Coach Carter made sure I had the MP3 of Eddie Vedder's solo song from the Into The Wild soundtrack. As I was listening to it for the first time, I realized it wasn't an Eddie original but a song I had heard many times on local radio stations. It was a cover, but for the life of me I couldn't name the original artist.
The song is called "Big Hard Sun" and a local band called Indio released it on their 1989 LP Big Harvest. Indio isn't really a "them" but a guy named Gordon Peterson who hasn't been heard from since. If you were listening to Toronto radio in the late 80s and early 90s, you'll recognize this tune.
Eddie does a nice job with it. Sleater-Kinney's Corin Tucker fills in for Joni Mitchell on this version. Listen to Ed Vedder's "Big Hard Sun" below.
Note: I've been told the player above disappears in IE. It works fine with my Firefox. If you can't see the player above, Teddy Vedder left a link in the comments that will let you stream the song.
Mike, the link doesn’t work. I’m dieing to hear it!