Uh.. I think this is the original:

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Bob:

I know that you're probably going to get deluged with info from angry Canucks who will take issue with the incorrect attribution of "Hard Sun" to Eddie Vedder.

In fact, the song was written by a Canadian named Gordon Peterson, who recorded for A&M under the name Indio. "Hard Sun" was a Canadian rock radio hit for him back in about 1989-90. Gordon has since gone into hiding and hasn't been seen nor heard from for a long, long time. Meanwhile, Indio's "Big Harvest" album been out of print for years.

The REAL mystery is how Eddie managed to find "Hard Sun" in the first place!

Alan Cross
Program Director, 102.1 the Edge
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Bob,

Did you know that "Hard Sun" is a remake? It was done by Indio back in 1989 on, what I think was there one and only album, Big Harvest. It was on A&M and did OK at the "alternative format." The female vocalist who sang on the track MADE the song. Van Dyke Parks and Joni Mitchell were on the album as well.

And I agree 100%, "To Live And Die In L.A." by Wang Chung was a KILLER song.


Jerry Rubino
Music Director

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Bob that's a cover of a song by Gord Peterson, AKA "Indio," whom I signed and developed in the mid '80s. Ended up on A&M working with Steve Rabolvsky. Not sure how Eddie heard it but it is a faithful yet superior version than the original.

The two best things Eddie has done in years are covers--"Hard Sun" and "Last Kiss"!!

Michael McCarty
President EMI Music Publishing Canada

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Dear Bob,

I hope you've already been bombarded with emails prior to mine, pointing out that Eddie Vedder did not write "Hard Sun." It was originally written and recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Peterson, and released under his band name Indio on A&M in 1989. Steve Ralbovsky signed him to the label, and I would surmise that he also introduced Eddie Vedder to Gordon's music. I had the privilege of working with Gordon when I was at A&M--he's an extraordinary talent, with a quiet charisma not unlike Eddie's. I haven't spoken to Gordon in years--it's seems that he chose to disappear from the business, despite being a truly gifted writer and singer. Because of Into The Wild, people are now discovering Gordon's music.

Karen Glauber

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Bob:

Eddie didn't write "Hard Sun." It was written by Gordon Peterson from Hamilton, Ontario who recorded it for his one and only album Big Harvest on A&M in 1989, which he recorded under the band name Indio.

I only know this because an intern from the Hamilton Spectator newspaper contacted me before the Oscar nominations were announced because she said my client singer/songwriter Brenda Russell had recorded vocals on the song and the intern wanted to get a quote from Brenda about the experience of working with Gordon, who has since gone so far underground that no one can seem to find him.

Anyway to make the story short, Brenda didn't remember working on the session so I downloaded the album from a file-sharing network and sent her the mp3 of Gordon's original version of "Hard Sun." After hearing it, she said it sounded vaguely familiar although she thought it was a very cool song. She noted it was extremely weird to hear her voice on a recording and not remember doing it!

I found the story of Gordon Peterson fascinating, so I helped the intern track down the album's producer, Larry Klein, who shed some light on the session.

Here's the resulting article that will give the story on Gordon:

http://www.thespec.com/article/315250

Pretty interesting stuff.

Best regards,

Seth Keller
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Nothing you quite said, Bob, but I think you might be under the impression that Eddie Vedder wrote "Hard Sun." It's actually a cover of an obscure Canadian act named Indio. It's an irksome national habit up here to point out such things, so forgive me if you're already aware of it all.

Love your stuff.

Garnet Fraser
Sunday Entertainment editor
Toronto Star
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Ornie Kornelsen:

Yeah to bad Eddie didn't write it. It's written by a Gordon Peterson a Canadian, from Hamilton (Dan Lanois) known for a non-conventional project "Indio" and the album "Big Harvest" in 1989. READ ON!!!!

INDIO

A&M Press Department, Biography, (c) June 1989

Musically speaking, Indio is as elusive as its moniker. Neither a group in the conventional sense nor a solo project, per se, this Indio is shifting, evolving cast of characters playing the music of singer-songwriter-instrumentalist Gordon Peterson. And the music itself? That's best understood simply by listening to Big Harvest, Indio's debut album for A&M.

Peterson, a self-taught guitarist and pianist, is a native of Hamilton, Ontario, and has made his home in Toronto since the age of 19. "I taught myself to play so I could write songs," Peterson recalls. "As the music developed, I found it was easier for me to play certain things myself than try to verbalize my ideas to somebody else and hope that their interpretation would be the same as mine."

Peterson put a band together when he arrived in Toronto. But after more than two years of playing the local club circuit, he found himself frustrated by the confines of a set musical unit. "When I started recording my material," he explains, "I found it somewhat restricting to have to rely on the same three players all the time; it was easier to bring in the musicians I thought were appropriate for each particular track, so we broke up the band."

That process took a major step forward when Peterson was introduced to David Rhodes, guitarist with Peter Gabriel and others. The two struck up a musical and personal friendship, and began recording the material that would define Big Harvest.

Other Collaborators followed: bassist Larry Klein, who along with Peterson and engineer Peter Walsh, became Peterson's co-producers; Brenda Russell, who provides the ad-libbed vocal filigree on "Hard Sun," the album's first single; Joni Mitchell, who sings a variety of background parts; Bill Dillon, best-known for his guitar work with Robbie Robertson; Indian violinist L. Subramanian; percussionist Alex Acuna; drummers Vincent Colaiuta and Manny Elias; arranger Van Dyke Parks, who plays accordion on the album and others.

The drummers played an especially crucial role in the evolution of the Indio sound, what with its dense, world rhythms. "I'm a lover of rhythms and interesting grooves," Peterson notes. "For some reason, when I write on an acoustic guitar, I happen to write around those non-Western rhythms. I gravitate towards them without even trying, and the next thing I know I'm working in some kind of strange 7/4 time or something."

"When I do finally record, I have a very clear idea, groove-wise, of what I want to do; everything else is left up to spontaneity, and trying to capture the feeling I had when conceiving the song. I was fortunate to have two great drummers on the record to translate those ideas."

Those ideas also resulted in the general, if unconscious, avoidance of conventional pop song structure. "I conceive the songs around a feeling and an emotion rather than a particular pop form," Peterson says, which gives them a more natural, organic nature. The same can be said of the lyrics, which he describes as "either spiritual, personal searches, like 'Big Harvest' or observations, like 'Hard Sun,' or a combination of both. A lot of the songs are just written around feelings that I get about certain things; they're not real specific, or tied to current events."

As for the decision not to put the name Gordon Peterson above the title, he says, "I didn't feel comfortable using only my name. I like to get people together and work in a a group with them; Indio is a band with changing members, not a solo project per se. I find it's a great way to work. You have a group of people contributing regularly to the music, and yet it's my own music. So it's the best of both worlds.

"Most of all, I try to never intellectualize the process of making music--I don't think about it, I just do it." And his hope for Big Harvest? "I hope people listen to the record and get out of it what they can...I just want people to get a feeling from it that they can enjoy."

1 The Grinding Wheel Peterson 6:49
2 Discovery Peterson 4:40
3 Save for the Memory Peterson 4:21
4 Big Harvest Peterson 3:46
5 Hard Sun Peterson 4:41
6 This Golden Land Peterson 4:42
7 The Season of the Lost Peterson 4:57
8 Stories Peterson 4:36
9 My Eyes Peterson 5:04
10 Ship on a Sea Peterson 5:27
11 Life Lies Down Peterson 3:54

http://www.geocities.com/saveforthememory/index.html

Credits
Gordon Peterson Guitar, Percussion, Piano, Strings, Keyboards, Vocals,
Alejandro Neciosup Acuña Percussion
Tom Banghart Assistant Engineer
David Bottrill Engineer, Assistant Engineer
Adrian Brett Woodwind, Wind Instruments
Richard Chappell Assistant Engineer
Andrew Clark Organ (Hammond)
Simon Clark Organ (Hammond)
Vinnie Colaiuta Drums
Danny Cummings Percussion
Bill Dillon Guitar, Mandolin, Pedal Steel, Chant
Manny Elias Percussion, Drums
Mickey Feat Bass
Joe Fiorello Assistant Engineer, Mixing
Paula "Max" Garcia Assistant Engineer
Robert Herman Woodcut
Martyn Heyes Assistant Engineer
Kevin Killen Engineer
Larry Klein Bass, Guitar, Percussion, Keyboards, Producer, Chant
Julie Last Assistant Engineer
Steve Lindsey Organ (Hammond)
Bob Ludwig Mastering
F. Ron Miller Art Direction, Design
Joni Mitchell Vocals, Vocals (bckgr), Choir, Chorus, Chant
Van Dyke Parks Accordion
Karen Peris Vocals, Vocals (bckgr), Choir, Chorus
Vocals (bckgr), Choir, Chorus, Producer, Chant, Art Direction
Tony Pleeth Cello
Saul Raye Assistant Engineer
David Rhodes Guitar, Percussion, Producer
Paul Ridout Sound Effects, Sounds
Brenda Russell Vocals, Choir, Chorus
Brian Scheuble Assistant Engineer
Mike Shipley Mixing
Bob Vogt Assistant Engineer
Peter Walsh Producer, Engineer, Mixing