I've been a Pearl Jam fan for a long time.
It started back when they first came out. Their first album was released a month before Nirvana's famous Nevermind album and Smells Like Teen Spirit was in heavy rotation on MTV.
Nirvana was my first taste of the Grunge Movement coming out of Seattle Washington. Then the rest of the bands started piquing my interest: Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, and of course Pearl Jam.
I think back now...almost 30 years ago...
I must have owned Nirvana's Nevermind on cassette tape because I was playing it during the annual Utah deer hunt in October. The album was released in September of 1991 and I was playing it in a truck with a cassette deck. I didn't get the CD until I received my first CD player that Christmas. It was actually my first CD along with the Best of the Doors.
Pearl Jam's first album Ten was a quick follow up purchase. I got it through the Columbia House CD Club. I have a mental snapshot of where I was when I opened the box to reveal my new CD!
I purchased their follow up albums: Vs. (1993) and Vitalogy (1994). They kind of got lost in the shuffle of the Alternative and Grunge music I'd been collecting: Temple of the Dog, The Smashing Pumpkins, Candlebox, Everclear, etc.
Then I heard a great bluesy song from Pearl Jam. Lyrics almost unintelligible but you knew what feeling they were conveying. It took me along time to find the song. It was on a collection of 2-3 B-Side's along with Daughter and something else.
They drifted from my mind again until 2007. I was at the office streaming from Slacker Radio. I heard a really great live song. I don't remember what song but it sounded like Pearl Jam so I looked to see who it was. Well, it was Pearl Jam but from an album I'd never heard of...a live album... Live at Benaroya Hall. A little Googling gave me the answers and opened my eyes to a band that was there all along, playing great music, still making music, and playing epic live concerts.
The best part? They recorded (and still do) every show. They realized that fans were recording shitty bootleg copies and listening to them. More than an idea for fans to have perfectly recorded music, this was a way to earn more money! I hate to think of music as just a way to make money but these small things is what has kept them living and working at what they love to do.
I realized that they have been playing concerts worldwide for decades. From what I understand, after the Ticketmaster debacle, they couldn't play in the states for years. They gained a worldwide following. I learned more about the band. I read everything, listened to everything I could find, understood the history.
The current lineup actually consist of the original members of Temple of the Dog sans Chris Cornell. The backstory is fascinating and you can find it here. In essence, Eddie Vedder came to Seattle during the recording of Temple of the Dog's one and only album, a tribute to their friend Andrew Wood. Eddie ended up helping Chris with a difficult part during the song Hunger Strike and it became Eddie's first recording. I also realized what a tight knit group of musicians they were in Seattle. Many of the members were in other bands and played with others of the scene over their careers.
With their fame and fortune, they have become philanthropists. I learned more about this when I finally had my chance to attend a live concert. Since 2007, I wanted to see them in concert. I was hoping for a Western US tour. Unfortunately, I just missed a concert in 2006 they did in Salt Lake City. Fortunately, I heard that was one of their worst concerts...so I'm glad it was not my first experience.
What about the philanthropy you ask? I'm getting there...actually I'll let them tell you: Pearl Jam's Philanthropy and that's only the start.
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