Crown of Thorns – Mother Love Bone

For those familiar with the backstory and history of the grunge explosion in the 90s, that for the most part came out of Seattle, it’s impossible not to mention Mother Love Bone. Fronted by singer Andrew Wood, their time as a group was tragically cut short by Wood’s overdose on heroin a few days before their only full-length record, Apple, would be released. This would lead to Chris Cornell of Soundgarden approaching former MLB members Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament about making some music together as a tribute to Wood. Cornell would bring along his drummer, Matt Cameron. Gossard hit up his childhood friend Mike McCready to play lead guitar. And then they decided to let a then completely unknown Eddie Vedder, who was in town audition to sing for Gossard and Ament’s next project, sing on a few tracks. Thus became the legendary one-off project, Temple of The Dog. And of course, this also led to the creation of Pearl Jam.

When I first heard this song, it was actually a cover version by Pearl Jam. I believe it was in either 10th or 11th grade, and I had a teacher who would always play 90s stuff while we worked in class. By this time, I was already a huge fan of Pearl Jam and Vedder, so when I heard his voice on a song I was unfamiliar with, I actually wrote down some of the lyrics on a spare piece of paper to look up later, since this particular teacher didn’t allow phones. When I got home, I learned all about the Mother Love Bone influence and its importance to one of my favorite genres of music. I love the way it is sung; for me, it’s almost like being put in a trance when it comes on. The song features some really beautiful lyrics, and I remember hearing “You ever heard the story of Mr. Faded Glory” in that classroom all that time ago and thinking, “Damn, what an opening line.” Andrew Wood’s story is unfortunately a tragic one, but his legacy and impact live on through those he impacted through music and friendship.

Link to song – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaeLgJzNTAY

Link to live performance (very low quality)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAF3BksqxZ0

Link to Pearl Jam cover – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23WLdumm730