Several months went by before it clicked in my mind that the dedication on the back of the tape was for the singer, Andrew Wood. I had seen his name a thousand times on the inside of the tape, but it never registered in my brain that he had died. Then slowly, little bits of magazine blurbs began to surface this far South about the band and Andy's death. I read in a magazine about Jeff and Stone forming a new band called Pearl Jam and that they were getting together with Chris and Matt from Soundgarden to record a tribute album to Andrew Wood called Temple of the Dog. That very night, I saw the debut of "Hunger Strike" and had the same feeling come over me as before. Both bands had somehow filled my thoughts and my heart.
My two little girls have a bit of Andrew Wood's spirit in them. My 6 year-old daughter is named Chloe, after the line "Chloe's just like me, only beautiful" from "Chloe Dancer." Bethany Joy, my 3 year-old daughter, got her middle name from "Man of Golden Words" - "I wanna show you something like a joy inside my heart." Chloe loves for me to play her song - she dances like a clumsy, inexperienced ballerina and then asks me why the guy that wrote her song had to die. In April of 1992, I had one of the best nights of my life. At The Unicorn Club in Houston, I got to meet Eddie Vedder and Jeff Ament. Their show that night with Soundgarden and Monster Magnet was the last warm-up show before the Lollapalooza Tour began. I made a bone and bead necklace for Jeff Ament as a way to thank him for the great music, and I was determined to give it to him. After about an hour of begging and pleading, a kindhearted cop finally went and convinced Jeff to come to where I was standing with my friends. I got to shake his hand and explain the meaning of the gift I made him, and he thought it was the coolest gesture. I met Eddie briefly earlier in the night in an attempt to get him to go and find Jeff. It was one of the Mother Love Bone guys I wanted to meet, though it's cool now to say I got to meet Eddie Vedder - it makes some people so jealous.
In the summer of 1997, I got to meet Stone Gossard (and Regan Hagar briefly but I didn't recognize him) at Numbers on Westheimer in Houston. He was with Brad, one of the greatest bands ever. I was actually trying to meet Jeremy Toback to tell him what his words and music meant to me, and I was crushed to find out that he was "somewhere out on the Lollapalooza Tour." But the show that night was amazing - it was actually part Brad/part Satchel and they played songs from both bands, which made it that much better. I managed to snag Shawn's Heineken bottle and the last show poster in the club. In late summer last year (1999), I landed a telephone interview with the great Shawn Smith. Rocklove, a magazine I was writing for, graciously took me up on doing a feature on Shawn and his new solo album. They even contracted Lance Mercer to do the photos. When the day arrived for the interview and he finally called, my heart leaped to my throat and I was so nervous. I was actually talking to one of the best songwriters in the world, and I had all the time I wanted. He was so funny and shy, and it was a little bit of a challenge to get him to open up, but when he did, he shared a lot of his feelings and his life with me. Then before I finished I had the chance to tell him what his music has meant to me, and I think I embarassed him with my kind words.
In the pages of Love Rock Awaits You and in the pages of my other Love Bone related sites, I'm not going to rehash the story of the bands or any old news like that. I could do it better than most, but if you've made it this far, you know the story of how this all came about. I simply want to share the many music items, magazine clippings, collectibles and images I have found on these bands over the last 10 years. There are many more things out there I haven't discovered yet, and my search continues. I have not always been able to buy or trade for things on a continual basis. With a wife and two kids, other things more important came first, and sometimes months would go by before I could get the next Love Bone music goodie.
Feel free to borrow images from my site as you wish, but please don't copy the format, design or text - those are my creations. I did borrow a couple of images from other places, but 99% of what you see here, you are either seeing it for the first time, no one else has it, or they haven't bothered to put it on a site, and I am quite proud to be showing it here to you.
I'll have more in the coming weeks to go on this page (maybe a photo of myself) and I will expand my reasons and inspiration for what I have created here. I'll also have links to some of my music freelance writing as well as links to the review of Jeremy Toback's last album and the unpublished interview I did with Shawn Smith. Without being too self indulgent, I might even write about individual songs and what each means to me. I have so many ideas, and I'm eager to share them. Like Andrew wrote, "words and music, my only tools."
"I tell you people, love rock awaits you people. Yeah, lo and behold."
Rest in peace Andrew Wood
Carl from Texas
April 28, 2000