music

Green River..

"Down to the River" - by Matt Despres

Washington was ripe with musical growth in the mid-eighties, developing a number of talents that widened the envelope of local talent, as well as extended opportunity for national exposure. In the flurry of activity, the early seeds of Pearl Jam were in the air; Mark Arm and Steve Turner (Mr. Epp, The Limp Richards) recruited bassist Jeff Ament (Deranged Diction) to form the skeleton of Green River, fleshing out the lineup soon after with drummer Alex Vincent and the hard grooving half to the twin-guitar attack, Stone Gossard.

The recording process for debut album "Come on Down" and subsequent tour plans were briefly hindered by the departure of Turner, who was replaced by Ament's former Diction bandmate Bruce Fairweather. The refreshed lineup toured, released two songs on the "Deep 6 Compilation" which featured, among others, Malfunkshun and Soundgarden, and recorded the 1987 EP "Dry as a Bone." Before the '88 LP "Rehab Doll" was released, however, the band had parted ways.

The more popular conspiracies surrounding the split suggested that Stone and Jeff were hungry for mainstream success, while Mark and Alex were content with the smaller stage. Regardless, the split ultimately proved beneficial for both parties: Arm and Vincent joined up with Matt Lukin and Dan Peters to form Mudhoney, while Gossard, Ament and Fairweather took off for Mother Love Bone, centered by the magnetic ex-singer of Malfunkshun, Andrew Wood.