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35 Years Ago Today, ‘Temple of the Dog’ Proved What Good Artists Could Do Without Pressure From Record Labels

Without expectations, Temple of the Dog was free to create for the sake of creating.

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On April 16, 1991, the one-off supergroup Temple of the Dog released its self-titled album, a memorial to former Mother Love Bone singer Andrew Wood. MLB disbanded months before they were scheduled to debut, after Wood’s fatal overdose in March 1990.

With prompting from Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell, Temple of the Dog was born. The group consisted of Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament, formerly of MLB, whom Cornell approached about the concept. Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron joined, as did Mike McCready, while Eddie Vedder fell into it almost accidentally while auditioning for Pearl Jam.

Temple of the Dog Created the ‘Easiest and Most Beautiful’ Album With No Pressure From Record Execs

Cornell, Gossard, Ament, Cameron, McCready, and Vedder were already in each other’s orbits in varying degrees.........

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