The proud moment Paul McCartney punched Eddie Vedder’s daft face
Paul McCartney is a master at crafting a hook, but you’d imagine that he’d not be quite as effective at landing one on somebody’s jaw.
The Liverpudlian may have grown up near the infamous docks of the city, but his ability to throw a punch is not something you think of when addressing the life and career of the world’s most famous peace-loving vegetarian. But, one rock and roller was on the receiving end of a clout from the Beatle.
As it happens, gravel-voiced Pearl Jam rocker, Eddie Vedder, can offer an opinion on McCartney’s hitmaking ability in both its departments after Macca ditched his ‘All You Need Is Love’ vibe and went all ‘Maxwell’s Silver Hammer’, jabbing the long-haired ‘Alive’ singer on the mouth. While the idea of a blood match between the two is enticing, things transpired a little differently.
The pair were chatting at a hotel bar in Vedder’s native Seattle. McCartney was regaling the grunge veteran with a tale of macho conquest about how he once served someone a Mackem handshake when a brawl broke out in his youth. However, his forceful jab turned out to be less of a demonstration and more so the real McCoy.
In a fit of anecdotal enthusiasm, he landed a pearler straight into Vedder’s visage. McCartney simply failed to pull back and actually ended up enacting the punch, full force, on the flabbergasted frontman. Whether or not this had been his intention all along and the anecdote was all just a covert ruse to bruise a new gravel-voice upstart, is a detail seemingly lost on the ‘Alive’ singer.
“He hit me. He didn’t quite pull back the punch, you see,” Vedder recalled in an interview with SiriusXM. “As I was listening, I was thinking, Paul McCartney just hit me in the face, and it hurt. I think I remember tasting a bit of blood. He got me right on the side […] he apologised quickly, so it wouldn’t get in the way of the story.”
The last point is undoubtedly the greatest takeaway from this violent anecdote – McCartney didn’t even stop his jabbering after hitting a man in the face because why let a burst lip get in the way of a good yarn?
However, seeing as though Vedder lived to tell a tale of his own, surely, he took being punched by one of the Fab Four as a rare badge of honour. How many people in history can say that they’ve been whacked by Macca?
Well, as Vedder continues: “It was a great, incredible personal story. I caught the end of it, and as I was listening, I thought Paul McCartney just hit me in the face, and it hurt,” he said, before comically concluding: “It was a great time in my life actually, to be hit by Paul McCartney. And I remember it hurt for a few days, and I remember when it went away, when the pain subsided, and the swelling went down, I kind of missed it.”
Sadly, however, Vedder never did reveal who McCartney was belting in the original anecdote, so the true victim remains a mystery. Over the years, it has been revealed that Chuck Berry slapped Keith Richards and David Bowie got a smack from Lou Reed, but Paul ‘The Silver Hammer’ McCartney’s target is lost to the sands of time.
As it happens, Vedder is a huge fan of The Beatles, and he has performed live covers on at least nine occasions as per the live YouTube compilation featured below. With this in mind, there’s a very good chance that this story, and the swelling that came with it, are likely one of his prized possessions.
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