Ten Favorite Covers
All bands cover songs by other bands. Pearl Jam is notorious for doing so. Many of these covers can be found on any of their live cds or bootlegs. A few have even made it into studio releases. These are ten of my favorites spanning the years, in no particular order.
1. “Baba O’Reilly” ~~ The Who
Eddie Vedder always says that Pete Townsend saved his life. So, it’s no surprise that Pearl Jam covers so many of The Who’s songs. This one is probably the most popular of them all. If you don’t recognize it by its name, think of its chorus (which many mistake for its title): “Teenage Wasteland”. Find it on a bunch of bootlegs, as well as the studio release Live at the Gorge 05/06.
2. “Kids Are Alright” ~~ The Who
This one always goes along well with “Alive” as far as stirring up the crowd and lifting up our spirits.
3. “F***in’ Up” ~~ Neil Young
This is a popular encore song at shows, and one of my personal favorites. The guitar riffs make you want to dance, and Eddie is always bouncing from one foot to the other. And it asks the basic fundamental question of life: “Why do I keep f—in’ up?”
Find it on a bunch of bootlegs, as well as the studio release Live on Two Legs.
4. “Rockin’ in the Free World” ~~ Neil Young
Who can forget Pearl Jam on the 1993 Video Music Awards performing this song with Neil Young, himself? Eddie, sporting a new shorter hair style and jean jacket that made him look even more like Jim Morrison, drinking from his trademark bottle of wine. Guitar legends dueling with each other, practically setting the stage on fire with their energy. It was a legendary performance that will live in the musical history books forever. I still get chills thinking about it.
5. “Sonic Reducer” ~~ The Dead Boys
This is another fantastic encore done at several shows that gets us all riled up.
6. “Dock of the Bay” ~~ Otis Redding
This is a classic that I’ve only heard one live version of, and it’s on a couple of my older bootlegs. It’s almost as good as the original, and I would love to hear it life again.
7. “Last Kiss” ~~ J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers
This was released as a single to benefit people in Kosovo in 2000. It was highly popular on the radio stations and is the only Pearl Jam song that my parents actually like.
8. “Crazy Mary” ~~ Victoria Williams
This is another song that was released as a radio single, to benefit singer Victoria Williams. Pearl Jam made it more popular than she ever did. I used to sit by the radio for hours, trying to record it on cassette, before I was able to finally locate it on cd.
9. “Soldier of Love” ~~ Arthur Alexander
“Lay down your arms/And surrender to me”. If I were asked, I would do it in a heartbeat. This song has a great message of peace and love, and I love the melody.
10. “Light My Fire”/”Roadhouse Blues”/”Break on Through” ~~ The Doors
Eddie Vedder inducted The Doors into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame back in 1993, and performed these three songs with the surviving members. It’s like Jim Morrison reincarnated. I have these on a couple of bootlegs, and you can do a search on youtube to find the videos. Rumors have abounded for years that Eddie was going to tour with The Doors, but I am not going to hold my breath. That would be a dream come true, though.
My favorite studio songs are here.
