Music Eddie Vedder Taught Me - Part 1
When I was in elementary school I ordered an NBA Jams VHS compilation from Scholastic Books. You remember, those thin paper catalogues teachers would hand out? The tape was NBA highlight clips edited into music videos. The video featured Pearl Jam’s song “Go” with highlights of dunks by the Seattle Super Sonic’s Shawn Kemp. Get it? Seattle team and Seattle band?
Go got me so pumped up and I would endlessly practice dunking a Nerf ball into the tiny hoop above my bedroom door. No joke, I would try to sync my dunks with the song. Land the dunk with the snare hit. This was also back in the days of old technology. Since I was too embarrassed to ask my country music loving parents to buy me a Pearl Jam album, I was forced to use a tape recorder held close to the TV so that I could listen to the song in my Walkman.
It’s crazy to think, that was almost 30 years ago that I first got introduced to Pearl Jam. I really got into them in 2000, just as I was coming into my own, when that music really speaks to that teenage angst. Since then I have been a devote fan. One of the greatest parts of being a Pearl Jam and Eddie Vedder is the amount of other music they introduce into your life. Some of my favorite bands and artists today are ones I only found out about because of Ed and PJ.
I thought I would share with you some of the music Eddie and Pearl Jam guys have shown me through the years that I think you would like.
Cat Power
I first discovered Cat Power because Eddie sang backing vocals on the song “Good Woman.” I remember I put the song on my iPod (remember those) in college. I would listen to music on the headphones as I tried to go to sleep at night. One night as I was falling asleep, the haunting voice of Chan Marshall sent was immediately goose bump inducing. It spike some kind of emotional response in me that brought tears to my eyes for no other reason than it was so beautiful my body couldn’t handle it. I became a huge Cat Power fan and bought all of her records. Cat Power is my go-to vinyl of choice whenever I get the chance to actually listen to records now (kids).
Dead Moon
Garage Rock at it’s finest! Dead Moon is raw, loud, and they will make you want to break stuff. It took me a little bit to get into them, but once I drank the lo-fi Kool-Aid, I became an evangelical fan. I discovered them when Pearl Jam tagged their song, “It’s OK” at the end of “Daughter” on Touring Band 2000.
This husband and wife team also had a band called Pierced Arrows which was equally as awesome. Sadly, Fred Cole passed away in 2017, but thank God his music lives on.
My absolutely favorite song of their is this live version of “Graveyard.” I can’t drive the speed limit when this comes on.
Neil Finn - Crowded House - Split Enz
I had to include all three of these Neil Finns acts, because they are all great and I learned to appreciate them from EV. I first got interested in Neil, when Eddie participated in his project 7 Worlds Collide. Speaking of, you gotta check out Eddie playing this Split Enz classic with Neil’s song Liam. I soon started to listen to all of Neil’s work. What got me hooked was seeing this live performance of “Mean to Me” from Crowded House’s last show. It’s kinda like Dead Moon mixed with R.E.M.
Speaking of Liam Finn. He’s not bad himself. Check out this epic performance on David Letterman: