Alice in Chains: The Untold Story

Jeff Gilbert, Jack Hamann, Byron Hansen, Randy Hauser, Maureen Herman, Dave Hillis, Sam Hofstedt,

Ron Holt, Nanci Hubbard-Mills, Scott Hunt, Dave Jerden, Leslie Ann Jones, Mike Korjenek, Rick Krim,

Phil Lipscomb, Robert Lunte, Jacob McMurray, Matt Muasau, Bobby Nesbitt, Dean Noble, Scott Nutter,

Mark Pellington, Karie Pfeiffer-Simmons, Jonathan Plum, Nick Pollock, Sally Pricer Portillo,

Paul Rachman, Stephen Richards, Scott Rockwell, Henrietta Saunders, Joseph H. Saunders,

Rocky Schenck, Chris Schulberg, Ed Semanate, Matt Serletic, Duncan Sharp, Evan Sheeley,

Jimmy Shoaf, George Stark, Josh Taft, Rick Throm, Elan Trujillo, Darrell Vernon, Jon Wiederhorn,

Diana Wilmar, Aaron Woodruff, Toby Wright.

Others agreed to be interviewed on background (meaning that I could use the information but not identify them by name as the source) or on deep background (meaning that I could use the information they provided but not make any reference to the existence or nature of the source). Others gave me guidance on an off-the-record basis, which means that the information was shared with me for better understanding of a particular individual, subject, or event, but I couldn’t report it unless I got it from another source willing to let me use it. Under all three conditions, these sources cannot be named. They know who they are, and I thank them.

In an effort to maximize accuracy, I have tried to verify my reporting through multiple sources as much as possible, but in some cases information is based on a single source. In some instances, I have also noted discrepancies between different accounts. The members of Alice in Chains, Susan Silver, Nancy Layne McCallum, Phil Staley, Liz Coats, Melinda Starr, and Gayle Starr did not respond to or declined requests to be interviewed for this book.

The Washington Post columnist David Ignatius once said, “Why people tell things to reporters is one of life’s great mysteries.” A journalist is only as good as his or her sources, and for this book I was fortunate to have many of the people who knew the members of Alice in Chains personally or professionally trust that I would get their story right. To paraphrase Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s dedication to their sources in All the President’s Men: Without these people, there would have been no Alice in Chains story for me to tell. They all have my profoundest gratitude.

Notes

Please note that some of the links referenced in this work are no longer active.

CHAPTER 1

Sources for this chapter include author interviews with Jamie Elmer, Jim Elmer, and Ken Elmer.

  1. To avoid confusion, Layne Staley and his relatives are referred to by first name. And throughout the book, Layne is referred to by first name to emphasize his role as a principal character in the story. Layne’s middle name at birth was obtained and confirmed during author interviews with Johnny Bacolas, James Bergstrom, Jim Elmer, Ken Elmer, and Nick Pollock, as well as by the divorce records of Phil Staley and Nancy Staley, which identify Layne as “Layne R. Staley.”

  2. Seattle Times, August 23, 1967, 77. Reviewed via microfilm at the Bellevue Library in Bellevue, Washington.

  3. Phil Staley–Nancy Layne marriage certificate, obtained by the author through public records; Seattle Times, “Nancy Layne, Phillip Staley to Be Wed,” January 29, 1967.

  4. Seattle Times, “Mrs. Phillip B. Staley,” March 7, 1967. Phil’s age in relation to his three brothers is evident in an entry for the Staley household in the 1940 U.S. Census, in which Phil is the only child of his parents’ listed.

  5. For the family’s whereabouts and history, see the Staley household entry in the 1900 U.S. Census. Seattle Sunday Times, “Old Studebaker Shows Class in Speedy Races,” October 12, 1913; Seattle Sunday Times, “Success Marks First Season of New Automobile Association,” September 13, 1914; Seattle Sunday Times, “Staley Quits Vulcan,” July 31, 1921; Seattle Sunday Times, “Two Leases Negotiated,” October 2, 1921; Seattle Daily Times, “Earl B. Staley Will Move Shop on June 25,” June 19, 1927; Seattle Daily Times, “Incorporations,” December 20, 1927.

  6. Jon Wiederhorn, “Alice in Chains: To Hell and Back,” Rolling Stone, February 8, 1996, http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/alice-in-chains-to-hell-and-back-rolling-stones-1996-feature-20110405.

  7. Phil Staley–Nancy Staley divorce records, obtained by the author through public records.

  8. Phil Staley–Nancy Staley divorce records, obtained by the author through public records; Jim Elmer–Nancy Staley marriage certificate, obtained by the author through public records; Wiederhorn, “Alice.”