Courtesy
of Marissa from her Welcome To Olympus - an Andrew Wood Tribute Page
Walking
up the street one day, Greg Gilmore ran into Stone Gossard, who asked him
if he wanted to come jam with the Lords of the Wasteland: Jeff Ament, Andrew
Wood, Bruce Fairweather, and himself. Gilmore, intrigued, said sure.
At
first, Gilmore was only there to help the rest learn the songs. More rehearsals
ensued, and one afternoon Regan Hagar showed up. Greg was totally unaware
that Regan had also been playing with the band. Eventually, both Regan
and Greg realized who was the band's drummer: Greg.
Now
a new name was needed for the new band. Bruce brought in Daddy Long Legs,
and Stone came up with the Dum Dum Boys. But it was Andy that eventually
came up with the name: Mother Love Bone. He spent a week trying to convince
the rest of the group, saying it at every practice. It eventually stuck.
The
newly christened Mother Love Bone was in the studio by February 1988 recording
their first demo. The tracks included "Showdown," "Holy Roller," "Jumping
Jehovah," Lubricated Muscle Jive," "Capricorn Sister," "Half Ass Monkey
Boy," "One Time Fire," "Stargazer," "The Other Side," and "Lady Godiva
Blues." Jeff sent this out to try to get some shows. One copy found its
way to Kelly Curtis at Mark Allen Productions. After Curtis's arrival,
the band was soon recording another demo. This demo and various other cassettes
combining songs from the two sessions were also used to get gigs and were
sent around to record labels. Geffen received the demo and later financed
another MLB demo. This third session took place in June 1988. The next
month, with Kelly Curtis in tow, the band went to Los Angeles to meet with
Geffen.
Returning
home, the band finally asked Curtis to become their manager. He wasn't
interested at first, but eventually accepted.
The
waiting. . . . the Geffen meeting went well; the label wanted the band
and the contract was meant to go off that week. So they waited, and waited,
through the summer. They quit their jobs. Finally, in September, they went
back and recorded yet another demo with six brand new songs: "Bone China,"
"Captain Hi-Top," "Heartshine," "Crown of Thorns," "Zanzibar," and "Red
Hot Shaft." Meanwhile, their phones are ringing like crazy. One of their
demos managed to make its way around to a host of different record companies.
They were made many offers, and when the Geffen deal fell under, Polygram
was the lucky winner. The company had even created the Stardog label specifically
for the band.
In
January 1989, the band began to work on their debut EP, Shine. The record
release party was held March 20th in Seattle at the Oxford Tavern. Ten
days later, they were at the Channel in Boston, playing their first date
in a nationwide tour, opening for Dogs D'Amour. Upon their return home,
they had a long break from spring into the fall. Then it was back into
the studio, where they recorded a cover of Argent's "Hold Your Head Up."
In
September, they started work on their debut album, Apple. Almost everything
the band recorded appeared on that album, but one out-take does exist,
"Seasons of Change." Apple was completed at the London Bridge Studios around
November, but the final remix was done without the band, in London, England.
Polygram felt that a spring release date would be best for a new act, so
there was more waiting. With this, Andy checked himself back into a rehab
program. He spent November and December 1989 dealing with his problem.
By March 1990, the band was awaiting the release of the record.
On
Thursday, March 15th, Andy did an interview
with Michael Browning in Seattle. Wood talks about his drug problem in
it as though he's got it licked. The following evening, Andy was found
by his fiance collapsed on their bed. On March 19th, Andy Wood left us
forever.
Apple
was still released on time, the band wanted it out there. But what of the
band? Certain members of the band wanted to go on as Mother Love Bone.
But when Gossard announced that he did not want to continue, the band ceased
to be.
