The 1991 masterpiece from the
Seattle supergroup was conceived and written by Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell as
a tribute to his good friend Andrew Wood, the lead singer of Mother Lovebone,
who died on March 19, 1990 after overdosing on heroin. Interestingly, the name
Temple of the Dog comes from the opening lyrics of the Mother
Love Bone track “Man of Golden Words”: “I want to show you
something, like joy inside my heart, seems I been living in the temple of the
dog.”
Cornell and Co. made the record
in just 15 days from November to December at Seattle’s London Bridge Studios.
It’s a one-off record that’s
about as organic as you will ever hear in rock. Temple of the Dog consists of
Cornell, Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready (guitar), Jeff Ament (bass) and Stone
Gossard (guitar), as well as Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron. Additionally,
Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder sang on the hit song “Hunger Strike”.
For Ament and Gossard, who were
in Mother Lovebone with Wood, making the album was something of a cathartic
process, as it no doubt was for Cornell as well. He and Wood were roommates at
one time.
Amazing Collaboration Led to Unique Vibe
On the collaboration, Ament noted
it was “a really good thing at the time” for Gossard and himself. Gossard
recalls the recording process as a “non-pressure filled” situation with no
pressure from the record company. The guitarist later stated it was “the
easiest and most beautiful record we’ve ever been involved with.”
Cornell was the principal
songwriter, writing all the lyrics, and most of the music. Two tracks in
particular “Say Hello 2 Heaven” and “Reach Down” were written directly in
response to Wood’s untimely death. In the chorus of “Say Hello 2 Heaven”, you
can just hear the raw emotion in Cornell’s voice, which should give most
listener goosebumps, especially near the end of the song.
The late Cornell recorded those
two songs, which he described as the first time he’d written anything
specifically for a person, as demos and played them for Ament, who suggest the
Soundgarden frontman should record them.
Cornell told Rolling Stone he thought Soundgarden could record the two songs on
an album as a tribute to Wood. As it turns out, Cornell asked Ament if he’d
like to help record the songs. From there they decided to make an entire album,
forming Temple of the Dog in the process.
The members of band recall the impact
Cameron had on the record. “Once we started playing with Chris and Matt, the
songs took on a different life, especially from Matt’s end. His playing becomes
the hook on a lot of the songs. The part that he came up with on “Wooden Jesus”
is such an iconic drum song to me. It’s such a riff and so musical. His playing
dictated that we leave space in those songs. To my ears, that’s what makes the
record really unique and fun to listen to,” Ament said in Rolling Stone.
After laying down nine songs,
Cornell wanted to make it an even 10 tracks to fill the Temple album. That’s
when the band decided to lay down “Hunger Strike”, which Cornell had written a
few months prior to the Temple sessions. It wasn’t finished but he recalls how
Vedder, who had just joined Pearl Jam at the time, came to add vocals: “I
thought that “Hunger Strike” would be a good message to end the album on, but
it wasn’t complete. It was just one verse. I was singing the chorus in the
rehearsal space and Eddie just kind of shyly walked up to the mic and started
singing the low “going hungry” and I started singing the high one. When I heard
him sing, the whole thing came together in my brain. I just felt like, ‘Wow,
his voice is so great in this low register. He should sing on it. I’ll sing the
first verse and then he’ll come in. Even though it’s the same lyrics, it’s a
different singer and it’ll feel like two verses’,” recalled Cornell in a Rolling Stone interview.
For Temple of the Dog fans, there
are rumors out there that a live album might soon be released with songs taken
from the band’s 2016 tour.
With Cornell’s death in 2017,
there will never be another Temple of the Dog tour or album. Fortunately, music
fans can still reach out and listen to the 1990 masterpiece, which will stand
the test of time.