Yellow Ledbetterby Pearl Jam

OTD in 1990, PEARL JAM played their first ever concert when they appeared at the Off Ramp in Seattle. At the time, Eddie Vedder, Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament, Mike McCready and former drummer Dave Krusen played the Off Ramp show under the name "Mookie Blaylock," a former basketball player who then played for the New Jersey Nets. STORY TIME: Jeff Ament explains the story behind their original name: "When we were recording our first record, we had a per diem of about $10. So when we got lunch at the store across the street, we'd always buy a pack of basketball cards. When we turned in our tape, we didn't have a name for the band yet so we put a Mookie Blaylock card in the case. We were about to go on a tour and still didn't have a name and needed one quickly. We were told it didn't need to be the name that we were going to use forever, just something for the tour. Someone saw the Mookie Blaylock card and said, 'How about Mookie Blaylock?' We decided to go with it and did a 10-show tour with Alice in Chains as Mookie Blaylock. Mookie was cool about it, too--he didn't sue us. I actually got to meet him later on and shoot around a little bit. We also made a Pearl Jam T-shirt with a picture of him on it. I guess we owe Mookie a lot."

Happy birthday to Mike McCready, born on this day in 1966! The song title "Yellow Ledbetter" is derived from the actual name of an old friend of Vedder's from Chicago, named Tim Ledbetter. Although many fans have made their own interpretations of the song's meaning, a common theory has been that the song is about someone receiving a letter saying that his or her brother had died overseas in war. pearljam.com

Good morning John = working up against deadlines and looking to hear some sweet McMelty guitar. Can you play Yellow Ledbetter? Many thanks and Air hugs to you, Melissa ---- Wasn't it great when Pearl Jam performed "Yellow Ledbetter" live at Seattle's Safeco Field during The Home Shows in 2018?: www.youtube.com

Sooooo, it looks like we're getting a new Pearl Jam album on March 27th? bit.ly

Happy birthday to Megh's best friend, Meredith!

Mike McCready hung out with Kevin on the Afternoon Show the other day.... www.kexp.org

Our DJ's reflections on Pearl Jam after their induction into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 2017: bit.ly

Cocktail Trivia Time - A brief snippet of the song appears in the series finale of "Friends" after Rachel boards the plane. This marked the first time that Pearl Jam licensed a song for usage in a television show. According to a spokesperson of the group, it was, "simply a matter of the show's producers asking permission.

by request

originally released in August 1992, as a b-side of the Jeremy single