Corbett - Pearl Jam FAQ

Copyright 2016 by Thomas Edward Harkins and Bernard M. Corbett

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, without written permission, except by a newspaper or magazine reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review.

Published in 2016 by Backbeat Books
An Imprint of Hal Leonard Corporation
7777 West Bluemound Road
Milwaukee, WI 53213

Trade Book Division Editorial Offices
33 Plymouth St., Montclair, NJ 07042

The FAQ series was conceived by Robert Rodriguez and developed with Stuart Shea.

Printed in the United States of America

Book design by Snow Creative Services

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Harkins, Thomas E., author. | Corbett, Bernard M., author.

Title: Pearl Jam FAQ : all thats left to know about Seattles most enduring band / Thomas Edward Harkins and Bernard M. Corbett.

Other titles: Pearl Jam frequently asked questions

Description: Montclair : Backbeat Books, 2016. | Series: FAQ series | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2015043404 | ISBN 9781617136122 (pbk.)

Subjects: LCSH: Pearl Jam (Musical group) | Rock musiciansUnited StatesBiography.

Classification: LCC ML421.P43 H37 2016 | DDC 782.42166092/2dc23

LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015043404

www.backbeatbooks.com

With love and respect to the memory and inspiration of legendary New York City disc jockey, musicologist, and author, Pete Fornatale. This ones for you, Uncle Pete. To paraphrase Sir Isaac Newton (1676): If we see further, it is because we have stood on the shoulders of giants.

Contents

I never thought Id be doing this. Ive written and edited lots of books on music, especially punk rock and heavy metal, but this is the first foreword Ive written for a book I didnt write or edit. But after reading it and seeing what an excellent job Tom Harkins and Bernard Corbett did in demonstrating why Pearl Jam is so important to so many people, I jumped at the chance to be a part of the project.

Something that gave me a moments pause is that this is a book about Pearl Jam, one of the quintessential rock bands of the last three decades and a band with a dedicated and active audience. Im sure that there are a lot of fans that own every bootleg, that can beat me at Pearl Jam trivia, and that have actually even surfed with Eddie Vedder (well, maybe). There are lots of people in the online Pearl Jam community who love the band more than me. Their dedicated posts and research show their involvement with, and love of, the band. But many groups have really dedicated fans. (Dead Heads, anyone?) Each band affects people in different ways. I think its the emotional resonance that some music has with certain fans. Some people go completely bonkers over a band and dissect every lyric for minute particles of meaning the way Joyce scholars do over Finnegans Wake . Others just really enjoy the music. I fall into the latter category. So, why me?

Well, this is going to sound weird, but I do have something to say about Pearl Jam that a lot of critics wont give them credit for. The best way to describe my feelings for Pearl Jam is to say that I have a great deal of respect for them. The term respect has many different meanings to people, so let me explain what I mean.

I respect Pearl Jam not just as a band and as musicians; its already obvious to everyone how good they are. Rather, when I say respect, I mean that I respect them for their integrity and commitment to their fans. To their commitment to charity and fundraising, to which a hundred other bands I could mention never gave a second thought. To their fight against Ticketmaster, against corporate greed that screwed the real fans. Even though it was quixotic, they fought the corporate giant because someone needed to, and they stepped up to the plate.

I respect them in the way that I respect a group like Fugazi, a band that Pearl Jam looked up to and that shared their concern for the way a concert ticket should lead to an emotional, almost reverential bonding experience for everyone, not just for the 1 percent who can afford the front row of the MegaDome. I respect Pearl Jam even more for introducing their fans to punk legends like the Dead Boys, Avengers, the Buzzcocks, the Clash, Sleater Kinney, Dead Kennedys, Sonic Youth, X, and, of course, the Ramones, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002 by none other than a freely drinking, freshly mohawked Eddie Vedder. (The authors of this book dont think it was his finest moment, but I think it was punk as hell.)

Most of all, I respect Eddie (and the rest of the band) for one heroic, almost superhuman feat at Jones Beach during Lollapalooza 1992. The band, perhaps frustrated by their early daylight set or simply annoyed by the cavernous stage, seemed antsy and put on a ferocious set, one that culminated with Eddie Vedder climbing not up to a theater balcony this time, but instead climbing at least forty or fifty feet above the stage on the lighting rigging. As stagehands and security looked on, Vedder climbed methodically, hand over hand, until he crossed the top of the stage and came down on the other side. It was a magnificent feat of strength, daring, and sheer lunacy. And these are just a few of the reasons that I am honored to be a part of this book. The authors Tom Harkins and Bernard Corbett do a nifty (and meticulous) job in showing the reader why Pearl Jam is a great band. This may be the perfect book for both seasoned and new fans. Not all great bands care if the fans are with them or not, but Pearl Jam does care. I was convinced of this when I saw Eddie Vedder slowly reach out one arm after the other to move across the lighting rig, his legs dangling with no net below, and with no way of getting out of this other than going forward. At Lollapalooza 1992 Eddie Vedder took a leap of faith and launched himself into the air. For the last three decades, he and Stone and Jeff and Mike and Matt have asked fans to do the same thing, to follow them on leap of faith after leap of faith. This book is the book for those fans.

Brian Cogan
February 2016

Brian Cogan , PhD, is a professor, author, and gadfly about town. Hes the author of (among other books) The Encyclopedia of Punk (2008), coauthor of The Heavy Metal Encyclopedia (2008) and the upcoming Backbeat Books publication Monty Python FAQ (2017), and, in the years between, he has authored lots of cool stuff about music, pop culture, the baby boomers, and Monty Python.

W e would like to thank the following people for their support and enthusiasm. First of all, the wonderful staff at Backbeat Books, especially our (musically talented) project editor, Bernadette Malavarca, who was always available whenever we needed her; our publicity manager, Wes Seeley; and our copy editor, Micah White. Our agent, former coauthor, and (in Toms case) cousin, Peter Thomas Fornatale, who came up with the idea for us to propose a Pearl Jam FAQ in the first place and who served as our literary midwife throughout the project, a task not unlike attempting to herd cats, we are told. Pete, we could never, ever thank you enough, though that was also true before we began this project. Petes wife, Susan Van Metre, executive vice president and publisher at Abrams Books, was a constant sounding board and source of professional wisdom and experience. Baby Perrin Tamar Fornatale (now three ) was a constant source of delight with her toddler antics, and Muggsy the dog, everybodys favorite Labrador! vied for our attention and ate various things when we werent looking.