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A Guide to the Unreleased Layne Staley Material
The subject of unreleased Layne Staley material received renewed attention today after this post at Alternative Nation. I covered this subject in my book Alice In Chains: The Untold Story and thought it would be worth going into some detail here:
Are any of the unreleased tracks from leftover Alice in Chains material?
No.
Layne Staley vs. the PMRC
A few months ago, I wrote about the thirtieth anniversary of the PMRC hearing, as well as Layne Staley’s public comment on a local television program in opposition to any kind of censorship. I’m revisiting the subject today because someone found an image of Layne on that show and posted it on an Alice in Chains Facebook group. (I’ve confirmed the authenticity of the image with Layne’s close friend and former bandmate Johnny Bacolas, who attended the taping with him.)
Here are the two paragraphs I wrote about it in my book:
Prince Remembered
I was absolutely devastated to find out that Prince died in his home this morning. It seems as if lately people have been writing a lot of obituaries and tributes for musicians in the not too distant past, and it’s only April! At the rate we’re going, this is going to be the worst year for musicians since 1970.
As a child of the eighties, I remember hearing Purple Rain on radio or MTV around the time it came out and his career was going supernova. To put it another way, I can’t even think of or remember a time that I didn’t know his name or his music.
Thanks For The Memories
There is a widespread cliche about journalism being the first draft of history, and in my experience there is an element of truth to it for me, personally. I was a history major in college, but also lived and traveled abroad extensively growing up. The impact that had on me was showing that people and faraway places written about in books weren’t abstract concepts but real things that were lived, seen and experienced.
Dave Grohl and Axl Rose’s Long and Winding Road
THEN:
NOW:
HUGE THANK YOU to Dave Grohl for the use of his rock Throne! An amazing gesture!Words rn't enough!! Makes all the difference up there!🎙🎛🔥🎸🎯💥
— Axl Rose (@axlrose) April 10, 2016
UPDATE: Rolling Stone has compiled a pretty good account of the Nirvana/GNR feud.
Unplugged 20
Today is the twentieth anniversary of Alice in Chains’s performance on MTV Unplugged.
Happy Birthday, Mike Starr
He would have been 50 today.
Requiem for a Dream
Marco Rubio’s presidential dreams crashed and burned last week after being swept by Donald Trump in his home state of Florida. (Trump won every county in the state except Miami-Dade, where Rubio lives and has a large Cuban population)
Happy Birthday, Jerry Cantrell
He turns the big 5-0 today.