Ex-Pearl Jam Drummer Dave Abbruzzese Covers ‘Rearviewmirror’ With Group of Fans
The Facebook group Pearl Jamily France has teamed up with former Pearl Jam drummer Dave Abbruzzese on a cover version of Pearl Jam’s classic “Rearviewmirror.”
The song, from Pearl Jam’s 1993 album, Vs., comes from the period that Abbruzzese played with the Eddie Vedder-led grunge icons before parting ways with them the following year.
Different Pearl Jamily vocalists swap singing lead on the cover that goes a step beyond by including one of the tune’s original performers. As for the song’s remaining sonic elements, the group of musicians from social media provides a convincing facsimile of the album version.
Watch the video down toward the bottom of this post.
“Each participant started from the drums that David Abbruzzese exceptionally and kindly recorded for us,” Pearl Jamily France explains. “It started from the original sound of the album … and we recorded over it. Eric Lefebvre from the studio Tarantula Records gradually assembled the mix to then allow the singers to put their voices on it. He then did the final mixing and mastering of the track. Regarding the video … each participant filmed and recorded with the means at hand. In a home studio, studio or even with just a cell phone.”
Joining Abbruzzese are musicians Meg Alex (Megalow, Ronin), Gaelle Hance (Neeba), Raphael Maarek, Antoine Abinun (Dry Can), Laurent Jalicon (Facelift), Jefferson Sebire (Unagi), David Waytenc (Janis Rainer), Christophe Michel (Facelift), Jefferson Sebire, Fyl MorningStar Ferquel (Half-My-Friend), Flavio Alves (Panic Resort), Laurent Jalicon and Antoine Abinun.
Abbruzzese, who played on Pearl Jam’s Vitalogy (1994) in addition to Vs., wasn’t included among the band’s official members when the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017. The snub, decried by many fans, also found displeasure with at least one Pearl Jam member.