The band that made Eddie Vedder comfortable with “difficult listening”
Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam are inseparable from the classic rock era. From the swaggering riffs to the frontman’s belting vocals, in many ways, they have much more in common with the sounds they grew up listening to than the heavy sludge of the grunge era, despite the genre also being greatly indebted to the blues.
Regarding Eddie Vedder, it says all about his status and the gravity of his efforts that he has earned great kudos from The Who’s Roger Daltrey, a man whose fierce style of vocal delivery is undoubtedly a stylistic ancestor to that of the Pearl Jam vocalist.
Daltrey told Rolling Stone in 2016: “I just love to hear Eddie sing. I think he’s got such a distinctive, fabulous voice. He doesn’t copy, so that’s what I like; he does the Eddie Vedder version. It’s never easy to do because most people will just try and copy what the Who have done. He’s always himself.”
Although Eddie Vedder owes a lot to the classic rock era, with Daltrey and The Who ranking near the top of his influences leaderboard, another group from the British Invasion were even more significant for him, as they showed him the way into more uncomfortable listening experiences and therefore, his future career. This was The Beatles, the most important and pioneering band ever.
Once, when selecting 1963’s With The Beatles as one of his favourite records of all time, Vedder explained: “This is almost a textbook for someone born in 1964.”
However, their later, more experimental work had the most significant effect on the Pearl Jam leader and made him “comfortable with ‘difficult’ listening”.
He said: “I had a tape that was called ‘Revolver White Album’. I didn’t find out they were two separate albums until years later. The White Album has songs that appeal to little kids, like ‘Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,’ Then, if you get into it, you’re listening to ‘Revolution 9.’ I mean, that stuff opens you up. It’s where you first get comfortable with ‘difficult’ listening.”
The Beatles made such a positive impact on Eddie Vedder’s life that over his career, he has covered nine different songs by them, ranging from ‘Blackbird’ to ‘You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away’. This shows nothing but his complete adoration for the groundbreaking efforts of the Fab Four and their effect on his craft.
Listen to The White Album below.
