ORIGINAL PEARL JAM DRUMMER DAVE KRUSEN TALKS WRITING TEN & THOUGHTS ON OTHER PEARL JAM DRUMMERS
Here are two excerpts from PearlJam.se‘s new interview with original Pearl Jam drummer Dave Krusen:
On Pearl Jam’s early days: “I was told by a guy I knew that Jeff and Stone were looking for a drummer to jam with and that Jeff’s number was in the phone book. I called him and talked for a bit, then brought my drums down. I had been a fan of Mother Love Bone so I was stoked to jam with them. Mike was there also. Then Eddie came up about a week later. I have great memories of Potatohead Galleria. Eddie got locked out once after walking to the store. The rest of us were working on a song which became Release. Eddie wrote the lyrics while in the alley, waiting for us to let him in when we stopped playing. When we first started, Stone had Alive, Even flow, Breathe, and a few others that were less finished. He had recorded some demos with Matt Cameron and I think another drummer or two. The songs, although kept closely to the original arrangements, changed a bit in terms of execution. It made me excited to see how much we had improved the songs which were cool to begin with. Made me realize we were a good band and I also realized how good they were at working up songs, getting them to where they sounded amazing. We would go into Potatohead and work very hard on parts while Eddie would constantly be scribbling words down. He’d try things every time we started up on a song. Jeff had the Jeremy tune. We worked up some songs from just a riff. Release came out of a jam.”
Thoughts on other Pearl Jam drummers: “My only comment on the other drummers is they are all fine musicians. I do feel like the band has never sounded the same as when i was in the band, not that they tried to. It just happens to be that the way they sounded with me on drums was my favorite sound the band had. But I’m biased.”
great interview! cool
thanks grunge report
i love PJ
The last sentence made me cringe but otherwise, cool interview.
Abruzzese was better! :-p
I really appreciate Krusen and all that he did, but I still think Abbruzzese was the best overall-obnoxious kit or not.
For a guy who you’d think would be pretty pissed he seems down to earth. He’s right VS. and Ten were the best.
Love Krusen’s backbeat on Ten-part of why that album is so magical to me. Would have been interesting to hear his take playing wise on the Vs and Vitalogy albums as they are more aggressive. The four on record are totally different though. Krusen and Irons sit at the back whereas Abbruzzese and Cameron are much more at the fore.
Great to read his thoughts nonetheless-with his input into PJ20 it seems he and the band are on ok terms. Hell if PJ wanted to tour with SG then get Krusen to do Ten/Irons stuff in a set and Cameron to do his later. That way Matt would get his rest
Krusen is awesome and its so cool to read this interview with him , It must be really tough to know you gave up being in one of the worlds biggest and best bands ! I think it takes a lot of guts to not let that kind of shit break you down and to stay so positive. It would have been nice to have seen him in PJ Twenty but they pretty much glazed over the whole drummer story in the movie , One of the stories i would love to hear from Eddie himself is why Exactly he fired Dave Abbruzzese ! I dont know why he has always felt too uncomfortable to talk about it ? If you just didnt like him or his style just say so as that is your right ! Just seems like Ed feels guilty a little or something ! Anyway Long Live Pearl Jam they are the best !!!!
Dave Abbruzzese was the best and most authentic drummer who passed the pearl jam until the present day, fact!
Great read and good find. Thank you!
let that be a lesson to you. he would have been a multi millionaire had it not been for booze.
MARILYN MANSON, EDDIE VEDDER, HENRY ROLLINS, CAMP FREDDY Featured On ‘West Of Memphis’ Soundtra – Jan. 11, 2013
Marilyn Manson, Eddie Vedder, Henry Rollins and CAMP FREDDY are among the artists who have contributed songs to the star-studded soundtrack to the documentary film “West Of Memphis: Voices Of Justice”, which investigates the wrongful imprisonment of Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, known in the media as the West Memphis Three. The trio were arrested in 1994 for allegedly causing the 1993 deaths of three young boys, Stevie Branch, Michael Moore and Christopher Byers. After much publicity, celebrity support, new evidence, and controversy, the men were released in 2011, having served a total of 18 years and 78 days in prison.
The film, which picks up where previous documentaries about the case left off, was directed by Peter Jackson, Amy J. Berg and Echols himself and is currently showing in select theaters.
The soundtrack CD arrives on January 15 and can be pre-ordered at Amazon or iTunes.
“West Of Memphis: Voices Of Justice” soundtrack track listing:
01. HENRY ROLLINS (featuring Nick Cave & Warren Ellis original score) – “Damien Echols Death Row Letter Year 9″
02. NATALIE MAINES – “Mother”
03. LUCINDA WILLIAMS – “Joy”
04. CAMP FREDDY – “The Jean Genie’
05. TONTO’S GIANT NUTS featuring Johnny Depp & Bruce Witkin – “Little Lion Man”
06. MARILYN MANSON – “You’re So Vain”
07. BAND OF HORSES – “Dumpster World” (Live)
08. CITIZEN COPE – “DFW”
09. EDDIE VEDDER – “Satellite”
10. BILL CARTER – “Anything Made of Paper”
11. THE WHITE BUFFALO – “House of Pain”
12. BOB DYLAN – “Ring Them Bells”
13. NICK CAVE & WARREN ELLIS – “West of Memphis Score Suite”
14. TONTO’S GIANT NUTS featuring Johnny Depp (featuring Nick Cave & Warren Ellis original score) – “Damien Echols Death Row Letter Year 16″
http://www.blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=184733
Thanx for the kind words on the interview! We thought since nothing was really told about Krusen in PJ20 we had to ask him ourselves… The site is otherwise in Swedish so you guys will understand nothing probably
We’re not trying to compete with the official site. Just a fan site for scandinavians basically… /Richard, pearljam.se
Dave Abbruzzese will always be my favorite Pearl Jam drummer. He played on Vs. afterall.
Abbruzzese was by the far best drummer they’ve ever had, I really hope one day they’ll reunite with him, cause frankly they’ve sucked ever since he left the band, and that’s the god damn truth that no PJ fan will ever be willing to admit, but we all know it’s true.
Without a doubt, Dave was the best…
EV is a clown!!
I think Abruzzese was too much of a symbal smasher sometimes, Irons was the best PJ drummer in my opinion.
Cool to see an honest opnion from Krusen though
.
I did like Krusen’s style on Ten. But Abbruzzese was pretty awesome. Definitely different styles.
The song they recorded while Eddie was locked out was “Oceans.” This is well-documented.
@jack irons
Always clowns in the comments .. an unfortunate schmuck, get me out of a doubt, eddie vedder abused you or your mother, because hate? you suck!
Eddie Vedder Tells The Story Behind ‘Satellite’
Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder has long been a highly vocal supporter of the West Memphis Three, a trio of Arkansas men convicted as teenagers in 1993 for a series of child murders they did not commit, even going so far as to pen one of his most heart-wrenching love songs about one of them. Raising money and awareness during the difficult time reaped incredible rewards, as Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley Jr. and Jason Baldwin were freed in August 2011 after spending more than 18 years in prison.
In an exclusive video from Diffuser, Vedder talks about writing the gorgeous ukulele ballad (among this PJ maniac’s three favorite Vedder compositions), his contribution to the soundtrack for ‘West of Memphis,’ a new documentary about the case. The song, which appears on Eddie’s 2011 solo album Ukulele Songs, was written for Lorri Davis, Echols’ devoted wife. Davis had spent a decade working to clear her husband’s name, and the song is a goosebump-inducing reflection of her struggle and dedication to her husband.
As Vedder explains, he recorded Satellite years ago, back in the “pre-cell phone” era, which allowed for a certain moment to take place at the end of one version of the song that’s downright awesome in its serendipity. Watch the video to learn more.
As for that new Pearl Jam album? Later this year, hopefully. Vedder says the band’s about halfway done putting it together.
http://www.antiquiet.com/news/2013/01/eddie-vedder-tells-the-story-behind-satellite/#comment-77300
If you enjoy Krusen then check out the band Unified Theory. They had Dave Krusen on drums, members of Blind Melon and an amazing guy named Chris Shinn on vocals. What a band they were.
You people are all crazy Matt Cameron is the best drummer they’ve ever. Jack irons is second. Dave sucked
Matt Cameron is the best PJ drummer, technically and in terms of fit with the band. Dave A. is a good drummer but overrated, people like him because they are stuck in the glory days of the early 90s. It has little to do with relative talent, as Matt is every bit as good, probably better. Jack Irons was solid as well.
Dave Krusen is a decent drummer and he definitely did a great job on Ten. Dave Abbruzzese really is a straight ahead power rock drummer and I really enjoyed his explosive style and the heavy use of his symbols on the VS record. Jack Irons is a drummer that carries more of a jazzy-groovy kind of style that seemed to blend well during Pearl Jams more experimental period. Current PJ drummer Matt Cameron is the most talented of the bunch due to the fact he is an excellent songwriter and I just love his use of odd time signatures (which seems to be much more prevalent with Soungarden then Pearl Jam). All of PJ’s drummers made a good impact on the records that they were a part of.
I really enjoyed Dave Krusen as drummer of Pearl Jam, and I think that he was preferable for the songs that he played on generally speaking. I did like Dave Abbruzzese though and I thought that he was preferable on “Evenflow” to Krusen, a little heavy on cymbals though. Abbruzzese was great on Vs. I also enjoyed Irons and Cameron’s contributions to the Pearl Jam library. I cannot say definitively which drummer I preferred because they were all great in their own ways.
I really love Kruzen playing, even better in Unified Theory… But I also think that Abruzzese was better in Pearl Jam.
I’m a big fan off Matt Cameron in Soundgarden but not in Pearl Jam…
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