What is the one of the rarest, (if not the rarest) most collectible Pearl Jam recording? In the past, this question would have been answered by almost every serious Pearl Jam collector either with the fan club only ‘91 Christmas single (1500 copies) or the 3-track Alive promo CD-single featuring Alive (different mix from ‘Ten’), Wash and I Got A Feeling.
In early ‘95, a few copies of what is believed to be ‘Ten’s’ original demo tape, given to EPIC executives, surfaced. This rare item was previously unheard of and therefore greeted with both excitement and skepticism. Rumor has it that about 20 of these tapes were stolen from Band Member Stone Gossard’s room in Seattle. The same had happened earlier to the now heavily bootlegged Gossman Project I (A.K.A. Stone Gossard Demos).
Given the fact that ‘Ten’ was recorded in March and April of 1991 in Seattle and the final mixing took place in London, 4/26/91 would be a quite probable date for this rough mix to be released. The sound quality of the tape is as good as on any commercial cassette release. And what better way to commemorate it than on its 28th Anniversary. And now to the main part – the music.
The first three tracks – Once, Why Go and Even Flow – sound very close to the final product. Occasionally, a layer of guitar is missing, most notably on Why go. The three songs are exactly as long as on ‘Ten.’ Next up is Garden. The guitar mix is slightly different and the track clocks in at 5:21, over 20 seconds longer than the ‘Ten’ version.
Black starts out clear from the very beginning and Jeff Ament’s bass is more prominent throughout the song. The version lasts an extra 7 seconds and doesn’t fade out as on ‘Ten,’ but is played to a real end. Oceans (version I), although exactly as long as on ‘Ten,’ is significantly different. It begins with Dave Krusen striking stick upon a stick and he immediately proceeds to drum. Eddie Vedder’s vocals come through clear and unmodified.
The version of Release on the ROUGH MIXES is over 30 seconds shorter than the one on ‘Ten.’ Nevertheless, they still manage to fit the same content in the take as it is played considerably faster. The song starts just like the previous one with Dave setting the pace with his drum sticks. At the end, a second guitar is added to the mix.
The next track is the undisputed highlight of the cassette. Brother is an as of yet unreleased song that wasn’t even played live very much. As a matter of fact, the only documented performance of it was during a show at L.A.’s Florentine Garden on February 7th, 1991,when the boys still played under the name Mookie Blaylock. Brother (4:13) is a somewhat rough and funky tune in which Eddie voices his disgust with the system, ending the song by giving us an early taste of his (ever-growing?!) sarcasm with the spoken lines: “Oh, fuck it, I go home, turn on the fuckin TV, watch the nightly news,drink a beer. Like I could even change the world – yeah, right. Fuck it.”
Porch and Jeremy are again very close to their final versions, with the exception of Porch featuring only one guitar in the middle (solo) part and Jeremy starting with clear hi-hats and having less additional percussion. Breath is a different take which is also almost 20 seconds longer than Breath off of the Singles soundtrack. Deep is no surprise, the only obvious difference being a 10 seconds premature fade.
The ROUGH MIXES close with Alone, the track that was re-recorded without major changes for the B-side of ‘Go,’ which was released simultaneously with ‘Vs.’ Makes you wonder why the ‘93 line-up was credited with the song without recognition of Dave Krusen. It will remain to be seen whether the ROUGH MIXES cassette is the real deal, but the music on it is certainly a must for every Pearl Jam fan. The tape has found its way on a bootleg CD already (Pearl Jam – ROUGH MIXES, JOK 061 A), including also the above mentioned three tracks from the Alive promo CD-single), so find someone who can tape it for you (don’t buy bootleg CDs, they are the devil). Markus
