Music Appreciation

MCCREADY: It came out all right, but it could have been a nightmare, because we ordered some specific equipment and they gave us pretty shitty stuff. I wanted to get a Martin, some nice guitars. But when you rent equipment, you don't know what you're getting. Jeff ordered some specific basses and they didn't appear. The acoustic guitar I played had really high action, so it was totally impossible to do leads. But I thought it came out pretty well anyhow.

-snipping GW asking Stone if it was uncomfortable for him-

GOSSARD: No. It was a lot scarier going in than it actually turned out to be. We showed up, and instead of the Gibson Chet Atkins steel-string guitar I had ordered, they had a classical one there. It was getting late -- like eleven o'clock at night -- and where can you rent stuff at that hour? Luckily, we knew some people who were able to score us a couple more guitars, and it turned out fine. I ended up getting a Chet Atkins steel-string -- which played great -- and a Takamine that felt pretty good. In those kinds of situations, you just have to play with the hand you're dealt. [Laughs]

MCCREADY: It was weird, because we've only done five or six brief acoustic shows, and it forces you to play differently; you can't rely on feedback. [Laughs] It forces you to use dynamics, and to look at each song in a different way. Some songs turned out good acoustically, and some just didn't quite happen. I didn't think "Even Flow" was any good.

GOSSARD: An acoustic show is really sort of a naked, exposed way of playing your songs, because you can't hide behind distortion. Doing it in front of millions of people is even more intimidating. We actually went out there and had a fun, energized show. It's a cool way to hear the band, because the drums and the vocals are featured a lot more; Dave, our drummer, is a great player and Eddie can really shine when he's given room to move around vocally. It gave people a different perception of the band.

Pearl Jam were just beginning to get noticed nationally when they shot their MTV Unplugged special on March 16th, 1992. Their debut album Ten had been on shelves since the previous August, though they’d only released a lone single in America and the LP was sitting under the likes of Mr. Big and Ugly Kid Joe on the Billboard album chart. But “Alive” was getting a lot of radio play, they’d just wrapped up a now-legendary tour with Nirvana and the Red Hot Chili Peppers and it was clear they were about to absolutely explode.

The Unplugged special was taped at Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens, New York, just three days after the conclusion of a grueling European tour. With little prep time, they were forced to rent equipment. “We showed up, and instead of the Gibson Chet Atkins steel-string guitar I had ordered, they had a classical one there,” guitarist Stone Gossard told Guitar World. “It was getting late – like 11 o’clock at night – and where can you rent stuff at that hour? Luckily, we knew some people who were able to score us a couple more guitars, and it turned out fine. I ended up getting a Chet Atkins steel-string – which played great – and a Takamine that felt pretty good. In those kinds of situations, you just have to play with the hand you’re dealt.”

They’d played a few brief acoustic sets by this point, but nothing of this magnitude. Nearly every song from Ten made it into the set, along with a cover of Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World.” “It forces you to play differently,” said guitarist Mike McCready. “You can’t rely on feedback. It forces you to use dynamics, and to look at each song in a different way. Some songs turned out good acoustically, and some just didn’t quite happen. I didn’t think ‘Even Flow’ was any good.” But the group’s performance of “Black” was nothing short of amazing, as can be seen in the video above.

-snip-