According to Jerden, around 1 a.m. on Aug. 23, after the band had
laid down guitars and drums for two new AIC songs in a Los Angeles
studio, the band's camp informed the producer that frontman Layne
Staley would be unable to sing the following day because he had to
attend his sister's wedding in his Seattle hometown. (Both AIC
manager Susan Silver and guitarist Jerry Cantrell say Jerden had
been aware of Staley's prior commitment since the previous
afternoon.) According to Jerden and Silver, the band wanted to
continue recording into the wee hours of the morning; Jerden,
however, nixed that idea, fearing that fatigue could hamper his and
Dirt-engineer Bryan Carlstrom's work.
"I voiced my deep concern the week before the session about Dave
and his engineer having the stamina for this project," Silver says,
"since they were squeezing it in on a weekend toward the end of a
full-album project." (Jerden is currently finishing up work on the
Offspring's forthcoming Americana album.)
Jerden said that in addition to being told about Staley's previous
engagement at the eleventh hour, the tension between Cantrell and
Staley also prompted his decision to pull the plug on the session.
"It's one o'clock in the morning and Jerry and Layne were having
problems on one song because Jerry was mad because Layne was
changing the melody and lyrics," he says. "So, in the middle of
this mess I'm supposed to go, 'let's stay here all fucking
night?'"
According to Jerden, Staley told Cantrell, "'I've never fucking
used your lyrics and I'm not about to.'" Cantrell scoffs at
Jerden's recollection: "If you look at any of our discs, I mean,
Layne sang a lot of my lyrics [such as "Would?," "Rooster" and
"Grind"] and I sang a lot of his. It's not like one guy's writing
all this s---."
Reports suggesting that Staley laid down vocals have been
inaccurate; no singing was in fact recorded, but not, according to
Cantrell, due to a rift between himself and Staley. "Layne wanted
to sing some stuff, but at that point Dave made the call to stop
the session and continue at another time," says Cantrell. "[The
music] was fucking great as far as what we got at that point. There
was nothing finished, of course."
Once the session was postponed, Jerden and Alice agreed to resume
recording on Sept. 2 in Portland, Ore. But that was not to be. On
August 31, Jerden learned from Silver that Staley no longer wished
to work with him anymore. Jerden says Silver informed him that
Staley still harbored animosity toward him dating back to the
recording of 1992's Dirt. The producer says that he had
repeatedly asked Staley to get clean and sober at the time, which
may have been the source of the tension. "Apparently he got all mad
at me [during the Dirt sessions]," Jerden says. "And
what's my job as a producer? To produce a record. I'm not getting
paid to be Layne's friend."
Of their most recent meeting, Jerden said Staley "weighed eighty
pounds ... and was white as a ghost." Cantrell refused to comment
on the singer's appearance, and Silver says she hasn't seen the
singer since last year.
"I'm sickened by the fact that [Dave] would ... try and lay blame
on everyone around him for something that was he was so clearly
responsible for," Silver says regarding the current studio
confusion. "All this from a 'professional' who has received many
benefits from his previous association with Alice in Chains. He
should be ashamed -- his lack of respect is disgraceful."
According to Cantrell, it had been his and drummer Sean Kinney's
idea to work on this project with Jerden, who also produced 1990's
Facelift. Staley, on the other hand, had wanted to
continue working with Toby Wright, who worked on the 1994's Jar
of Flies, 1995's Alice in Chains and 1996's
Unplugged albums.
So, with bridges between the group and Jerden in flames, the AIC
camp is in negotiations with Wright to resume the recording process
later this month, possibly in Seattle.
What the recording sessions are actually being used for is in
question. An Alice in Chains box set has been a topic of debate and
negotiation for some time now. "[A set] is a great thing to do at
some point in a band's career," Cantrell says, "but at this point
we haven't agreed with Sony to do that. It would be pretty tough to
do for this year. I don't see it happening."
Indeed, it seems odd that a band with only three full-length studio
albums would consider a box set. However, Cantrell says the AIC
catalog is more vast than fans may expect. "There's a couple of
tunes that have never been released and a lot of demo material
which is pretty interesting," he says. Unreleased music, he says,
also includes alternate takes, live material, "little jam sessions
... little riffs and knick-knacks."
Cantrell and Kinney, meanwhile, will continue to tour behind
Cantrell's solo debut, Boggy Depot, with plans to return
to the studio this winter to begin recording his second album with
none other than Dave Jerden, who gets the nod over none other than
Toby Wright, who produced Boggy Depot. "I'm having a
really good time and I don't see any reason to stop that right
now," Cantrell says.
As far as resuscitating Alice in Chains for more than a few songs,
Cantrell says there was no discussion of it during the brief L.A.
sessions. "We got together to have a little fun and test the waters
a little bit." But, he says, "who knows what the f---'s gonna
happen? Generally in life things don't go according to plan so you
just ride with it."
BLAIR R. FISCHER