Eddie Vedder Essay PDF

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Katie McKersie B00682338 EDDIE VEDDER Biography Eddie Vedder is an American musician born 1964 in Evanston, Illinois. He is best known as a singer, songwriter and guitarist of Pearl Jam. Eddie is also involved in other artists albums, making music for them. His career has clearly been a success as he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Pearl Jam in 2017. In his spare time, he likes to discuss views on current issues in the United States where he has detailed views on abortion rights. He is also a surfer and is active in surf related conservation efforts. Eddie did not have the easiest life growing up, he had multiple parent figures who came in and out of his life as they pleased. After he dropped out of high school, he became the vocalist for a funk rock band called Bad Radio. He then did a lot of solo work before he joined the band Temple of the Dog, which was established in 1991 and released through A&M Records. He was with this band until Pearl Jam was formed in 1990. Pearl Jam was originally called Mookie Blaylock, but was forced to change it when the band signed to Epic Records in 1991. Their debut album, Ten is what brought the band into the mainstream and it became one of the best selling alternative albums of the 1990s. The band itself became suddenly popular after this album. Vedder did not enjoy all the sudden publicity he was getting and Pearl Jam decided to decrease the level of promotion for their albums. In Pearl Jam’s third studio album, Vitalogy, Vedder began to be featured more on the rhythm guitar as well as back up on vocals and some drumming. In 2000, the band released its sixth studio album called Binural and this initiated an ongoing series of official bootlegs. The band relased 72 live albums in 2000 and 2001 and set a record for most albums to debut at the same time. Their song Grievance from this album received a Grammy nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance. It is evident that Vedder’s success with Pearl Jam was astronomical. (Wikipedia, 2018) Styles of Music His first band started out playing funk rock but this progressed into alternative rock due to influence by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Vedder has since carried this raw punk influenced guitar playing. The album Ten released by Pearl Jam was classified as the genre grunge. The early Jethro Tull has always inspired Vedder’s style of music. Vedder’s lyrics have invoked storytelling and have included themes of freedom, individualism and sympathy for troubled incividuals. He tended to play more rhythm guitar during the Vitalogy era. Overall, his genres of music are alternative rock, folk rock and grunge. He has played all three of these genres throughout his career as a musician. (Wikipedia, 2018) Guitars/Equipment Used

Eddie has been known to play Fender guitars. The most common ones he plays are the 1952 Fender Telecaster Reissue, 1963 Fender Telecaster black sparkle finish and the 1981 Fender Telecaster black finish. He is also known to play Gibson guitars. Most commonly, the 1968 Gibson ES-335. Vedder is now said to use tweed Fender amps in his most recent performances. He uses a 4x10 Fender Super Reverb and also uses a Hi Watt DR-504 50w Amp and a Straight Face Marshall 1960B Straight Cabinet. (Uberpro Audio, 2018) Personal Opinion It is nice to hear a guitarist who was so devoted to music and his bands like Vedder was yet still lead a normal life. He worked many part time jobs throughout his music career, as his parents were not going to help him financially. I also like how is songs talked about his life and what he had to go through. For example, Momma-Son was a story of a young man, who learns that he had been lied to about his paternity and that his real father is dead. This song is similar to what Vedder went through growing up. Listening to this song made me feel a deeper connection to Vedder and his past. My favourite songs where Vedder plays guitar for Pearl Jam is Rearview Mirror and Elderly Women Behind the Counter in a Small Town. I also like Vedder’s intense live performances. He likes to interact with his audience by crowd surfing and stage diving, which always keeps things interesting and exciting. Furthermore, I like how he expresses his political views in performances and is really outspoken. I feel a lot of other famous artists are too scared to express their opinion on controversial subjects because they do not want bad publicity from it. However, Vedder is always honest which I appreciate.

References

Eddie Vedder. (2018). Retrieved April 8, 2018, from Wikipedia website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Vedder Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder Guitar Gear Rig and Equipment. (2018). Retrieved April 8, 2018, from Uberpro Audio website: http://www.uberproaudio.com/who-playswhat/187-pearl-jams-eddie-vedder-guitar-gear-rig-and-equipment...