We are now two months to the day from the release of Alice in Chains: The Untold Story. One bit of news about the book I am pleased to announce: it was included in the “Summer’s Music Must-Reads” list in the new issue of Billboard magazine which came out last week. The article is behind a paywall, but here’s a scan:
As the August 4 publication date for Alice In Chains: The Untold Story approaches, several people have discovered this site or my book for the first time within the past several days and weeks. I thought I would take advantage of the opportunity to (re)introduce myself and my previous work about Alice in Chains to date, and address recent developments and some of the feedback I’ve received so far.
First, I have no knowledge of or involvement with a possible Alice in Chains book by Duff McKagan. Beyond that, I won’t comment on it until I’ve had an opportunity to read it, if it should come to pass. I would also refer you to this recent tweet from Duff himself:
Second, several people have contacted me and told me they’ve already pre-ordered the book. I am profoundly thankful to each and every one of you for spending your hard-earned money on the unreleased first book of an unknown author, and for your trust. It means a great deal to me.
Several others have contacted me to ask questions about the book or to express their skepticism, such as if the band members were involved with the book (they weren’t), or asking why they should buy it, or telling me I shouldn’t expect people to buy it just because it’s about Alice in Chains. All of these questions and critiques are valid, and I will address them as best as I can for the time being.
I am well aware of the fact Alice in Chains and their fans have been burned by other writers in the past, so I can understand these questions and doubts you have about me. I can’t say anything about what’s in my book until it’s out, but I can refer you to my background and my body of work. In particular, I would refer you to this story I filed for The Atlantic several years ago, which I think is the best example of how I write and put together a story. Although it is about a very different subject, try to imagine a book length version of that story about Alice in Chains. If I felt I couldn’t write something about the band of that quality or better, I wouldn’t have done it, or I would have abandoned the project.
If you still have questions or doubts, I would say wait until the book is out and skim through it at your local bookstore, and make up your own mind if you think it’s worth buying/reading or not. I’m happy and confident in how it came out after three years of hard work and I am eagerly looking forward to everyone finally getting an opportunity to read it.
I was fortunate to be able to see Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck this weekend in Hollywood, and I can’t emphasize enough how good it is – good enough that I saw it twice. The second screening I went to also had the added bonus of a Q&A with director Brett Morgen, who spent eight years working on the film. Based on interviews with a handful of people who knew Kurt best, as well as access to a treasure trove of personal effects owned by the Cobain family, this film is probably the closest people are going to get to a Kurt Cobain autobiography. With the exception of a handful of soundbites from interviews with his parents, sister, ex-girlfriend Tracy Marander, bandmate Krist Novoselic, and wife Courtney Love, most of the film is narrated by Kurt himself, collected from audio recordings he made for himself as well as interviews, home movies, excerpts from his journals, and his artwork.
His life story – and that of Nirvana – has been told and retold many times, so in terms of factual content there isn’t much new that most Nirvana fans didn’t already know. Without giving anything away, Morgen does an outstanding job of trying to portray such a complex, contradictory and revered figure as Cobain within the confines of two hours and fifteen minutes. Worth noting are the rearrangements of Nirvana songs like “All Apologies” and “Lithium” by composer Jeff Danna (you can hear a few snippets of these in the trailer), and the animated sequences created by Hisko Hulsing and Stefan Nadelman, who animated some of Cobain’s artwork as well as create original sequences to illustrate life experiences recounted by Cobain himself on his audio tapes.
I would strongly recommend people go see this film in theaters if they can – mainly for the sound. During the live performance sequences, it feels like the closest thing to actually being at a Nirvana concert, and sounds absolutely incredible. For those of us who never got the chance to go to a Nirvana show, this is probably as good as it’s ever going to get.
Update: One more thing worth mentioning – the companion book to the movie has scans and photos of the artwork, journal entries and artifacts, as well as outtakes from the interviews which were not used in the film. I have a copy and highly recommend reading it. There is supposed to be a soundtrack for the project with material from Kurt’s tapes, but no release date or further details yet.
Update II: Here’s a blog post from a few years ago. During the course of my Alice in Chains research, I found a copy of the November 1988 issue of Backlash which had the review for the Love Buzz/Big Cheese single – Nirvana’s first single. Enjoy!
Alternative Nation posted a write-up of an interview former Guns n’ Roses manager Doug Goldstein gave to the Brazilian edition of Rolling Stone. (NOTE: Consequence of Sound and Ultimate Classic Rock have also done similar write-ups of the Goldstein interview) The headline is that Goldstein blames the demise of Axl Rose and Slash’s relationship on the fact that Slash played a show with Michael Jackson and Axl wasn’t happy about it because he had allegedly been abused by his father and he believed the molestation allegations against Jackson. (NOTE: I don’t speak Portuguese, so I’m analyzing this article assuming Alternative Nation’s translation is accurate.)
Goldstein seems to be conflating several different issues together, but if you look at the timing and sequencing of events, I would highly doubt this explanation’s accuracy. (Either that or the magazine misquoted or mistranslated his comments) I read Slash’s memoir several years ago, in which he was pretty honest about the problems going on behind the scenes with Guns n’ Roses. He briefly mentioned his collaboration(s) with Michael Jackson, but did not mention that as an issue between himself and Axl. Duff McKagan made no mention of this in his book either, nor did Stephen Davis in his biography of the band.
Beyond this, take a look at the timing and sequencing of events:
It’s difficult to prove a negative – that something didn’t happen – but in this case it is possible based on the available evidence. Based on the time table of events, Slash probably recorded his guest parts for the Dangerous album some time in 1990-1991. The Michael Jackson molestation allegations would not become public until August of 1993 – a month after the band had played its last show together from the Use Your Illusion tour. Bottom line – there’s no way Axl and Slash could have had a falling out over the Michael Jackson allegations two years before they happened. Beyond that – books by/about the band show that there were problems building within the band for a very long time. I highly doubt Michael Jackson had anything to do with the deterioration and collapse of Axl’s relationship with Slash.
Layne Staley performing with Alice ‘N Chains at University of Washington’s Kane Hall, May 1986.
It’s been a while since I posted anything about my Alice in Chains biography. Here’s something to start off 2015:
The Book Is DONE: I’m reviewing a hard copy of the manuscript (pictured above) for final edits and changes. Once that’s finished, that will be the final version that goes to the presses for mass production and publication.
Mark Your Calendars: The other bit of news is the book is now available for pre-order on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, with a scheduled release date of August 4, 2015.
More updates to come in the weeks and months ahead… I look forward to getting the book out there and for people to have the opportunity to read it. Best wishes to all of you for 2015…
Today marks the 20th and 12th anniversaries of the deaths of Kurt Cobain and Layne Staley. Take some time to reflect on them, their music, and their individual legacies.
Kurt Cobain:
Layne Staley:
Beyond these links and videos, if you want to know more about both of them and the broader Seattle scene in general, I would highly recommend reading Greg Prato’s Grunge Is Dead and Mark Yarm’s Everybody Loves Our Town.
Paul Rachman, the director of Alice in Chains‘ breakout “Man in the Box” video, has posted this photo on Twitter of him with the titular character from the video. According to another tweet by Rachman, the character was played by a friend named Rezin.
You can view Rezin in all his creepy glory at the end of the video:
Watch this video of teenagers reacting to Nirvana… One thing worth pointing out is the fact that even though they were all born after Cobain’s death, the reactions to “Smells Like Teen Spirit” were pretty similar to when my friends and I were that age when the song came out in 1991.
h/t Mark Yarm
Ever wondered what your favorite bands might look like as Legos? Now’s your chance.
In terms of the look/accuracy of the figures, my personal favorites are Daft Punk, Tupac, Joy Division, The Beatles, and Led Zeppelin.
Icepicks and Nukes 