B-Sides the Point: Pearl Jam
If I'm going to start talking about artists who have kept some of their finest work away from their studio albums (and you're reading this, so I did), you'd better believe I'm starting with Pearl Jam. Aside from being my favourite band of all time, they've peppered their discography with songs that are absolutely amazing and, for one reason or another, these songs never found homes on their records. A band will come up with plenty of reasons why this or that song didn't make the cut for this or that record, and inevitably there are situations where fans don't necessarily agree with the artists' judgment. I can't think of too many bands that you can comfortably fill a full-length album with great songs that were kept off of albums but, as you'll see from the playlist below, Pearl Jam is certainly one of the brightest examples.
When perusing this playlist, keep a couple of things in mind. Firstly, there isn't much of anything recent, as the band's creative downturn with aging combined with the diminished need for extra material in today's age of streaming don't exactly make for a wealth of newer songs. Secondly, I'll reiterate what's in the brackets up top; this isn't strictly B-Sides in the sense of "this was on the flip side of a single". This list also encompasses soundtrack contributions, one-off releases and, of course, the band's long-running fan club singles program (which, sadly, was discontinued last year); as such, keep an open mind, especially on a couple of the more surprising entries.
Without further ado, may I present to you my picks for the finest Pearl Jam songs never to appear on one of their studio albums. I've also added my comments below if you want to read up on some of these wile you listen. Enjoy!
The Songs:
Wash
The first Pearl Jam B-Side. Wash first appeared on the Alive promotional single in July 1991, seven weeks before the release of Ten; it was also included as a bonus track on a 1992 reissue of Ten in Europe. It's a good song, but there probably isn't a universe where it takes the place of any song on Ten. Unless you made Ten a double album which, as you'll see from the other songs from that era, wouldn't have been all that difficult to pull off.
Footsteps
The final chapter of the band's storied Mama-Son trilogy (preceded by Alive and Once); Footsteps was one of the first songs Eddie Vedder recorded a demo for, but this version was played live for a radio show in May 1992. Occasionally, Pearl Jam plays the complete trilogy at live shows. There are plenty of theories about the story, but suffice to say there's incest, intrigue and murder. Fun!
Yellow Ledbetter
Probably Pearl Jam's most beloved B-Side, Yellow Ledbetter was originally released, like Footsteps, on the Jeremy single. It quickly found legions of supporters despite the lyrics being impossible to decipher (more so since Vedder would constantly change them when playing the song live), and the song even ended up gaining traction on radio despite it clearly not being a single. Perhaps the song's largest claim to fame is its placement in the series finale of Friends in 2004; that was the first time Pearl Jam allowed one of their songs to be used in a TV show.
Brother
Perhaps one of the band's most controversial B-Sides, in that it could have ended the group as we know it before their debut was even released. Brother was one of many songs being worked on for Ten, and the story goes that guitarist Stone Gossard became indifferent about the song while bassist Jeff Ament really liked it and wanted to continue working on it. Arguments ensued and, of course, the band stayed together, but not before the song tested the resolve of those involved. Even though the song existed in leaked form online, it was never released in its final form until the 2009 reissue of Ten, some eighteen years after its recording.
State of Love and Trust
To say Pearl Jam had a lot of songs for their debut is an understatement; aside from the above songs (and more), they also had two stellar songs in the hopper when it came time to contribute to the Singles soundtrack for its release in 1992. Breath is very much of the mid-tempo Ten era, but I chose State of Love and Trust for its more upbeat, ragged overall tone.
Let Me Sleep (It's Christmas Time)
As one of the first songs to be released as part of their Ten Club singles series, Let Me Sleep (It's Christmas Time) acts as kind of a precursor to the laid back, sparse vibe of what they'd often offer as part of these singles. It's also the first of many holiday-themed songs they have gone on to record, most of which are covers (including Stevie Wonder's Someday At Christmas in 2004).
Hard to Imagine
A much loved Pearl Jam deep cut, the band took stabs at recording Hard to Imagine for both Vs. and Vitalogy before eventually releasing it on the soundtrack to Chicago Cab in 1998 (which seems completely random until you discover that the soundtrack was released on Loosegroove Records, which was co-founded by Stone Gossard). This soundtrack might be the most high-profile release ever on the label, if Gossard hadn't signed fledgling upstarts Queens of the Stone Age and released their debut album.
Crazy Mary
This Victoria Williams song was released mere months before the hotly anticipated Vs. album on a tribute for the singer-songwriter, who had been diagnosed with MS. Without health insurance, the benefit album raised much needed money to afford Williams with much needed medical care. It's among the first of many charitable acts Pearl Jam has taken on over the course of their career.
Angel
First appearing on the band's 1993 Ten Club single, Angel had gone ignored for years, chiefly due to the fact that it was written by former drummer Dave Abbruzzese (who was dispatched from the band less than a year after the song's release). It had been left off of their 2003 rarities compilation Lost Dogs, and most assumed it would be brushed under the rug for good. However, in a miraculous turn, Angel was added to Spotify in December of 2019, giving the sparse acoustic ballad the place it deserves among the rest of Pearl Jam's output.
I Got Shit (aka I Got Id)
When Pearl Jam was asked to be Neil Young's backup band for his 1995 album Mirror Ball, of course they jumped at the chance; as massive fans of Young who had taken to routinely performing Rockin' in the Free World at live shows, it was an opportunity they couldn't pass up. However, while the band backed up Young, their singer wasn't given much of anything to contribute outside a couple of songs. So, as part of the sessions, Young returned the favour by co-writing and appearing on a pair of Vedder-sung Pearl Jam songs that were released as Merkin Ball in December of 1995.
Black, Red, Yellow
Recorded during 1996's No Code sessions, Black, Red, Yellow is a loose, hard charging rocker. That's not why it's notable, though; the voice you hear on the answering machine belongs to noted basketball Hall of Famer, once part-time wrestler, North Korean ambassador and devout Pearl Jam fan Dennis Rodman.
All Night
Also from the No Code sessions, it's beyond me why All Night was left off the album; it's a really great track that sees Vedder starting to tinker with layered vocal harmonies and would have stood out on what ended up being a solid album. Maybe that explains it, as Pearl Jam were known to steer away from many songs that could be considered commercially viable during this period; what's really puzzling is that it wasn't even released as a B-Side at the time, only coming to light with the release of Lost Dogs seven years later. Eventually, it got its due, though; while promoting Pearl Jam Twenty in 2011, they chose All Night for their nationally televised Tonight Show performance.
U
Re-recorded and re-titled as You once it was included on Lost Dogs, U made its debut as a B-Side to Wishlist, the second single from Yield in 1998. With the band's stance on upbeat fare during this time known, it makes sense why something this happy sounding would find itself on the cutting room floor; it's still a lot of fun to listen to.
Last Kiss
I know, right? Arguably the band's biggest, most enduring hit wasn't ever included on a Pearl Jam album. Its origins lie in a swap meet, where Vedder found a 45 of the original song by Wayne Cochran; from there, the band played it live a few times on their 1998 tour, and eventually recorded it for that year's Ten Club single. Over the ensuing months, radio started spinning the song even though it wasn't provided as a single. By the time June 1999 rolled around, Pearl Jam relented, deciding to put the song on a benefit album for Kosovar refugees and to release it as a single in support of the cause, which it would go on to raise about $10 million for. It also went to #2 in both Canada and the U.S. while spending seven weeks at #1 in Australia. Not bad for a song that was basically recorded on a lark.
Sad & Fatal
Creatively ignited, Pearl Jam went into their sixth album Binaural with a lot of material; in fact, when the album's track list was announced just two months before its release, both of these songs (and two others that ended up cut) were on it. In the end, they decided make edits to the track list, paring the approximately 20 songs they'd recorded down to 13. Still, Sad and Fatal are both fantastic songs that one could argue would have made Binaural better, and the loss of these songs from that record sting even more when you consider that Gods' Dice, the one song they actually added to the track list between announcement and release, does the same job as at least four of the other songs on the record. Listening to Binaural in its originally announced form reveals what would have been a very, very different but very, very good album (although ending the album with the also-cut Education is a bit of a head scracther over the more fitting send-off Parting Ways).
Down
Rather than edit themselves, Pearl Jam went long with seventh record Riot Act in 2002; with fifteen songs and clocking in at 54 minutes (Pearl Jam's longest record to date that's not called Vitalogy, with its eight minute patience tester Stupid Mop at the end that I don't really count as a song, so I'll give Riot Act the egde), it's also perhaps the band's bleakest album. It can be a slog to get through, and I can't help but imagine an upbeat number like Down could have replaced one of the slower numbers and made Riot Act a little better. Also, when Pearl Jam played Halifax in 2005 I had the distinct pleasure of watching Eddie perform this song in its entirety whilst balancing a can of Keith's on his head.
Man of the Hour
Post Riot Act, Pearl Jam spent a couple of years clearing out the vaults. They released Lost Dogs in late 2003, which was a pretty comprehensive collection of outtakes that provides most of the songs on this playlist. They were also about to compile their first (and, to date, only) greatest hits package for release in 2004. This period of closet cleaning makes a song like Man of the Hour easy to overlook; approached by Tim Burton in 2003 to record a song for his movie Big Fish, Vedder was inspired enough by the movie to write and record Man of the Hour with the band in about four days.
Love, Reign O'er Me
That it took 16 years for Pearl Jam to record a cover of The Who is staggering; Vedder's reverence for the band is well documented, and Baba O'Riley has been a live staple of the band from the beginning (there are suggestions that a studio version was recorded, but it's never come out). Regardless, when it finally came time to put one of their songs to tape, Pearl Jam chose to go huge; Love, Reign O'er Me, with its swelling orchestration and passionate performance, is as big sounding as we've ever heard Pearl Jam get. That it was wasted on the soundtrack for an Adam Sandler movie is a little sad, but at least we also got it included on the 2006 Ten Club single (and, eventually, on streaming services), which is proper justice for a song way, way better than the movie it's from.
Can't Deny Me
As I mentioned earlier, Pearl Jam's outtakes dry up as their career goes on; they appear to have recorded more songs than they released over the last decade but, until Lost Dogs 2 comes around, we're never going to hear them (including a song that was cut from Lightning Bolt at the last minute for sounding too much like Journey, allegedly). All we really have to go on from the last three Pearl Jam album cycles are a couple of covers and two one-off singles; the less said about Olé, released in conjunction with PJ20 in 2011, the better. Which brings us to what we thought was the lead single to the album that became Gigaton; Can't Deny Me, while a suitable enough rock song, underwhelmed when it was released in 2018, and it's possible that the lukewarm reception to the song ended up delaying the album's release. After all, it was originally announced as being from the forthcoming album, but we now know that's not true. Whether or not Can't Deny Me would have been good on Gigaton can't be said just yet; we'll have to wait and see what the album has to offer when it's released at the end of March.
Comments
Post a Comment