Soundgarden- Rock & Roll Hall of Fame- the late Chris Cornell

Along with contemporaries Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Alice in Chains, as the Nineties dawned Soundgarden was at the vortex of a specific geographic creative community in Seattle, the likes of which had not been seen and heard since the New York City CBGB days of Punk Rock fifteen years earlier. Soundgarden lead singer/songwriter Chris Cornell sifted through the myths and legends here In the Studio to outline the essence of the time, place, and people who enabled Soundgarden eventual entre’ into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

“I think that the focus was on a handful of groups which had a certain common thread,” mused Chris Cornell. “Really, an aggressive, irreverent approach to rock music that included influences from the Seventies, which was not considered cool in Punk music or Post-Punk music. The Seattle bands sort of did that unashamed. But there was a much bigger picture that included a lot of other bands. And there was a lot of creativity in art and film making that was a part of that scene as well.”

Cornell, who died suddenly of an overdose while on a Soundgarden reunion tour in May 2017, shared his embryonic days of getting custody of a neighbor’s Beatles album collection; not singing (!) but rather playing the drums in fantastical hopes of “getting discovered by some big band like U2 and getting hired”; first releases on the SST and SubPop labels; and thunderous Soundgarden classics “Outshined”, “Rusty Cage”, “Spoonman”, “Black Hole Sun”, “Fell on Black Days”, and “Burden in My Hand”. -Redbeard