I found an interesting interview with Dave from October 1996 done by a newspaper from Dallas,
http://www.dallasobserver.com/1996-10-24/news/un-rock-star/1

This was two years after he was fired, and at the time of the interview he had just finished all the legal stuff involving "that band" as he refers to Pearl Jam in the interview. Obviously he is still very upset and it comes across, I can only imagine what it must be like to go from a high school drop out wandering around North Texas to joining Pearl Jam and riding the wave that took them from from "playing in front of 100 people in a 500 seat club" to being one of the biggest bands in the World, to being fired and putting himself in a somewhat self imposed exile for years.

Obviously things have changed a bit since this interview was done, not only does he refer to them as "Pearl Jam" and not "that band" but he has that You Tube page where he's been sharing some of his own home videos of his days with Pearl Jam. I don't know I've been kind of obsessed with this topic for the last two months, the newer Pearl Jam fans might not have that much interests in this topic but for those of us who have been enjoying Pearl Jam's music since when it was still "popular" I thought would find this as interesting as I did.

Here's some excerpts:

Hadn't read that before. Well written and thought out, with probing questions.

Its clear that he was fired from the band for smoking cigars.

that's very interesting

Based on the 5 Against 1 book, it's clearly Ed's fault. I think the band was at really tough era and they needed to take it out on someone. Dave was probably the easiest target. Ed was the star, Stone and Jeff were the founders, and Mike was an awesome guitar players...plus with Jack Irons available, they jumped on it.

In 5a1, it says that Stone was crying when he fired Dave. They knew they would rather lose Dave than Ed...obviously. I feel bad. Dave A was my favorite drummer.

I am curious, since Ed has lightened up a little in recent years, if he regrets the move...or if not regrets, if he they would still have problems today.

Based on the 5 Against 1 book, it's clearly Ed's fault. I think the band was at really tough era and they needed to take it out on someone. Dave was probably the easiest target. Ed was the star, Stone and Jeff were the founders, and Mike was an awesome guitar players...plus with Jack Irons available, they jumped on it.

In 5a1, it says that Stone was crying when he fired Dave. They knew they would rather lose Dave than Ed...obviously. I feel bad. Dave A was my favorite drummer.

I am curious, since Ed has lightened up a little in recent years, if he regrets the move...or if not regrets, if he they would still have problems today.

I enjoyed reading 5 Against 1 but it was biased as hell.

Ditto.

I've long wondered why Stone's never had the balls to just tell him " hey, Ed and Jeff hate you, and in order to keep the band together, we gotta cut you loose."

Based on that book, EVERYTHING is Ed's fault.

It was The Eddie Vedder Story, with some preface on how the band was formed.

Yeah that and lots of info came from Abruzzese and people around him, it often looked like you were only getting one side of the stories. All that shit about Vedder's family went way too long too, completely unnecessary in my opinion.

I agree with your asessment.

I'm still waiting for a decent book about Pearl Jam. Perhaps it will only come when they've retired.

Here's my take from reading Five against one etc.. Dave was both the victim and the problem.

One of the discussions in the book that kind of sheds light on where some of the animosity between Ed and Dave might have come from is in the fact that on the tour bus one day early on just as it was becoming obvious something big was about to happen for the band Stone announced to the other members that as the "leader" of the band Stone was going to change their pay deal to give Eddie a bigger slice of the Pearl Jam pie. It was recounted in the book that Ed just stood there next to Stone while he made the announcement, Jeff and Mike were fine with it but that Dave made a stink and called bull shit on the deal.

Now whether your idealists who thinks that everyone in a band should paid equal, or your a realist who under stands Eddie Vedder was/ is the face, name and personality associated with the band. Just as Kurt Cobain was with Nirvana etc.. Not many folks can name the bass player of Pearl Jam, but a lot of folks know the name Eddie Vedder and his distinct voice, it doesn't matter. The point is that Dave stood out, I think this is a recurring theme.

Mike I think wanted to be the rock star, but also didn't want to rock the boat or endanger the good thing the band had going so he sat back and let Ed, Stone and Jeff lead the way. Mike just wanted to play music in Pearl Jam, he was living his wildest dream but kept his emotions under wraps (he played it cool). Dave definitely should have followed Mike's lead, and just be a yes man. I think Dave is an individual who thought he could say things and create arguments thinking the other members would work things out and not take things personally, I think he didn't understand that people hold onto things even after arguments are over. And that people can harbor ill feelings while representing that they did not, basically I think Dave was a good guy with bad people skills which is why I don't think he saw it coming when he got fired when he probably should have.

My personal opinion from reading interviews and such going back to 1994 when I first heard he got fired is that Ed and Jeff wanted Dave out, Mike I think had no quarrels with Dave but obviously wanted to keep the band going. If Eddie wanted Dave out Mike would support that, even if he disagreed inside he would not express that. Stone I think liked Dave, wanted him to stay but with with Ed and Jeff so adament and MIke not standing up for Dave Stone had no choice.

I have to think on some level too that Ed's close relationship with Jack Irons also played a part, I think if Jack was not available Dave would not have been fired from Pearl Jam and they would have tried to work things out. Jack could have been with Pearl Jam from the very beginning but turned Stone and Jeff down, although he did introduce them to Eddie. However with Pearl Jam's huge rocket to success I think Jack might have had regrets not jumping in on that opportunity when he had the chance, and Eddie might have heard that or felt that from his friend Jack at some point and thus had a passive aggressive thing towards Dave from that point on.

I think the best thing to happen to Pearl Jam was not having Jack Irons join right away, it's Dave K and Dave A's aggressive tempos that coupled with Ed's intense stage presence and Mike's awesome rock solos really are the basis to Pearl Jam's early success. Their powerful live shows are what made Pearl Jam so famous, Dave was a part of that with his aggressive style. I like Jack but the live shows with Jack on drums are laid back, Randall's Island my first concert was awesome. However the live shows with Jack were not the same as the live shows with Dave, they turned it down a notch. if Jack were with them for Ten it would not have sounded like it did, it would have been more groovy less rock. I don't think they would have been successful, they definitely would not have been as aggressive as they were early on.

Matt Cameron I think is the balance between Dave and Jack, and for that I think he has been a perfect fit since joining Pearl Jam in 1998. Dave might have been too hard, Jack too soft, Matt is just right.

With all this talk about the 20 year anniversary, re issuing albums etc.. I hope after 15 years Pearl Jam could burry the hatchet and include Dave Abbruzzese in some of their upcoming projects. Maybe let him contribute something to the Pearl Jam movie, some of his photos etc for Vs and Vitalogy box sets, Jack Irons played with Pearl Jam a couple times in recent years for a few songs. Why not invite Dave on stage one night and let him play "Go", "Dissident", "Rearview mirror" once again. At the very least invite the guy on stage when Pearl Jam gets inducted into the Rock N Roll hall of fame.

No one has mentioned Dave's anecdote about Vedder throwing water bottles at him!

glorified version of a....

With all the revisionism they put on the TEN re-release, there's no way in hell any of this is taking place. It would be nice, but it just ain't gonna happen.

I do think you made a valid point re: Jack and Dave's firing. Didn't Eleven open for them not long before the split? Perhaps he and Ed had some nice, long discussions on that leg. I do feel that feelers were probably put out to Jack before making a decision on Dave. His closeness to Ed and involvement in the band from day one make it hard for me to believe otherwise.

revisionism on the rerelease?

I think Ed wanting to bring Jack (his close friend) into Pearl jam had more to with Dave's firing than any excuse they might have made in interviews (buying cars, rock star attitude). That all may be true, but how does that differentiate Dave from Ed attending parties in the Hamptons with the Ultra elite of the elite Entertainment industry, or Jeff Snow boarding from a helicopter in Alaska?..

Jack has first dibs at Pearl Jam when Stone and Jeff asked him to be the drummer for the band they were forming, he refused although he did introduce them to Ed. Jack also quit the Red Hot Chili Peppers just before they exploded to great heights with "Mother's Milk" and then the Ultra successful "Blood, sugar, sex, magik"..

My own opinion is that Ed at some point in 1993 got it in his head that he wished Jack was drumming for Pearl Jam, and I think he developed some kind of passive aggressive thing towards Dave Abbruzzese like he was the reason Jack was not in Pearl Jam or he was in the way of bringing Jack on board and making Jack happy. I think Ed expressed these feelings either by cutting off communication with Dave and perhaps other members of Pearl jam who have openly discussed their communication problems during this time, and probably criticizing Dave's drumming in order to make the case for a change to Jack Irons.

I'll say this, every article or interview I've read with Dave Abbruzzese since 1998 he has nothing but praise for Matt Cameron, I think I've read in some vague comments that Dave knows Ed had the fix in to bring Jack on board. I guarantee that Pearl Jam did not contact anyone, Jack just probably showed up with Ed at rehearsal one day and everyone accepted he was in the band.

One interesting side note is that Jack Irons left Eleven to join Pearl Jam and Matt Cameron filled in to finish with Eleven to help them finish their third album, then a couple years later Jack leaves Pearl Jam and again Matt Cameron fills in on the Yield tour in 1998 before becoming a full time member in 1999.

I love baseless speculation.

With the Ultra Delux Ten re issue their were what some people felt were subtle digs at Dave Abbruzzese, for one thing the "Un Plugged" DVD package had Ed, Mike, Jeff and Stone's pictures on the package. They obviously left out Dave, and on the "Drop in the Park" Album there's one small obscure photo of Dave, the other photos he's in on that cover only shows the back of a person I would assume was Dave with the other members.