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Mike McCready
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mike McCready | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Background information | ||
| Birth name | Michael McCready | |
| Also known as | Petster | |
| Born | April 5, 1966 (age 40) Pensacola, Florida |
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| Genre(s) | Grunge Rock |
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| Occupation(s) | Musician Songwriter |
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| Instrument(s) | Guitar | |
| Years active | 1990 — Present | |
| Label(s) | J Records Epic Records |
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| Associated acts |
Pearl Jam Warrior Shadow Love Chile Temple of the Dog Mad Season Bumrush The Rockfords |
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Michael "Mike" McCready (born April 5, 1966, in Pensacola, Florida, U.S.) 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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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.
Shadow split up soon afterwards, and McCready lost interest in playing guitar for some time. After being inspired by Stevie Ray Vaughan, McCready gradually began to pick it up again and finally joined another band called Love Chile.[1] A high school friend, Stone Gossard, heard the band, appreciated McCready's work, and asked if he wanted to join a band he was forming with fellow Mother Love Bone alum Jeff Ament. Together with drummer Dave Krusen (who would later be replaced by Matt Chamberlain, then Dave Abbruzzese, then Jack Irons, and currently Matt Cameron) and Eddie Vedder, the group formed the band Pearl Jam (originally known as Mookie Blaylock).
It was during this time that McCready took a central role in the Temple of the Dog project, combining members of Soundgarden and Pearl Jam. McCready's first recording studio experience was recording the Temple of the Dog album, including an epic 4-minute-plus solo for "Reach Down." According to drummer Matt Cameron, 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. McCready still considers this track to be his greatest achievement.
By the end of 1991, Pearl Jam became one of the most famous modern bands with the release of Ten. McCready frequently soloed, and added a blues touch to the music (influenced by Stevie Ray Vaughan). McCready's guitar style is usually an aggressive bluesy nature, and he never plays the same solo twice. 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. He 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.
In a review of Pearl Jam's 2006 self-titled album, Rolling Stone editor David Fricke mentioned that both McCready and Pearl Jam rhythm guitarist Stone Gossard were erroneously excluded from the publication's 2003 feature "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time."[2]
However in 2007, his guitar solos from "Alive" and "Yellow Ledbetter" were featured on Guitar World's "100 Greatest Guitar Solos" list.[3]
McCready had difficulty coping with the fame, however, and was fighting drug and alcohol addiction:
When everything blew up everybody kind of lost their minds...I'd clean up for a while then I'd fall off the wagon, like addicts do. I fell off the wagon after the Kurt Cobain thing. That fucked with everybody really hard. I mean how do you get to the point of depression where suicide's the only way out? 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.[4]
The Pearl Jam songs "Habit" and "Save You" are believed to be about McCready's struggle with addiction.
During the production of Vitalogy, McCready eventually went to rehab in Minneapolis, where he formed a side band, The Gacy Bunch, with Alice in Chains singer Layne Staley. After several live shows, they changed their name to Mad Season. They released the album Above in 1995. McCready has also played with another side band called The Rockfords, named after one of McCready's favourite TV shows The Rockford Files. The band features McCready's former high school friends from Shadow, plus vocalist Carrie Akre from Goodness. Their self titled debut was released in 2000.
In May 2005 McCready married Ashley O'Connor in a private ceremony in Maui. They are expecting their first child together. The couple currently reside in Seattle, Washington.
McCready was born on April 5, the same date that his friend Layne Staley, and peer Kurt Cobain both died.
He suffers from Crohn's Disease and has worked to bring awareness of the disease.
- ^ Rotondi, James. Blood On the Tracks. Guitar Player. January 1994.
- ^ Fricke, David. "Pearl Jam: Review". Rolling Stone. April 21, 2006.
- ^ "100 Greatest Guitar Solos". Guitar World. 2007.
- ^ 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.
- Pearl Jam's Ten Club
- All Music Guide entry for Mike McCready
- Website dedicated to Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready
| Mad Season |
| Layne Staley | Mike McCready | Barrett Martin | John Baker Saunders | Mark Lanegan | Skerik |
| Related Articles |
| Discography: Above |
| Articles: Screaming Trees | Alice in Chains | Pearl Jam | Grunge music | List of grunge supergroups |
| Categories: Mad Season |