Porch (Pearl Jam song)

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"Porch"
Song by Pearl Jam
from the album Ten
ReleasedAugust 27, 1991
RecordedMarch 27 – April 26, 1991
Studio London Bridge Studios, Seattle, Washington
Genre Grunge
Length3:30
Label Epic
Songwriter(s) Eddie Vedder
Producer(s) Rick Parashar, Pearl Jam

"Porch" is the eighth track off Pearl Jam's debut album Ten (1991). It is the only song on the album that lead singer Eddie Vedder wrote both the lyrics and music alone. An edit of the song including only Vedder's vocals has been released. [1]  

Pearl Jam American band

Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in 1990 in Seattle, Washington. The band's current lineup comprises founding members Eddie Vedder, Mike McCready, Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament (bass), and longtime drummer Matt Cameron. Keyboardist Boom Gaspar has also been a session/touring member with the band since 2002. Drummers Jack Irons, Dave Krusen, Matt Chamberlain and Dave Abbruzzese are former members of the band.

<i>Ten</i> (Pearl Jam album) 1991 studio album by Pearl Jam

Ten is the debut studio album by American rock band Pearl Jam, released on August 27, 1991 through Epic Records. Following the disbanding of bassist Jeff Ament and guitarist Stone Gossard's previous group Mother Love Bone, the two recruited vocalist Eddie Vedder, guitarist Mike McCready, and drummer Dave Krusen to form Pearl Jam in 1990. Most of the songs began as instrumental jams, to which Vedder added lyrics about topics such as depression, homelessness, and abuse. As of 2019, Ten has sold more than 13 million copies in United States alone and is widely regarded as one of the greatest albums ever made.

Eddie Vedder American musician, songwriter, member of Pearl Jam

Eddie Vedder is an American musician, multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter best known as the lead vocalist and one of three guitarists of the American rock band Pearl Jam. He is known for his powerful baritone vocals. He also appeared as a guest vocalist in Temple of the Dog, the one-off tribute band dedicated to the late singer Andrew Wood. Vedder has been ranked at number 7 on a list of "Best Lead Singers of All Time", compiled by Rolling Stone.

Contents

Recording

Bassist Jeff Ament said: "There were two sessions at London Bridge in Seattle, probably of a day or two each, and after that we went in to record the record proper, because we had four or five new songs - 'Deep', 'Jeremy' and 'Porch' were probably the last three." [2]  

Jeff Ament musician, songwriter

Jeffrey Allen Ament is an American musician and songwriter who serves as the bassist for the American rock band Pearl Jam. He is considered to be one of the greatest rock bassists of all time.

Jeremy (song) song

"Jeremy" is a song by the American rock band Pearl Jam, with lyrics written by vocalist Eddie Vedder and music written by bassist Jeff Ament. "Jeremy" was released in 1992 as the third single from Pearl Jam's debut album Ten (1991). The song was inspired by a newspaper article Vedder read about Jeremy Wade Delle, a high school student who shot himself in front of his English class on January 8, 1991. It reached the number five spot on both the Mainstream and Modern Rock Billboard charts. It did not originally chart on the regular Billboard Hot 100 singles chart since it was not released as a commercial single in the US at the time, but a re-release in July 1995 brought it up to number 79.

Meaning

When introducing the song at Pearl Jam's August 23, 1991 concert in Seattle, Washington, Vedder stated, "This song is about if you love someone, tell him." [3]  

Live performances

The song was premiered live at the band's December 22, 1990 concert in Seattle, Washington, [4] and was performed on Saturday Night Live in April 1992 in support of Ten.

<i>Saturday Night Live</i> American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show

Saturday Night Live is an American late-night live television variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title NBC's Saturday Night. The show's comedy sketches, which often parody contemporary culture and politics, are performed by a large and varying cast of repertory and newer cast members. Each episode is hosted by a celebrity guest, who usually delivers the opening monologue and performs in sketches with the cast as with featured performances by a musical guest. An episode normally begins with a cold open sketch that ends with someone breaking character and proclaiming, "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!", properly beginning the show.

"Porch" is a live staple for Pearl Jam. [5] The song's instrumental break is lengthened when performed live. During the band's first few years, Vedder would use this time to climb the stage scaffolding or dive into the crowd. When the band performed the song at the 1992 Pinkpop Festival, Vedder jumped from a TV-camera-mast right into the crowd. This performance of "Porch" was included on Spin 's list of the 100 greatest live performances on YouTube. [6] During the 1992 Lollapalooza tour at the Jones Beach Ampitheatre in Wantagh, New York, Vedder climbed the scaffolding to the top of the entire 40-foot stage structure during the instrumental break. When the song was performed on MTV Unplugged in 1992, Vedder famously used the instrumental break to climb onto his stool and write "PRO-CHOICE" on his arm with a magic marker. [7] [8]

Stage diving

Stage diving is the act of leaping from a concert stage onto the crowd below. It is often the precursor to crowd surfing.

Pinkpop Festival recurring event

The Pinkpop Festival or PINKPOP is a large, annual music festival held at Landgraaf, Netherlands. It is usually held on the Pentecost weekend. If Pentecost falls on an early date in May, the festival is held later in June. Starting in 1970, at Burgemeester Damen Sportpark in the town of Geleen, PinkPop is the oldest and longest running annual dedicated pop and rock music festival in the world.

<i>Spin</i> (magazine) American music magazine

Spin is an American music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione, Jr. The magazine stopped running in print in 2012 and currently runs as a webzine, owned by the Billboard-Hollywood Reporter Media Group division of Valence Media.

Live performances of "Porch" can be found on the "Dissident"/Live in Atlanta box set and on the live albums Live at Easy Street and Live at the Gorge 05/06 . A performance of the song is also included on the DVD Immagine in Cornice .

Dissident (song) song by the American rock band Pearl Jam

"Dissident" is a song by American rock band Pearl Jam, released in 1994 as the fourth single from the band's second studio album, Vs. (1993). The song peaked at number three on the US Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart, number two in Norway, and number seven in Finland and Ireland. "Dissident " was also released as a single, reaching number two in the Netherlands and number 19 in France.

<i>Live at Easy Street</i> 2006 live album (EP) by Pearl Jam

Live at Easy Street is a live EP by the American alternative rock band Pearl Jam that includes songs taken from a surprise in-store performance at Easy Street Records in West Seattle on April 29, 2005. The EP was released on vinyl to celebrate Record Store Day on April 13, 2019.

<i>Live at the Gorge 05/06</i> 2007 live album (box set) by Pearl Jam

Live at the Gorge 05/06 is a seven-disc live box set by the American alternative rock band Pearl Jam, released on June 26, 2007 through Rhino/WEA. The box set documents the band's 2005 and 2006 shows at The Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington.

Reception

Henry Yates of Classic Rock wrote that the song was a live highlight, and described it as a "two-chord thrasher". [9]   Entertainment Weekly thought it was the best song on Ten, and called it "an essential example of Pearl Jam at its most unimpeachable". [10]   The Irish website Joe ranked it the third best song on the album. [11]  

Covers

Zac Brown Band have covered the song. [1] [12]  

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References

  1. 1 2 Eric (August 18, 2018). "Eddie Vedder's Isolated Tracks for Pearl Jam's Alive, Black, and Porch".
  2. ↑ "Artist Interview: Pearl Jam's Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard". Uncut. March 19, 2009.
  3. ↑ "Pearl Jam: 1990/1991 Concert Chronology". fivehorizons.com.
  4. ↑ "Pearl Jam Songs: "Porch"". pearljam.com.
  5. ↑ Prato, Greg (May 1, 2018). "100 Things Pearl Jam Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die". Triumph Books – via Google Books.
  6. ↑ "Pearl Jam, "Porch" (Pinkpop Festival, 1992) SPIN".
  7. ↑ Songfacts. "Porch by Pearl Jam - Songfacts". www.songfacts.com.
  8. ↑ Jam, Pearl (September 10, 2013). "Pearl Jam Twenty". Simon and Schuster – via Google Books.
  9. ↑ Rock, Henry Yates2018-12-23T19:00:00Z Classic. "Every song on Pearl Jam's Ten ranked from worst to best". Classic Rock Magazine.
  10. ↑ "Ranking every song on Pearl Jam's 'Ten'". EW.com.
  11. ↑ "REWIND: Ten by Pearl Jam turns 25 this week, we rank the best 5 songs on a famous album". JOE.ie.
  12. ↑ "Watch: Zac Brown Band cover Pearl Jam's 'Porch' - Country Music Channel on Foxtel". Country Music Channel. August 13, 2015.

 

 

 
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