Massive Attack's Robert Del Naja co-wrote ‘Wings’, ‘John Lee Hooker', and ‘Live With Me’. After coming out of musical semi-retirement and returning to the stage in the 90s, Terry's light continued to shine, wowing both old and new audiences with the exquisite beauty his music and voice channelled.įollowing his stunning performance at the 2008 Meltdown Festival, curated by Massive Attack, Terry teamed up with the legendary British trio, which resulted in ‘Hidden Conversations'. Maybe I'm giving myself too much credit here, but I think that's what set him on a path of listening to heavier stuff, as it was for me.The late, great Terry Callier was an icon and inspiration to many his work on Cadet Records with Charles Stepney and Elektra in the 70s made him a cult artist. Neither of us had heard anything that heavy or dark yet - our favorite band at that point was probably Pearl Jam.

I put my 'Rooster' cassette in and his mind was completely blown.

I remember going into his room and he was listening to the song 'Connected' by Stereo MC's, who were a one-hit-wonder Madchester/Happy Mondays-type band. I taped 'Rooster' and the following weekend brought it over to Matthew's house so he could hear it. I was just a kid listening to the local rock radio station and taping the songs I liked, making these poor quality mixtapes. Speaking to Alice in Chains' influence in general, Funck adds, 'I first heard AIC when 'Rooster' came on the radio, probably not long after its release, maybe late '92 or early '93 - I was 10 years old. No count off, no intro, just straight into the insanity.' The song had been on my mind anyway - I had recently listened to a podcast that dissected all the tracks on Dirt and it really dawned on me that opening the album with 'Them Bones' was such a bold and cool move. With 'Them Bones,' we had a chance to tackle a song that more directly translated to our style. 'We had covered 'No Excuses' some years ago, but it never quite got the reaction I thought it deserved, and our arrangement was a slowed-down and kind of left-field take on the song. 'It seemed inevitable that we'd do another AIC song since their music was such a big part of Matthew's and my formative years,' Thou's Bryan Funck says of the cover, referencing his bandmate, co-founding guitarist Matthew Thudium.

Alice in chains dirt album cover inside