Fact N°11: The Drug Dealer in the studio
Did you know that Layne bring his drug dealer while mixing “Dirt”?
According to Dave Jerden, Dirt Producer: “ Layne was worse off. He had a drug dealer that was hanging out with him the whole time while I was mixing the record. In fact, Layne came in to listen to it, and he brought his drug dealer with him.His drug dealer made some comment about the mix, what he wanted to have changed on the mix, and I blew up. I said, “Fuck you! Who are you?” And Layne told the guy to settle down and shut up. The drug dealer had some input on my mix.”
Did you know Layne wanted to wear a cowboy hat in the Rooster video?
According to Mark Pellington, Rooster Video Director: “ When we shot the performance part, Layne was pretty high. I remember Layne wanted to wear this cowboy hat. I was like, “I don’t know about the hat.” It felt inappropriate for the song; we were shooting them in front of projections of this Vietnam stuff. His eyes were really fucked up, he was totally pinned. It was like, “Wow, guys, he’s really fucked-up looking. What do you want to do about this? ” Oh, this sweet guy, I knew it wouldn’t have been very flattering for him.So I just put him in sunglasses: “Instead of the hat, how about you wear these?” I said, “God, you look like a badass in these sunglasses. Let’s go with this.” And it was like, “All right, let’s go. Let’s get a couple of takes.” So it was not without its challenges.
Fact N°12: The Cowboy Hat
Did you know that Layne had a Bodyguard?
According to Matt Vaughan, Gruntruck manager: “ Once Dirt started to take off, we started going from club shows to larger venues. It would go from a 400-seat club to a 3,000-seat venue. I recall there being more handlers halfway through the tour, and I remember going to Susan, “Why are there more people here?”They were bodyguards. And I said, “The band’s not that popular yet that we need this.” And she said, “This bodyguard is to make sure Layne doesn’t go out at night and that nobody tries to pass him something.”
Fact N°13: The Bodyguard
Did you know that Kat Bjelland, singer of Babes in Toyland and Layne started to date on tour?
According to Maureen Herman, Babes in Toyland bass player: “ Layne and Kat started seeing each other on tour, and then when we were in San Francisco, either his girlfriend was in town or he had changed his mind about the situation. Something happened, and he couldn’t be hanging with her. I don’t know what it was. But they had a falling-out that day, so Kat decides to react to the situation with Layne by doing excessive heroin.
Fact N°14: Kat Bjelland and Layne
Did you know the band Mad Season was going to be called Disinformation on their second album?
According to Barrett Martin, Mad Season Drummer: “ We had started making a second record for Mad Season; we had 16 or 17 tunes that we were working on. We were gonna do the same thing—have Layne be the main singer and lyric writer, and have Lanegan be involved. But I could never get either of them to come down to the studio. And then McCready had this idea of doing a new band called Disinformation. I guess Lanegan was gonna be the singer, but again, he never showed up, not once. We talked, Mike and Baker and I did, about getting another singer. And then Baker died.”
Fact N°15: Disinformation
Did you Know Alice in Chains opened for Helix, Poison and Warrant?
According to Jerry Cantrell: We were a great live band. We had a lot of energy — Layne was an amazing front man. Me, Mike, and Sean were like Tasmanian devils — headbanging, spinning all over the fucking place. Out of all the bands, I always admired our ability to not only play the stuff well, but to bring a show — and to get that energy to translate on a stage. At the same time, we had a “fuck it” attitude. If we got a gig that nobody else would take — like, Soundgarden’s not going to go open for Poison in the Seattle Center Arena. But we would. We’ll go play with anybody — that was our vibe. I don’t care what style of music it is — we’ve got a gig to play in front of people, we’re there. We opened up for Helix, Poison, Warrant — stuff that was on its way out, and also something that we had grown past.
Fact N°20: Alice in Chains was the opening act for Helix, Poison and Warrant
Did you know Alice in Chains was the first band to have radio success in grunge movement?
According to Nick Terzo: Alice in Chains were the first band to have radio success in that movement, and that’s a fact. It’s been revised since, but the fact of the matter is, “Man in the Box” broke down tons of doors. The album came out in August 1990, but radio started playing “Man in the Box” in early 1991. And after that, their song “Would?” broke down doors on alternative radio—and then Nirvana went right through.
Fact N°19: Alice in Chains was the first grunge band to have radio success
Did you Know Kim Thayil from Soundgarden taught Jerry Cantrell how to do the Drop D tuning?
According to Kim Thayil: When they were Alice N’ Chains, their first demo probably owed a little bit more to Poison than the huge monster they became. That really changed when they heard us. (Laughs.) Jerry Cantrell and I were at some show, I think it was DOA playing at a venue called the Hall of Fame in the U District. Jerry asked me how to play songs like “Nothing to Say” and “Beyond the Wheel” and was there some kind of weird tuning thing? And I said, “Hey, there’s this thing called drop D tuning.” And a short time later, they recorded a demo that contained many of the songs that you hear on Facelift and they had drop D tuning on them.
Fact N°18: Kim Thayil taught Jerry how to do the Drop D tuning
Did you know Nancy Kicked Layne out of her house?
According to Nick Pollock, Alice n´Chains guitarist and Layne´s friend: Layne’s mom kicked him out of the house. Let’s just say that he and his mother did not see eye to eye. I was trying to get Layne to come live at my house, but my folks wouldn’t do it, so he ended up living down at the Music Bank.
Fact N°17: Nancy Kicked Layne out of the house
Did you know Layne was planning to make a solo album in 1995?
According to an interview in Pandemonium magazine, Layne told the interviewer, the following:I have, so far, written songs for half of a record that I plan to do myself at the end of the summer, and I recorded the full Mad Season record. I also had a feature show at an art gallery with my pen and ink drawings.
Fact N°16: Layne was planning a solo album
