Before
Pearl Jam
, there was
Mother Love Bone
. Future
Pearl Jam
members
Stone Gossard
(guitar) and
Jeff Ament
(bass) were founders of this Seattle-based glam/punk outfit, which was fronted by flamboyant singer Andrew Wood. But despite countless accolades from the press and their peers, the group's career was cut short before it could truly blossom due to tragedy.
Both
Gossard
and
Ament
had previously been members of Seattle garage rockers
Green River
(a group that also included future
Mudhoney
members
Mark Arm
and Steve Turner), and upon the group's breakup in 1988, the guitarist and bassist stuck together, looking to form a group more a kin to the arena rockers of their youth (
Kiss
,
Aerosmith
,
Led Zeppelin
,
Queen
, etc.). Joining
Gossard
and
Ament
was drummer Greg Gilmore, second guitarist Bruce Fairweather, and the aforementioned Wood on vocals. Wood (who was previously known as Landrew the Love Child as a member of another Seattle outfit,
Malfunkshun
) was the complete opposite of the prototypical Seattle frontman as he patterned his look and vocal style after such renowned frontmen as
Freddie Mercury
,
Paul Stanley
, and
Marc Bolan
. But although the group had a few similarities to the then-flourishing glam metal scene, the group's sound was tougher and more rooted in classic rock than their soon-to-be disposable glam contemporaries.
The group created a buzz from the get-go as the quintet inked a deal with Polygram shortly after forming and were given their own label, Stardog, resulting in the release of the six-track EP Shine in 1989. The year was spent touring and plotting their full-length debut, which was eventually completed by the end of the year, with a projected release in spring of 1990. Expectations for the disc were high and sensing this, Wood wanted to be at his best, so the singer checked himself into a rehab center to try and conquer an addiction to heroin. But on March 16, 1990, Wood was found by his fianc?e unconscious in his bed, having overdosed on the drug. Despite efforts to revive him, Wood was eventually pronounced dead three days later. Devastated, the group called it quits as the resulting album, Apple, was issued several months later in the fall of 1990.
Gossard
and
Ament
slowly worked their way back into music, as they joined up with
Soundgarden
members
Matt Cameron
and
Chris Cornell
(the latter a good friend and former roommate of Wood's) to record a pair of songs that
Cornell
had penned for the late singer. But the sessions soon took on a life of their own and a full album's worth of tunes was recorded, issued as a self-titled release in 1991 under the name of
Temple of the Dog
(a phrase from one of Wood's lyrics). The album also saw contributions from guitarist
Mike McCready
and singer
Eddie Vedder
, two musicians who
Gossard
and
Ament
had been jamming with, soon resulting in the formation of
Pearl Jam
. With both
Soundgarden
and
Pearl Jam
enjoying massive commercial success in 1992, Temple of the Dog enjoyed a second wind on the charts and became a sizeable hit, as interest in
Mother Love Bone
perked up as well. Sensing this, Polygram reissued both Shine and Apple together as a self-titled release, as well as a home video Love Bone Earth Affair. In addition, the epic
Mother Love Bone
song "Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns" was included on the hit soundtrack to the movie Singles the same year. Besides
Gossard
and
Ament
, the other surviving members of
Mother Love Bone
have subsequently issued recordings as part of other bands, as well (Fairweather with
Love Battery
and Gilmore with a host of others, including
Carrie Clark
,
Doghead
, etc.). ~ Greg Prato, Rovi