The Real 100 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time, No. 5:
Mother Love Bone, Apple (Polygram, 1990)
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In 1989, I was gamely attempting to traverse the usual glories, terrors, trials, tribulations, and everyday bouts of madness that any 19 year old faces. I had a drinking problem, a live-in girlfriend that was breaking my heart, a car that wouldn’t start, and no idea what to do about any of it. About the only decision I made that seemed right at the time was to drop out of college to become a guerilla super 8 filmmaker, like my teenage hero, Nick Zedd, the belligerent super boss of the death tripping, NYC-based “Cinema of Trangression” movement.Then Zedd came to town for a show. I got in for free by agreeing to work the door as ‘security’ (what kind of filmmaker needs bouncers? None. Only Zedd. So, you can see where the hero worship stuff came in), and got to observe him (actually talking to Zedd was out of the question) for the entire event. The part where chicks lined up outside the men’s room to give him blowjobs was pretty cool, but after it was all over, and all the coke ran out, Zedd sat on a windowsill by himself, and cried. Cried? What the fuck kind of madness was that? This guy walks into the room in a black leather trenchcoat with the Stooges’ “Search and Destroy” blaring away as his entrance theme, fires up a Super 8 projector and shows a bunch of zero-budgeted revenge fantasies about ex-girlfriend Lydia Lunch, freaks out all the squares, refuses to answer any questions he deems beneath him (all of ‘em, turns out), and then throws down the microphone and storms out of the post-screening Q&A. It was the greatest fuckin’ rock and roll performance I had ever seen, and now this guy was sniffling and pouting, like some lonely, bruised ‘sensitive artist’? Something had gone horribly wrong.

See, we were all sort of flailing in the 80’s, trying our best to get by on looks and bad attitude and noise, but there was a hollowness to the prevailing ‘bad-ass’ hipster culture. Unless you truly WERE berserk, like Answer’s Me magazine’s notorious editor Jim Goad, who would drive halfway across the country in a liquored-up rage to punch out a critic of his work, or infamous death artist and mouse eater Joe Coleman (who, well…ate live mice), by 1989, the snarly veneer of pre-apocalypse apathy was really starting to wear thin. You can only read so many serial killer bios and date so many bondage-obsessed go-go dancers before you start searching for something good, and noble, and true. The time was right for someone to emerge from the murk and take us someplace else, somewhere better. And not a moment too soon, someone did.

I remember standing in Tower Records on insufferably chic Newbury Street in Boston one afternoon in the spring of ‘89, killing time before my internship at the Boston Film and Video Foundation. That’s where Zedd had his show, and that’s where I coiled cable and filed ¾” master tapes 4 hours a day, so that maybe somebody there would teach me how to shoot movies. Nobody ever did, but that’s a whole different story. On this fateful day, I was simply looking for a loud diversion, something to blow out all the relentless screaming inside my head. Things weren’t going well- the whiskey was flowing like tears, the girl was gone, and the car still wouldn’t start - and I was hoping I’d find something that would make it all go away for awhile. Scanning the new releases on cassette, I saw Mother Love Bone’s debut EP, “Shine” sitting there proudly between the latest ‘alternative rock’ and teen pop sensations. Although I was familiar with the Seattle scene – we ALL were; there was no avoiding the Sub Pop-fueled grunge onslaught – I had never heard of Mother Love Bone. However, the band’s name reminded me of something I’d name my band, if I had the sense to pick up a guitar instead of a fuckin’ super 8 camera. So, I picked it up.

Before the first song was over, Mother Love Bone were my new favorite band. It was cock rock, sure, but it had depth and soul that belied it’s mouthy come-ons and KISS-inspired riffs. It was flamboyant and florid, but under the glitter swirl there was a sense of purpose, of ‘divine intervention in a decaying world’, as Ian Astbury would say. More importantly, the band’s singer was able to reach right through the swagger and volume of the songs and actually touch the listener in an intimate and almost spiritual way, a gift that previously only Astbury was really capable of. And unlike the Cult’s esteemed holy prophet, this Andrew Wood character wasn’t above acting the rock n’ roll fool if the mood hit. He was the real deal, undoubtedly, yet he was also a grand charlatan. He was “a walking contradiction”, to borrow a couple of lines from Kris Kristofferson. He was “partly truth, and partly fiction; a preacher and a prophet, and a problem when he’s stoned.” Like some tragic Greek hero, Wood was fatally flawed, but capable of great and impressive deeds. Regardless of whether Mother Love Bone’s purple metal revolution echoes on through the ages or not, this much I know is true - Andrew Wood is the one and only time rock and roll has ever spewed up a truly magical creature.

“Shine” s a rollercoaster of elation and melancholy that’s scripted as well a Hollywood epic. There are so many spooky self-fulfilling prophecies in Andrew Wood’s lyrics that it almost becomes pointless to underline them all. Somehow or another, he just knew his fate, and accepted it. But before he went, he made sure he left enough good stuff behind that we’d never really forget him, and he started here. Opener “Thru Fadeaway” is part goofy strut-rock, part homage to the fans Andrew would surely love to pieces, when they finally showed up to worship at his alter of mystical rock star cool. Not many bands in 1989 were willing to write arena rock anthems before they actually got to the arena, but Mother Love Bone weren’t like many other bands. “Bless all of your eyes, I realize you’re my reason” Wood howls in his best Bolan-esque rock god voice. “And I will cherish the days, when our souls will be together.” The music itself is a remarkably timeless sounding melding of 70’s power rock and 80’s flash metal – even without Wood’s influence, the band was stunningly good (as they proved years later, when they regrouped as Pearl Jam) - and they provided a great sonic playground for Wood to run amok in. The duality of Wood’s personality is perfectly illustrated in “Thru Fadeaway”. The chorus is rife with jokey word play (“She’s my hot, my Hotma Gandhi”), but the second verse is a suddenly serious drug use confessional (“You’re just another one, another statistic/ you’re needle sickness, illed weakness/Yeah you killed, yeah you killed, yeah you killed me, boy”). Just a few years later, ‘needle sickness’ would indeed kill him, but at this point, it still comes off as cautionary, not prophetic. There’s just no way that the guy singing “Half Ass Monkey Boy” (“I’m abracadabra, I do what I please”) was ever gonna die of ANYTHING, never mind something as banal as heroin addiction. Shine rolled on like a crazy diamond, with big, booming rock songs filled with slither and groove (the aforementioned Monkey Boy, and the triumphant self- aggrandizer “Mindshaker Meltdown”) before sliding into a dramatic, two-part, 11 minute epic of melodramatic classic rock and acidic blues-metal. “Chloe Dancer” is a plinking piano ballad (Wood was an Elton John disciple, and this was just one of his many odes to the be-feathered one), setting the stage for a tragic love affair between a stripper and a rock star. Admittedly, that doesn’t sound particularly tragic, but trust me. One of Wood’s talents was expressing the confusing, complicated language of love and affection in the simplest, yet most poetic way possible, and who can argue with a line like “Chloe don’t know better/Chloe’s just like me, only beautiful”? Wood breaks up with his starry eyed dancer within the first two minutes (“Dreams like this must die”), and the band suddenly, and seamlessly, slides into "Crown of Thorns", and it's 8 minutes of brilliant, melancholic bliss rock. If the concept of the “power ballad” wasn’t already besmirched by radio pandering glam metal bands like Cinderella and White Lion by that time, than “Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns” could be quite accurately described as the Ultimate power ballad- a sad but noble orgy of bluesy guitar riffs and mournful vocals. “This is my kind of love” Andrew explains, in the climactic final chorus. “It’s the kind that moves on/ it’s unkind, and leaves me alone”. It’s a heartbreaking song, but then, it’s supposed to be. And, ever the grand showman, Wood turns it all around with a jubilant closer, “Capricorn Sister”, surely the greatest garage rock rave-up that Aerosmith never wrote. Wood scats like a glam rock Lord Buckley in this one – “Love breeds like rabbits, and I’m gonna set you free/ chartreuse regalia and purple pie Petes” – sure, it’s ridiculous, but it’s the kinda ridiculous that makes you wanna run away from home and join whatever kind of glitter metal circus it is that Mother Love Bone have so successfully created. It is the sound of rock and roll enjoying the hell out if itself.

I’m not saying that life got any better for me after “Shine”. On the contrary, if got much worse. Still, the blows didn’t land quite as hard, and hope continued to float. Whatever happened, at least now I knew I had an ally out there. The music of Mother Love Bone and the words of it’s singer had a similar effect on many, many people- to this day, there are dozens of fan sites and tributes to Wood and his band, and in all of them, you’ll find a sense of community and faith that borders on the religious. Sure, it’s a big nasty world out there, but Love Rock – or at least the idea of love rock- makes it all go down a little easier. And nobody did love rock better than Andrew Wood. Hell, he invented the stuff. So, where did this glammy deity come from, anyway? Outer space? Nope. Malfunkshun.

Originally formed in 1980, while Wood was still in high school, the long-standing Malfunkshun was a somewhat bizarre power trio, made even more so by the company it kept. While the rest of the Seattle scene was dressing down in thrift store chic and mining the dirtiest of Stooges and Sabbath riffs for inspiration in the mid 80’s, Andy Wood was painting his face in white Kabuki make-up and writing piano-riddled glitter-funk-metal songs that attempted, in vain, to find the suture point betwixt Queen, Led Zep, and Prince. There really isn’t one, however, so Malfunkshun ended up sounding more like a proto-glam metal band gone wrong. Still, Andy was a charming and vibrant frontman, and the band became a local semi-success; although they never became the biggest draw in town, and only headlined a handful of times in their 8 year long career, they were included in the seminal C/Z records 1986 comp “Deep Six”, which also featured the Melvins, Green River, and Soundgarden. ‘D6’ is widely regarded as the blueprint for grunge, and although Malfunkshun’s tracks are more primitive then say, Soundgarden’s, the band holds it own amongst the other future legends on the record.

Malfunkshun also featured Andy’s brother Kevin (AKA Kevinstein, in Malfunkshun-speak) on guitar, and Regan Hagar (“Thundarr”) on drums. Andrew, of course, was “L’Andrew the Love God”, and also played bass, along with his piano and vocal duties. There is every indication that the band would have improved, and become a major rock force in Seattle, if not the world, but Andrew’s drug problems were already hobbling his rock star aspirations, and Malfunkshun’s ascent was weighted down by stints in rehab and the ordinary madness of drug addiction. By 1988, they had finally run out of steam and favors, and the band went their separate ways.

Besides the two Deep Six tracks (“Stars N’ You”, “With Yo’ Heart Not Your Hands” - which is perhaps the world’s only Eczema-stricken love song) , Malfunkshun’s musical legacy went largely unheard until 1995, when Mother Love Bone/ Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard compiled and released a handful of 8 track demos. Titled “Return to Olympus”, these early tracks are a must for nostalgic purposes, but lack the crystal focus and stellar musicianship of MLB. The album does feature a few funky but clunky glam rockers that showed promise (“Mr. Liberty”, “I Wanna Be Your Daddy”, but most of the songs were largely meandering, amateur hour riffola. Not so Andy’s moving piano ballad, “Until the Oceans”, which can still very nearly choke up even a salty old villain like myself. Over some admittedly ham-fisted major chord plunkings, Andy sings of love and adoration (maybe to his long-time partner in crime Xana LaFuentes, although dunno if she was in the picture yet) with all the conviction of a doomed but determined poet– “And if you were my friend, I’d give you a part in every play”, he drawls, before predictably hinting at his own inevitable demise. “Until the oceans…call my name.” Fantastic stuff, really.

Ultimately, although Malfunkshun lacked the finesse to truly get Wood’s musical ideas across, the band did provide the framework and logical suspension bridge for what was to come next. Drugs be damned, Love Rock would still come to pass, brothers and sisters. Andy just needed cats with enough chops to make it happen, and by 1988, he was already hanging out with the right kind of heavy company. Bass player Jeff Ament and guitarist Stone Gossard, both members of seminal proto-grunge gone cock rock band Green River (which also boasted future Mudhoney mainman Mark Arm in it’s impressive roster) were Wood’s roommates, and, along with Malfunkshun drummer Hagar and guitarist Bruce Fairweather, they began playing arena rock covers in a side project, Lords of the Wasteland. Both Green River and Malfunkshun folded soon after (Green River had devolved into stylistically warring factions, Malfunkshun imploded due to Wood’s drug abuse), and the Lords started to take their side project seriously. Greg Gilmore, from Duff McKagen’s pre-Guns punk band 10 Minute Warning, replaced Hagar on drums, and the band began writing original songs. As to their name, in the posthumous “Earth Bone Love Affair” home video, Wood states that he simply wanted a name with three syllables, like “Led Zeppelin”. Why? Because bands with three syllable names are cool, why else? According to Andrew Wood tribute site Welcome to Olympus, other early names bandied around included Daddy Long Legs (later taken as the recording name of a founding member Bloodhound Gang and a mid- 90’s alt rock band) and the Dum Dum Boys (taken from an Iggy Pop song, and since co-opted by a French punk band), but Wood was adamant, and the band finally relented. They recorded a series of well-received demos (no surprise, since grunge capitol Seattle was ground zero for major label signings at the time) and, after a minor bidding war, they signed to Polygram, who allowed them the unheard of (at the time) privilege of releasing the “Shine” EP on their own vanity imprint, Stardog Records.

Funky and punky, and with a fashion sense somewhere between glam junkies and day-glo gypsies, Mother Love Bone were a hard rock band in search of a niche. Despite Wood’s numerous drugs and death references, their sound was far too jubilant to be lumped into the drab world of grunge, but they were hardly a hair metal band, either. When it came time to tour the “Shine” record, there really was only one band they could possibly play with- England’s kings of debauchery, the Dogs D’Amour. They opened for the Dogs on a nationwide tour (which kick-started in Boston. I have no idea why I wasn’t there, ‘cept for maybe I was drunk and slept through it), and although it wasn’t a huge boost in terms of mainstream success for either band, it still served to bust MLB’s tour cherry wide open, and I can’t imagine that such a volatile mix of bands would result in anything but complete mayhem and amazing rock and roll for every night that tour rolled on. I have seen pictures and heard stories from many people that saw them on that legendary trip, and they always have big dopey grins on their faces whenever I bring it up. At any rate, when they got home, began writing songs for their follow-up, “Apple”.

By the time “Apple” was released in the spring of 1990, Mother Love Bone had finally begun to catch on with mainstream rock fans, and the early buzz on the album indicated that it was going to be a great success. Unfortunately, Andrew Wood wasn’t going to be there to see it. On March 16th of 1990, just weeks before the album hit the stores, Wood died of a heroin overdose. Wood predicted his death many times in the songs on “Apple”, but it would have merely been rock star bluster in a happier world. Instead, this otherwise celebratory ode to the glories of love, rock, and (of course) Love Rock, will forever be tinged with sadness. It’s still one of the greatest rock and roll albums we’ve ever been graced with, but the finality of it still hits like a hammer, and I can’t help but to wonder how different rock- and maybe the world- would be if Andrew Wood was still in it.

Obits appeared in all the usual places. Some were respectful, some dismissive; mostly it was the latter. The band discussed carrying on without Wood, but ultimately took the high road, recruiting Eddie Vedder as a new vocalist, and gracefully becoming an entirely new band, Pearl Jam. A year later, in April of 1991, the various members of Pearl Jam, along with Soundgarden’s Matt Cameron and Chris Cornell (Cornell was yet another roommate of Wood’s) released the famed and fabled Temple of the Dog album. Although it featured a host of unrelated (but equally brilliant) songs, the band, and the album, was a tribute in song and spirit to Andrew. The first two tracks on Temple of the Dog, “Say Hello 2 Heaven” and “Reach Down” are both directly about TOTP’s fallen comrade, and remain deeply affecting eulogies. Of particular note is the Cornell penned “Heaven”, a soaring, epic ballad, with lyrics that almost burn with grief:

“I never wanted / To write these words down for you / With the pages of phrases / Of things we'll never do / So I blow out the candle, and / I put you to bed / Since you can't say to me now/ How the dogs broke your bone / There's just one thing left to be said / Say hello to heaven…”

A fitting tribute, indeed. A year later, the “Earth Bone Love Affair” video was released, and featured interview segments with Gossard, Ament, and a giddy Wood, as well as live footage, and the rarely seen “Holy Roller” and “Stardog Champion” videos. Wood looks stricken and sickly in the Stardog promo clip, but the interview footage, shot earlier, finds him vibrant and enthusiastic. It’s a bittersweet but entertaining video, and well worth seeking out. Also in 1992, Polygram re-released “Apple” as a double disc, with the “Shine” EP and a bonus track, the previously unreleased Apple out-take, “Lady Godiva Blues”. It’s a great package, and it neatly brings us back to the rich sonic tapestry that remains Mother Love Bone’s by-default definitive album.

Anything you could possibly want to know about Wood, MLB, rock and roll, or life in general is neatly summed up in the 3 minutes and 42 seconds of freewheeling wah-wah guitars and lines like “I look bad in shorts, most of us do/ don’t let that bother me” of “This is Shangri-La” . ‘Shangri La’ is the stage, of course, and Andrew is hi-steppin’ ring master/messiah (“My bread is the body/ and the wine is blood, child”) here to save us all with cock rock and powerchords. “Shangri La” contains the first of many death references, but it also includes one of Wood’s most uplifting messages; remarkably, it’s the same lyric. “I don’t believe in smack nor crack, so don’t you die on me, babe, don’t you die on me/ Cuz love is all good people need, and music makes the sick ones free/ Without love, no one ever grows, nothing’s gonna ever sing”. Righteous. “Shangri-La” was Apple’s first single, and was a minor rock radio hit.

“Stardog Champion” was the second single from “Apple” (“Stargazer” was the third), and has become Mother Love Bone’s lasting signature song. Featuring a riff that sounds like something that ought to be played on top of a mountain, “Stardog” is a chest thumping rock n’ roll anthem that would not sound out of place on KISS’s “Destroyer”, right down to the chorus of children that join Andrew in his promise to “Never Let Ya Down”. Who the fuck knows what a ‘Stardog Champion’ is, but it is difficult to walk away from this one without declaring yourself a Stardog Champion too, now and forever. And you know what? You probably are.

“Holy Roller” is loud and funky, with acidic riffing and a bombastic chorus. Although it’s title would lead you to believe it was penned as a satire of TV evangelists, it’s actually a semi-witty cock n’ roller (“You loin queen parader/I’m gonna get you on all fours”); but Wood’s shamanistic qualities shine through, and his mid-song monologue, probably ad-libbed, has become legendary. In his best snake-oil salesman drawl, Wood spells it all out for you:

“I got somethin' to say to you people out there. You gotta listen to me people, you gotta listen to me. The lord is comin' down, people. He's gonna take ya whole, he's gonna eat ya whole, people. Like a big grizzly bear, comin' out of the closet to eat ya whole. You see, the lord's gonna come and get ya people, and ya gotta beware, because the Mother Love Bone camp knows what to do about it. Ya see, I been around, I seen a lotta long haired freaks in my day, but those boys in Mother Love Bone; I'll tell ya, they know what's right for ya. They're like Malt-o-Meal for ya, they're good for ya. They're like soup, they're like nothing bad, let me tell ya that much. I tell ya people, the lord is comin', and if you don't believe, if you don't believe in what can happen to you today, I tell ya people: Love rock awaits you, people. Lo and behold, lo and behold...”

Cue the crashing, space-rock guitar solo, and the very comforting thought that love rock, whatever it is, and whatever it does, is right around the corner. Sure, we’re still waiting for it, but it’ll be here soon, I can feel it.

“Apple” shifts down into a trio of slower, more reflective songs after “Holy Roller”. “Bone China” is driven by an almost eerie riff, and sounds like some long-lost 70’s AM radio relic, like Elton John in his oft-overlooked acid rock phase, or something. The song is about a ‘difficult’ girl, as the plaintive, but easily identifiable opening line attests: “In the morning/She gone crazy”. It’s a dark, smoky song, but contains one lyric since taken up at some point by every recently spurned, overly dramatic rocker dude I know (and believe me, I know plenty): “The fast ones always ride for free”. Chicks will drive you nuts, man.

“How did I get here? What song did I sing?
And tell me, what have I done, to deserve such a fate?”

“Come Bite the Apple” is the second slow boiler, a maudlin, ‘fucked by rock’ ballad with yet another death reference. “So please stop to laugh, and pity me/ my soul means well, but I'm sorry”, Wood opines over a fluid, bluesy riff. “My skin it is withered, and I'm nervous, yes I am/ My future was in my hands, until I washed it all away/ Washed it all away”. Surely, this is one of Apple’s spookier moments.

“Stargazer” is one of Mother Love Bone’s prettiest songs, featuring an almost country sounding acoustic riff (could be a mandolin, I’m not an expert in such things), and some of Wood’s most touching lyrics. It’s about a (temporary) break up with Andrew’s one true love, Xana, and although it’s got it’s fair share of confusing, ‘had-to-be-there’ lines (who knows what “She dance around my dirty little cable car/And fix me up with a guy - why? C'mon/Why'd you do this to me, babe?” means- maybe it’s best not to know), there’s a simple grace and beauty to it’s second verse that transcends the limitations of a ‘rock song’, and becomes pure love-stricken poetry: “Stargazer you cry in blue/Anything I've ever seen/ It ain't as good as you, child/ I’m not trying to push your feelings/ But I know you hold me/Like putty in your hands”. C’mon, brothers and sisters- you’ve been there too, right? If you haven’t, here’s hoping you will, someday.

Things crank back up to speed with the scorching anthem “Heartshine”. Although it’s one of the more death-obsessed songs one the album, in true Mother Love Bone fashion, it’s also one of their most uplifting songs, as well. Coming on like a boogie metal T Rex (along with Elton John and Freddy Mercury, Marc Bolan was a seminal influence on Wood, and every song on the album reflects his affection for at least one of ‘em), “Heartshine’ is at once a declaration of independence and an admission of defeat, a common dichotomy among constantly rehabbing drug and alcohol abusers. Trust me, I know about that kinda thing. Even amidst his very real suffering (“A sad hello to death, I'm a stubborn goat on trial/ No more, no less/ I said time will tell, if love is gonna have the strength to push it/The strength to push my pain away”), Wood knew there was a greater cause, and that’s how the song ends – “Love flourishes, love flourishes/You’ve gotta value love supreme”. If there’s any messages on this album that deserve to resonate long after the music is over, it’s that one.

“Captain Hi-Top” is pure, shameless cock rock, and sounds more like a slinky Zodiac Mindwarp song than anything else. The lyrics, as you might imagine, are priceless: “I’m the instigator of the Me Genration/Official inseminator of the female population / I scoff at my rivals cuz they ain’t cool/ and I rewrote the bible/ and made my own rules”. Well, right the fuck on, brother. Andrew also claims to be the “hip hop surgeon of the mindless eye”, and references both Prince (“Baby, I’m a star”) and line dancing (“Promenade, dosey do!”) in his crazed attempt at being the cosmic bad ass to end all bad asses. Try this on next time you’re headed out for a night on the town, see if it doesn’t aid and abet your criminal activities.

“Man of Golden Words” is a piano driven ballad. It’s one of the more gentle songs on the album, and one of the more poetic, as well. “So on her arrival, I will set free the birds”, Wood sings. “It’s a pretty time of year, when the mountains sing out loud”. The whole song has a journal entry feel to it, a sense of reflection and meditation. “Let’s fall in love with music”, Andrew implores on the breezy neo-chorus. “the driving force in our living/ the only international language”. I’m pretty sure that gunfire has replaced music as the only truly international language, but I certainly like Wood’s version better.

“Mr. Danny Boy” is the funkiest song on the album, and lyrically, it’s the murkiest. It’s about some cat named Danny, who the band apparently doesn’t like very much. Dunno why, but I guess he liked to spread dirty rumours. I am sure there is a great story behind “Lost down in Sante Fe/I had love with a runaway/and to think my daddy thought I was gay”, but I don’t know what it is. What I do know is that there is certainly truth, to me, at least, in the line “the riffmeister is my friend/ I love that motherfucker til the very end”. I really do love all of you motherfuckin’ riffmeisters.

“Apple” also contains alternate, tighter versions of Shine’s “Capricorn Sister” and “Crown of Thorns”, and the re-release also includes “Gentle Groove”, which was originally the b-side for the “Shangri La” single. It’s a great, drowsy piano ballad, with goofy but endearing lyrics like “Come dance with me in my room, and you can hold my hand/ I’m gonna be your boyfriend/and you can call me names”. As mentioned before, the ’92 version also contains “Lady Godiva Blues” (on a separate disc), which is rambling, ramshackle rocker that sounds unfinished, and possibly improvised.

Criminally underrated by all but a small clutch of devoted and fervent fans, “Apple” remains a masterpiece of poetic hard rock. It’s one of my favorite albums, and I still listen to it all the time. It has yet to ever let me down, just like Andrew Wood promised. I feel lucky to have it in my life, and the riffs and words in these songs have flowed like day dreams through my head for over a decade now. Mother Love Bone were even with me the day I met my wife, Stacey. I saw her for the first time in January of 2001, in front of a train station. She was tall and beautiful, with green eyes and curly blonde hair, and a wry half-smile on her face. Although she still doesn’t believe me, I knew from first glance that I was going to spend the rest of my life with her- I had already loved her, it just took me 30 years to find her. And as I brazenly sauntered up to offer her my first hello, the voice in my head was all L’Andrew the Love God.

“Stargazer, won’t you kick with me?”

That’s not what I said, of course; she mighta thought I was a nut and maced me. But at least Andrew was there to help. I have been wrong many times in my life, but that day wasn’t one of them. Which just goes to show you – Love rock still awaits you, people. Lo and behold.

Further info:

I think it’s a bootleg, but there’s a 7” out there somewhere with Mother Love Bone covering Argent’s “Hold Your Head Up”. How fuckin’ cool is that?

There are many Mother Love Bone/Andrew Wood ‘fansites’ on the web, most of which appear to have the same information on them. In fact, most of the ‘bios’ out there were copped, verbatim, from the Welcome to Olympus site, which is written and maintained by some chick named Marissa. So, you know, go there. You’ll find a link there to “Wammy Box Records”, which is Andrew’s brother Kevin’s home-grown record label. He’s offering rare Malfunkshun tracks and even more rare demos of solo Andrew Wood songs- including a collection of songs he wrote and recorded as a present for his mother – for $9 a pop. I haven’t heard any of ‘em, but my guess is, they’re brilliant. She also has links and updates on an Andrew Wood documentary, which is apparently in the works.

My friend and yours, Adam Turkel of the mighty Baltimore City Beatings, also has an Andrew Wood t-shirt available that he designed himself, and it’s beautiful. As a long-standing bad guy, I can’t wear white; but if I did, it would be my favorite shirt.

-Sleazegrinder
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