Temple Of the Dog is a one-off project by musicians from Seattle created as a tribute to Andrew Wood, who died as a result of a heroin overdose. The band released a single album in 1991, naming it after their band.
During the fledgling days of grunge, the Seattle music scene was characterized by unity and a musical brotherhood of bands. They respected and encouraged each other rather than competed fiercely with each other. It is not surprising, however, that transmissions took place between them every now and then. And the musicians wandered between successive groups, looking for this correct, suitable music.
The death of the vocalist of the promising band Mother Love Bone, Andy Wood, was a huge blow and shock to the entire scene. Mother Love Bone has just released an excellent debut album "Apple", starting a triumphant path to the musical Olympus.
One of those particularly affected by Wood's death was Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell, with whom Andrew shared an apartment for a long time. Immersed in sadness, the musician decided to salute a friend by writing two songs for him. It was they who led to the creation of a project called Temple of the Dog.
First music
The first recordings were made within a few days. The participants worked at full speed, without any pressure under the guidance of producer Rick Parashar. The musicians remember the atmosphere in the studio as refined, completely magical. The main composer was Cornell, but there were also compositions by Gossard, Ament and Cameron.
The musicians also planned to record cover versions of Wood's songs. However, they abandoned this, fearing accusations from fans that they were cashing in on the memory and death of the musician.
The album, simply titled "Temple Of the Dog", was released on April 16, 1991. The musicians were very pleased with him, claiming that Andy would be proud of these songs. The album was also very warmly received by critics, but was not very popular. Just over 70 copies were sold. After the release of the album, the band disbanded, having given one official performance in Seattle on November 000, 13 even before its release.
Chris Cornell: Member of Temple Of the Dog
American singer, primarily known for his grunge scene. He was a co-founder and one of the leaders of Soundgarden. There he sang throughout the group's activities, from 1984 to 1997, and also after the group's revival since 2010.
He was also the initiator of the Temple of the Dog project, dedicated to the memory of Andy Wood, with whom he recorded an album of the same name. After the split, Soundgarden released a solo album, Euphoria Morning (1997), and in 2001 joined Audioslave, where he sang until the band's dissolution in 2007.
In the same year, he released his second solo album Carry On with the song "You Know My Name", which was used as the lead in the 21st James Bond adventure film Casino Royale (2006). This track won the Grammy Award for Best Picture in 2008. Cornell has another Grammy for "Can't Change Me" in the Best Rock Vocal category.
In late 2009, he teamed up with American hip hop legend Timbaland. With him as producer, he created the dance album "Scream", which met with huge criticism in the rock environment. On May 18, 2017, he committed suicide in a Detroit hotel room, shortly after stepping off the stage with Soundgarden.
Mike McCready: Member of Temple Of the Dog
American guitarist, co-founder and member of Pearl Jam. His first bands were Warrior, Shadow and Love Chile. He has also been involved with Temple of the Dog, Mad Season and The Rockfords.
Stone Gossard: Member of Temple Of the Dog
American guitarist associated with the grunge scene. Started in amateur bands March of Crimes The Ducky Boys. In 1985 he joined Green River. It is considered one of the predecessors of grunge. After its breakup in 1987, he was one of the founders of Mother Love Bone, where he played until 1990.
Persuaded by Chris Cornell, he soon took part in a project dedicated to Wood's memory. Around the same time, he and his colleagues founded Pearl Jam. Since 1992 he has also been a member of the Brad group. He has one solo album to his credit.
Matt Cameron: Band Member
His real name is Matthew David Cameron. He is best known as the drummer for two grunge bands Soundgarden and Pearl Jam. He started his career as a drummer in a KISS cover band.
After moving to Seattle in 1983, he joined the Feedback team, later known as Skin Yard. In 1986, he joined the ranks of Soundgarden and remained until its dissolution in 1997. A year later, he joined Pearl Jam on tour to promote one of their albums and has remained a member of the group to this day.
Matt Cameron has worked on many side projects over the years. In 1990, he co-created a jazz-inspired project called Tone Dogs. In 1993, together with Ben Shepherd and John McBain, they created two different bands in the atmosphere of psychedelic rock. Already in 2008, Cameron took part in another project dedicated to jazz music.
Jeff Ament: Band member
American bassist, friend of guitarist Stone Gossard, with whom he has been playing in various bands almost from the beginning of his career. He started out at Deranged Diction. Then, together with Gossard, he played consecutively in Green River, mother love bone и Pearl Jam. Also participated in the Temple of the Dog project. In addition to Pearl Jam, he played in his own group Three Fish in 1994-1999, with whom he recorded two albums.
