JEFF AMENT

'Jeff Ament' (born Jeffrey Allen Ament, March 10, 1963, Havre, Montana) is an American rock bassist and, along with Stone Gossard and Mike McCready, one of the founding members of Pearl Jam. Jeff is a renowned bassist, and is particularly notable for his work with the fretless bass, upright bass and twelve-string bass guitar.

Contents

Early work

Pearl Jam

Other work

Personal life

Discography

References

External links

Early work

Ament grew up in the town of Big Sandy in a county with a population of less than 7,000. He began playing the bass guitar as a teenager, often playing along with The Clash and The Police records.
After quitting college at the University of Montana in Missoula, Jeff relocated to Seattle in the early 1980s with his band Deranged Diction. He became acquainted with fellow Seattle musicians Mark Arm, Stone Gossard and Steve Turner, and he was asked to join their new band Green River in 1984. Green River is commonly considered to be the first grunge band. The band achieved a considerable local reputation, but in-fighting within the band led to a break-up in 1987.
Ament and Gossard recruited local 'celebrity' Andrew Wood and formed Mother Love Bone in 1987. Things looked to be going well, with the band signing to a major label and releasing the critically acclaimed album ''Apple'', until Wood's tragic and untimely death shortly before the album's release in 1990. At this point Ament and Gossard almost parted company, but stuck around for the Temple of the Dog project, which was founded by Chris Cornell as a tribute to Andrew Wood. This project featured future Pearl Jam vocalist Eddie Vedder, who sang in the single "Hunger Strike". Pearl Jam was formed shortly afterwards, in 1990.

Pearl Jam

Jeff makes a major songwriting contribution to Pearl Jam. He penned the music for one of their biggest hits, "Jeremy", as well as "Nothingman". Ament has written both the lyrics and the music for the Pearl Jam songs "Pilate", "Low Light", "Gods' Dice", "Nothing As It Seems", "Help Help", "Other Side", and "Sweet Lew".
In an interview, Ament stated:

Other work

Ament appeared in the 1992 movie ''Singles'' as himself, in lead actor Matt Dillon's backing band, Citizen Dick.
During Pearl Jam's dispute with Ticketmaster in 1994 over prices and surcharges, Ament appeared along with fellow Pearl Jam member Stone Gossard before a congressional subcommittee to testify on the issue.
Jeff has had a side project band named Three Fish.
With his brother Barry, Jeff runs Ames Bros., an art production company that produces tour posters and album artwork for many bands, including Pearl Jam.

Personal life

Jeff's father was mayor of Big Sandy for a time.^[1] Organic farmer and United States Senator Jon Tester grew up near Big Sandy and Ament knew of Tester before either were famous. In 2006 Jeff campaigned for Tester.
Aside from music, Jeff is a skilled skateboarder and basketball player and a talented graphic artist. At the University of Montana, he studied art and played basketball.^[2]
Jeff currently lives in Seattle and Missoula. He and his partner, Pandora, climbed Africa's Mount Kilimanjaro in support of Save the Children.^[3]
Jeff currently owns a small island on Flathead Lake, where he enjoys wakeboarding.

Discography

'Year'	'Group'	'Title'	'Label'	'Tracks Played'
1985	Green River	''Come on Down''	Homestead Records	All
1986	Green River	''Deep Six''	C/Z Records	"10,000 Things" and "Your Own Best Friend"
1987	Green River	''Dry As a Bone''	Sub Pop Records	All
1988	Green River	''Motor City Madness''	Glitterhouse Records	"Searchin' (Good Things Come)"
	Green River	''Rehab Doll''	Sub Pop	All
	Green River	''Sub Pop 200''	Sub Pop	"Hangin' Tree"
1989	Mother Love Bone	''Shine''	Stardog/Mercury Records	All
	Green River	''This House Is Not A Motel''	Glitterhouse Records	"Swallow My Pride"
	Green River	''Sub Pop Rock City''	Glitterhouse Records	"Hangin' Tree"
	Green River	''Another Pyrrhic Victory: The Only Compilation Of Dead Seattle God Bands''	C/Z Records	"Bazaar" and "Away In Manger"
1990	Mother Love Bone	''Apple''	Stardog/Mercury Records	All
	Green River	''Endangered Species''	Glitterhouse Records	"Ain't Nothing To Do"
	Green River	''Rehab Doll/Dry As a Bone''	Sub Pop	All
1991	Temple of the Dog	''Temple of the Dog''	A&M	All
	Pearl Jam	''Ten''	Epic	All
1992	Pearl Jam	''Stanley, Son of Theodore: Yet Another Alternative Music Sampler''	Epic/Columbia	"Alive" (Live)
	Pearl Jam	''Singles: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack''	Epic	"Breath" and "State of Love and Trust"
	Mother Love Bone	''Singles: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack''	Epic	"Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns"
	Green River	''Afternoon Delight: Love Songs From Sub Pop''	Sub Pop Records	"Baby Takes"
	Mother Love Bone	''Stardog Champion''	Stardog/Mercury Records	All
1993	Mother Love Bone	''Thrash And Burn: The Metal Alternative''	Sony Music Special Products	"Capricorn Sister"
	Pearl Jam	''	Thirsty Ear/Chaos	"Crazy Mary" (w/ Victoria Williams)
	Pearl Jam	''Judgment Night: Music From The Motion Picture''	Epic	"Real Thing" (w/ Cypress Hill)
	Pearl Jam	''In Defense of Animals''	Restless	"Porch"
	Pearl Jam	''Vs.''	Epic	All
	Mother Love Bone	''The Best Of Grunge Rock''	Priority Records	"Stardog Champion"
	M.A.C.C. (Mike McCready, Jeff Ament, Matt Cameron, and Chris Cornell)	''	Reprise/WEA	"Hey Baby (Land Of The New Rising Sun)"
1994	Pearl Jam	''Vitalogy''	Epic	All except "Bugs"
1995	Pearl Jam	''The Basketball Diaries: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack''	Island	"Catholic Boy" (w/ Jim Carroll and Chris Friel)
	Mother Love Bone	''Alterno-Daze: Natural 90s Selection''	MCA Special Products	"Stardog Champion"
	Neil Young	''Mirror Ball''	Reprise Records	All
	Pearl Jam	''Merkin Ball''	Epic Records	"Long Road"
1996	Pearl Jam	''Home Alive: The Art of Self Defense''	Epic	"Leaving Here"
	Three Fish	''Three Fish''	Sony	All
	Pearl Jam	''M.O.M., Vol. 1: Music for Our Mother Ocean''	Interscope	"Gremmie Out of Control"
	Pearl Jam	''No Code''	Epic	All
	Green River	''Hype!: The Motion Picture Soundtrack''	Sub Pop	"Swallow My Pride" (1987 Demo)
	Pearl Jam	''Hype!: The Motion Picture Soundtrack''	Sub Pop	"Not For You" (Live from ''Self-Pollution'' Radio)
1997	Mother Love Bone	''Proud To Be Loud''	Debutante Records	"Bone China"
	Pearl Jam	''The Bridge School Concerts, Vol. 1''	Reprise	"Nothingman" (Live)
1998	Pearl Jam	''Yield''	Epic	All except "No Way", "Do the Evolution", and "●"
	Pearl Jam	''Chicago Cab: Soundtrack''	Loose Groove	"Who You Are" and "Hard To Imagine"
	Pearl Jam	''Live on Two Legs''	Epic	All
1999	Three Fish	''The Quiet Table''	Sony	All
	Pearl Jam	''	Epic	"Last Kiss" and "Soldier of Love"
	Pearl Jam	''M.O.M., Vol. 3: Music for Our Mother Ocean''	Hollywood	"Whale Song"
	Pearl Jam	''Movie Music: The Definitive Performances'' (Also part of the box set, ''Sony Music 100 Years: Soundtrack for a Century''.)	Columbia/Epic/Legacy	"State of Love and Trust"
	Pearl Jam	''Rock: Train Kept a Rollin' (Also part of the box set, ''Sony Music 100 Years: Soundtrack for a Century''.)	Sony	"Black"
2000	Green River	''Wild and Wooly: The Northwest Rock Collection''	Sub Pop	"This Town"
	Pearl Jam	''Wild and Wooly: The Northwest Rock Collection''	Sub Pop	"Even Flow" (Live)
	Pearl Jam	''Binaural''	Epic	All except "Soon Forget"
	Pearl Jam	''European Bootlegs''	Epic	All
2001	Mother Love Bone	''Alternative Moments''	Sony Music Media	"Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns"
	Pearl Jam	''North American Bootlegs, Volume 1''	Epic	All
	Pearl Jam	''North American Bootlegs, Volume 2''	Epic	All
	Pearl Jam	''Substitute: Songs from the Who''	Edel America	"The Kids Are Alright" (Live)
2002	Pearl Jam	''Riot Act''	Epic	All except "Arc"
2003	Pearl Jam	''2003 Bootlegs (Australia, Japan, and North America)''	Epic	All
	Pearl Jam	''Lost Dogs''	Epic	All except "Footsteps", "Strangest Tribe", and "Drifting"
	Pearl Jam	''Big Fish: Music from the Motion Picture''	Sony	"Man of the Hour"
2004	Pearl Jam	''Hot Stove, Cool Music, Vol. 1''	Fenway Recordings	"Bu$hleaguer" (Live)
	Pearl Jam	''Riding Giants: Soundtrack''	Milan	"Go"
	Pearl Jam	''Live at Benaroya Hall''	BMG	All
	Jack Irons	''Attention Dimension''	Breaching Whale	"Dunes"
	Pearl Jam	''For the Lady''	Rhino/WEA	"Better Man" (Live)
	King's X	''Live All Over The Place''	Brop! Records/Metal Blade	"Manic Depression"
	Pearl Jam	''	Epic	All except "I Got Id"
2006	Green River	''Sleepless in Seattle: The Birth of Grunge''	Livewire Recordings	"Come on Down"
	Pearl Jam	''Pearl Jam''	J Records	All except "Wasted Reprise"
	Pearl Jam	''Live at Easy Street''	J Records	All
2007	Pearl Jam	''Surf's Up: Music from the Motion Picture''	Sony	"Big Wave"
	Pearl Jam	''Live at the Gorge 05/06''	Monkey Wrench	All

References

1. Chaney, Rob. "Pearl Jam to play benefit in Missoula". ''Missoulian''. July 14, 2005.
2. "The Sky I Scrape: Pearl Jam FAQ". theskyiscrape.com.
3. Kelley, Steve. "From Malawi to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro". ''The Seattle Times''. August 20, 2004.

External links

★ Pearl Jam's Ten Club

★ Ames Bros Homepage

★ Jeff Ament at All Music Guide

★

★ Interview with Jeff Ament