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Having finished a book on Pearl Jam last month (Mick Wall's "Pearl Jam"), and coming close to finishing a book on Kurt Cobain and Nirvana this month (Charles R. Cross's "Heavier Than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain" - look for the book review in the near future!), it seems appropriate, as well as inevitable, to begin the series on band feuds with two bands that I have liked for a long time. It is a feud that was well-publicized in it's day and, in a strange way, the reverberations of which continue on some level even to this day. I personally know of a few people who feel that Cobain got it right about Pearl Jam being sell outs, commercialized music posing as anti-establishment, and a lead singer and band who profess to be uncomfortable with their success, even while every move that they have made seemed clearly with the intent of furthering their popularity and success. Ironically, the same claim could (and has) been made about Nirvana.
The feud between the two biggest "Seattle sound" (there really wasn't such a thing, but the label stuck), or grunge, was greatly exaggerated, and also really unnecessary.
Here's what Spinner had to say about it in their piece, "Worst Band Feuds: No. 14" (see link below):
This one, like Beatles-Stones, was the rivalry the media really, really wished would blow up. The fact of the matter was that, while Kurt Cobain was occasionally dismissive of his fellow Seattle band in the press, the conscientious blokes in Pearl Jam never took the bait. Nirvana vs. Pearl Jam was pretty much a nonstarter: All apologies.
Pearl Jam may not have fought back, or done anything to up the ante and make it an outright feud with Nirvana, yet they undeniably felt the effects. In Cameron Crowe’s documentary on the band, “Pearl Jam Twenty”, they discuss the pressures that these criticisms of Cobain, and the overall question of credibility, had on the band, and the consensus was best expressed by Stone Gossard, who said that this kept them honest, kept them on their toes, and made them scrutinize everything that they did.
Indeed, in many respects, the criticisms that Cobain voiced the loudest have continued long after Cobain’s death. Many have accused them of being overly commercial, buying Cobain's comments without question. During their highly publicized battle with Ticketmaster, citing that the agency not only was a monopoly, but that they charged prices that the band felt were simply too high, Green Day claimed that Pearl Jam should simply take a smaller cut. Whether or not they were missing the point or not is up for debate, but the band’s motives have always seemingly been under the microscope and questioned at every turn.
Kim Neely, author of another Pearl Jam book (that I read a long, long time ago) made it clear that the rivalry got more intense as Pearl Jam's popularity began to overtake Nirvana's, and seemed to suggest that Cobain stepped up his criticisms of the band possibly out of some measure of jealousy. Nirvana themselves may themselves have fallen victim to another such rivalry as they were the new hot band, as Guns N' Roses (Axl Rose in particular, shockingly enough) seemed to lash out against Nirvana as their popularity began to eclipse that of Gun N' Roses, who had formerly been quite dominant in that category.
Pearl Jam's "Ten" album was released shortly after Nirvana's groundbreaking "Nevermind" album, which really catapulted alternative music into the mainstream, where it began to dominate (at least for a few years). But many felt that Pearl Jam had hastily slapped an album together and released it, in order to try and follow in the footsteps and cash in on Nirvana's success - essentially, of jumping on the bandwagon. Cobain himself entered this debate, dismissing Pearl Jam as "sellouts", and claiming that they were "pioneering a corporate, alternative and cock-rock fusion". Cobain also claimed that Pearl Jam was "false alternative macho metal", and he was vocal in his displeasure about MTV's lumping Pearl Jam with Nirvana. Cobain grew more vocal in his criticisms of Pearl Jam the more popular they got, and he targeted the one area that was at least perceived to be Pearl Jam's weakness: their credibility. So, even as Pearl Jam's popularity began to be greater than Nirvana's, purists could point out that this was part of the script, and that was, itself, the problem. Mick Wall, in his book, "Pearl Jam", described how this hurt Pearl Jam's credibility, although credibility was one thing that came easily to Nirvana. As described in the article by Clash Music in 2009 (see link below):
Pearl Jam would later eclipse Nirvana in terms of sales with follow up 'V' outselling Nirvana's 'In Utero' by almost five copies to one. However it could be argued this is exactly what Cobain wanted.
The tensions between the two bands existed, yet it was not strictly defined by tensions, either. They played on the same bill on certain nights, and Pearl Jam even performed Nirvana's signature "Smells Like Teen Spirit" on more than one occasion, with Eddie Vedder always giving praise to Nirvana and Cobain. For their part, Nirvana members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic tried to defuse any tensions by being supportive of Pearl Jam in their own right on certain occasions.
Cobain clearly did not like Pearl Jam's music, and thought that they were entirely corporate music. Yet, even then, he admired their attitudes, in comparison to other major groups that, he felt, stood for nothing, even adamantly refusing to stand for any issues. Here is what Cobain had to say in an interview with Kevin Allman of of The Advocate (February 1992 issue):
"I don't like Pearl Jam's music at all, but at least they have good attitudes; they're not another Van Halen, who totally refuse to address anything. The only sad thing about it is that the innocence of underground music has been lumped in with the corporate idea of what underground is. There are no boundaries. Pearl Jam's a good example. I don't mean to harp on them; I'm tired of talking shit about them, but they're a real commercial rock band."
But even Cobain himself began to want to defuse the tensions, saying, "I can appreciate them. I realize that the same people that like their band like our band. So why create some kind of feud?"
Famously, Kurt Cobain and Eddie Vedder even slow-danced together at the 1992 MTV VMA's. In His biography about Kurt Cobain, Charles Cross describes what happened when they were forced together" "When they were pushed together by the women, Kurt grabbed his rival and danced with him like an awkward teenager at the prom." ("Heavier Than Heaven: A biography of Kurt Cobain", by Charles R. Cross, Loc 4463, 60%). It was a rare piece of archival footage found by Cameron Crowe as he researched material for "Pearl Jam Twenty" a few years ago. You can see a clip of that below, where there is a link to the footage.
Later that year, Cross wrote, Cobain even sent Eddie Vedder a Christmas card.
The tensions between the camps of the two bands seemed to be largely a thing of the past. But that was not exactly true, and everything that happened in relation to the two bands was greatly magnified under the media microscope. When Eddie Vedder pulled Pearl Jam out of a show with Nirvana in late 1993, it was seen as a slight. The official reason stated was that Vedder had a flue, but many suspected that it was Eddie Vedder's way of getting back at Cobain and Nirvana.
Not much after this, Kurt Cobain's wife, Courtney Love, would bring the feud to a new low with a few careless words. It happened as Cobain's personal, self-destructive problems began to edge closer to that infamous point of tragedy. About one month prior to his suicide in the spring of 1994, Cobain nearly died of an overdose while on tour in Italy. It was not clear to the world at that point that it had the elements of a suicide attempt. A month later, when Kurt Cobain shot himself in his house back in Washington, it would become more apparent.
Vedder found out shortly thereafter that one small-circulation British monthly magazine, Select, had an article with the headlines, "WHY COULDN"T IT HAVE BEEN EDDIE VEDDER?" Courtney Love had said in an interview, "I wish it had been Eddie. They'd have had a fucking candelit vigil for him."
When confronted with this in an interview, Vedder responded:
"Oh, that's nice. That's really nice. That makes me feel really good. I wonder why she didn't mention that when I phoned her last night (April 16th, 1994) and offered her any help or support I could give her...I really don't know any of these people, I don't know Courtney, I'd never talked to her before. But someone said I should call her and and I thought maybe I should. I mean, all this shit that comes up and all this bullshit that flies back and forth in the press that gets italicized and trumped up to make it a bigger deal than it really is, when all that's said and done, there's feelings I have for those people. And the ones that are alive, I need to let them know how I feel."
In the same interview, he describes his own reaction when he first heard of Cobain's overdose in Italy:
"I remember when he got sick in Rome - -I didn't realize then that it was actually a suicide attempt - -I was in Seattle. I went out to grab something to eat and I saw the headlines. That he was in a coma. I just freaked out, man. I went home and made some phone calls, tried to find out what was going on. Then I started pacing the house and started to cry...I just kept saying, 'Don't go, man, just don't fuckin' go...just don't go.' I kept thinking, 'If he goes, I'm fucked."
There were t-shirts being sold shortly after Cobain's suicide that read: "Eddie's Next".
That, of course, did not happen. Nirvana ceased to be with Cobain's suicide, and the surviving members all went in their own directions. However, they did reunite with Paul McCartney heading the makeshift band in a concert late last year, the 12/12/12 Concert for Sand Relief at Madison Square Garden (see my review of the concert posted on December 13, 2012, if interested).
It should be noted that Courtney Love and Eddie Vedder have since seemed to make amends. Following a Rolling Stone article that seemed to completely trash Vedder, numerous musicians, including Michael Stipe of REM, Krist Novoselic of Nirvana, and Courtney Love defended Eddie Vedder, praising him for the battle with Ticketmaster, even comparing him to Abraham Lincoln, and blasting Rolling Stone for their harsh treatment of him.
Kurt Cobain had problems with two members of Pearl Jam in particular – Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament. Both had formerly been members of other Seattle bands, Green River and Mother Love Bone. Perhaps it was the relatively radical change in musical style and scene that left him suspicious?
Jeff Ament had a bit to say about the conflict in an interview with John Robinson, and he seems to betray a hint of taking it personally:
"I think that any of our comments [in the press at the time], or any of Nirvana’s comments, were probably based on being asked over and over about each other. I wasn’t going to feel bad about any of that stuff, because I was in a hardcore band when Kurt [Cobain] and Krist [Novoselic] and those guys were 11 or 12. I certainly didn’t want to be in a punk rock band, because I had already been in a punk rock band. I wanted to be in a band that could do anything – like Led Zeppelin."
In the same interview, Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard had this to say, sounding considerably more at peace with himself, and philosophical about the whole thing:
"I think he [Kurt Cobain] raised our bar. By him being critical of us, I think we said, “Well, that’s what he says about us – what are we going to do?” I think we made tougher records, and I think we thought about everything in the light of “Are we doing this because we like it? Or are we doing it because we’re sellouts?” So in a sense, he kept us on our best behaviour. I think Ed and Kurt became friends. But I think it was all about a fight between [Mudhoney’s] Mark Arm and Steve [Turner] and Jeff and I [over the demise of a previous band, Green River]. And Kurt Cobain was just a pawn in the whole thing."
(Both quotes taken by: http://www.uncut.co.uk/pearl-jam/artist-interview-pearl-jams-jeff-ament-and-stone-gossard-feature)
More recently, Jeff Ament returned back to the subject, and claimed that Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love used to mock him for playing basketball. You can read the story for yourself at: http://grungereport.net/?p=21270
In the 2009 interview with Clash Music, Eddie Vedder reflected back on the feud between the two bands, and said, "I don't think Kurt understood us at the time, but we became friends and I'm glad we had some of the great conversations we had, that I'm always going to keep up here."
I think it would be fitting to conclude this piece with some words quoted by Eddie Vedder from that same Clash Music article (the link can be found below, and is definitely recommended!):
"But there's a couple of complimentary things that he said in public about me as a human being, which I'm proud exist.
"But if Kurt were around today, I know he'd say to me, 'Well, you turned out OK'."
Video Clip of Eddie Vedder and Kurt Cobain slowdancing together:
http://wgrd.com/watch-eddie-vedder-and-kurt-cobain-slow-dance-together/
"The 50 Greatest Beefs in Rock Music History" by Daniel Margolis
http://www.complex.com/music/2012/09/the-50-greatest-beefs-in-rock-music-history/nirvana-v-pearl-jam
"Vedder on Nirvana Feud : Singer reveals Cobain friendship" by Clash Music. This is a 2009 article in which Eddie Vedder reflects on Kurt Cobain, which I used rather extensively on this entry:
http://www.clashmusic.com/news/vedder-nirvana-feud
Seattle Times article from 1993, about Vedder pulling out of the concert with Nirvana:
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19931214&slug=1736867
"Epic Musician Feuds of the '90's" by Judy Berman of Flavorwire
http://flavorwire.com/221601/epic-musician-feuds-of-the-90s/2
"Interview with Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder" by Allen Jones (April 17, 1994):This is a fascinating interview done in the aftermath of Kurt Cobain's suicide, and Eddie Vedder shares his thoughts on Kurt's death, as well as the feud between the two, and his own predicament with stardom and the lack of privacy that he was really struggling with at the time. Also, he is confronted with Courtney Love's mean-spirited statement, "Why couldn't it have been Eddie?". A fascinating, albeit long, read, but highly recommended!
http://www.angelfire.com/pop/raux/music/nirvana-/interview.html
Link to "March 1994 Pearl Jam History", which had some derogatory quotes from Flipside magazine with quotes from Kurt Cobain about Pearl Jam that was used in this blog:
http://pearljamhistory.no.sapo.pt/PJChronology1994-March.htm
More info on the 1996 Rolling Stone article "Reinventing Eddie Vedder" that generated so much criticism from rock notables, including Courtney Love:
http://www.freewebs.com/pearljamstudy/1 ... newhoy.htm
Article from Spinner:
http://www.spinner.com/2007/09/14/worst-band-feuds-no-14/
Interview of Kurt Cobain by Kevin Allman of The Advocate (February 1992 issue), from which I got one of the quotes used above:
http://www.burntout.com/kurt/interviews/int4.html
Excellent article with reflections on the subject by both Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament:
http://www.uncut.co.uk/pearl-jam/artist-interview-pearl-jams-jeff-ament-and-stone-gossard-feature
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