Dave Grohl recently spoke to the BBC for a profile piece, and in it he revealed that the two first people in the music business he gave the first Foo Fighters album to were Eddie Vedder and Pat Smear. Grohl discussed how recording the album was key as he recovered from the tragic death of Kurt Cobain.
Smear ended up joining Foo Fighters as a founding member, and Vedder played Foo material on radio for the first time in January 1995 on Self-Pollution Radio, where Layne Staley’s supergroup with Mike McCready also debuted material.
The BBC article states: Hoping to remain anonymous, he labelled the cassettes “Foo Fighters Rough Mixes” – in the belief a fake band name would throw people off his scent – and stored them in the back of his truck. Over the next few weeks, he gave them to anyone who would listen, from Nirvana fans who approached him in the street to strangers he met at gas stations.
Two copies turned out to be crucial. The first went to Nirvana’s touring guitarist Pat Smear, who told Grohl he was “blown away” by the results and joined the star on stage when the fake band became a real one. The other ended up with Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, who played two songs (Exhausted and Gas Chamber) on his radio show in January 1995.
A signed photo of Eddie Vedder is being sold in an auction, and is currently at $400, to benefit the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and WhyHunger.
“Own this iconic Eddie Vedder at Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL, 2016 photograph signed by the photographer Danny Clinch.
Danny has established himself as one of the premiere photographers of the popular music scene. He has photographed and filmed a wide range of artists, from Johnny Cash to Tupac Shakur, from Bjork to Bruce Springsteen. Clinch has also directed music videos for Willie Nelson, Tom Waits, Pearl Jam, Alabama Shakes, My Morning Jacket, Avett Brothers, Foo Fighters and Dave Matthews, among others. Most recently he directed Let’s Play Two”- a film about Pearl Jam’s historic concerts at Wrigley Field and the Chicago Cubs World Series win in 2016.”
