“I’m looking past this really skinny, fucked-up looking guy trying to see where Layne is, and it was Layne. “Hey, Layne wants to see you,” Shuss told Biro at the party.īiro turned around. Randy Biro, a musician who contributed vocals to the 1994 AIC EP Jar of Flies, went to the party, along with his former roommate Kevin Shuss, who has worked with Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam over the years. Susan Silver Management organized a Christmas party that year, held at a bar in the U District. It also included a note, which read, “Wipe and change this, motherfuckers!” The assumption is it came from Layne. Sure, Soundgarden don’t need a manager anymore, but who will burp and change Alice in Chains?”Īt some point after that edition was published, the magazine received a package containing a jar of urine and a bag of feces. The news was mentioned in the Lip Service section of The Rocket, which also made the sarcastic comment, “Sources within the company report that Silver will close up the shop near the end of December. That fall, Susan announced she was closing down her management business. Susan responded to a questioner saying her gender never blocked her progress - “It didn't even enter my sphere of reality.” The report also notes, “She also hinted, with a sigh, that Alice is about to ‘self-destruct.’ ” In October of 1997, according to a report in the Seattle Times, Susan was a panelist during a discussion about rock management at North By Northwest Music and Media Conference. Susan Silver Management and A&M Records issued a joint statement announcing the split.

Chris Cornell decided to call it quits shortly after. The band played what at the time was their final show in Honolulu on February 9. Soundgarden broke up in spring of 1997 amidst rising tensions. I felt really awkward Randy Biro, Alice in Chains collaborator I’m looking past this really skinny, fucked-up looking guy trying to see where Layne is, and it was Layne. Buttino also said Jesse Holt - who declined to be interviewed for this book - had to boost the level on Layne’s vocals in the 1997 version because his voice was so soft and quiet. Jason Buttino, who has recordings of both versions, attributes the change to the fact the second version was recorded more than a year after the death of Demri Parrott, Layne’s longtime girlfriend. The difference is that in the 1997 version, he sounds indifferent, with no real power or feeling in the performance. Stylistically, Layne’s vocals sound very different from any of his previous work. Musically and lyrically, the two later versions are the same. There are at least two recorded versions of this song, the first from the spring or summer of 1996, the second dated November 3, 1997. Layne re-recorded his guest vocal for the chorus of the song The Things You Do, which is musically different from the version he recorded with Ron Holt in 1988. His friend Jesse Holt - known as Maxi when he was the singer/guitarist of Second Coming - was working on a new project under the moniker the Despisley Brothers -the name presumably a play on the R&B group the Isley Brothers. Layne did at least one confirmed guest recording from this period. The one person that would know for sure is his mother, who declined to be interviewed for this book. Jamie, Jim and Ken Elmer are unaware of any solo demos Layne might have recorded during his later years, though he had the means to do so. Layne Staley performs with Alice in Chains on MTV Unplugged in 1996 (Image credit: Frank Micelotta/Getty Images)

Alice in chains unplugged backing track