Stone Gossard on “the ultimate” rock musician
Rock and roll has always been in a constant state of change. While it may have started with the days of Little Richard and Chuck Berry trying to make the most off-the-wall music they could, the descendants of the glory days of the genre have taken those building blocks and turned them into the most spellbinding music of the 20th century. For Stone Gossard, rock was as much of a feeling as it was a genre of music, and Neil Young seemed to have everything Pearl Jam needed.
Considering his attitude, Young seemed to start about 30 years too early. Becoming enamoured with bands like The Beatles, Young was interested in making the kind of songs that spoke to you on a human level rather than pummel you over the head with one hook after another.
Even though the music business is supposed to be about the sales figures, Young never could be asked to care about what the masses wanted. If they liked his music, great, but otherwise, he was never making his music thinking about someone else, looking only to serve his own muse rather than some suit who wouldn’t know good music if it hit them over the head.
That kind of mentality didn’t fly once the 1980s rolled around. With everything getting more homogenised in the age of MTV, Young started making projects so far from what the public wanted that he eventually got sued by his own label. Since his more en-vogue albums like Trans have aged like milk in the years following their release, an album like Freedom came at just the right time for the golden age of grunge.
Having been following his heart for years, most of Pearl Jam had nothing but respect for what Young had done in the past. Compared to every other classic rocker looking to hop on the bandwagon of grunge, Young was one of the few welcomed with open arms, joining a small club alongside acts like Tom Petty of artists that didn’t need to get killed by alternative rock.
When talking about Pearl Jam’s biggest influences, Gossard considered Young one of his biggest musical roots, telling Louder, “He’s the ultimate songwriter, singer, lead guitarist and soundscaper; he’s in that Dylan zone. The way he mixes up distortion and feedback and blues and folk and rock and soul and noise is just inspirational.”
Before the decade was even over, Gossard would also end up getting some crucial advice from old Uncle Neil. When the group was on the verge of breaking up due to creative differences, Gossard found the best way to break up the tension by performing as Young’s band on the album Mirrorball, sounding like a strange hybrid of grunge and rootsy rock and roll.
After being at the top of the rock and roll food chain, the latter half of Pearl Jam’s career practically feels like them operating in the Neil Young mould. Whether it’s returning to their classic sound on albums like Yield or working in an art-rock vein on No Code or Binaural, nothing feels off the table as long as it comes out the way the band intended it to.
More than anything, Young’s approach to rock music should be studied by anyone looking to make a name in the industry. As much as people might want you to look a certain way or dress a certain way to appease the masses, you have to create something that makes you happy before you think about everyone else’s happiness.
