Rock-tober 19, 2016

Yogi Berra, the great sage of the baseball diamond, was known for his astute life observations.

• "When you come to a fork in the road, take it."
• "Why buy good luggage? You only use it when you travel."
• Most famous of them all was likely, "It's deja vu all over again."

In past missives it's been shown that there's a familiarity with many of my favorite rock songs and much older pieces. In the now classic Rock-tober 03, 2014, we saw the resemblance between Procul Harum's "Whiter Shade of Pale" and Bach's "Air on the G String." Additionally, in the critically acclaimed Rock-tober 06 posted that same year, Blues Traveler's "Hook" basically had the same DNA as Pachelbel's "Canon in D."

Last year's Pulitzer disputed dispatch, Rock-tober 12th's, "While We Cry," from Kenny Wayne Shepherd also has a doppelganger. "While We Cry" is a bluesy instrumental that had been a part of my "Chill" playlist for years. So when I first heard Pearl Jam's "Yellow Ledbetter," my first reaction was, when did they add lyrics to Shepherd's "Cry"?

"Yellow Ledbetter" was the B-side to "Jeremy," a single off Pearl Jam's first album, Ten. An outtake, this flip side song was not on the full album. In fact, "Yellow" has never been released on any Pearl Jam studio album. Regardless, it eventually became a signature piece for the band and a fan favorite, with the group typically using it to close their concerts.

The similarities between "Yellow" and "Cry" are so pronounced, fanboys on both sides chide the other artist for "heavily sampling" their favored tune. According to their discographies, Ten predates Shepherd's Ledbetter Heights by four years so that would seem to make "Yellow" the original, right?

Not so fast, sport. Both artists concede they were undoubtedly influenced, but not by each other. Rather, both pay homage to "Little Wing" by the late, great Jimmy Hendrix. The awesomeness of this Inception-like nesting of deva vu surely has the Yogi-meister smiling and begs to be explored further, but that's another post.