Alice in Chains
Unplugged
Music Bank
Live
Black Gives Way to Blue
The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here
JERRY CANTRELL
Boggy Depot
Degradation Trip
MAD SEASON
Above
DOCUMENTARIES AND FILMS
Hype!
Malfunkshun: The Andrew Wood Story
Pearl Jam Twenty
Singles
OTHER RESOURCES
Chris Cornell, Jeff Ament, and Stone Gossard. Interview. KISW 99.9 FM, April 14, 1991. http://www.fivehorizons.com/archive/articles/radio041491.shtml.
Metallica. Live cover of “Man in the Box.” Summer 1994. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWYnSEZKcVw; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSq626zbMyk.
National Institute on Drug Abuse. “NIDA InfoFacts: Heroin.” http://www.nida.nih.gov/infofacts/heroin.html.
University of Maryland Center for Substance Abuse Research. “Heroin.” http://www.cesar.umd.edu/cesar/drugs/heroin.asp.
Wood, Kevin. Interview. Fullinbloommusic.com, date unknown. http://www.fullinbloommusic.com/kevinwood.html.
Photographs
Scott Hunt took out this ad announcing a new rehearsal space at a warehouse in Ballard in September 1984. This was the beginning of the Music Bank.
The Rocket
Sleze and Tim Branom at London Bridge Studios, circa 1986. (Standing, left to right) Unknown woman, Tim Branom, Peter Barnes, Johnny Bacolas, and Nick Pollock. (Kneeling, left to right) Layne and an unknown man.
Nick Pollock
Sleze practicing in their first room at the Music Bank, circa 1985. (Left to right) Layne Staley, Jim Sheppard, and James Bergstrom.
Nick Pollock
Layne and Nick Pollock performing at Kane Hall with Alice ’N Chains, circa 1987. Layne is wearing the purple outfit that had once belonged to Prince, loaned to him by his girlfriend Chrissy Chacos.
Nick Pollock
Nick Pollock joining Alice in Chains (who used the name Diamond Lie at the time) onstage for “Queen of the Rodeo” during their first-ever show, which took place at Kane Hall on January 15, 1988. Mike Starr is on the right side.
Nick Pollock
These photographs, circa spring/summer of 1988, were probably taken within a few weeks or months after Layne and Demri started dating.
Courtesy of Randall Hauser
Layne, Jerry Cantrell, and Sean Kinney at London Bridge Studios working on the demo that ultimately got them signed to Columbia Records in the summer of 1988.
Courtesy of Randall Hauser
Mike Starr and Rick Parashar during the demo recording sessions. In addition to co-owning and founding London Bridge Studios and working with Alice in Chains, Parashar worked with several bands from the era, most notably Pearl Jam.
Courtesy of Randall Hauser
Layne performing in his Mohawk look. This photograph was taken during the August 11, 1988, show at the Kent Skate King attended by Diana Wilmar, where she got the idea to shoot a story about the band for KING 5.
David Fox–Fox Wilmar Productions
Alice in Chains and director Paul Rachman on the set of the “Man in the Box” video shoot in Malibu State Park, December 1990. Within six months, the video would jump-start the band’s career thanks to heavy rotation on MTV.
© Bob Gruen/www.bobgruen.com
Layne and John Baker Saunders performing with Mad Season at the Crocodile Café, April 22, 1995.
© Karen Mason-Blair/www.karenmasonblair.com
Despite difficulties during the preparations, the Unplugged show was a success. Randy Biro, Susan Silver, and Michele Anthony were in tears during “Nutshell.”
Frank Micelotta/Getty Images
Layne with studio assistant Elan Trujillo, who was assigned to help him. Layne and Trujillo talked about video games, and Trujillo showed him how to use Offspring drummer Ron Welty’s electronic drum kit, August 22, 1998.
Annette Cisneros
Layne blowing out his thirty-first birthday cake while playing around on Ron Welty’s electronic drum kit, August 22, 1998.
Annette Cisneros
Alice in Chains regrouped while Jerry and Sean were touring with Metallica to record two new songs with Dave Jerden but were not able to finish with him. They had to ask Toby Wright to record the vocals in Seattle and put the songs together from the various sessions. These were the last songs Layne recorded.
Annette Cisneros
Sean and Jerry hugging after the K-ROCK Tsunami Continued Care Relief Concert, February 18, 2005. It was their first show as Alice in Chains in nearly a decade and their first since Layne’s death three years earlier.
Kevin Casey/Getty Images
Alice in Chains at the MusiCares MAP Fund benefit in 2012, where Jerry was honored for his support of the organization and helping other addicts. Jerry celebrated ten years of sobriety in July 2013.
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
About the Author
David de Sola is a journalist with experience working at CNN, 60 Minutes, and Reuters, whose work has also been published in The Atlantic, The Huffington Post, and other print and online publications. He lives in Los Angeles.
Visit his Web site at www.daviddesola.com and follow him on Twitter @daviddesola. Or sign up for email updates here.
Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Epigraphs
Introduction
Part I: 1967–1984
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Part II: 1984–1989
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Part III: 1989–1996
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Part IV: 1996–2001
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Part V: 2001–2002
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Part VI: 2002–2014
Chapter 28