Everyone knows that a Pearl Jam is for life, not just for Christmas, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a cosy little corner of Pearl Jam’s catalogue reserved entirely for festive little ditties to listen to in front of an open fire nursing a Baileys. Perhaps there’s a reason behind that: frontman Eddie Vedder is a Christmas baby, born on this day 60 years ago.
Vedder and his band wasted no time in getting in on the Christmas song action. It was back in December 1991, just a few months after the release of their era-defining debut Ten, that the Seattle rock giants began sending exclusive vinyl singles to diehards who had signed up to Ten Club, their fan collective, every Christmas. They kicked off the custom with woozy ballad Let Me Sleep (It’s Christmas Time) and kept up the tradition every year – a barren 1994 excepted – until 2017.
There were a series of Christmas crackers along the way – originals Angel, Santa God, Jingle Bells and Santa Cruz alongside a cover of The Sonics’ Don’t Believe In Christmas, Stevie Wonder’s Someday At Christmas, the Ramones’ I Believe In Miracles. There were a variety of decidedly non-Christmas songs too – such as Last Kiss, their Wayne Cochran cover that took on a life of its own and became one of their biggest hits.
But all good things must come to an end, and Pearl Jam discontinued their Ten Club holiday singles in 2018. In 2019, the group unveiled the 12 Days Of Pearl Jam playlist, in which they collated their Christmas songs as they became available on streaming services for the first time. Have a listen as you are raising a glass and wishing a happy 60th birthday to Eddie Vedder. Have a good one, Ed Ved:
