When Eddie Vedder & Pearl Jam Proved Them Wrong [Highlight From Episode 332]

Author Selena Fragassi shares the captivating story of how Eddie Vedder conquered doubt and pressure during his debut concert with Pearl Jam.

Can't get enough of Graham Parker's story about landing a cameo in 'This Is 40' and becoming a star all over again - such a great comeback!

Listen to Episode 332 - Pearl Jam's Live legacy: 35 years of Legendary Music & Revolutionary Concerts

15% OFF Any Purchase At Old Glory For Booked On Rock Listeners! — Over 300,000 officially licensed items. Featuring legendary music artists like Bob Marley, The Beatles,
Grateful Dead, and more. Use the code "BOOKEDONROCK" or hit this link:
https://oldglory.com/discount/BOOKEDONROCK

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Here's a highlight from a recent episode of Booked on
Rock Jelina Fragassi her brand new book, Pearl Jam Live
Thirty five years of legendary music and revolutionary Shows. Take
us back to October twenty second, nineteen ninety. This is the
very first show by Pearl Jam. They won't call Pearl
Jam yet, They're called Mookie Blaylock. This is an infamous

(00:20):
hole in the wall club in Seattle called the Off
Ramp Cafe. Tell us about this show because this is
not long after Mother Lovebone had suddenly ended, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:30):
Just a few months prior in March nineteen ninety, and
he would sadly passed away. Stone and Jeff were left
to kind of consider their future for a time. They
didn't really want to pursue music in an official capacity
until they met Eddie Vetter. And really it was a
demo tape that got into the hands of Eddie Vedder
that Stone's instrumentals were on it. At he created music

(00:52):
and lyrics. He wrote his own version of Really, Who's Tommy,
his own rock opera.

Speaker 1 (00:57):
It was.

Speaker 2 (00:59):
Crazy feluck about it, but you know, it really struck
a chord and had an impact on this band and
So the craziest thing is that Eddie Vedder came to
Seattle permanently October eighth, fourteen days later. They had their
first show and a lot of material written, which just
seems impossible to me to have material in chemistry and
be ready to have a show, And the amount of
pressure on everyone, particularly Eddie Vedder at this very first date,

(01:23):
knowing the Seattle community was there to see kind of like,
who's this guy taking the place of Andy Wood. It was,
to quote Chris Cornell, one of the best debuts he's
ever seen. And in that room that night, pearl jam
was made.

Speaker 1 (01:37):
Yeah, he came from San Diego, he sure did. Yeah,
the mother lovedorn. Photographer was talking about it. People weren't welcoming, Yeah,
they weren't welcoming Eddie Vedder with open arms. They did
not want to accept him. But he won people over
pretty quickly, I would.

Speaker 2 (01:53):
Say, so, Yeah. I think like he had a lot
to prove that and I think he made a lot
of non believers sort of give him a chance. Lance
is very vocal about the fact that he wanted to
walk out when he saw this new guy on stage,
and I think you have to understand the magnanimous of
Andy what people loved him. He was a showman. He
was the heart and soul of the Seattle seen him
and he passed. My God, you cannot replace the man

(02:14):
and Stone and Jefferly didn't want to. That's why they
began a new project and took someone really outside of
Seattle to make this project gel And so there were
a lot of people who had their doubts, who wanted
to see Eddie prove himself. But I think he sure
did that first night.

Speaker 1 (02:26):
Yeah, there was a pretty pivotal moment when Eddie Vetter
finds his on stage powers, magic or his influence over
the audience. You called in the book the Night Eddie
Came Alive January tenth, nineteen ninety one. Tell us about
this one in Canada of Victoria, BC, Canada.

Speaker 2 (02:42):
Yeah, so Pearl Jam had only had several shows under
their bell at this point. It was only a few
months after their first show, and they were opening for
Alison Chains whose Facelift EP was out, so they were
the support act. They only played a few songs, but
Eddie was noticing the crowd was really rowdy and not
paying attention, and I think he was motivated to get
them to pay attention, so he did the unthinkable and
just started his very crazy Tarzan theatrics