Music:
Member Since: 6/29/2007
Band Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Love_Bone
Band Members: Andrew Wood - vocals/guitar
Stone Gossard - guitar
Jeff Ament - bass
Bruce Fairweather - guitar
Greg Gilmore - drums
Influences:Mother Love Bone was established in 1988 by ex-Green River members Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament and Bruce Fairweather, ex-Malfunkshun frontman Andrew Wood and ex- Ten Minute Warning and Skin Yard drummer Greg Gilmore. Initially the group was formed in 1987 out of covers outfit Lords Of The Wasteland which featured Wood, Gossard, Ament and Malfunkshun drummer Regan Hagar. By early '88 the band had added Fairweather, replaced Hagar with drummer Greg Gilmore and changed their name to Mother Love Bone. This new lineup quickly set about recording and playing area shows and by late '88 had become one of Seattle's more promising bands.
In early 1989 the band signed to Polygram subsidiary Mercury Records. As part of their contract Polygram also created the Stardog Records imprint exclusively for the band. In March of that year the group issued their debut EP Shine becoming the first of the new crop of Seattle bands to have a release on a major label. The record sold well and rapidly increased the hype surrounding the band.
In late 1989 the group returned to the studio (this time in San Francisco) to record their debut album Apple. Despite some initial difficulties, the record was on-time for its projected March 1990 release. By this point interest in the band had hit a fever pitch and it seemed destined that the band were going to make it big. Only days before the release of Apple, however, frontman Andrew Wood, who had a long history with drug problems, overdosed on heroin. After spending a few days in the hospital in a coma, Wood died, effectively bringing Mother Love Bone to an end.
In the months following Wood's death, Gossard and Ament would be approached by Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell (who was Andrew Wood's roommate), and asked if they would be interested in recording a single containing two songs he had written in tribute to Andrew Wood. The project turned into an entire album and the group took the name Temple of the Dog, a reference to a line in the lyrics of a song penned by Wood. Gossard and Ament would later form the band Pearl Jam.
Fairweather initially remained inactive but later surfaced in the Seattle based psychadelic rock band Love Battery before again dropping off radar.
Gilmore's profile also dropped significantly following Mother Love Bone's demise although he did participate in the reunion of his former band Ten Minute Warning in 1998, and was credited with providing 'inspiration' for the song "Never The Machine Forever" (credited as being written by Kim Thayil) on Soundgarden's final studio album, 1996's Down on the Upside.
Sounds Like: Shine - 1989 - EP
Apple - 1990 - Studio Album
Stardog Champion - 1992 - Compilation
Record Label: Unsigned
