I've never gone out of my way to hide my love for Pearl Jam. Call it cliche, dorky, or just plain obnoxious, I don't care. In 1993 I was 13, and my friend Jenny Barr had her older, high school-aged brother tape me both Vs. and Led Zeppelin III, and I can unflinchingly state that those dubbed cassettes absolutely changed my life. After the 7th grade, I never heard music again as I had before. Thus began a long and loyal infatuation with Pearl Jam, culminating in the strategic meetings of various band members in various places and the never-ending search of all 500 import singles in an effort to collect every b-side the band recorded. In 2000, sheer determination drove me from Dallas to New Orleans and back, then across Texas to Houston and Lubbock, with another stop in Dallas in-between on a band-bus following trek that amounted to five shows in six days. While the trip was exhaustingly fun and memorable, I retired my Ten Club membership and officially burned out on Pearl Jam.Fast forward to more recent times. The more I delve into the musical psyche of that which is unequivocally considered good music, the more I'm blown away by guys like Neil Young. With Neil Young, guitar lines and lyrics are one in the same, in that Old Black is capable of holding as much emotional weight as any of old Neil's words. Young has the rare quality of effortlessly conveying a narrative instrumentally, sometimes opening a song with three or four minutes of melody and solo before stepping to the mike to udder any lyrics at all. I had the good fortune of witnessing Neil Young & Crazy Horse in all their ragged glory burn down the barn in 2003 at the Bonnaroo Festival in Manchester, Tennessee, where Neil commanded the altar and took me to church and back with one of the most truly memorable performances I've ever seen. I've heard 30+ years of live recordings and seen 30+ years of live footage, and for my money Neil Young & Crazy Horse were never better than that night in June.
The connection is this: In 1992, after taking notice of their cover of Rockin In The Free World, Pearl Jam were invited to perform at the Bridge School Benefit, a legendary annual weekend in San Francisco of top-notch acts performing rare acoustic sets with proceeds benefiting Neil's charity. Somewhere around Spring 1993, Pearl Jam was invited to open for Neil Young on his European tour. This was just before Vs. came out, and they were honestly one of the biggest, if not the biggest bands in the world. After the Jeremy video debacle they'd given up on making videos, and seemingly MTV altogether. Therefore, it came as a shock when in September of that year they decided to perform on the MTV Video Music Awards. So here you have the most popular band on rock radio playing an unreleased song from their forthcoming album on an internationally-televised awards show. There was a rumor that Neil Young was going to play with Pearl Jam, but he never showed for soundcheck and nobody really knew what was going on. I think this was when MTV was still somewhat live and spontaneous, if you can imagine. Of course, they actually played music back then too, so...
Pearl Jam comes out with a ripping version of Animal to an enthusiastic crowd, blah blah the song is over. Instead of the band putting down their guitars and walking offstage, Eddie steps into the mic and says something along the lines of, "You know this guy," and out walks Neil Young, Old Black in hand. Neil begins the opening riff to Rockin In The Free World with his trademark lumberjack swagger, and I'll be damned if it's simply not the single greatest rock music performance in the history of television. Screw The Beatles on Ed Sullivan, this was real tension, passion, and angst in the midst of Corporate America, an intense and furious flannel whirlwind of unleashed bravado and downright spirituality. You watch the ferocity Neil's two(!) white-hot solos and tell me you aren't convinced the man wasn't temporarily possessed by something greater than us all.
YouTube: Pearl Jam - Animal (1993 MTV Video Music Awards)
YouTube: Pearl Jam featuring Neil Young - Rockin In the Free World (1993 MTV Video Music Awards)
After feeling somewhat rejuvenated in playing with this (relatively) young band, Young Neil decided to retire Crazy Horse for a bit and make an album with Pearl Jam in 1995. Mirror Ball was released on Reprise as a Neil Young album -- for competing record company legal reasons, the name Pearl Jam could not appear on the album -- yet the band (sans Vedder, save for a few backing vocals) provided comfortable and capable backup for the lumbering legend. Although it's not one of Neil's more famous (read: popular, if heard at all) albums, Mirror Ball is convincing proof that he wasn't done yet. In fact, he released almost an album a year his entire career, a feat spanning an incredible 38 years, with no signs of stopping. The matchup of Neil's feedback-driven guitar and timeless ragged melodies with the primal grooves of newly-christened Pearl Jam drummer Jack Irons is worth the price of admission alone.
MP3: Neil Young & Pearl Jam - Act Of Love
MP3: Neil Young & Pearl Jam - I'm The Ocean
MP3: Neil Young & Pearl Jam - Throw Your Hatred Down
In an act of good faith, Neil returned the favor and appeared on Pearl Jam's Merkinball single, a two-song effort that is in my opinion, the best thing Pearl Jam ever released. Pairing Vedder's vocals with Neil's trademark guitar on I Got Id and trademark pump organ on Long Road proved to be a hit; I can remember when I Got Id was played seemingly three or four times an hour on the radio, and all of a sudden Pearl Jam became cool again.
MP3: Pearl Jam feat. Neil Young - I Got Id
YouTube: Eddie Vedder, Mike McCready, & Neil Young - Long Road
Soon after, Neil decided to tour Mirror Ball around Europe, and brought Pearl Jam (again, sans Vedder) along for the ride, meaning they had to learn a handful of Neil's songs, too. For the most part, I think the band did a good job. This noisy 12-minute version of Like A Hurricane is HUGE, and rivals any Crazy Horse version, period.
MP3: Neil Young & Pearl Jam - Like A Hurricane (Live in Europe 1995)
Buy The CD: Neil Young - Mirror Ball
Buy The CD: Pearl Jam - Merkinball
9 comments:
Wow...man, impressive. I do agree with you, this album was/ is unrated. I remember when I bought this, it wasn't the Neil Young album I had been used to. I was an erruption of guitars and emotion. It was paradise! I do remember when the video for "Downtown" came out. It was good, but I was really shocked to see a Neil Young video on MTV. (It must have been on late, after Liquid Television, or something). I was wondering if you ever did get burned out on Pearl Jam.
In my opinon, the Neil Young/Pearl Jam days were some of the better days rock music has produced. I think it was a learning experience for all musicians involved. It mixed "old" with "new" and gave a fine farewell to the grunge music scene.
It sucks for me, because I have not been privilged to have seen Neil Young live- ever. The three chances I had when he was supposed to pass though Dallas, were cancelled. I am still waiting for the day when I will be in his presence, but until then I still have all my albums, cds & dvds to keep rockin' to.
P.S...Hey Hey...watch what you say about The Beatles! :)
Thanks for commenting. I still can't hear Long Road without thinking of us driving down 121 to the bowling alley in Lewisville with the windows down, smoking cheap cigars, trying to keep ourselves entertained in the sprawling suburbia that is north Texas. Good times, indeed.
All this talk about Pearl Jam is making me sick. Ha, kidding, but really, Neil is a true American icon. When I saw him with CSNY years ago it seemed more like (CSN)Y; he just dominated the show, made his bandmates seem as though they ought to be playing the 1st Thursday happy hour at Continental Club.
The mere mention of Neil Young exposes an obsession in me that is at once nerdy and very rock-n-roll. And there is no way of avoiding "Cortez the Killer" on vinyl at full volume right now. My neighbors are gonna be pissed.
Hah, thanks Chris.
Yes...Long Road has got to be one of the greatest songs. I do still remember night. I think about you always when I hear that one. It's a beautiful song for beautiful moments.
-NRM
Great article mate, I fully agree with you about Mirrorball's merits. It may not be the most sonically satisfying Neil Young album out there (the vocals are buried waaay down), but for me it's in my Top 5 easily. And that's a testament to the songs, and the energy Pearl Jam injected into the performance. Wonderful. I caught Neil & PJ in London in August 1995 on the Mirrorball tour, and it was an amazing show. My abiding memory (apart from Neil's white suit) was the stunning version of Cortez The Killer. In Europe we're not so lucky in getting regular Neil Young and Pearl Jam shows, but I'm looking forward to their London show in June; the first time I'll have seen them since they last toured here in 2000.
Oh wow, thanks for posting.
Sorry if I posted twice...
I stumbled across your blog while looking for artwork for my iTunes collection. Nice commentary. I remember when Pearl Jam teamed up with Neil Young; a generational gap was indeed bridged with this initiative. I, being what could be considered a "young" music lover at the time (I believe I was fourteen or fifteen) felt that the Pearl Jam was fundamentally changed during this time in their career, partially due to the confirmation of their talent and art through Young's involvement. The qualities that had initially turned me on to Pearl Jam slowly fell to the wayside, as they evolved into a more mature, "bare-bones" band. I never much cared for the "new" (Post-Neil Young) Pearl Jam. However, I am ever-conscious about the difference between personal preference and quality music. In this case, I still feel that Pearl Jam is an extremely talented band, as is confirmed by the ever-steady fanbase they've built throughout the years. However, I've always distinguished Pearl Jam's growing catalog into two chronological categories: Pre-Neil Young and Post-Neil Young.
If you don't already have it, you can find an amazing 2CD soundboard recording of that 2003 Bonarroo performance right here> http://nargothebortsdeviantsubculture.blogspot.com/search/label/Bootlegs
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