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If you’ve been paying attention to the Seattle rock scene during the past 30 years, or if you’re a Pearl Jam fan, there’s a good chance you’re aware of Chris Friel.And if you missed the Episode 2 interview with Mike McCready and Nancy Wilson (cuz, y'know, we kind of did), you can give that a listen here.
He’s perhaps best known for his time playing in Goodness. He’s also currently the drummer for local rock stalwarts Sweetwater and early in his career he was a member of Shadow (Mike McCready’s pre-Pearl Jam band for those unaware). Of course Chris also played a small, but very integral role in the story of Pearl Jam by drumming on the original demos of “Black,” “Times of Trouble” and “The King.” Those recordings would eventually make their way down to San Diego where Eddie Vedder would hear them and begin his relationship with Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament and eventually form Pearl Jam back in 1990.
Chris was nice enough to join us for the third episode of The Anywhere Shows: A Pearl Jam fan podcast, where we had a lengthy and wide-ranging conversation about all things Pearl Jam. Some of the topics covered include:
- What it’s like being the opening band for Pearl Jam
- Spontaneous surprise recording sessions with Eddie Vedder
- Teaching Stone Gossard how to play guitar
- The many styles and talents of Pearl Jam’s many drummers
- Recording with The Rockfords
- How much he got paid to record those tracks on that infamous demo tape
- Hearing unreleased Pearl Jam music
- Shadow’s experience with Guns N Roses in LA
- Pearl Jam songs that sound too much like Journey
