Stone Gossard
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Stone Gossard | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Stone Carpenter Gossard |
| Also known as | Carpenter Newton |
| Born | July 20, 1966 Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
| Genre(s) | Alternative rock, grunge, hard rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, Songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar, vocals |
| Years active | 1984–present |
| Label(s) | J, Homestead, Tasque Force, Sub Pop, C/Z, Stardog, Mercury, A&M, Epic, Sony, Redline |
| Associated acts | Pearl Jam, Brad, March of Crimes, The Ducky Boys, Green River, Mother Love Bone, Temple of the Dog |
Stone Carpenter Gossard (born July 20, 1966 in Seattle, Washington) is the rhythm guitarist and, along with Jeff Ament and Mike McCready, a founding member of the American rock band Pearl Jam. Gossard is well known for his work in grunge rock bands based in Seattle through the 1980s prior to Pearl Jam, and he has made significant contributions to the music industry as a producer and owner of a record label and a recording studio.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Stone Gossard was born and raised in Seattle. Gossard's father was an attorney and his mother worked in the city government.[1] He has two sisters, Shelly and Star.[2] Gossard learned how to play guitar by playing in the hallways of Seattle's Northwest School during his junior year.[3] Gossard graduated from the Northwest School in 1984.
The first band Gossard joined was March of Crimes,[4] a band of which future Soundgarden bassist Ben Shepherd was a member. Although Gossard's time with the band was brief,[5] it introduced him to the emerging music scene in Seattle. Gossard formed a close friendship with fellow guitarist (and future Mudhoney member) Steve Turner, who also had attended the Northwest School,[6]and joined Turner in his band The Ducky Boys. Turner's interest in punk rock had a significant influence on Gossard, and in turn on the ethos of the band.[7]
[edit] Musical career
[edit] Green River
Turner went on to form Green River with vocalist/guitarist Mark Arm, drummer Alex Vincent and bassist Jeff Ament. Gossard was asked to join Green River in order to allow Arm to concentrate exclusively on singing.[8] By the time the band finished the recording of its debut EP, Come on Down, Turner decided to leave the group, citing his distaste with Ament and Gossard's heavy metal leanings.[8] He was replaced by Ament's former Deranged Diction bandmate, Bruce Fairweather.
The band released the EP Come on Down in 1985 and followed it up with Dry As a Bone in 1987, the first release on Sub Pop records.[9] The bands only full-length studio album, Rehab Doll was released in 1988.[9] In-fighting within the band lead to the group's break-up during the recording of Rehab Doll. A stylistic division had developed between Ament and Gossard on one side, and Mark Arm on the other.[10] Ament and Gossard wanted to pursue a major-label deal, while Arm wanted to remain independent, viewing the duo as being too careerist.[8]
The band achieved a considerable local reputation in Seattle and proved to have significant influence on the genre later known as grunge. Green River is considered to be the first grunge band.[9][8]
[edit] Mother Love Bone
Following Green River's dissolution in 1987, Gossard established Mother Love Bone in 1988 along with former Green River members Jeff Ament and Bruce Fairweather, former Malfunkshun frontman Andrew Wood, and former Ten Minute Warning and Skin Yard drummer Greg Gilmore. The band quickly worked on recording and performing locally and by late 1988 had become one of Seattle's more promising bands. In early 1989 the band signed to PolyGram subsidiary Mercury Records. In March of that year the group issued its debut EP, Shine.
In late 1989 the group returned to the studio to record its debut studio album, Apple. It was planned for a March 1990 release. 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. Apple would see release later that year.
[edit] Temple of the Dog
Gossard reacquainted himself with a childhood friend named Mike McCready after watching McCready jam with a local band and being impressed with his work.[11] Gossard had known McCready from back before high school when the two would trade rock band pictures with each other.[12] The pair started playing together shortly after Andrew Wood's death, eventually including Ament in their lineup.[13] The trio were attempting to form their own band when they were invited to be part of the Temple of the Dog project founded by Soundgarden's Chris Cornell as a musical tribute to Andrew Wood. Cornell had been Andrew Wood's roommate. The band's lineup was completed by the addition of Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron.
The band started rehearsing songs written by Cornell on tour previous to Wood's death, as well as re-working some existing material from demos written by Gossard and Ament.[14] Gossard described the recording process as a "non-pressure filled" situation, as there were no expectations or pressure coming from the record company.[15] This project eventually featured vocalist Eddie Vedder, who sang a duet with Cornell on the song "Hunger Strike" and provided background vocals on several other songs. Vedder had arrived in Seattle to audition to be the singer for Ament and Gossard's next band, which later became Pearl Jam, after being sent a tape of Gossard's demos, recording his own lyrics and vocals over the top.[16] The band decided that it had enough material for an entire album and in April 1991 Temple of the Dog was released through A&M Records. Three of the songs on the final album were musically credited to Gossard, including the single "Pushin Forward Back". Gossard asserted that he thought Wood would be "blown away by the whole thing".[17]
[edit] Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam was formed in 1990 by Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, and Mike McCready,[18] who then recruited vocalist Eddie Vedder and drummer Dave Krusen. The band signed to Epic Records in 1991. Drummer Dave Abbruzzese joined the band a few months later following the completion of the band's debut studio album, Ten. Ten broke the band into the mainstream, and became one of the best selling alternative albums of the 1990s. The band found itself amidst the sudden popularity and attention being paid to the Seattle music scene and the genre known as grunge. Upon its release, the band's sophomore album, Vs., set at the time the record for most copies of an album sold in a week,[19] and spent five weeks at number one on the Billboard 200.
Feeling the pressures of success, the band decided to decrease the level of promotion for its albums, including refusing to release music videos.[20] In 1994, the band began a much-publicized boycott of Ticketmaster, which lasted for three years and limited the band's ability to tour in the United States.[21] Gossard took an active role during Pearl Jam's dispute with Ticketmaster in 1994 over prices and surcharges. Along with fellow Pearl Jam member Jeff Ament, Gossard testified before a congressional subcommittee, arguing that Ticketmaster's practices were anti-competitive.[22] Later that same year the band released its third studio album, Vitalogy, which became the band's third straight album to reach multi-platinum status.
Following the firing of Dave Abbruzzese in 1994, drummer Jack Irons joined the band. The band subsequently released No Code in 1996 and Yield in 1998. The band once again changed drummers in 1998, with Irons leaving the band due to dissatisfaction with touring.[23] Irons was replaced by former Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron, who has been with the band ever since. In 1998, Pearl Jam recorded "Last Kiss", a cover of a 1960s ballad made famous by J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers. It was first released on the band's 1998 fan club single, however, by popular demand, the cover was released to the general public as a single in 1999. "Last Kiss" peaked at number two on the Billboard charts and became the band's highest-charting single. In 2000, the band released its sixth studio album Binaural and initiated a successful and ongoing series of official bootlegs. In 2002, the band released its seventh studio album Riot Act and in 2006 the band released its eighth studio album, the eponymous Pearl Jam.
[edit] Songwriting and influences
As a songwriter, the formation of Pearl Jam led to Gossard's music becoming the basis for many of the band's early songs. Eight of the eleven tracks on Pearl Jam's seminal debut Ten were musically penned by Gossard, including "Alive", "Even Flow", and "Black". He has since made less of a solo contribution to the band's work, instead becoming part of the collaborative efforts; however, he was credited as being behind the relatively more recent hits "Do the Evolution" and "Life Wasted". His songwriting contributions to Pearl Jam have not been limited to music with Gossard having written the lyrics for the songs "No Way", "All Those Yesterdays", "Strangest Tribe", "Thin Air", "Of the Girl", "Rival", "Fatal", "Mankind" and "Don't Gimme No Lip". As well as guitar contributions, Gossard has also played mellotron, bass guitar and resonator guitar as well as often providing backing vocals. He was even given lead vocal duties for two of the Pearl Jam songs he had written both musically and lyrically: "Mankind" (No Code) and "Don't Gimme No Lip" (Lost Dogs). His role in the dynamic of each song is not pre-defined despite being primarily a rhythm guitarist and consequently he can be heard playing lead guitar on many of Pearl Jam's more recent songs.
Gossard is known for his hard rhythm style of playing, and his sense of beat and groove. His major influences are said to be Led Zeppelin, Kiss, Jimi Hendrix, and Van Halen, as well as funk and rap.[4][24] He once said of himself: "I like rhythmic things that butt up against each other in a cool kind of way."[25] Eddie Vedder was quoted as saying that it is extremely difficult to collaborate with Gossard, as he outright refuses to work on anything remotely like anything he's done before.[26]
[edit] Other musical projects
[edit] Brad
In 1992, Gossard joined with members of the fellow Seattle band Satchel to form Brad. Brad released its debut album Shame in 1993, and have since released Interiors (1997), Welcome to Discovery Park (2002) and the compilation Brad vs Satchel (2005). A fourth studio album is due sometime in 2008.
[edit] Mirror Ball
Gossard performed with other members of Pearl Jam on Neil Young's 1995 album Mirror Ball, and subsequently took part in an eleven-date tour of Europe as part of Young's backing band. This tour proved very successful with Young's manager Elliot Roberts calling it "One of the greatest tours we ever had in our whole lives."[27]
[edit] Bayleaf
In 2001, Gossard became the first member of Pearl Jam to go solo, releasing the album Bayleaf on Sony. On Bayleaf, Gossard showed himself as being a talented multi-instrumentalist, contributing drums and piano work, as well as vocals, guitar and bass. Rumours have recently surfaced that Gossard is working on a follow up to Bayleaf.[28]
[edit] Record label and studio owner
Gossard formed the record label Loosegroove Records with fellow Brad member Regan Hagar as a subsidiary of Sony in 1994, becoming independent in 1996.[29] Loosegroove signed many up and coming artists from various musical genres, especially rock and hip hop. Significantly, Gossard signed Queens of the Stone Age to Loosegroove, releasing the band's debut album in 1998. Loosegroove Records closed in 2000.[30]
As a producer, Gossard has worked with a variety of artists including many on his own record label. His most notable production roles have been for Satchel, Green Apple Quick Step, Weapon of Choice and Critters Buggin.[31] During his time as owner of Loosegroove records, Gossard opened his own recording studio, the prestigious Studio Litho, in Seattle. Most of Gossard's production work was based in this studio, which still operates today, with Gossard as the owner. Many high profile artists including Soundgarden, Deftones and Staind as well as Brad and Pearl Jam have recorded in Studio Litho.[32]
[edit] Other work
Gossard had a brief acting cameo in the 1992 movie Singles, along with Jeff Ament and Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam. He appeared as himself, playing guitar in lead actor Matt Dillon's backing band, Citizen Dick.[2]
Gossard has been active in environmental pursuits, and has been an advocate of Pearl Jam's carbon neutral policy, offsetting the band's environmental impact.[22] He has also extended his conservationist ideals and serves as a member of the Board of Directors at the Wild Salmon Center, an international conservation organization based in Portland, Oregon.[33]
As an artist and painter, Gossard's work can be found on many Pearl Jam releases, especially material distributed through Pearl Jam's fan club. The artwork to his solo album Bayleaf was entirely composed by Gossard.
[edit] Recognition
In a review of Pearl Jam's 2006 self-titled album, Rolling Stone editor David Fricke mentioned that both Gossard and Pearl Jam lead guitarist Mike McCready were erroneously excluded from the publication's 2003 feature "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".[34] In February 2007, Gossard and McCready were included together by Rolling Stone in its list of "The Top 20 New Guitar Gods" under the title of "four-armed monster."[35]
[edit] Personal life
Stone Gossard and his wife Liz Weber are the parents of one child, Vivian Sparks, born in 2007.[36]
[edit] Discography
[edit] Green River
| Year | Title | Label | Track(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Come on Down | Homestead | All |
| 1986 | Deep Six | C/Z | "10,000 Things" and "Your Own Best Friend" |
| 1987 | Dry As a Bone | Sub Pop | All |
| 1988 | Motor City Madness | Glitterhouse | "Searchin' (Good Things Come)" |
| Rehab Doll | Sub Pop | All | |
| Sub Pop 200 | Sub Pop | "Hangin' Tree" | |
| 1989 | This House Is Not A Motel | Glitterhouse | "Swallow My Pride" |
| Sub Pop Rock City | Glitterhouse | "Hangin' Tree" | |
| Another Pyrrhic Victory: The Only Compilation Of Dead Seattle God Bands | C/Z | "Bazaar" and "Away In Manger" | |
| 1990 | Endangered Species | Glitterhouse | "Ain't Nothing to Do" |
| Rehab Doll/Dry As a Bone | Sub Pop | All | |
| 1992 | Afternoon Delight: Love Songs From Sub Pop | Sub Pop | "Baby Takes" |
| 1996 | Hype!: The Motion Picture Soundtrack | Sub Pop | "Swallow My Pride" (1987 demo) |
| 2000 | Wild and Wooly: The Northwest Rock Collection | Sub Pop | "This Town" |
| 2006 | Sleepless in Seattle: The Birth of Grunge | Livewire | "Come on Down" |
[edit] Mother Love Bone
| Year | Title | Label | Track(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Shine | Stardog/Mercury | All |
| 1990 | Apple | Stardog/Mercury | All |
| 1992 | Singles: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | Epic | "Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns" |
| Stardog Champion | Stardog/Mercury | All | |
| 1993 | Thrash And Burn: The Metal Alternative | Sony Music Special Products | "Capricorn Sister" |
| The Best Of Grunge Rock | Priority | "Stardog Champion" | |
| 1995 | Alterno-Daze: Natural 90s Selection | MCA | "Stardog Champion" |
| 1997 | Proud To Be Loud | Debutante | "Bone China" |
| 2001 | Alternative Moments | Sony Music Media | "Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns" |
| 2007 | The Road Mix: Music from the Television Series One Tree Hill, Volume 3 | Maverick | "Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns" |
[edit] Temple of the Dog
| Year | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Temple of the Dog | A&M |
[edit] Pearl Jam
[edit] Brad
| Year | Title | Label | Track(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Shame | Epic | All |
| 1997 | Interiors | Epic | All |
| 2002 | Welcome to Discovery Park | Redline | All |
| 2005 | Brad vs Satchel | The Establishment Store | All except "Looking Forward", "Peace and Quiet", "Takin' It Back", and "Who's Side Are You On?" |
[edit] Solo releases
| Year | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Bayleaf | Sony |
[edit] Contributions and collaborations
| Year | Group | Title | Label | Track(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Neil Young | Mirror Ball | Reprise | All |
| 1996 | Thermadore | Monkey on Rico | Holiday/Atlantic | Four songs, including "Pushing" and "Anton" |
| 1999 | Ty Willman, Kevin Guess, and R. Cole Peterson III Esq. | Calm Down Juanita | Loosegroove | "Touchin' Myself" |
| 2000 | Josh Freese | The Notorious One Man Orgy | Kung Fu | "Men & Women" |
| 2003 | Mike McCready, Stone Gossard, Cole Peterson, and Chris Friel | Live From Nowhere Near You | Funkhead Music | "Powerless" |
| 2004 | Steve Turner | Searching for Melody | Roslyn | Some |
| Critters Buggin | Stampede | Rope-a-dope | "Toad Garden" | |
| Jack Irons | Attention Dimension | Breaching Whale | "Water Song" | |
| Steve Turner | And His Bad Ideas | Roslyn | Some | |
| 2005 | Meganut | That Would Be Dope | Unknown | "Satisfaction" and "Rockbottom" |
[edit] References
- ^ Garbarini, Vic. "Mother of Pearl -- The Stone Gossard Interview". Musician. May 1995.
- ^ a b "Stone Gossard". Internet Movie Database.
- ^ Stout, Gene. "Rockers strengthen ties to school with benefit show". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. March 19, 2005.
- ^ a b Official Sony Biography
- ^ Neely, Kim. Five Against One. Diane Publishing Company, 1999. ISBN 0-7567-7409-8
- ^ Prato, Greg. "Stone Gossard: Biography". Allmusic.
- ^ Wilber, Ken. "Interview with Stone Gossard for Integral Life" January 2008
- ^ a b c d Huey, Steve. Green River Biography. Allmusic.
- ^ a b c Sub Pop Records biography
- ^ Azerrad, Michael. Our Band Could Be Your Life. Little Brown and Company, 2001. ISBN 0-316-78753-1, pg. 422
- ^ Greene, Jo-Ann. "Intrigue and Incest: Pearl Jam and the Secret History of Seattle" (Part 2). Goldmine. August 20, 1993.
- ^ Rotondi, James. "Blood On the Tracks". Guitar Player. January 1994.
- ^ Wall, Mick. "Pearl Jam". Sidgewick and Jackson Books. 1994. ISBN 0-283-06207-X
- ^ Alden, Grant. "Requiem for a Heavyweight." Guitar World. July 1997
- ^ Nicholls, Justin (1991-04-14). KISW 99.9 FM: Seattle, Radio Interview by Damon Stewart in The New Music Hour with Chris Cornell, Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard. Fivehorizons.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-03.
- ^ Wall, Mick. "Pearl Jam". Sidgewick and Jackson Books. 1994. ISBN 0-283-06207-X
- ^ Turman, Katherine. "Life Rules." Rip Magazine. October 1991
- ^ Crowe, Cameron (1993-10-28). Five Against the World. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2007-06-23.
- ^ Pearl's Jam. Entertainment Weekly (1993-11-19). Retrieved on 2007-08-31.
- ^ Ashare, Matt. "The Sweet Smell of (Moderate) Success". CMJ. July 2000.
- ^ DeRogatis, Jim. Milk It!: Collected Musings on the Alternative Music Explosion of the 90's. Cambridge: Da Capo, 2003. ISBN 0-306-81271-1, pg. 58
- ^ a b Van Schagen, Sarah "Jam Session" - Interview with Stone Gossard. www.grist.org. July 21, 2006.
- ^ Fischer, Blair R (1998-04-17). Off He Goes. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2007-06-28.
- ^ Hiatt, Brian (2006-06-16). The Second Coming of Pearl Jam. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2007-06-22.
- ^ Single Video Theory. Pearl Jam. Video. Epic, 1998.
- ^ Scaggs, Austin. "Eddie Vedder: Addicted to Rock". Rolling Stone. April 21, 2006.
- ^ McDonough, Jimmy. "Shakey: Neil Young's Biography", Anchor, 2003. ISBN 0-6797-5096-7 [1]
- ^ Kornelis, Chris. "Stone Gossard making solo record with Pete Droge". Seattle Weekly Blog, 27th February 2008.
- ^ Epitonic.com."Epitonic.com Music website".Last Accessed 15th April 2008
- ^ Endino, Jack. "Endino Newsletter 5.0 (3/2000)". March 2000.
- ^ Prato, Greg. "Stone Gossard: Biography". Allmusic.
- ^ Clients
- ^ Wild Salmon Center Board of Directors
- ^ Fricke, David. "Pearl Jam: Review". Rolling Stone. April 21, 2006.
- ^ Fricke, David. "The Top 20 New Guitar Gods". Rolling Stone. February 22, 2007.
- ^ Celebrity Baby Blog. "Stone Gossard brings along daughter Vivian to radio station". Celebrity Baby Blog, 16th October 2007.
[edit] External links
- Pearl Jam's Ten Club
- Official website of Brad
- Studio Litho
- Stone Gossard at Allmusic
- Stone Gossard at the Internet Movie Database
- Given to Wail – Information on Stone Gossard's equipment in the Gear section of the site dedicated to fellow Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Gossard, Stone |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Gossard, Stone Carpenter |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Musician, Songwriter |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 20, 1966 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
