Pearl Jam is one of the big 4 of Grunge and from their debut album Ten, they have released a total of 5 albums during the 90s and they are Vs, Vitalogy, No Code, and Yield. There was a release that many people either never knew about or completely forgot and that EP is Merkin Ball which turns 30.

Merkin Ball was an extended play or EP for short, that was released in December of 1995 and this EP has an interesting story to it as well. Earlier in the same year Rock legend Neil Young released his 23ed studio album titled Mirror Ball, which also turns 30 as well and is worth a listen in its own right. Young had Pearl Jam on Mirror Ball and they recorded a total of 13 songs, but sadly two songs didn’t make the cut and those songs were “I Got Id” and Long Road”.

“I Got Id” was written by Vedder and it was rumored that the song’s original name, was “I Got Shit,” the record label Epic said they needed to change the title or it wasn’t going to see the light of day and so it was changed. During a concert in Constitution Hall in 1998 Vedder said this about the song before playing it live:

“[Neil Young] gave me a song writing lesson at a half-price rate; this is what I came up with….on my final, he gave me a B+ I think.” – Eddie Vedder

The other song “Long Road” was also written by Vedder and he said in a concert at the San Diego Cox Arena in 2006 he said he wrote the song when he found out about the death of his former high school drama teacher and mentor, Clayton E. Liggett.

While the EP is only two songs and just over 10 minutes long, it’s a great EP to listen to. I would recommend listening to Mirror Ball first and then Merkin Ball and you get to see how and hear how wonderful they go together. Fun fact Neil Young contributed lead guitar in “I Got Id” and also played the pump organ in “Long Road.”