get close to the action and
learn all of nuisances of the business from live sound to songwriting.
One of the most impressive artists Eddie encountered was James Taylor.
The memorable night was October 14, 1990. Not only was it Eddie's last
night at the Open Air Theater (the OAT would close for the winter months),
but he got to meet and talk to James Taylor. Eddie had always admired
his songwriting abilities from vocals to guitar. Later that night when
he walked in the house, he had to tell everyone about his experience.
"It was amazing.", he said. "He has such an amazing sound
to his voice and guitar". Eddie admired his folk song style that
told of the tales of life's experiences so smoothly. Another occurrence
that night included his 'O.A.T. court' experience. It was his last night
and the roadys and sound people had a tradition they called 'O.A.T. court'
where an initiation type ceremony was performed on the individuals of
choice. He was thrashed. They poured things on him, 'pink bellied' him,
etc. Eddie took it in stride and thought it was cool.
Eddie's gig as a roady was representative of his extreme determination
and intelligence. He had a very organized game plan in his mind as to
what he needed to do to become an established, professional musician.
The roady gig also allowed him to meet Jack Irons who was responsible
for setting him up with the musicians that eventually became Pearl Jam.
For most of 1987, Eddie concentrated on writing and recording demo's on
his 4 track tape recorder. Occasionally he would bring parts of songs
for me to listen to at work. He respected my ear for music and wanted
constructive criticism. The recordings were as good as you could get from
a 4 track, having to bounce tracks many times to make room for more vocals
and instruments. He did an excellent job with what he had to work with.
His personal equipment primarily consisted of the following:
· black Fender Telecaster
· acoustic 12 string
· bass guitar
· Roland Cube & Fender amp
· standard mic.
· Roland TR-707 drum machine
· Roland GE7 effects unit
· Tascam 244 four track tape recorder