Alice in Chains is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1987 by guitarist Jerry Cantrell and vocalist Layne Staley. Although widely associated with grunge music, the band’s sound incorporates heavy metal and acoustic elements. The band is known for its distinct vocal style which often included the harmonized vocals of Staley and Cantrell.
Alice in Chains rose to international fame as part of the grunge movement of the early 1990s, along with bands such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden.
Although never officially disbanding, Alice in Chains was plagued by extended inactivity due to Layne Staley’s problems with substance abuse, culminating in his death in 2002. Alice in Chains reunited in 2005 and as of 2009 have finished recording their first studio album in 14 years with new lead vocalist William DuVall. The album, Black Gives Way to Blue, is due for release on September 29, 2009.
Following the demise of his band Sleeze in 1986, vocalist Layne Staley formed Alice N’ Chainz, a band which he said “dressed in drag and played speed metal”. The new band performed around the Seattle area playing Slayer and Armored Saint covers. Staley met guitarist Jerry Cantrell while working at Music Bank rehearsal studios, where the two struggling musicians became roommates, and lived in a rehearsal space they shared. Alice N’ Chainz soon disbanded and Staley joined a funk band who at the time also required a guitarist. Staley asked Cantrell to join as a sideman. Cantrell agreed on condition that Staley join Cantrell’s band Diamond Lie, which at the time included drummer Sean Kinney and bassist Mike Starr. Eventually the funk project broke up and in 1987 Staley joined Cantrell on a full-time basis. Diamond Lie played in clubs around the Pacific Northwest, often stretching 15 minutes of material into a 45-minute set. The band eventually took the name of Alice in Chains.
Local promoter Randy Hauser became aware of the band at a concert, and offered to pay for demo recordings. However, one day before the band was due to record at the Music Bank studio in Washington, police shut down the studio during the biggest marijuana raid in the history of the state. The final demo was named The Treehouse Tapes, and found its way to the music managers Kelly Curtis and Susan Silver, who also managed the Seattle-based band Soundgarden. Curtis and Silver passed on the demo to Columbia Records’ A&R representative Nick Terzo, who set up an appointment with label president Don Ienner. Based on The Treehouse Tapes (a 1988 demo tape sold by the band at shows), Ienner signed Alice in Chains to Columbia in 1989.
Rooster
It was written by guitarist Jerry Cantrell for his father, who served in the Vietnam War. His nickname was “Rooster.” The nickname most likely originated from men who used machine guns (see the second verse, first line) as when it would strafe an area the tracers would make a pattern that looked like a rooster’s tail, but there is speculation that it may have been in relation to the 101st Airborne Division, in which Cantrell’s father served. The 101st Airborne wore patches on their arms featuring a bald eagle. There are no bald eagles in Vietnam, so the closest thing to which the Vietnamese could reference them was the chicken. They referred to them as “chicken men”.
In the liner notes of 1999′s Music Bank box set collection, Jerry Cantrell said of the song:
“It was the start of the healing process between my Dad and I from all that damage that Vietnam caused. This was all my perception of his experiences out there. The first time I ever heard him talk about it was when we made the video and he did a 45 minute interview with Mark Pellington and I was amazed he did it. He was totally cool, totally calm, accepted it all and had a good time doing it. It even brought him to the point of tears. It was beautiful. He said it was a weird experience, a sad experience and he hoped that nobody else had to go through it.”
Cantrell’s father joined Alice in Chains during “Rooster” on stage for the October 19, 2007 show in Tulsa, at Cain’s Ballroom. Alice in Chains performed an acoustic version of “Rooster” for its appearance on MTV Unplugged in 1996 seen below:
http://djallyn.org/media/AIC-rooster.flvAin’t found a way to kill me yet
Eyes burn with stinging sweat
Seems every path leads me to nowhere
Wife and kids, household pet
Army green was no safe bet
The bullets scream to me from somewhereYeah they come to snuff the rooster
Yeah here come the rooster, yeah
You know he ain’t gonna die
No, no, no, you know he ain’t gonna dieHere they come to snuff the rooster
Ah yeah, yeah
Yeah, here come the rooster, yeah
You know he ain’t gonna die
No, no, no, you know he ain’t gonna dieYeah they come to snuff the rooster
Yeah here come the rooster, yeah
You know he ain’t gonna die
No, no, no, you know he ain’t gonna dieWalkin’ tall machine gun man
They spit on me in my home land
Gloria sent me pictures of my boy
Got my pills ‘gainst mosquito death
My buddy’s breathin’ his dyin’ breath
Oh god please won’t you help me make it throughYeah they come to snuff the rooster, ah yeah
Yeah here come the rooster, yeah
You know he ain’t gonna die
No, no, you know he ain’t gonna die
- Audio from the 1992 album, Dirt:
Break