, MD 21117
Phone: 410-356-4567
Fax:410-356-4693
Other books available from Music Machine : The Illustrated Biography by Brad Morrell, and a tear out photo book. And for other interesting readings, check out: Route 666: On the Road to Nirvana by Gina Arnold This book isn't exclusively about the band, but talks about the Seattle 'scene', and chronicles some of Pearl Jam's early days. Loser: The Real Seattle Music Story by Clark Humphrey (another excellent book about the Seattle music scene)
It is a huge (now out of date - released after Vs was out) 5 CD import compilation of un-released and demo tracks by various members of Pearl Jam. This 5 cd box set retailed about ~$95-$125 when it first came out. It also contains a booklet with pictures and brief bio of the band. The sound quality of this boot is good except for the Eddie Vedder home demos.
The lead vocals are by other people. "Hold Your Head Up" is a Mother Love Bone cover. "Mystery" is by Blind Horse (according to the Release 'zine). Some people have also maintained that the lead vocals on "Mystery" is Shawn Smith, who is in Stone Gossard's side band, Brad and also in the band Satchel. To further deepen the mystery behind "Mystery", someone also has posted awhile back in alt.music.pearl-jam that the song was by Nirvana playing an old Velvet Underground song. The name of the song was not posted but the album it is from is one of a series called Heaven and Hell - A tribute to the Velvet Underground. There are two or three volumes and it is the one Nirvana is on. Any of these are plausible explanations to "Mystery". All we know for sure that it is probably not sung by Eddie Vedder.
Well, if you're looking for CD bootlegs, you can usually find them at smaller, "Mom and Pop," record stores that sell "rare, imported" cd's. CD boots are usually released under labels like KTS (Kiss the Stone), Goregon, Cocomelos, Backstage, On Stage, Papercorn, etc. Be warned that these bootlegs are expensive! Single cd's cost ~$23.99-$29.99, Double cd's ~$40-$50, 5-cd box sets are ~95-$125. A good source to find bootlegs is a publication called GOLDMINE, a paper for record collectors. You can purchase GOLDMINE thru record stores (Tower Records) or book stores.
You may also purchase bootlegs thru the Internet but the demand for bootlegs (made by overseas companies) is down to almost nothing now that most people trade shows freely. When I was rewriting version 7.0 of the FAQ I noticed that EVERY bootleg link is now dead. Good luck!
Last of all, there a TON of people out there on the Internet who would be glad to trade tapes with you. All you need is to ask around. Happy Hunting! And as always, TRADE rather than buying.
Personally I don't think you'll really need it. There are plenty of good tape traders on the Internet and they won't charge $40 for a show! Plus, I don't know where you can get it anymore (due to the trading of tapes). It should still be out there somewhere.
Yes, it is called Ten Club or Vitalogy Health Club. Information is as follows :
For a one-year membership in the Pearl Jam fan club just send $15 check or money order (or $20 [U.S. dollars] if you live outside the U.S.). Please remember to send a self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) if you wish membership confirmation. There are no membership cards. Your current membership expiration date is printed next to your name on the address label of your fan club newsletter.
Address :
Ten / Vitalogy Health Club P.O. Box 4590
Seattle, WA 98104
To keep up to date on the happenings of Pearl Jam call the Ten / Vitalogy Health Club Hot line at 1 (206) 728-7078 (recorded messages). If you have specific questions about your Ten / VHC membership, or merchandise, or if you have an address change to send in, you can write to the Ten / Vitalogy Health Club at info@tenclub.net. You can also visit them on the web at http://www.tenclub.net
You get two newsletters, a yearly holiday single and first shot at concert tickets. And yes, you must renew each year with another $15 ($20 if outside the U.S.). Please note that none of these things are guaranteed or promised to any strict time frame. People seem to holding the Ten Club accountable when they don't get "fantastic" seats even though they are fan club members. As such, it is another perk that may be taken away. Remember people that these features are privileges and can be taken away if abused!
The Pearl Jam Rumor Pit is a good source of getting information if you cannot get a hold of the Ten Club. You can e-mail them specific questions, rumors you've heard (appearances, tours, etc) or questions (not personal) about the band to the Pearl Jam Rumor Pit at: DigitalKat@aol.com OR OfTheSea@aol.com They collect the questions and forward them to the Ten Club and then publish a newsletter called The Pearl Jam Rumor Pit that addresses questions that they have received. The Rumor Pit newsletters can be found at their web site at: http://www.sonymusic.com/artists/PearlJam/rumorpit/rumorpit.html
On the Internet, there is a newsgroup called alt.music.pearl-jam, and also several mailing lists. Current mailing lists include Bugs and Long Road.
Now with fast Internet access, mailing list are going away and people are turning to message boards (like the one at www.lukin.com). It is much easier to access (any computer with Internet access) and can be searched thru easily.
There are TONS of Web pages and FTP sites out there to explore. See section 7 for more specific sites.
The best place to get started looking for Pearl Jam sites is to search for them. Go to http://www.yahoo.com/ and execute a search for "pearl jam". Also, Yahoo has a site of other search engines so you can find almost every Pearl Jam site on the Internet.
With the amount of mail the fan club gets they probably need three Post Office boxes! Also, the various requests sent in by fans, whether it be fan mail, merchandise orders, address changes, etc.. can be processed quickly because they (the fan club) knows what box has what type of letters. Basically, it's so your fan club dues don't sit idle for two weeks while they read fan mail.
They have a number with recorded messages giving information on memberships, albums, tours, happenings, etc... It is NOT a toll free call (unless you live in the Seattle, WA area code). The number is 1 (206) 728-7078.
