Everybody Loves Our Town is most likely the only book on grunge that I’d recommend anyone interested in learning about the history of the genre. I’ve leafed through a few college textbooks and reference books concerning the history of alternative rock and they fell short. I may have gotten a bit nit-picky but between three different texts, I found a lot of incorrect dates, misspelt band members names, incorrect album titles, and several other errors that I saw to be somewhat major. They all had one thing in common, a large focus on Nirvana. I’m not going to slam Nirvana, given the fact that they’re a band I really enjoy, but the Seattle scene is so so much bigger than them. It’s origins can be found several years before they began playing shows and there are scores of bands that have faded into obscurity that paved the way for the biggies like Nirvana and Pearl Jam. You get that side of the story with Everybody Loves Our Town. And because it’s, as the title indicates, an oral history, the margin for error in historical fact is reduced to a minimum. You get the story of the grunge scene from those who lived it.
Admittedly, I’m usually a bit skeptical to read biographies unless they’re totally official. For example, while the release is a bit controversial, I’d much rather read Journals by Kurt Cobain than Heavier Than Heaven by Charles R. Cross. Why? While the journals are a bit hard to follow and nonlinear at times, it’s a primary source. When you have a biographer, you have opinions from an outsider and there are DEFINITELY opinions in HTH. I’m not trying to bag on anyone or their credentials; it’s just how I feel. If you want to get a clear understanding of a subject, try reading something that they wrote or were directly involved it. I understand that this isn’t possible; case in point: biographies concerning a deceased individual. But this book, while credited to Mark Yarm, is very much a primary source. That’s where the oral history bit comes in. It’s all from the perspective of those who were involved in the grunge scene. Chunks of interviews from a number of individuals are spread out through the book, patching together the history of Seattle’s rock scene in the 80s/90s.
Each chapter seems to be devoted to a certain band, some getting more than one. However, the stories of each band intersect quite often, so you get pretty deep in the history. The timeline in this book isn’t exactly linear either. But it works out better that way. And music history isn’t something that can be presented in a point A to point B fashion. It’s more so point A to point C but then we have to backtrack to point B and its twenty-three sub-points, ten of which have their own footnotes. The overlap of influences and things like line-up changes, each band members past groups, and fuzzy details that have been lost by time makes it hard to have everything set in stone in a linear matter. And this book really masters that. It’s not exactly in chronological order, it works out so well. It’s logical. While it’d be difficult for every single grunge-era band to get a chapter, there’s a valiant effort to get all the players involved. Even excerpts from Kurt Cobain’s journals are used to fill in blank spots in a few areas.
Honestly, this is one of my favorite books. Non-fiction or not. It’s well paced, easy to follow, and incredibly interesting. There are moments that make you tear up (it helps if you had established a deep love for Andy Wood before reading, like I had). And there are moments that actually made me laugh (such as the arguments between Hiro Yamamoto and Chris Cornell in regards to the latter’s constant lack of shirt onstage). It’s an incredible book that gives an honest look at the history of the grunge scene, hype aside. I’d recommend it to people who haven’t dived too deep into the grunge scene as well as to seasoned listeners. All around a fantastic read.
And now… a playlist to go along with the book:
It’s really hard to talk about the history of anything without getting lengthy and going a little overboard. That fact combined with my enthusiasm for music (specially this genre of music) and fueled by the fact that I’m a nerdy music history major… this playlist is admittedly ridiculous. I tried not to go too overboard but every time I considered leaving a band out, it didn’t feel right. My guide was Everybody Loves Our Town. Unfortunately, a lot of artists in the grunge scene are in several bands (I’m guessing an average of four at the very least). So that really contributed to the length.
Of course, I had to get into super groups, short-lived bands, and side projects. I even dipped into the pre-notable-band bands of a few artists (i.e. Deranged Diction for Jeff Ament). I touched on riot grrrl a bit, but that’s something more or less separate; I included the bands that are heavily associated with the grunge movement. I managed to avoid solo careers though. And it’s honestly a miracle that I didn’t get too heavy into the personal history of Pearl Jam (here meaning included The Gossman Project and Mookie Blaylock demos). Unfortunately, I had to take a few bands off the playlist (March of Crimes, Shadow, and a few others) because I either couldn’t find a decent recording or any recording at all. And, due to an issue with length I had to go back and revise. This playlist is a testament to how big of a nerd I am.
I should mention that the playlist opens with Neil Young due to his close associations with Pearl Jam (hello, Uncle Neil) and the fact that he’s been dubbed of “Godfather of Grunge.” So, honestly… how could I not?
The playlist is ordered by the year the band formed, save for the bands that got multiple songs (which I did with bands whose careers spanned through the years and into the present, save for Hole).Those are stuck in there depending on the release date of whatever album the song appears on. There are a few instances where I used a slightly later recording of a band, mostly due to their inability to record early on (for example, the Bundle of Hiss song I used was recorded between 1986 and 1988, not in 1980). I may have also did that (like in the case of Screaming Trees) because the song, while from a bit later in their career, is either more recognizable or a personal favorite.
This isn’t something that really needs to be listened to in full, skipping around is more than acceptable. It’s very over the top and will probably take at least three hours to get through. If you’d rather a more concise comp that covers early grunge history, I highly recommend either Sub Pop 200 or Deep Six. The Singles soundtrack is decent enough but isn’t really a broad spectrum and includes a few mildly random tracks (but, hey, there’s a fab Seattle born musician featured… Jimi Hendrix). And the Hype soundtrack is quite possibly the best album for sampling the scene’s sound from early to just after it “died” to the public (here meaning 1996). I’m not posting the track listing because it’s pretty lengthy so… you’ll just have to listen to know what I decided to include.
It can be found on 8tracks here.
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