My Ten Favorite Pearl Jam Cover Songs

List #2

Ten Favorite Covers

All bands cover songs by other bands. Pearl Jam is notorious for doing so. Many of these covers can be found on any of their live cds or bootlegs. A few have even made it into studio releases. These are ten of my favorites spanning the years, in no particular order.

1. "Baba O'Reilly" ~~ The Who

Eddie Vedder always says that Pete Townsend saved his life. So, it's no surprise that Pearl Jam covers so many of The Who's songs. This one is probably the most popular of them all. If you don't recognize it by its name, think of its chorus (which many mistake for its title): "Teenage Wasteland". Find it on a bunch of bootlegs, as well as the studio release Live at the Gorge 05/06.

2. "Kids Are Alright" ~~ The Who

This one always goes along well with "Alive" as far as stirring up the crowd and lifting up our spirits.

3. "F***in' Up" ~~ Neil Young

This is a popular encore song at shows, and one of my personal favorites. The guitar riffs make you want to dance, and Eddie is always bouncing from one foot to the other. And it asks the basic fundamental question of life: "Why do I keep f---in' up?"

Find it on a bunch of bootlegs, as well as the studio release Live on Two Legs.

4. "Rockin' in the Free World" ~~ Neil Young

Who can forget Pearl Jam on the 1993 Video Music Awards performing this song with Neil Young, himself? Eddie, sporting a new shorter hair style and jean jacket that made him look even more like Jim Morrison, drinking from his trademark bottle of wine. Guitar legends dueling with each other, practically setting the stage on fire with their energy. It was a legendary performance that will live in the musical history books forever. I still get chills thinking about it.

5. "Sonic Reducer" ~~ The Dead Boys

This is another fantastic encore done at several shows that gets us all riled up.

6. "Dock of the Bay" ~~ Otis Redding

This is a classic that I've only heard one live version of, and it's on a couple of my older bootlegs. It's almost as good as the original, and I would love to hear it life again.

7. "Last Kiss" ~~ J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers