New leak: Demo 1 9/91

[Thurman Murman]

Thanks everyone who's reached out for tips and questions. My apologies for not being as quick to respond as I'd like to be.

This evening I sorted through the first trove of stuff (everything already listed in the OP). I identified duplicates where I had them, swapped out a few better quality files for what were previously available as mp3s, and organized everything into folders indicating the original cassette tape from which they originated. If you've already got the first batch of stuff, now it's just a lot more organized and you know where to find it.

Next up is sorting through the second trove of stuff I've got. After that, I'll follow up with those who've not heard from me yet. I just hate the idea of stuff getting out there mislabeled, and/or in inferior quality when I may have a better copy on hand.

Please be patient and I'll get back to y'all ASAP. Thanks.

Thanks for all the work you're putting into this...much appreciated! Can't wait to hear.

[iwishiwas]

Thanks everyone who's reached out for tips and questions. My apologies for not being as quick to respond as I'd like to be.

This evening I sorted through the first trove of stuff (everything already listed in the OP). I identified duplicates where I had them, swapped out a few better quality files for what were previously available as mp3s, and organized everything into folders indicating the original cassette tape from which they originated. If you've already got the first batch of stuff, now it's just a lot more organized and you know where to find it.

Next up is sorting through the second trove of stuff I've got. After that, I'll follow up with those who've not heard from me yet. I just hate the idea of stuff getting out there mislabeled, and/or in inferior quality when I may have a better copy on hand.

Please be patient and I'll get back to y'all ASAP. Thanks.

Top notch.

[Blenheim Augustine]

1993-02-25 03 Jam
Stone and Dave seem to be fairly locked in; Jeff seems to be struggling to vibe with what’s going on. Not terribly interesting, this one. Just a lot of aimless guitar riffing and funk-rock drumming by Dave. Dave in particular goes off the rails towards the end, like he’s this close to just taking a drum solo. Interesting to think about Jeff’s past comments about struggling to connect with Dave musically. Based on the studio output, I’d always been kind of skeptical of that, because it seemed like they vibed really well. But hearing something like this, and now I’m thinking that maybe Jeff had to put in more effort than he felt was reasonable to create some cohesive rhythm parts with Dave.

maybe it wasn't Jeff having to make an effort insomuch as it was that Jeff wasn't a strong improviser. at least at that point in his career, or not the kind that could hang with Dave's turbo funk. i feel like Jeff has gotten better over time. maybe i am imagining that. But early pearl jam doesn't scream 'we have a good a bassist'. I don't get the sense Jeff was some dynamo behind the scenes in early PJ and then when it came to album cutting time he got stuck with pedestrian 'basslines' ... half the time its just him playing a root chord note on those early albums. Dave A was probably better at his craft at that point and Jeff didn't have the goods to roll with it

Jeff's playing on ten and Vs is not pedestrian. Yes he plays a lot of roots but it's where he plays them. He grooved those first two albums to the top of the charts. He's not a virtuoso by any means but his playing on those first two records is what made me play bass.

[VinylGuy]

yeah, his work on MLB is also pretty cool.

[EJ]

yeah, his work on MLB is also pretty cool.

agreed

[Strat]

jeff also never took the roll of a bassist just there to hold it down on the backline. The guy wrote some memorable guitar/bass riffs and was always up front in the song writing process. He knew went to drop the hammer and went to add great melodic lines.

[mrgoose13]

For those of you who are interested in this time period, I highly, highly recommend The Slim's Cafe Show - 5/13/93. It was one of the first bootlegs I ever bought. It is the show they came out of the hills to play as they were wrapping up recording Vs.

From Two Feet Thick:
05/13/93 – Slim’s Cafe: San Francisco, CA [110m]
attendance: 900
soundcheck: Daughter instrumental, Why Go, Blood instrumental, Rats and Release guitar warm-ups, Animal instrumental, Animal, Dissident
set: Animal, Go, Even Flow, Blood, Daughter, W.M.A., Dissident, Why Go, Alive, Hard to Imagine, Rearviewmirror, Better Man, Dirty Frank/Rats, Baba O’Riley, Once, Jeremy, (Girls Just Wanna Have Fun)/Porch/(Tearing), Release, Alone, (Dirty Deeds)/Whipping, Leash, Sonic Reducer
notes: This was a secret show was a benefit to assist in legal support for a member of the Surfrider Foundation. PJ is billed as the “David J. Gunn Band” and most of Vs. (plus ‘Better Man’ and ‘Whipping’) premier as they have just completed recording the new album. The band even asks for requests at this show. Ed jokes around: “We’re accepting any donations of acid that you may have. Just put it in a little envelope with your name on it … and if we write a great song while we’re on it, we’ll put your name in the credits.” A guitar riff from Van Halen’s ‘Eruption’ is played between ‘Why Go’ and ‘Alive.’ ‘Alive’ is dedicated to Ed’s uncle, Freddy Vedder. The transition from ‘Dirty Frank’ to ‘Rats’ is very cool sounding.A bit of AC/DC’s ‘Dirty Deeds’ is played.

And I love Archive.org - https://archive.org/details/Pearl_Jam_B ... 1993-05-13

You can see this is pre-Vs. and pre-Vitalogy and it rivals The Orpheum show in 1994 in its uniqueness. As an aside, I just stumbled on this version on archive.org and it includes the soundchecks - which I have not heard before even though I have had this bootleg for 26 years. Personally, this is the one I think should be the next vault show.

[Strat]

For those of you who are interested in this time period, I highly, highly recommend The Slim's Cafe Show - 5/13/93. It was one of the first bootlegs I ever bought. It is the show they came out of the hills to play as they were wrapping up recording Vs.

From Two Feet Thick:
05/13/93 – Slim’s Cafe: San Francisco, CA [110m]
attendance: 900
soundcheck: Daughter instrumental, Why Go, Blood instrumental, Rats and Release guitar warm-ups, Animal instrumental, Animal, Dissident
set: Animal, Go, Even Flow, Blood, Daughter, W.M.A., Dissident, Why Go, Alive, Hard to Imagine, Rearviewmirror, Better Man, Dirty Frank/Rats, Baba O’Riley, Once, Jeremy, (Girls Just Wanna Have Fun)/Porch/(Tearing), Release, Alone, (Dirty Deeds)/Whipping, Leash, Sonic Reducer
notes: This was a secret show was a benefit to assist in legal support for a member of the Surfrider Foundation. PJ is billed as the “David J. Gunn Band” and most of Vs. (plus ‘Better Man’ and ‘Whipping’) premier as they have just completed recording the new album. The band even asks for requests at this show. Ed jokes around: “We’re accepting any donations of acid that you may have. Just put it in a little envelope with your name on it … and if we write a great song while we’re on it, we’ll put your name in the credits.” A guitar riff from Van Halen’s ‘Eruption’ is played between ‘Why Go’ and ‘Alive.’ ‘Alive’ is dedicated to Ed’s uncle, Freddy Vedder. The transition from ‘Dirty Frank’ to ‘Rats’ is very cool sounding.A bit of AC/DC’s ‘Dirty Deeds’ is played.

And I love Archive.org - https://archive.org/details/Pearl_Jam_B ... 1993-05-13

You can see this is pre-Vs. and pre-Vitalogy and it rivals The Orpheum show in 1994 in its uniqueness. As an aside, I just stumbled on this version on archive.org and it includes the soundchecks - which I have not heard before even though I have had this bootleg for 26 years. Personally, this is the one I think should be the next vault show.

This was one of my favorite boots! Man, totally forgot about it. Everything you just posted above immediately shocked me back to riding in the car and making my mom listen to this. The Girls Just Wanna Have Fun and Dirty deeds specifically. I lived for that shit. Finding those live gems.

[mrgoose13]

For those of you who are interested in this time period, I highly, highly recommend The Slim's Cafe Show - 5/13/93. It was one of the first bootlegs I ever bought. It is the show they came out of the hills to play as they were wrapping up recording Vs.

From Two Feet Thick:
05/13/93 – Slim’s Cafe: San Francisco, CA [110m]
attendance: 900
soundcheck: Daughter instrumental, Why Go, Blood instrumental, Rats and Release guitar warm-ups, Animal instrumental, Animal, Dissident
set: Animal, Go, Even Flow, Blood, Daughter, W.M.A., Dissident, Why Go, Alive, Hard to Imagine, Rearviewmirror, Better Man, Dirty Frank/Rats, Baba O’Riley, Once, Jeremy, (Girls Just Wanna Have Fun)/Porch/(Tearing), Release, Alone, (Dirty Deeds)/Whipping, Leash, Sonic Reducer
notes: This was a secret show was a benefit to assist in legal support for a member of the Surfrider Foundation. PJ is billed as the “David J. Gunn Band” and most of Vs. (plus ‘Better Man’ and ‘Whipping’) premier as they have just completed recording the new album. The band even asks for requests at this show. Ed jokes around: “We’re accepting any donations of acid that you may have. Just put it in a little envelope with your name on it … and if we write a great song while we’re on it, we’ll put your name in the credits.” A guitar riff from Van Halen’s ‘Eruption’ is played between ‘Why Go’ and ‘Alive.’ ‘Alive’ is dedicated to Ed’s uncle, Freddy Vedder. The transition from ‘Dirty Frank’ to ‘Rats’ is very cool sounding.A bit of AC/DC’s ‘Dirty Deeds’ is played.

And I love Archive.org - https://archive.org/details/Pearl_Jam_B ... 1993-05-13

You can see this is pre-Vs. and pre-Vitalogy and it rivals The Orpheum show in 1994 in its uniqueness. As an aside, I just stumbled on this version on archive.org and it includes the soundchecks - which I have not heard before even though I have had this bootleg for 26 years. Personally, this is the one I think should be the next vault show.

This was one of my favorite boots! Man, totally forgot about it. Everything you just posted above immediately shocked me back to riding in the car and making my mom listen to this. The Girls Just Wanna Have Fun and Dirty deeds specifically. I lived for that shit. Finding those live gems.

Yes! And for this boot alone, Hard To Imagine has been one of my favorite PJ songs. Wow - making your mom listen to it - way cool. The Rats/Dirty Frank is really cool. I was amazed that the soundcheck was there - I had not heard those versions before. Looking forward to enjoying it this weekend.

[Birds in Hell]

Personally, this is the one I think should be the next vault show.

Would be very cool, but IIRC Brett Eliason confirmed it wasn't recorded as it was a one-off show without the band's usual touring crew/gear.

The audience recording is probably as good as it gets.

[mrgoose13]

Personally, this is the one I think should be the next vault show.

Would be very cool, but IIRC Brett Eliason confirmed it wasn't recorded as it was a one-off show without the band's usual touring crew/gear.

The audience recording is probably as good as it gets.

I did not know that - thanks for the info. Ugh - so good though!

[Kevin Davis]

That's a bummer -- that is a fun, rocking show.

[Dex]

For those of you who are interested in this time period, I highly, highly recommend The Slim's Cafe Show - 5/13/93. It was one of the first bootlegs I ever bought. It is the show they came out of the hills to play as they were wrapping up recording Vs.

From Two Feet Thick:
05/13/93 – Slim’s Cafe: San Francisco, CA [110m]
attendance: 900
soundcheck: Daughter instrumental, Why Go, Blood instrumental, Rats and Release guitar warm-ups, Animal instrumental, Animal, Dissident
set: Animal, Go, Even Flow, Blood, Daughter, W.M.A., Dissident, Why Go, Alive, Hard to Imagine, Rearviewmirror, Better Man, Dirty Frank/Rats, Baba O’Riley, Once, Jeremy, (Girls Just Wanna Have Fun)/Porch/(Tearing), Release, Alone, (Dirty Deeds)/Whipping, Leash, Sonic Reducer
notes: This was a secret show was a benefit to assist in legal support for a member of the Surfrider Foundation. PJ is billed as the “David J. Gunn Band” and most of Vs. (plus ‘Better Man’ and ‘Whipping’) premier as they have just completed recording the new album. The band even asks for requests at this show. Ed jokes around: “We’re accepting any donations of acid that you may have. Just put it in a little envelope with your name on it … and if we write a great song while we’re on it, we’ll put your name in the credits.” A guitar riff from Van Halen’s ‘Eruption’ is played between ‘Why Go’ and ‘Alive.’ ‘Alive’ is dedicated to Ed’s uncle, Freddy Vedder. The transition from ‘Dirty Frank’ to ‘Rats’ is very cool sounding.A bit of AC/DC’s ‘Dirty Deeds’ is played.

And I love Archive.org - https://archive.org/details/Pearl_Jam_B ... 1993-05-13

You can see this is pre-Vs. and pre-Vitalogy and it rivals The Orpheum show in 1994 in its uniqueness. As an aside, I just stumbled on this version on archive.org and it includes the soundchecks - which I have not heard before even though I have had this bootleg for 26 years. Personally, this is the one I think should be the next vault show.

That's one of my favorite shows, too. By the way, I think the bootleg you have is the "Whipping the dog" one by Alley Kat, isn't it? https://www.discogs.com/Pearl-Jam-Whipp ... se/5594260
The proper pre-bootleg AUD source (with soundcheck) was circulated years ago by blg and is available in FLAC

[EGrover]

For those of you who are interested in this time period, I highly, highly recommend The Slim's Cafe Show - 5/13/93. It was one of the first bootlegs I ever bought. It is the show they came out of the hills to play as they were wrapping up recording Vs.

From Two Feet Thick:
05/13/93 – Slim’s Cafe: San Francisco, CA [110m]
attendance: 900
soundcheck: Daughter instrumental, Why Go, Blood instrumental, Rats and Release guitar warm-ups, Animal instrumental, Animal, Dissident
set: Animal, Go, Even Flow, Blood, Daughter, W.M.A., Dissident, Why Go, Alive, Hard to Imagine, Rearviewmirror, Better Man, Dirty Frank/Rats, Baba O’Riley, Once, Jeremy, (Girls Just Wanna Have Fun)/Porch/(Tearing), Release, Alone, (Dirty Deeds)/Whipping, Leash, Sonic Reducer
notes: This was a secret show was a benefit to assist in legal support for a member of the Surfrider Foundation. PJ is billed as the “David J. Gunn Band” and most of Vs. (plus ‘Better Man’ and ‘Whipping’) premier as they have just completed recording the new album. The band even asks for requests at this show. Ed jokes around: “We’re accepting any donations of acid that you may have. Just put it in a little envelope with your name on it … and if we write a great song while we’re on it, we’ll put your name in the credits.” A guitar riff from Van Halen’s ‘Eruption’ is played between ‘Why Go’ and ‘Alive.’ ‘Alive’ is dedicated to Ed’s uncle, Freddy Vedder. The transition from ‘Dirty Frank’ to ‘Rats’ is very cool sounding.A bit of AC/DC’s ‘Dirty Deeds’ is played.

And I love Archive.org - https://archive.org/details/Pearl_Jam_B ... 1993-05-13

You can see this is pre-Vs. and pre-Vitalogy and it rivals The Orpheum show in 1994 in its uniqueness. As an aside, I just stumbled on this version on archive.org and it includes the soundchecks - which I have not heard before even though I have had this bootleg for 26 years. Personally, this is the one I think should be the next vault show.

That's one of my favorite shows, too. By the way, I think the bootleg you have is the "Whipping the dog" one by Alley Kat, isn't it? https://www.discogs.com/Pearl-Jam-Whipp ... se/5594260
The proper pre-bootleg AUD source (with soundcheck) was circulated years ago by blg and is available in FLAC

I still remember getting this show via B&P soon after it happened and almost wearing out the tapes listening to all the new songs before Vs was released later that year. Good times! I still have all my old tapes from back then (old school ... pre CD-burner/FLAC/mp3/etc.).

For those of you that don't have this show yet, you can get it here: https://mega.nz/folder/B5cBiKbC#xe_xR8c8Q-MpQkYnIJ1e3Q

Enjoy!

[VinylGuy]

It was cool when they played new songs live before the album release.

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[dad]

You’re a good man, trag.

[tremornick]

You’re a good man, trag.

Agree! One of a kind!

[96583UP]

oh man loving this Glorified G demo shit

the bass is deeep

[96583UP]

1993-02-25 03 Jam
Stone and Dave seem to be fairly locked in; Jeff seems to be struggling to vibe with what’s going on. Not terribly interesting, this one. Just a lot of aimless guitar riffing and funk-rock drumming by Dave. Dave in particular goes off the rails towards the end, like he’s this close to just taking a drum solo. Interesting to think about Jeff’s past comments about struggling to connect with Dave musically. Based on the studio output, I’d always been kind of skeptical of that, because it seemed like they vibed really well. But hearing something like this, and now I’m thinking that maybe Jeff had to put in more effort than he felt was reasonable to create some cohesive rhythm parts with Dave.

maybe it wasn't Jeff having to make an effort insomuch as it was that Jeff wasn't a strong improviser. at least at that point in his career, or not the kind that could hang with Dave's turbo funk. i feel like Jeff has gotten better over time. maybe i am imagining that. But early pearl jam doesn't scream 'we have a good a bassist'. I don't get the sense Jeff was some dynamo behind the scenes in early PJ and then when it came to album cutting time he got stuck with pedestrian 'basslines' ... half the time its just him playing a root chord note on those early albums. Dave A was probably better at his craft at that point and Jeff didn't have the goods to roll with it

Jeff's playing on ten and Vs is not pedestrian. Yes he plays a lot of roots but it's where he plays them. He grooved those first two albums to the top of the charts. He's not a virtuoso by any means but his playing on those first two records is what made me play bass.

i should have listened to this jam before making my stupid comment

i liked it and didnt think Jeff was struggling to keep up... i think he was deliberately mimmicking the intro guitar riff with a staccato style, like they were talking to each other... then at the ride portion he shifts into a fugazi-suggestion-style bassline... 2nd verse is looser and like a hybrid of the 1st two basslines

if anything this jam suffers most from stone not having anywhere else to take this riff after the first 2 mins... but jeff and dave keep plugging along... at there is an opportunity at the end for some chunky hard stuff but stone doesn't seem to pick up on the vibe dave is laying down, and just stops playing instead