Former Pearl Jam drummer Dave Abbruzzese wrote the following on Facebook:
Just saw something that made my stomach hurt. I don’t know if this is actually true and was part of the PJ20 book, but what I just read is a complete and total crock of shit. Never happened and never could’ve or would’ve happened. I am blown away at this story. How the hell did Brendan Obrien or Nick DiDia allow this to be credited to them? My mind is blown. I would never be so careless or so thoughtless. Here is the bullshit:
Brendan O’Brien: I remember the very last day I saw Dave. He was at the studio in Atlanta, and we were taking a break from Vitalogy. Eddie was having a hard time figuring out how to get his guitar sound going. I knew he was a big Pete Townshend fan, so I went and found him a beautiful gold-top ’69 Les Paul. He came to the studio on one of the last nights we were there, and I said, “Hey, I got you something.” He didn’t know what to say. He really was about to cry. He and I at that time did not have a great relationship, but this was a really nice moment between us.
The next day, I see engineer Nick DiDia shaking his head. He goes, “Dude, you have to figure something out.” Dave was running around because he had to leave early to do something. He says to me, “I knocked this guitar over. I’ll pay to have it fixed.” He’d knocked the headstock off. It was a complete and total accident. I remember saying, “Maybe you should hang around and talk to Eddie about it.” But he’s like, “I gotta go.” Eddie came later, and I showed him the guitar. The look on his face was one of such contempt. I’ll never forget it. I felt so bad. Right after that, Kurt died. We were supposed to get back together and finish, but we took a long break. They didn’t tour. Everyone was thrown for a loop. During that time, Dave was fired. I don’t know that Eddie can ever really look at that guitar the same way. I had it repaired for him beautifully, but it was sort of a metaphor for their relationship. And that was not lost on Nick and I.
-Jonathan Cohen and Mark Wilkerson’s Pearl Jam Twenty.
I just don’t get where this shit comes from. It’s just ridiculous.
