Pearl Jam

[GhostOfTomJoad 9320]

Eddie used to drink 2 whole bottles of wine at every show.  In the not that distant past. 

Why does this seem more difficult to do than Keef chugging from the bottles of Jack & beer plus whatever pills or powder he had stored on top of his amps in the '70s?

Unless Eddie was chugging bottles of sauv blanc or some other super crisp white I can't imagine how raw his throat would be.

[Bender Bending Rodriguez 1677]

He's mentioned before that he started drinking red wine on stage because how much he liked how it coated and numbed his throat for singing. 

[Don Johnson 4745]

5 hours ago, Bender Bending Rodriguez said:

 

McCready looks like death warmed up

[Bender Bending Rodriguez 1677]

17 hours ago, Don Johnson said:

McCready looks like death warmed up

Supposedly, the story with this is McCready checked himself into a hospital for exhaustion immediately after this show. It was the last show of the tour. It was step one of his long journey to sobriety.  

 

 

[Al_4_ISU 12410]

There's an SNL performance that McCready was completely blacked out during that's earlier than the performance above.  I always thought that's what got him on the path to get clean.  I'm pretty sure he was into heroin at one point too.  Prior to that, and obviously not as deep as many others in the Seattle scene.

Edited May 9 by Al_4_ISU

[Rip76 4917]

PEARL JAM: DAUGHTER
"STORIES BEHIND THE SOUNDS"

Maybe it was the setting that made it so appropriate, but as Pearl Jam took the stage at Neil Young’s 1992 iteration of his legendary Bridge School Benefit concert series, they decided to premiere a new song. A song that dealt with trauma and mental disorders, something that surely would have hit home at the Bridge School. The band had explored the darker crossroads of youth and damage in songs like ‘Alive’ and ‘Jeremy’, and they had just written another composition that fits directly within that lineage.

The only problem was that the song wasn’t quite finished yet. It had the music worked out, but Eddie Vedder still had some placeholder lyrics, including a fraternal title that would eventually be replaced with a more filial one. The band took the stage and performed ‘Brother’, the second song in the band’s repertoire with that title. They would play it once more in this style before Vedder finalised what he wanted out of the track. Exactly one year and one day later, the rest of the world got to hear the final result, ‘Daughter’.

There’s a fantastic scene in Cameron Crowe’s Pearl Jam 20 documentary that shows Vedder and Stone Gossard working on the initial writing of ‘Daughter’. The footage is dated as taking place on May 2nd, 1992, presumably the night after their concert that same day at the University of Kansas (the band ends that concert by playing ‘Rockin in the Free World’, proving Neil Young was never far from the band’s collective mind). Gossard has the Open-tuned guitar riff down, and Vedder has the first few lines solidified, but the song is centred on a wider family drama rather than the specific story of the young child that becomes the focus of the final set of lyrics.

When the track was brought into the studio during the band’s sessions for their second LP Vs., the arrangement illustrated an evolution in the band’s sonic style. Although they had experimented with acoustic instrumentation and balladry before on Ten number ‘Black’, ‘Daughter’ showed off Gossard’s favouring of acoustic guitar and Jeff Ament’s adoption of the upright bass that can also be heard on the album’s tracks like ‘Indifference’ and ‘Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town’. According to drummer Dave Abbruzzese, he also had to find a way to strip back his sound.

“When we were originally working on ‘Daughter’, I did a lot more stuff on the toms,” Abbruzzese told writer Matt Peiken in 1993. “But when we went in to record it, Brendan [O’Brien, producer] suggested trying something different, to just use the kick and snare. That was a trip, because we’d already been playing that song for half a year, and I was kind of used to what I was doing. At first I was like, ‘Well…okay…’ so I set up a 26″ kick, a snare, and an 18″ floor tom, and we just used the room mic’s and went for it. It actually brought out a whole new dimension of the song for me, and it felt really fresh to me to play it like that. Live, I kind of mix the two approaches together.”

For his part, Vedder found the song’s emotional core when he focused his attention on the central character’s disability. “The child in that song obviously has a learning difficulty, and it’s only in the last few years that they’ve actually been able to diagnose these learning disabilities, that before were looked at as misbehavior; as just outright rebelliousness, but no one knew what it was,” Vedder explained to Allan Jones in 1995.

“These kids, because they seemed unable or reluctant to learn, they’d end up getting the shit beaten outta them,” he added. “The song ends, you know, with this idea of the shades going down—so that the neighbours can’t see what happens next. What hurts about shit like that is that it ends up defining people’s lives. They have to live with that abuse for the rest of their lives. Good, creative people are just fucking destroyed.”

Despite the bleak nature of the ending, the song also carries a certain amount of hope and optimism towards the future. In the song’s bridge, although the protagonist still “holds the hand that holds her down”, Vedder makes it clear that “she will rise above”. The intent behind the chorus of “Don’t call me Daughter, not fit to / the picture kept will remind me” makes it seem as though the events are in the past, with a family picture being the only reminder of her connection to the darker days of being around her family.

On November 2nd, 1993, less than a month after the release of Vs., Pearl Jam put out ‘Daughter’ as the album’s second single — but not in America. Weary of their status within the mainstream explosion of grunge and noting the obvious pop potential of ‘Daughter’, the single was only released internationally, which made it ineligible to land on the Billboard Hot 100. That didn’t matter, as the song reached number one on the magazine’s Alternative and Mainstream Rock charts, also landing at number 28 on the Top 40 Radio chart. Pearl Jam were riding a wave, and true fans shelled out to get an import copy of the single.

The official Pearl Jam website states that ‘Daughter’ has been played live an astounding 507 times, but Live Footsteps, a site dedicated to compiling official statistics for Pearl Jam’s live shows, has the number even higher at 529. That would make ‘Daughter’ the eighth most played Pearl Jam song, making an appearance at roughly half of the band’s concerts. The number one song? ‘Even Flow’, which has been played 851 times according to Live Footsteps.

It’s not hard to see why: any live video of the song is accompanied by loud cheers whenever Gossard breaks into those opening strums. ‘Daughter’ was one of the last great Pearl Jam songs from Pearl Jam’s initial run as forefathers of the grunge movement, and afterwards, the band would try to subvert their massive stardom in any possible way they could.

✍️ Tyler Golsen

 

[Bender Bending Rodriguez 1677]

Very cool writeup, thanks for posting. I love that bus clip PJ20 where they’re working out that song.

Another interesting fact about Daughter is that it ends with “the shades go down..” as in, the shades are being shut and some bad stuff is about to happen. At the end of Rearviewmirror, a song about getting in a car and getting away from something, the lyric is “finally the shades are raised”

[Bender Bending Rodriguez 1677]

https://www.tumblr.com/robsheridan/750123172690640896/very-excited-to-finally-tell-you-whats-kept-us-so

[stc 1453]

Fuck yes that was good. Those first 3 songs really did it for me right out of the gate. Release and nothing as it seems were at the top of my list for songs I hadn't seen live. Ten club tickets were excellent, glad they're finally using a screen. Crowd was great.

[4th&Five 41479]

new stuff sounded great. light years was a nice surprise. 

[GenXer 2795]

My wife and I are going to both Seattle shows in two weeks. Gonna be a nice getaway for a handful of days.

[GenXer 2795]

Is it just me or does the beginning of Running sound very similar to the beginning of Nirvana’s Molly’s Lips?

[Biff Tannen 45558]

On 5/11/2024 at 12:02 PM, stc said:

Fuck yes that was good. Those first 3 songs really did it for me right out of the gate. Release and nothing as it seems were at the top of my list for songs I hadn't seen live. Ten club tickets were excellent, glad they're finally using a screen. Crowd was great.

Opening with Release is pretty fucking awesome.

[NTVTXN 1432]

On 4/29/2024 at 4:59 PM, Ignatius said:

Yield is a top 3 PJ album….

Not all that unpopular in my household!

Its a great album.

[stc 1453]

While walking into the portland show a few weeks ago a lady stopped us, fanned out some cards and told us to pick one. I thought it was some kind of street grift and told her no thanks. She insisted that it was specifically for pearl jam fans so we each reluctantly chose one. Turned out to be PJ baseball cards. She said that's your spirit animal for the night, enjoy the show. Weird.

[Bender Bending Rodriguez 1677]

 

[stc 1453]

as a huge nin fan...that's a piss poor cover. no thanks. 

[stc 1453]

stopped at a dispensary in portland back in may. the 20 something girl working there asked what we were doing in town,  told her we were there to see pearl jam. her response, "oh, isn't that the monster truck rally?". this is a thing with the youth these days, they've never heard of any bands from the 90's. i think it's partially because they don't listen to the radio. i was jamming led zeppelin and pink floyd by the time i was 13, and those bands were certainly before my time. 

[4th&Five 41479]

Yet, they all wear Nirvana shirts. Including mine. 

[stc 1453]

wow, you're full of shit vedder. he's gone from fighting ticketmaster to defending egregiously high ticket prices. 

https://www.pearljamonline.it/en/eddie-vedder-on-pearl-jam-ticket-prices-its-essential-for-us-to-at-least-cover-our-costs/

 

[4th&Five 41479]

Eddie and The Earthlings w/Benmont

Edited August 11 by 4th&Five

[stc 1453]

madison square garden next week. very ready. 

[stc 1453]

finally marked seeing pj at msg off the list. the energy in that place is truly unmatched. we were in the upper deck but it wasn't bad at all...and props to everyone for standing up the entire show. not my favorite setlist but it was solid. 

 

 

[4th&Five 41479]

 

[CooterBrown 17949]

this is a thing with the youth these days, they've never heard of any bands from the 90's. i think it's partially because they don't listen to the radio. i was jamming led zeppelin and pink floyd by the time i was 13, and those bands were certainly before my time. 

My kid is taking an American Music elective and had to list her top 10 bands. She made me proud…

1. Tool
2. PJ Harvey
3. Florence + the Machine
4. The Civil Wars
5. Deap Vally
6. Nine Inch Nails
7. Tricky
8. Black Keys
9. Ween
10. Nirvana

[dcar00 14061]

On 8/1/2024 at 8:44 AM, stc said:

stopped at a dispensary in portland back in may. the 20 something girl working there asked what we were doing in town,  told her we were there to see pearl jam. her response, "oh, isn't that the monster truck rally?". this is a thing with the youth these days, they've never heard of any bands from the 90's. i think it's partially because they don't listen to the radio. i was jamming led zeppelin and pink floyd by the time i was 13, and those bands were certainly before my time. 

Oh its all because they don't have to listen to the radio or trek down to the record store.   They can find all kinds of music, any time they want, and there is always something new. not just what shows in the top 100 on billboard.

I've told this before but my son wanted an "MP3" player back in 2007/8ish.  I said sure and loaded it up with every band I loved and gave him a hard drive with all my ripped CD's and said you can download any song you want from this drive. He knows everything from Sinatra/Armstrong/Hank WIlliams to Motown/Funk to Beatles/Who/Stones/Zeppelin to Willie/H Williams Jr to Clash/Sex Pistols/Cars/Van Halen to PJ/Nirvana/Green Day/Foo and everything in between until about 2000 or so when I stopped buying CD's

We can always talk music and sports.

[G650 14143]

On 9/22/2024 at 7:24 PM, CooterBrown said:

 

My kid is taking an American Music elective and had to list her top 10 bands. She made me proud…

1. Tool
2. PJ Harvey
3. Florence + the Machine
4. The Civil Wars
5. Deap Vally
6. Nine Inch Nails
7. Tricky
8. Black Keys
9. Ween
10. Nirvana

 

Big credit for having Ween on there.

[4th&Five 41479]

My 35th show last night and the 33rd time I saw at least one new song. 

[JNip 132]

Watching Black Unplugged made me a fan. That performance still hunts me. 

[4th&Five 41479]

 

[gsoda3 3238]

8 songs but what a set.

[4th&Five 41479]

All written in 5 or 6 days. 

[Biff Tannen 45558]

And opening with Release?  Ballsy

[Don Johnson 4745]

On 10/22/2024 at 9:58 PM, Biff Tannen said:

And opening with Release?  Ballsy

Not sure if this video is altered or of a later show, but appears that Even Flow was the opener.  Not to argue with the PJ official twitter, but maybe that was a listing of songs played, not the order.

 

[Biff Tannen 45558]

7 hours ago, Don Johnson said:

Not sure if this video is altered or of a later show, but appears that Even Flow was the opener.  Not to argue with the PJ official twitter, but maybe that was a listing of songs played, not the order.

 

Would make more sense, though it does have the last song as “encore”, so certainly seems like a set list. I would love to see Release as an opener too. Badass. 

[4th&Five 41479]

When the play Release it’s almost always the opener. 

[stc 1453]

finally found PJ20 on vinyl at amoeba hollywood for a resonable price. i love that record store, always have to set my spending limit before i walk in the door.