Editing Alice in Chains (section)

===1984–1989: Formation and early years===
[[File:Alice in Chains (1988 promo photo).jpg|thumb|The original lineup in a 1988 promo. From left: [[Jerry Cantrell]], [[Sean Kinney]], [[Mike Starr (musician)|Mike Starr]], [[Layne Staley]].]]
Before the formation of Alice in Chains, Layne Staley, a drummer at the time,<ref name="How Alice in Chains Found the Most Memorable Voice in Grunge">{{cite magazine|author =de Sola, David |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/04/how-alice-in-chains-found-the-most-memorable-voice-in-grunge/255469/ |title=How Alice in Chains Found the Most Memorable Voice in Grunge |magazine=[[The Atlantic]] |date=April 5, 2012 |access-date=April 16, 2012}}</ref><ref name="Grunge is Dead p.210-1">{{cite book | last=Prato | first=Greg | title=Grunge is Dead. The Oral History of Seattle Rock Music | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eTg4whS9ClUC | year=2009 | publisher=[[ECW Press]] | location=Toronto |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=eTg4whS9ClUC&pg=PT210 210–1] | isbn=978-1-55490-347-4}}</ref> landed his first gig as a vocalist when he auditioned to sing for a local [[glam metal]] band known as [[Sleze]] after receiving some encouragement from his stepbrother Ken Elmer.<ref name="How Alice in Chains Found the Most Memorable Voice in Grunge"/><ref name="Grunge is Dead p.210-1"/> Other members of this group at that time were guitarists [[Johnny Bacolas]] and Zoli Semanate, drummer [[James Bergstrom]], and bassist Byron Hansen.<ref name="How Alice in Chains Found the Most Memorable Voice in Grunge"/>

This band went through several lineup changes culminating with [[Nick Pollock]] as their sole guitarist and Bacolas switching to bass before discussions arose about changing their name to ''Alice in Chains''.<ref name="Grunge is Dead p.211-212">{{cite book | last=Prato | first=Greg | title=Grunge is Dead. The Oral History of Seattle Rock Music | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eTg4whS9ClUC | year=2009 | publisher=[[ECW Press]] | location=Toronto |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=eTg4whS9ClUC&pg=PT211 211–212] | isbn=978-1-55490-347-4}}</ref> This was prompted by a conversation that Bacolas had with Russ Klatt, the lead singer of Slaughter Haus 5,<ref>{{cite book|last1=de Sola|first1=David|title=Alice in Chains: The Untold Story|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kUonBgAAQBAJ |date=August 4, 2015|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|isbn=978-1250048073|page=45}}</ref> about backstage passes.<ref name="Grunge is Dead p.211-212"/> One of the passes said "Welcome to Wonderland", and they started talking about that being a reference to [[Alice in Wonderland]], until Klatt said, "What about Alice in Chains? Put her in bondage and stuff like that."<ref name="ELOT">{{cite book | last=Yarm | first=Mark | title=Everybody Loves Our Town: A History of Grunge | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TggJYMdDaPkC&pg=PT166 | year=2011 | publisher=Faber & Faber | location=London |pages=166 | isbn=9780571249862}}</ref>

Bacolas liked the name "Alice in Chains" and brought it up to his bandmates; they agreed and decided to change the band's name.<ref name="ELOT"/> Due to concerns over the reference to [[bondage (sexual)|female bondage]], the group ultimately chose to spell it differently as [[Alice N' Chains]] to allay any parental concerns,<ref name="ELOT"/> though Staley's mother Nancy McCallum has said she was still not happy with this name at first.<ref name="Grunge is Dead p.211-212"/> According to Bacolas, the decision to use the apostrophe-N combination in their name had nothing to do with the band [[Guns N' Roses]].<ref name="name change">{{cite book|last1=de Sola|first1=David|title=Alice in Chains: The Untold Story|date=August 4, 2015|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|isbn=978-1250048073|page=46}}</ref> The name change happened a year before Guns N' Roses became a household name with their first album, ''[[Appetite for Destruction]]'', released in July 1987.<ref name="name change"/>

[[File:Staley01.jpg|thumb|left|Layne Staley performing with Alice in Chains at [[The Channel (nightclub)|The Channel]] in [[Boston]] in 1992]]

Staley met guitarist [[Jerry Cantrell]] at a party in Seattle around August 1987.<ref>{{cite book|last1=de Sola|first1=David|title=Alice in Chains: The Untold Story|date=August 4, 2015|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|isbn=978-1250048073|page=66}}</ref><ref name="Layne Staley 1996 Interview">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALAJkqgGgVM| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211114/ALAJkqgGgVM| archive-date=November 14, 2021 | url-status=live|title=Layne Staley Interview Alice in Chains 1996 part 1 of 2| date=November 21, 2008| via=YouTube|access-date=July 14, 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref> A few months prior, Cantrell had watched a concert of Alice N' Chains in his hometown at the [[Tacoma, Washington|Tacoma Little Theatre]], and was impressed by Staley's voice.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0WLlAx6PpE&t=10m20s| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190520153739/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0WLlAx6PpE| archive-date=May 20, 2019 | url-status=dead|title=Intimate interview with Alice in Chains|via = YouTube|access-date=August 6, 2017}}</ref> Cantrell was homeless after being kicked out of his family's house,<ref name="To Hell and Back"/> so Staley invited Cantrell to live with him at the rehearsal studio Music Bank.<ref name="Layne Staley 1996 Interview"/><ref name="origin">{{cite web |date=January 12, 2010 |title=Interview Alice In Chains - Jerry Cantrell and Sean Kinney about Layne Staley |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJW77uMEHdI |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211114/tJW77uMEHdI |archive-date=November 14, 2021 |access-date=July 14, 2017 |work=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Alice N' Chains soon disbanded, and Staley joined a [[funk]] band.<ref name="RS 1992"/> Cantrell's band, Diamond Lie, broke up and he wanted to form a new band, so Staley gave him the phone number of Melinda Starr, the girlfriend of drummer [[Sean Kinney]], so that Cantrell could set up a meeting with Kinney.<ref name="origin"/> Kinney and his girlfriend went to the Music Bank and listened to Cantrell's demos, who mentioned that they needed a bass player to jam with them, and he had someone in mind: [[Mike Starr (musician)|Mike Starr]], with whom Cantrell had played in a band in [[Burien]] called Gypsy Rose.<ref name="origin"/> Kinney mentioned that his girlfriend was actually Mike Starr's sister, and that he had been playing in bands together with Starr since they were kids.<ref name="origin"/> Kinney called Starr and a few days later he started jamming with him and Cantrell at the Music Bank.<ref name="origin"/>

Staley's funk band also required a guitarist at the time, and Staley asked Cantrell to join as a [[sideman]].<ref name="RS 1992"/><ref name="Layne Staley 1996 Interview"/> Cantrell agreed on condition that Staley join his band. Because Cantrell, Starr and Kinney wanted Staley to be their lead singer, they started auditioning terrible lead singers in front of Staley to send a hint.<ref name="Layne Staley 1996 Interview"/><ref name="origin"/><ref name="Guitar World 2013"/> When they auditioned a male stripper, Staley decided to join the band.<ref name="origin"/> Eventually the funk project broke up, and in 1987 Staley joined Cantrell's band on a full-time basis.<ref name="Layne Staley 1996 Interview"/> Two weeks after the band's formation, they were playing a gig at Washington State University, trying to fill in a 40-minute set with a couple of original songs along with [[Hanoi Rocks]] and [[David Bowie]] covers.<ref name="Guitar World 2013"/>

The band played a couple of gigs in clubs around the Pacific Northwest, calling themselves different monikers, including Diamond Lie,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bacus.net/alice/images/diamond.htm|title=Diamond Lie Press Kit|access-date=July 14, 2017}}</ref> the name of Cantrell's previous band,<ref name="Interview Alice In Chains - Jerry Cantrell and Sean Kinney (part 2)">{{YouTube|WOZjcOCrepk|Interview Alice in Chains - Jerry Cantrell and Sean Kinney (part 2)}}.</ref> and "Fuck",<ref name="origin"/> before eventually adopting the name that Staley's previous band had initially flirted with, ''Alice in Chains''.<ref name="origin"/><ref name="Music Bank">{{cite AV media notes| title=[[Music Bank (album)|Music Bank]]| year=1999 |publisher=[[Columbia Records]] | id=69580}}</ref><ref name="Link with Brutality">{{cite journal |title=Link With Brutality | author=Kleidermacher, Mordechai |date=July 1990 |journal=[[Circus Magazine]]}}</ref> Staley contacted his former bandmates and asked for permission to use the name.<ref name="page 79">{{cite book|last1=de Sola|first1=David|title=Alice in Chains: The Untold Story|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kUonBgAAQBAJ |date=August 4, 2015|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|isbn=978-1250048073|page=79}}</ref> Nick Pollock was not particularly thrilled about it at the time, and thought he should come up with a different name; both he and James Bergstrom ultimately gave Staley their blessing to use the name.<ref name="page 79"/>

[[File:AiCBoston02.jpg|thumb|Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell at [[The Channel (nightclub)|The Channel]], 1992]]
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 cannabis raid in the history of the state.<ref name="Music Bank"/> The final demo, completed in 1988, was named ''The Treehouse Tapes'' and found its way to music managers Kelly Curtis and [[Susan Silver]], who also managed the Seattle-based band [[Soundgarden]]. Curtis and Silver passed the demo on to [[Columbia Records]]' [[A&R]] representative Nick Terzo, who set up an appointment with label president [[Don Ienner]]. Based on ''The Treehouse Tapes'', Terzo signed Alice in Chains to Columbia in 1989.<ref name="Music Bank"/>