Pearl Jam fans can enjoy a rare glimpse of Eddie Vedder’s early recordings. Antiquiet says it has gotten a hold of a direct copy of a tape Eddie made for co-worker at San Diego Petroleum around 1989 or 1990. While not the first pre-Pearl Jam solo demo tape from Vedder to surface online, this one reportedly boasts better audio quality than 1989’s so-called Bad Radio demos. It’s a playful listen: Vedder covers Kenny Rogers’ hit version of the drippy adult-contemporary ballad “(Something Inside) So Strong” backed by karaoke music, goofily sings the chorus from Sam Cooke’s unabashedly ignorant soul classic “Wonderful World,” and delivers a goofy, Bukowski-name-checking rave-up called “I’m Alive” that has nothing at all to do with Pearl Jam’s “Alive.” Also included: a drunken answering-machine message from a friend named Chris.
Stream and download it from Antiquiet.
