The Mother of Pearl Love Dog Bone Temple Jam

Here's another mixtape. First made when these CDs were new and later recreated as a playlist in my library.

This collection works on two levels. On the surface it looks like the evolution of Pearl Jam but deeper it's really a tribute to Andrew Wood.

Andrew Wood, AKA Landrew the Love Child, was the lead singer and bassist for Malfunkshun. A Seattle based power trio that mixed hard rock, glam and a pinch of punk. Formed in 1980 with his brother Kevin Wood on guitar and Regan Hagar on drums the band is often cited as the godfather of grunge.

While still working with Malfunkshun, Andy started working with Jeff Amet and Stone Gossard from Green River. With the addition of Bruce Fairweather (also from Green River) and drummer Greg Gilmore, Mother Love Bone was born. After Andy passed away from a drug overdose just days before their debut album was released Amet and Gossard picked up the pieces and formed Pearl Jam. In between they joined with Chris Cornell and Matt Cameron of Soundgarden and recorded Temple of the Dog in tribute to Andy. Pearl Jam's first album weighs heavy with Andy's influence.

Andrew Wood made a huge impact on the Seattle music scene before his death. In some ways musically but more so for his personality and charm. Temple of the Dog was not the only tribute to Andy. Alice in Chains, War Babies and Faster Pussycat are among the many bands who have songs dedicated to or written in Andy's memory. If the Seattle grunge scene had a heart and soul, it was Andy. He was only 24 when he passed.

01 Gentle Groove
02 Reach Down
03 Alive
04 Stardog Champion
05 Hunger Strike
06 Breath
07 Holy Roller
08 Say Hello To Heaven
09 Black
10 Bone China
11 Pushin Forward Back
12 Even Flow
13 Chloe Dancer/Crown Of Thorns
14 Wooden Jesus

Reality Notes

A simple mash-up of Mother Love Bone, Temple of the Dog and the first Pearl Jam album. At the time I made the mixtape that was all I had. To properly fill the playlist out as a full on tribute to Landrew or a fuller evolution of Pearl Jam you would have to add tracks from Malfunkshun, Green River, Solo Andrew Wood and maybe a few tracks from Soundgarden's Badmotorfinger album.

Before I decided to post this as it was I toyed with the idea of adding songs from the other related groups or at least some tracks from Badmotorfinger which was released about the same time. But I would have had to remove some songs to make room or push the collection bigger so it no longer would fit on a single CD. (I did include in the archive three songs from each as last minute, unlisted bonus tracks. I did not run them through the process that I normally do so volume levels may not match and there may be some pre or post song stuff that I would normally edit out.)

The cover features a photo of Andrew.