Mailbag

From: Tim Palmer
Subject: Hall of Fame...Pearl Jam TEN

Pearl Jam in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Great you mentioned Pearl Jam?s TEN.

I had been away in Los Angeles for many months producing 'Neverland' the
first 'rock' signing to the newly formed Interscope records.

Before I left to return to London, my home at that point, I received a
demo tape from Michael Goldstone. It was his latest signing to Epic
Records. They were a band formed out of the ashes of the great Mother Love
Bone which I had mixed for him. The members of Pearl Jam had liked what I
had done for Mother Love Bone, so they were interested in me mixing their
new band, then called "Mookie Blaylock". The demo tape sounded really
good, it was clearly 'Alternative' but at the same time hinted at a more
classic rock sound, one example being Mike's classic rock guitar solos.
Eddie's vocals were unique and the band sounded very fresh to me. They really
had a great selection of songs.

As I had mixed Mother Love Bone without ever meeting any of the band, a
meeting was set up between the members and myself. We ended up going to
watch a Lakers game. It was a fun night and we all got along well and
agreed that I should mix one song to make absolutely sure it was all going
to sound right. I mixed the song 'Once' in Los Angeles at the great A&M
studios and everybody seemed happy, so the album mix was a go. Around this
time the band changed their name, so I was actually about to mix the debut
album by 'Pearl Jam'.

My only issue was that I did not want to be in LA any longer, I needed to
get back to London. We agreed to mix the album at one of my favorite UK
residential studios called RIDGE FARM.

Ridge farm was about 30 miles outside of London in the Surrey countryside,
a recording studio converted from a 17th-century mediaeval farmhouse. It
had a great big NEVE console in the control room which was situated high
up in the barn. As it was 'residential' the band could all stay, and we
could all eat dinner together each evening. I lived close by, so I could
drive to the studio each day. Ridge Farm was a fabulous place with great
staff and cooks, a pool, and a tennis court, it had famously hosted
sessions with Queen, Thin Lizzy, Roxy Music and I had recorded the first
album by The Mission there.

The band flew to the UK that June and we began finishing the record
together. There were some vocal parts to finish, and a few guitar overdubs
to get done, including the big outro solo for the song 'Alive' which Mike
nailed in one take. I remember the sessions being very low pressure, there
was no great weight of expectation on our shoulders, and A&R man Michael
Goldstone was back in LA! (He came over for the last couple of days). I
mixed a song each day and took it home each night to check on my home
stereo. As I drove in each morning I had the chance to do a 'car check'
and make any final revisions before the band arrived in the control room.
Pearl Jam's TEN album is an interesting album as even though it is often
seen as one of the cornerstone 'Grunge' albums it is not a particularly
'Grungy' sounding record. Most of that is due to the time period of when
we worked on the record. We never discussed the idea of the record being
mixed dry, or stripped back. The 'Seattle Sound? hadn't really made it to
the mainstream yet, remember 'Ten' was released before Nivana's
'Nevermind'. The big rock records of that year were Skid Row, Metallica,
Tesla, Van Halen and Extreme.

Instead of feeling pressured to make a dry, grunge-sounding album, I felt
free to just do what felt right for each song. Reverb, delays and
backwards reverbs were all still de rigueur at that time, so I did not
feel constrained . On 'Ten? I used the reverb and delays to add to the
depth of the sound: the EMT plates at Ridge Farm were fantastic and at
that time, I really enjoyed moving from a fairly ambient sound straight
into a very dry sound‹especially on drums and vocals.

As we were stuck in the middle of the countryside, getting equipment was
very slow. I wanted to add some small percussion parts to a couple of
tracks but didn't want to wait around for them to be delivered. So I just
used what was in the pantry rather than waiting; hence my credit for
'pepper shaker and fire extinguisher'.

Pearl Jam suffered a setback after completing TEN, when Dave Krusen left
the band to check into rehab. I think his contribution to the record was
substantial, and often overlooked. The groove on those tracks was superb.
We finished the record in about 2 weeks. Michael 'Goldie? Goldstone came
over for the last few days and he was happy. We just needed to get a great
sequence. Time was booked to put the record together at a mastering room
in London, but the band were late for their flights so didn?t attend that
session. I sat and just made the cross fades at the start of the album
that seemed right to me and hoped they liked them !

It?s funny looking back. I remember telling the band that the song BLACK
was way too long and I tried to edit the end section down. Luckily Eddie
Vedder stood strong and we left it alone. It?s now a fan favorite and
clearly I was wrong !

The band did reach out to me to work on the follow up, but I was
Producing Tears for Fears at the time and I just couldn?t walk away. The rest is history.

I?m so pleased they have been inducted into the R&R Hall of fame. They
deserve it. They have stuck to their guns, never sold out, and stayed away from the whole celeb and Gossip' scene.
Smart guys,
Happy Holidays Bob

Tim Palmer
ATX

www.facebook.com/timpalmermixer
www.timpalmer.com
timpalmermixer on Twitter and Instagram.

___________________________________________

Subject: Re: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Playlist

Bob how does Pearl Jam get into the HOF and leave Dave Abbruzzese out? He was there almost from the beginning and was the engine that took the band from the van to the stadium.

Over 30 million in sales on those first 3 records ( yes Ab didn't play on Ten but that's him on the live Evenflow video that MTV played to death and him on almost every concert from day one of Tens release).

He was even a big part of the bands look and style with the boots, shorts and thermals.

A band can't screw a guy over like that with out it coming back.

I know Dave well and I know he isn't easy but the work is the work!

Him not getting in with his band only brings more negativity to the Hall. Dave Abbruzzese has a huge global Pearl Jam fan base and people are sick about this.

I hope the band does the right thing and gets this sorted.

Stevie Salas

___________________________________________

From: Andrew Oldham
Subject: Re: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Playlist

just exciting to know that the move nearly/sorta got i to the RNRHoF. you, dear bob, being yankfull, have no idea of the impact the move , via their music, the group in total < trevor burton; bev bevan; "ace" kefford; ; carl wayne; roy wood; rik price; jeff lynne ; manager tony secunda and producer denny cordell, had on the UK in '66. for the public they were a breath of hostile and welcome air, for those of of us already in, or on, the game the move were a wake up call.
not unlike the kinks with their first single in august of ' 64. but they had whimsical and sloppy management and a record company that were happier with petula clark , so , apart from the forever songs, never made it to the james cagney rooftops.
the move were the real thing - and had the army to deliver. the records and the band were crackin' . they shook our world.
the wonderful jeff lynne and ELO were made by america.
check out the Salvo move anthology 1966-1972 ; it will bring waterberries to your eyes and ears.
abrazo, ALO

___________________________________________

From: Peter Paterno
Subject: RE: Not A Hit In America

They're all pikers: Joel Adams has almost 250,000,000 streams for Please Don't Go and hasn't been played, as far as I can tell from Mediabase, one time on US radio.

___________________________________________

From: Jack Williamson
Subject: Re: Not A Hit In America

Another key example of this is Gavin James who played with LP in France this week and his track
"Nervous (The Ooh Song)"

https://open.spotify.com/track/5FoYSQF0IaVwS6M9mlk6C4?utm_source=phplist5678&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Mailbag

He is at 56M streams on Spotify yet the video isn't at a million on YouTube.

It has hit multi-platinum in several countries across Europe but has yet to break in the Top 4 major markets US, Germany, UK and Japan (who are now slowly warming to streaming)

He went from 200 capacity gig to 12,000 capacity in one year in Ireland (his home country)

Spotify breaks records, radio sustains records.
Radio is now the last on board with tracks these days, they have lost their power to break a track.

So much talent out there like Gavin, LP, James Hersey and more, who no longer rely on radio to break a record or the key markets to radiate success internationally.

___________________________________________

Subject: RE: Whipping Post

Bob,

My brother Twiggs Lyndon, who died in a skydiving accident in 1979, was the original road manager of the Allman Brothers Band. He had previously been on the road with Little Richard (when Jimi Hendrix was a member of the band), Percy Sledge, and Arthur Conley. He did a Stax/Volt tour of Europe with Otis Redding, Sam and Dave and Booker T. He accompanied Otis' wife Zelma and Otis' father to Madison Wisconsin when they got the news that Otis' plane had gone down.

I wanted to point out that Chris Stapleton in performing "Whipping Post" sang the original lyrics that Gregg had written and which were recorded by the ABB: "Sometimes I feel like I've been tied to the whipping post, tied to the whipping post, tied to the whipping post, sometimes I feel like I'm dying." Several years after it was recorded, at Twiggs' suggestion, Gregg changed the lyrics to "Sometimes I feel like I've been tied to the whipping post, chained and bound,...." Twiggs proposed this as a tribute to Otis Redding who had a hit single named, "Chained and Bound" and Gregg has been singing it this way ever since. For the last 30 years whenever I've heard Gregg sing Whipping Post the phrase "Chained and Bound" has always reminded me of my brother and the great Otis Redding.

Last week I was in Macon and stopped by to see Zelma and their daughter Karla. I shared this bit of trivia with them and of course they were delighted to hear of this tribute.

Love your Posts,

John Lyndon

___________________________________________

Subject: Re: The Cold

I have a story too. I had just moved from San Diego to Seattle Washington, and I have never lived anywhere with snow or winter. There's no real winter in San Diego. I was 15, and I was exploring the dense woods in the back of our house. I went for what seemed forever and came upon a stunning clearing with a small pond that was frozen over. It had a makeshift wooden diving board over it, and I got on that and lowered myself onto the ice. Crack! I fell in and it was freezing cold. I thought it was all over for me. I managed to grab the makeshift diving board and pulled myself up. My clothes were soaking wet. Then I heard dogs and a man shouting carrying a shotgun. I wasn't used to guns or anything like this. He came over to me, and I told him I was from Cali, and that I was exploring. He was very rude and told me this was his land and to go back where I came from. I went back into the woods and got to my home, and ran into my bedroom to get out of the wet clothes. I spent an hour by the fire getting warm. I was afraid to tell my dad what happened, so I never did. I feared my parents more than drowning or freezing to death.
Warm regards,

Scott Finnell

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