Mike McCready
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mike McCready | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Michael David McCready |
| Also known as | Petster |
| Born | April 5, 1966 Pensacola, Florida, U.S. |
| Genre(s) | Alternative rock, grunge, hard rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, Songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Label(s) | J, A&M, Epic, Columbia, Kufala |
| Associated acts | Pearl Jam, Flight to Mars, Shadow, Love Chile, Luv Company, Temple of the Dog, Mad Season, Bumrush, The Rockfords |
Michael David McCready (born April 5, 1966 in Pensacola, Florida) is the lead guitarist and, along with Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard, a founding member of the American rock band, Pearl Jam.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
McCready was born in Pensacola, Florida, but his family moved to Seattle shortly after his birth. As a child, his parents played Hendrix and Santana, while his friends listened to Kiss and Aerosmith; McCready would frequently play bongo drums.[1] At the age of 11, McCready purchased his first guitar and began taking lessons.
In eighth grade, McCready formed his first band, Warrior, whose name soon changed to Shadow. Originally a cover band playing during free periods at Roosevelt High School, the band eventually began writing original material. After high school, Shadow attempted to cut a record deal in Los Angeles, but, according to McCready:
We played to a couple bartenders down there, but even though it was a bad scene, it was a good experience. Basically, we weren't that good of a band, and we didn't realize it until we got down there. I guess we lost our focus, got really bummed out and came back to Seattle.[1]
Shadow split up soon afterwards, and McCready lost interest in playing guitar for some time, stating that he "was so depressed about life."[2] McCready was inspired to pick up his guitar again after attending a Stevie Ray Vaughan concert at The Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington. McCready said:
As soon as he started "Couldn't Stand the Weather", these huge clouds rolled in overhead, and rain began pouring down. When the song ended, the rain stopped! It was like a religious experience, and it changed me. It lifted me out of the negative mindset I was in, and it got me playing again. I thank him forever for that.[2]
McCready gradually went back to playing guitar and finally joined another band called Love Chile.[1] A childhood friend, Stone Gossard, went to one of the band's shows and appreciated McCready's work after hearing him perform Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Couldn't Stand the Weather".[3] Gossard had known McCready from back before high school when the two would trade rock band pictures with each other.[1] After the demise of Gossard's band Mother Love Bone, he asked McCready if he wanted to play music together with him.[4] After a few months of practicing together, McCready in turn encouraged Gossard to reconnect with his Mother Love Bone alum Jeff Ament.[3]
[edit] Musical career
[edit] Temple of the Dog
The trio were attempting to form their own band when they were invited to be part of the Temple of the Dog project founded by Soundgarden's Chris Cornell as a musical tribute to Mother Love Bone's frontman Andrew Wood. Cornell had been Andrew Wood's roommate. The band's lineup was completed by the addition of Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron.
The band started rehearsing songs written by Cornell on tour previous to Wood's death, as well as re-working some existing material from demos written by Gossard and Ament.[5] This was McCready's first recording studio experience, and he took a central role in the project. McCready performed an epic 4-minute-plus solo for "Reach Down". According to Chris Cornell, McCready's headphone monitors flew off halfway through the recording of the solo, and he played the rest without being able to hear the backing track.[6] McCready considers this track to be one of his proudest moments.[7] This project eventually featured vocalist Eddie Vedder, who sang a duet with Cornell on the song "Hunger Strike" and provided background vocals on several other songs. Vedder had arrived in Seattle to audition to be the singer for Ament and Gossard's next band, which later became Pearl Jam. The band decided that it had enough material for an entire album and in April 1991 Temple of the Dog was released through A&M Records.
[edit] Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam was formed in 1990 by Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, and Mike McCready,[8] who then recruited vocalist Eddie Vedder and drummer Dave Krusen. The band signed to Epic Records in 1991. Drummer Dave Abbruzzese joined the band a few months later following the completion of the band's debut studio album, Ten. The band found itself amidst the sudden popularity and attention being paid to the Seattle music scene and the genre known as grunge. By the end of 1992, Pearl Jam became one of the most famous modern bands with the success of its debut album Ten. McCready frequently soloed, and added a blues touch to the music (influenced by Stevie Ray Vaughan). Upon its release, the band's sophomore album, Vs., set at the time the record for most copies of an album sold in a week,[9] and spent five weeks at number one on the Billboard 200.
Feeling the pressures of success, the band decided to decrease the level of promotion for its albums, including refusing to release music videos.[10] In 1994, the band began a much-publicized boycott of Ticketmaster, which lasted for three years and limited the band's ability to tour in the United States.[11] Later that same year the band released its third studio album, Vitalogy, which became the band's third straight album to reach multi-platinum status.
Following the firing of Dave Abbruzzese in 1994, drummer Jack Irons joined the band. The band subsequently released No Code in 1996 and Yield in 1998. The band once again changed drummers in 1998, with Irons leaving the band due to dissatisfaction with touring.[12] Irons was replaced by former Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron, who has been with the band ever since. In 1998, Pearl Jam recorded "Last Kiss", a cover of a 1960s ballad made famous by J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers. It was first released on the band's 1998 fan club single, however, by popular demand, the cover was released to the general public as a single in 1999. "Last Kiss" peaked at number two on the Billboard charts and became the band's highest-charting single. In 2000, the band released its sixth studio album Binaural and initiated a successful and ongoing series of official bootlegs. In 2002, the band released its seventh studio album Riot Act and in 2006 the band released its eighth studio album, the eponymous Pearl Jam.
[edit] Songwriting and influences
As time has gone on McCready has contributed more to Pearl Jam's songwriting process. McCready's first writing contribution for Pearl Jam was the music for the B-side "Yellow Ledbetter", which has since become a regular set closing song during Pearl Jam live concerts. After co-writing material for Vs. and writing the music for the song "Present Tense" from the album No Code, he penned the music for three of the tracks on the band's 1998 album Yield, including one of the band's biggest hits, "Given to Fly". McCready made his first lyrical contribution for the band with the track "Inside Job", which closes the band's 2006 self-titled album.
McCready's guitar style is usually of an aggressive bluesy nature. McCready has cited Kiss, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eddie Van Halen, and Randy Rhoads among his influences.[13][1][2]
[edit] Live performances
McCready is extremely energetic live, and is commonly found dashing around the stage, playing to the crowd, throwing plectrums and soloing with the guitar behind his head. His live renditions of songs have slightly different solos due to his fondness of improvisation, and sometimes he treats the crowd to a full-on improv. McCready tends to avoid playing the same solo twice. McCready said, "I can kind of get into a meditative state when I’m playing, something I don’t get any other way...You might see me staring up in the sky with my eyes closed. I’m not faking it. That just kind of happens."[14]
[edit] Other musical projects
[edit] Mad Season
During the production of Vitalogy, McCready eventually went into rehab in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he met bassist John Baker Saunders.[15] When the two returned to Seattle they formed a side band, The Gacy Bunch, with Alice in Chains singer Layne Staley and drummer Barrett Martin of Screaming Trees. After several live shows, they changed their name to Mad Season. The band released the album Above through Columbia Records in 1995, and are best known for the single "River of Deceit". The band broke up following bassist John Baker Saunders' death in 1999 of a heroin overdose. Frontman Layne Staley would pass away three years later after injecting an extremely large mixture of heroin and cocaine.
[edit] Mirror Ball
McCready performed with other members of Pearl Jam on Neil Young's 1995 album Mirror Ball, and subsequently took part in an eleven-date tour of Europe as part of Young's backing band. This tour proved very successful with Young's manager Elliot Roberts calling it "One of the greatest tours we ever had in our whole lives."[16]
[edit] The Rockfords
McCready has also played with another side band called The Rockfords, named after one of McCready's favorite TV shows The Rockford Files. The band features McCready's former high school friends from Shadow, plus vocalist Carrie Akre from Goodness. The band's self-titled debut was released in 2000.
[edit] Recognition
In a review of Pearl Jam's 2006 eponymous album, Rolling Stone editor David Fricke admitted that he "screwed up" in excluding both McCready and Pearl Jam rhythm guitarist Stone Gossard from the publication's 2003 feature "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".[17] In 2007, McCready's guitar solos from "Alive" and "Yellow Ledbetter" were featured on Guitar World's "100 Greatest Guitar Solos" list.[18] In February 2007, McCready and Gossard were included together by Rolling Stone in its list of "The Top 20 New Guitar Gods" under the title of "four-armed monster."[19] He was placed at #6 on a list of "The Twenty-Five Most Underrated Guitarists" by Rolling Stone.[20]
[edit] Personal life
In May 2005 McCready married Ashley O'Connor in a private ceremony in Maui. Their first child, a daughter named Kaia, was born on April 12, 2007. The couple currently resides in Seattle, Washington.
McCready suffers from Crohn's disease and has worked to bring awareness of the disease. McCready also plays in a UFO tribute band called Flight to Mars which performs an annual concert to benefit the Northwest chapter of the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America.
[edit] Drug addiction
Mike McCready has had two different bouts with substance abuse. The first came in the early 1990s, when McCready was fighting drug and alcohol addiction:
We had a lot of meetings where they would say, 'Hey Mike, you're getting way too fucked up.' But we're all really good friends and we love each other and I think they actually thought I was going to die, but they never took steps to kick me out of the band, which I can't believe because I fucked up so many times. I was drunk and making an ass out of myself and they were concerned about it....I'd clean up for a little while then I'd fall off the wagon, like addicts do....When everything blew up, everybody kind of lost their minds....I was clean for about a month...well, semi-clean; I can't bullshit about that...but I fell off the wagon after the Kurt Cobain thing. That fucked with everybody really hard. I mean, how do you get to that point of depression where suicide's the only way out?[15]
McCready's second bout came during the sessions for Pearl Jam's 2000 album Binaural:
I was going through some personal problems. It was my own stuff I was dealing with. That was a tough time. I was out of it. That was due, at the time, I was taking prescription drugs. I got caught up in it, because of my pain.[6]
[edit] Discography
[edit] Temple of the Dog
| Year | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Temple of the Dog | A&M |
[edit] Pearl Jam
[edit] Mad Season
| Year | Title | Label | Track(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Above | Columbia | All |
| Working Class Hero: A Tribute to John Lennon | Hollywood | "I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier" | |
| 1996 | Bite Back: Live At Crocodile Cafe | PopLlama | "River of Deceit" (live) |
[edit] The Rockfords
| Year | Title | Label | Track(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Down to You: Soundtrack | Sony | "Silver Lining" |
| The Rockfords | Sony | All | |
| 2003 | Live Seattle, WA 12/13/03 | Kufala | All |
| 2004 | Waiting... | Ten Club | All |
[edit] Contributions and collaborations
| Year | Group | Title | Label | Track(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Eddie Vedder and Mike McCready with G. E. Smith | The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration: Bob Dylan Tribute | Sony | "Masters of War" (live) |
| M.A.C.C. (Mike McCready, Jeff Ament, Matt Cameron, and Chris Cornell) | Stone Free: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix | Reprise/WEA | "Hey Baby (Land of the New Rising Sun)" | |
| 1995 | Neil Young | Mirror Ball | Reprise | All |
| 1996 | Goodness with Mike McCready (as Petster) | Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks | Rhino/WEA | "Electricity, Electricity" |
| $10,000 Gold Chain | The Cable Guy: Soundtrack | Sony | "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" | |
| Screaming Trees | Dust | Epic | "Dying Days" | |
| 1997 | Tuatara | Breaking the Ethers | Epic | "The Getaway" |
| Mark Eitzel | West | Warner Bros. | "Fresh Screwdriver" | |
| The Minus 5 | The Lonesome Death of Buck McCoy | Hollywood | Some | |
| Brad | Interiors | Sony | "The Day Brings" | |
| Eddie Vedder and Mike McCready | Tibetan Freedom Concert | Capitol | "Yellow Ledbetter" (live) | |
| 2000 | Stillwater | Almost Famous: Soundtrack | DreamWorks | "Fever Dog" |
| 2001 | Eddie Vedder and Mike McCready with Neil Young | America: A Tribute to Heroes | Interscope | "Long Road" (live) |
| 2002 | The Wallflowers | Red Letter Days | Interscope | Some |
| 2003 | Mike McCready, Stone Gossard, Cole Peterson, and Chris Friel | Live From Nowhere Near You | Funkhead Music | "Powerless" |
| 2004 | Heart | Jupiter's Darling | Sovereign | "I'm Fine" |
| 2005 | Screaming Trees | Ocean of Confusion: Songs of Screaming Trees 1989-1996 | Epic | "Dying Days" |
| 2006 | Peter Frampton | Fingerprints | A&M | "Black Hole Sun" and "Blowin' Smoke" |
| 2008 | Kristen Ward | Drive Away | Chroma Sound | "With You Again" |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e Rotondi, James. "Blood On the Tracks". Guitar Player. January 1994.
- ^ a b c Aledort, Andy. "Aural Exam". Guitar World. July 2000.
- ^ a b Hiatt, Brian (2006-06-16). The Second Coming of Pearl Jam. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2007-06-22.
- ^ Greene, Jo-Ann. "Intrigue and Incest: Pearl Jam and the Secret History of Seattle" (Part 2). Goldmine. August 20, 1993.
- ^ Alden, Grant. "Requiem for a Heavyweight." Guitar World. July 1997
- ^ a b Weisbard, Eric, et al. "Ten Past Ten" Spin Online. August 2001.
- ^ Gilbert, Jeff. "Prime Cuts: Mike McCready - The Best of Pearl Jam!". Guitar School. May 1995.
- ^ Crowe, Cameron (1993-10-28). Five Against the World. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2007-06-23.
- ^ Pearl's Jam. Entertainment Weekly (1993-11-19). Retrieved on 2007-08-31.
- ^ Ashare, Matt. "The Sweet Smell of (Moderate) Success". CMJ. July 2000.
- ^ DeRogatis, Jim. Milk It!: Collected Musings on the Alternative Music Explosion of the 90's. Cambridge: Da Capo, 2003. ISBN 0-306-81271-1, pg. 58
- ^ Fischer, Blair R (1998-04-17). Off He Goes. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2007-06-28.
- ^ Official Sony Biography
- ^ Brownlee, Clint. "McCready On Another Flight to Mars". seattlesoundmag.com. May 1, 2008.
- ^ a b Gilbert, Jeff. "Alive-Pearl Jam's Mike McCready Says Goodbye to Drugs and Alcohol and is a Better Man For it". Guitar World. April 1995.
- ^ McDonough, Jimmy. "Shakey: Neil Young's Biography", Anchor, 2003. ISBN 0-6797-5096-7 [1]
- ^ Fricke, David. "Pearl Jam: Review". Rolling Stone. April 21, 2006.
- ^ "100 Greatest Guitar Solos". Guitar World. 2007.
- ^ Fricke, David. "The Top 20 New Guitar Gods". Rolling Stone. February 22, 2007.
- ^ "The Twenty-Five Most Underrated Guitarists". Rolling Stone. October 1, 2007.
[edit] External links
- Pearl Jam's Ten Club
- Official website of The Rockfords
- Official website of Flight to Mars
- Mike McCready at Allmusic
- Mike McCready at the Internet Movie Database
- Given to Wail – A website dedicated to Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | McCready, Mike |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | McCready, Michael David |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Musician, Songwriter |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 5, 1966 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Pensacola, Florida, U.S. |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
