Book on PJ: Not For You - Pearl Jam and the Present Tense

[Tuolumne]

Apologies if this is already being discussed, but I don't see it. I took a read of the preview and listened to the author's webcast. This is going to be a very legit read. This author is a seriously strong writer and this should be *right* up the RM alley.

He is very well read and is providing unique and interesting context on how the band fits within modern times. From what I've read this is going to be an essential take on the band.

Links to the preview and podcast interview with him are below.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/No ... frontcover

https://soundcloud.com/liveon4legs

[VinylGuy]

Intersting. Ill check the podcast later.

I really want a full book of the band.

[stip]

so is the book using shows as a way to check in on different moments (as opposed to, say, albums) or is it just a series of reviews of essential shows?

[Tuolumne]

so is the book using shows as a way to check in on different moments (as opposed to, say, albums) or is it just a series of reviews of essential shows?

I read the first 10-15 pages of the preview and heard alot of the podcast. I saw the chapter listing and couldn't quite make heads or tails of how that all framed the book. I didn't take it a some sort of live anthology or a set of reviews. I got to the last section of the preview and it looks like the while the chapters are titled after dates/shows it's really used as more of a storytellng device than a 'review' of the shows and albums.

From what I've read, it's an examination on how PJ relates to and through the culture. He takes some pretty interesting and provocative paths down Clintonism, Trumpism, etc. This guy's not a lightweight cheeseball writer. He gets the band (been to dozens of shows), but better yet, gets music and is not just stuck in PJ-land and has a real intellect. He's a true writer from what I can tell so far.

I highly suggest people check out the preview. That said, you can only get so much from a preview, but I can see he's a legit writer.

[dad]

it starts off with a nice humble brag.

[Buby]

https://soundcloud.com/liveon4legs

If that guy says "you know" one more time...

[digster]

I read through parts of this, partially because I think there is a pretty big gap (and big opportunity) for a well-made analytical look at the band's work that we haven't seen. This is kind of all over the place, a mix of concert chronology and social commentary that doesn't always mix, though there's aspects of it that are enlightening (I wasn't too aware of how the band's involvement with pro-choice advocacy was tied up with the intensification of assassinations of doctors who perform abortions in the early 90s, for example).

The book also has the same issue so many other things on theirs do; it focuses on the early years and comparatively blows through their mid-and-late period (this despite the fact that this guy, like many here, find the band's Vitalogy through Yield period to be its high point). I think most people do this not only because Ten may be the height of their popularity, but that's where you also have by far the most stuff in terms of interviews to work with (obviously, the band didn't open themselves to interviews here). But I think some of the discussions we've had in the SOTM or album threads were more incisive that what's here.

It makes me realize that what I'd really want is a book that takes a deep dive in their mid-period, from about the recording of Vitalogy through the end of the Binaural tour, something akin to Hyden's new book on Kid A. I think, regardless of what you think of the Vitalogy to Binaural run, it's just one of the most fascinating periods of time for a popular rock band that I could think of. You have the albums themselves, how they were recorded and why, the strange tours of '95 and '96, the interpersonal dynamic shifts in the band, the way they changed their approach with Yield, the WTO and Binaural recordings, as well as Roskilde and the feeling that the band might be done at the end of 2000.

There's just so much there to work with that hasn't been hashed out ad infinitum like the band's first few years. I think the issue is just that there's so little to go on in terms of interviews from that time that you'd have to get interviews with the band, and they just are not particularly forthcoming about the band and its history (look at how little really came to light for the PJ20 book, when they were on the record). But I do think not having a book like that is a missed opportunity.

[VinylGuy]

yeah, i want that book too.

Im confident it will happen someday, and of course it wont feature the band.

[Strat]

Other than a book written by one of the band members or crew members, i have 0 interest in any books on pearl jam.

Not that I know everything about pearl jam, but everything has been covered ad nauseam and the rest is all online as it is.

[VinylGuy]

I want a full coral book like Grunge is dead or Everybody Loves Our Town.

[bodysnatcher]

Other than a book written by one of the band members or crew members, i have 0 interest in any books on pearl jam.

Not that I know everything about pearl jam, but everything has been covered ad nauseam and the rest is all online as it is.

Agreed.

Re: VG’s mention of Everybody Loves Our Town, that would be cool too. But I feel like people are so loyal to PJ for whatever reason (gag orders??) that you still would get a very PC / watered down story of the band.

I don’t need PJ books written by outsiders who are trying to conjecture and convince you of what is to be believed. Like they have some insider knowledge. That’s what stip reviews are for.

[VinylGuy]

yeah, but still there is a lot of people you could have....Tchad Blake on the Binaural sessions for example.

[Juvenal]

(I wasn't too aware of how the band's involvement with pro-choice advocacy was tied up with the intensification of assassinations of doctors who perform abortions in the early 90s, for example).

Hence the lyrics page for Whipping in Vitalogy.

[LawrenceOrbach]

Read an advance copy of this and kinda don't get what the point is. There are no new interviews and as already mentioned on the board, he completely breezes past the last decade-plus of PJ music. Also don't think any of the connections he makes to PJ's music in a historical/political context will be new or revelatory to longtime fans. It's really just a book about his own personal connection to the music.

[dad]

Read an advance copy of this and kinda don't get what the point is. There are no new interviews and as already mentioned on the board, he completely breezes past the last decade-plus of PJ music. Also don't think any of the connections he makes to PJ's music in a historical/political context will be new or revelatory to longtime fans. It's really just a book about his own personal connection to the music.

This.

I remember years ago there was a book written by a guy who - if memory serves - wrote a book about seeing PJ on the S/T tour. I remember reading bits of that book. It wasn't as well written as this one is, but I don't think that was the intent anyway. It was more of a tour diary.

[super nintendo chalmers]

Good god this podcast is dorky.

But, I'm listening, so go figure.

[digster]

(I wasn't too aware of how the band's involvement with pro-choice advocacy was tied up with the intensification of assassinations of doctors who perform abortions in the early 90s, for example).

Hence the lyrics page for Whipping in Vitalogy.

Yeah, I was familiar with the name David Gunn, but I think I was less aware that that was in a number of murders and shootings of abortion doctors or at clinics in the early 90s. It's been a while since I looked at the Vitalogy liner notes.

[washing machine]

Weird cover for a book called "Pearl Jam and the Present Tense".

Couldn't secure the rights for this?

[thesound]

I didn’t know Chris Cornell auditioned for Shadow and was rejected!
Perhaps he auditioned as a drummer and not for vocals??

[Juvenal]

(I wasn't too aware of how the band's involvement with pro-choice advocacy was tied up with the intensification of assassinations of doctors who perform abortions in the early 90s, for example).

Hence the lyrics page for Whipping in Vitalogy.

Yeah, I was familiar with the name David Gunn, but I think I was less aware that that was in a number of murders and shootings of abortion doctors or at clinics in the early 90s. It's been a while since I looked at the Vitalogy liner notes.

Same here