| | | |
Let me begin by saying that this is a completely personal view of Jewel's music career. For more detailed, factual histories check out the fan pages I have listed on the music page. Here I'm just trying to give you a taste of what Jewel is about.
Every single article or mention of Jewel discusses her childhood roots. I don't need to go into it. Basically she grew up on a homestead in Alaska, her parents were musicians. After their divorce she travelled with her Dad, singing in bars. It was not until she was in high school, an art school, that she picked up the guitar.
She moved to San Diego sometime after school. She had a whole bunch of shit jobs there, until she decided to do what she wanted to do, instead of making it a hobby. So she moved into her van, and started writing and performing. That's how the Jewel that we know started out. Playing coffee houses, alone with her acoustic guitar. She differs from the folk crowd in that she rarely plays covers, preferring to churn out originals. She wrote prodigiously, often writing songs moments before coming on stage, and forgetting them by the next day. Doing this she developed a following in the area, and an internship at the Inner Change coffee house. From her year playing there we get the Inner Change Days tapes, a good example of what she was like in those pre-album days.
Eventually the 'record company man' started coming around. And thus arose, Pieces Of You, her first album. Several of the tracks on that album were recorded live at the Innerchange. Others were recorded at Neil Young's ranch with The Stray Gators. These tracks are her first dabbling with band work, but they remained unique for several years. She continued to perform solo and acoustic. And she continued to play from her full library of songs.
Pieces Of You didn't do much for quite a while, but Jewel toured relentlessly. I first heard of her during a short residency she did at a venue in Boston. I didn't see her but I read some little blurb reviews in the paper, and she sounded fascinating. I don't remember what they said to interest me, all I remember was that she was a 20 year old folk singer from Alaska. Something in that sounded good to me. And to other people I guess because she started to get some fans. I bought the album and loved it. It has quite a feel to it. I don't hear what I used to in it, back then I used to listen to it constantly. I think there was a wholeness to it, some sort of quality that went all the way through it. Maybe the consistency of her sound, I don't know. Around that time I also found Save The Linoleum a promo disc at a record store. I thought I'd found the Holy Grail, I couldn't believe I'd found something on her, she was so unknown.
Sometime in 1995 I got onto the internet. It didn't take me long to find the Jewel mailing list, and I was amazed. Back then there were only about 150 people on it, but that was 150 more people than I thought knew about Jewel. And they all knew about Save The Linoleum too. But they were all begging for it, so I had something on them. My Jewel obsession grew at that point of course, now that I had so much to feed it. I got the Rare Angels tapes which were an absolute must back then, because people weren't trading concerts. One of the older list members compiled the Inner Change Days tapes for me from their master tapes and I ran a tree. This was great, fifty brand new songs for us. That got the ball rolling, and as the list grew, the concert tapes started flying in. We all learned, even the ones who couldn't see her, what a great live performer she was. And we got to know her stories well. If you listen to these early tapes you will too. She had a lot of songs to keep me busy, but after a while and about a dozen tapes, it started sounding the same, so I stopped collecting.
Luckily, about that time Jewel must have started to feel the same. In spring of 95, the rumors were on the list and they were true. Jewel was starting a band. She put together a great touring band, was writing band songs. It was Newport Folk Festival '65 all over again, and I for one was ecstatic. I caught her at the Paradise in Boston that May with the band. She continued to do a lot of solo acoustic, better than ever I might say. And then half-way through the show she brought out the band. A drummer, bassist, keyboards and Jewel on guitar. She dragged out a roadie to play electric guitar on one song. And it was perfect. The songs rocked. I loved the sound. I was so glad that she was taking these evolutionary steps.
Around that time we learned that she was beginning work on her new album, to be about half acoustic/half band. The studio provided her with a different band for the recording sessions, which we were a little bummed about. Up to this point, being a Jewel fan had been great because she was still small and easy to get to. We had a contact on the mailing list, Jewel even used to write to us once in a while. When I ran a tape tree, I would send Jewel and her mother copies of the tapes. She was so new that it was possible to know everything about her, to know all the songs, keep up on all the concerts. And when you went to a show, you could probably talk to her before or after. But around the time of the band tour, things were getting bigger. "Who Will Save Your Soul" had been rereleased as a single and was doing well. At the Paradise show she had to just run out, there were so many people waiting for her. (Dennis chased her though!). But just then Jewel did the greatest thing any artist has ever done for their fans.
Someone on the mailing list had suggested that Jewel should put on a private concert for the list. I smirked at this. People are always coming up with stuff like this on the other mailing lists I'm on, and I knew things like that don't happen. But I was wrong. Jewel has been wonderfully interested in the mailing list right from the beginning. She had long ago realized that the people who requested the weird songs at her concerts were probably list members. At the Paradise show she mentioned the group of us there several times during the concert. And for whatever reason she thought it would be a good idea to put on a concert for us. Thus was JewelStock born.
That summer, 1996, Jewel was recording the new album in Woodstock, NY. She said that if the concert was in Woodstock between recording sessions, and if we did all the arrangements she'd do it. So, with a lot of help from Jewel's mother Lenedra, things were arranged. There ended up being two nights of concerts. The first only for list members and free, the second one open to the Woodstock public, with proceeds going to a charity. I only went to the first night (some of us have to work you know, and it was a 7 hour drive). It was the greatest concert event of my life. People came from all over the country. At the time I think there were something like 400 people on the list. We had 150 the first night, ones from California, Ontario, all over. And it was so surreal having a concert with only the devoutest fans there. It was deathly quiet during the songs, we applauded like maniacs at everything she said, did and sang. And we knew all the songs. That freaked her out, because she's used to crowds where no one knows the unreleased stuff except for one or two Everyday Angels. But this whole crowd was Everyday Angels, so we'd cheer like crazy at what she thought were the most obscure songs. Plus we knew all her stories by heart. She kept saying, 'I guess you know about that though.' But she came up with some new ones for us. She read us some poetry. And out of the 2 hours of playing, she only played two songs from the album. It was like a dream come true, a concert just for fans, with all the songs you're always hoping she'll play. No noisy jerks next to you. Plus the band she was recording with came and she played with them as well. She did a lot of new songs for us. It was fantastic. And afterwards she stayed forever, taking pictures with people and signing stuff. I got two pictures with her courtesty of Paul Kim. And she signed my Jewelstock shirt (which is now hanging up in the Music room along with the photos). I can't imagine how another concert could ever match it.
Jewel continued to tour with the band. I saw her twice after Jewelstock, in Hampton, NH and opening for Neil Young at Great Woods. And she was fantastic, alone and with the band. The new album was pushed back and eventually dropped. Jewel continued to tour, and her other singles climbed the charts as well. As I write this Spirit has been out about a month and doing well. I must admit I havent' been into her as much anymore. I don't really like the tack her record company has taken for promoting her, and what I took for a sickly-sweet songwriting phase during the summer of 96 has turned into something more long-term. I hope that she continues to evolve, and perhaps try and put her best foot forward with all these new fans. I think she sometimes pulls out the real stinker songs (in my opinion) and pushes them on the crowd, while I cry thinking how many better songs she has.