Pearl Jam’s First Studio Session Surfaces
A year before they released Ten and kicked off an enviable career, Pearl Jam hit the studio as Mookie Blaylock and recorded a handful of cuts that would later appear on their first LP and dominate radio airwaves. YouTube user Luciano Gargiulo has managed to get his hands on those recordings, and uploaded all 11 tracks as Pearl Jam‘s First Studio Sessions, which you can now listen to in its entirety.
At the time, the band consisted of frontman Eddie Vedder, Stone Gossard and Mike McCready on guitar, Jeff Ament on bass and drummer Dave Krusen. The session at London Bridge Studio in Seattle took place in October 1990, around the same time the group played their first ever live set.
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Despite it being early in the band’s bourgeoning career, the cuts on the First Studio Sessions sound crisp and flawless, though they lack a bit of the murky heaviness that would mark their debut (and McCready definitely cut a better solo on “Alive” when they re-recorded it). You can check out early versions of Ten cuts like “Even Flow,” “Alive,” “Once,”and “Black,” along with deep cuts such as “Just a Girl,” “Breath” and “Evil Little Goat” – which would later become “Yellow Ledbetter.”
More than two decades later, Pearl Jam are getting ready to release their 10th LP, Lightning Bolt, on October 15th.
You can check out a time-stamped tracklist of Pearl Jam’s First Studio Sessions below.
“Even Flow” – 00:00
“Once” – 04:55
“Breath” – 08:04
“Release” – 13:50
“Just a Girl” – 18:51
“Evil Little Goat” – 23:39
“Alive” – 25:10
“Alone” – 30:44
“Oceans” – 34:00
“Black” – 36:44
Improv. (Beginnings of “Yellow Ledbetter”) – 41:54