It also reflects power struggles over creative control and a shift in the hierarchy within the band. Given that the tactile clanging of the 12-string also lurked in that same sonic space, Ament realized “there was already a lot happening on that frequency,” as he put it in a later interview, and pulled back to a more conventional supporting role.īut this retreat didn’t stem only from musical concerns. By the time of their third LP, Vitalogy, Vedder was playing guitar, which meant there were now three guitar players competing for space in the upper ranges of the music. On subsequent Pearl Jam records, however, Ament found that he had to temper his use of the 12-string bass out of musical necessity. It was as if Ament’s teenaged self had scored a victory for bass-obsessed kids everywhere. (The second most audible instrument is cello.) Anyone who attempts to hum the music has to perform the bass line. Not only is the central riff played by Ament, but you barely hear the guitars at all. You can hear Ament’s 12-string bass most prominently on two Ten tracks, “Why Go” and “Jeremy.” On the latter song, especially, the bass is the most prominent part of the music. But it also genuinely reflected how he heard music. When he wrote his earliest songs for Pearl Jam, he was determined to put his bass at the center of the music.
Back then, Ament would often describe songs he loved by Kiss, Cheap Trick, or Aerosmith by humming the bass line instead of the guitar riff or vocal melody. He borrowed the instrument from Cheap Trick’s Tom Petersson, a pioneer of the 12-string bass whose metallic and melodic playing on songs like “Gonna Raise Hell” and “Need Your Love” had caught Ament’s ear as a teenager. This guaranteed that Ament’s tones would stand out in a way that bass didn’t in most alternative rock bands.Īment first utilized 12-string bass on the Mother Love Bone songs “Stardog Champion” and “Holy Roller,” from their only full-length album, 1990’s Apple. And he did this on Ten by using instruments that were unusual for a rock bassist at the time-fretless and 12-string basses. In essence, he forcefully assumed a “second in command” role usually fulfilled by the lead guitarist, and he did it by dressing like Gary Oldman’s character in True Romance.īut Ament also emulated Entwistle by pushing his bass to the front of Pearl Jam’s music. Eddie Vedder was the obvious focus, but Ament was the second most recognizable member of Pearl Jam in those days. Coupled with his excitable, athletic stage presence, these hats made Ament impossible to ignore in Pearl Jam’s early music videos, immediately distinguishing him from at least 90 percent of bass players in rock history. Ament in the early ’90s decided to take both approaches.įollowing Simmons’s example, Ament took to wearing tams-also known as rastacaps-onstage. Simmons did it with his loud, brash sartorial choices, and Entwistle did it with his loud, brash bass tones. Entwistle, for one, is perhaps the most technically gifted bass player in rock history Gene Simmons, on the other hand, is not.īut upon closer examination, there is one essential attribute linking Simmons and Entwistle to Ament-they were all players who demanded the audience’s attention, in a manner that isn’t typical for bass players. At first glance, it’s hard to imagine two musicians-one quiet and stoic onstage, the other bombastic and blood-spitting-who are more different. When Pearl Jam’s bassist started playing his instrument in 1981, the year he turned 18, his musical role models were the Who’s John Entwistle and Kiss’s Gene Simmons.
Naturally, we’ll begin by discussing Jeff Ament’s collection of floppy hats. Below is an excerpt of the chapter on the song “Jeremy.” To purchase a copy of Long Road, click here.īefore we examine “Jeremy”-unquestionably one of Pearl Jam’s most famous and iconic songs-as a piece of music, a music video, and a signifier of social problems, we must first discuss it as a metaphor for shifting power dynamics inside Pearl Jam in the early ’90s. On Tuesday, author Steven Hyden will release his new book, Long Road: Pearl Jam and the Soundtrack of a Generation, from Hachette Books.
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