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Last week, stoner rock die-hards choked on their bongs when they learned that drone-metal icon Matt Pike had been replaced in legends of the genre, Sleep. Bubba Dupree, himself a hero of avant-garde metal in ’80s thrash trailblazers Void, is filling his shoes.
Yet Sleep aren’t the first major-league band Dupree has found himself involved with. In the late ’90s, he was on the verge of being drafted into Seattle grunge greats Soundgarden, as revealed in guitarist Kim Thayil’s new memoir, A Screaming Life.
In the fall of 1996, Soundgarden was on the verge of collapse.
The final album from their original tenure, Down on the Upside, showcased an increasingly fragmented songwriting approach. Thayil and bassist Ben Shepherd were creatively checking out. And the guitarist was growing frustrated with management interference in their touring lineups, which included artists he didn’t feel were a good fit, among them Pond, Rocket From the Crypt and a newly punk-oriented Moby.
The one unlikely saving grace was Moby’s guitar player for their European run: Bubba Dupree, who Thayil grew close with during the tour.
Meanwhile, frontman Chris Cornell could see the unhappiness in the ranks – and he was desperate to do something about it.
“Once again, Chris wanted to save Soundgarden,” Thayil recounts. “We were all moody, introspective, and contemplative people, more likely to brood than act, but Chris didn’t want the band to implode due to inaction on everyone’s part. We all knew there was unhappiness, but it wasn’t being addressed in a meaningful way.”
Cornell’s solution was to hire Dupree as another guitarist, in the hope that fresh blood would re-engage the rest of the band – even going so far as to suggest Dupree take over his own rhythm duties.
“Bubba would solve a couple of problems: it would free Chris from playing guitar and satisfy Ben and me,” Thayil reasons.
“While most of Soundgarden’s early and some later material only required one guitar, some songs needed two parts. Having Bubba play the second guitar would allow Chris to focus on vocals and improve everyone’s performance. It would elevate the vocals, guitar, and possibly reignite Ben and me creatively.”
Initially, Thayil and Shepherd were excited about the idea – it would bring, as Thayil puts it, “another talented, cool-looking brown guy who could take over Chris’s parts and bring fresh ideas”.
Ultimately, however, the group were conflicted by their own admiration for the new recruit.
“He needed his own band, where his creativity wouldn’t compete with four other songwriters. He shouldn’t be a backup guitarist playing our old material, just like he didn’t need to be part of Moby’s punk project. His songs deserved their own voice.
“We all wanted Soundgarden to move forward, but we weren’t sure this was the solution to our problems. I appreciated Chris’s effort to reengage us, even if it ultimately didn’t work.”
Just a few months after the lineup change was discussed, Soundgarden would play their final show on February 9, 1997 in Honolulu, Hawaii. It would be 13 years before they played together again.
Outside of Soundgarden Chris Cornell got his wish to delegate guitar duties: to Tom Morello in Audioslave, and to Alain Johannes, or Pete Thorn and Yogi Lonich in his solo bands. But we never did get the chance to hear what a Bubba Dupree collaboration would sound like..
