Many fans don’t know that Rage Against The Machine drummer Brad Wilk was in Pearl Jam for a couple of weeks in 1991 as they finished up mixing Ten in London, though he didn’t record anything for the album and just jammed with the band. Wilk was an old friend and bandmate of Eddie Vedder’s, and Vedder wanted him to replace original drummer Dave Krusen after his departure. The chemistry wasn’t there, and Dave Abbruzzese joined instead, while Wilk went on to form Rage Against The Machine with Zack de la Rocha, Tom Morello, and Tim Commerford.
Wilk recently shared a rare photo taken during his very brief Pearl Jam stint. He wrote on Instagram, “#FBF CHEERS! 23 years old. London pub w a friend. #perseverance #blitzed #beforeallthehubbub.”
goldie.momandpop commented, “Epic photo dude.”
Wilk responded, “You came in to town the next day. You, Jeff [Ament] n I went to Amsterdam.”
antdice commented, “Didn’t you tell the story of this trip on the Dean Delray podcast?”
Wilk responded, “Yup.”
In a 2018 interview with the Let There Be Talk podcast with Dean Delray, Wilk described playing with Pearl Jam. “They go to England to mix Ten. … I get a call from Eddie: ‘We just lost our drummer, I’d love for you to come up and meet everybody. I’m going to send you the tape of the songs.’
“I’m like shitting my pants – I’ve never been out of the country. I’ve got to go get my fucking passport, I’m listening to the songs, I’m super-young and thinking, ‘This is my break. This is my time!’ I go to Europe and we play together. Me and Eddie have this history, and we’re bonding over in Europe. But to the others I’m just the new guy.”
Wilk admitted it was clear he wouldn’t be joining the band. “Long story short, I go there, and I just don’t click musically, mostly with Jeff [Ament], who is an incredible bass player, awesome guy. … This is a classic case – it doesn’t matter how good you are, chemistry is everything. It just wasn’t clicking. … I just wasn’t the guy.”
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