FYI: Stone Temple Pilots
I’ve been listening to a lot of STP lately. Maybe it’s the beautiful weather, or perhaps because I’m seeing Scott Weiland with Velvet Revolver in a couple of weeks, or maybe I just really miss this band.
- Frontman Scott Weiland meets bassist Rob DeLeo at a Black Flag concert in San Diego in 1987; apparently they were also dating the same girl too.
- Rob gets his brother, Dean, to leave New Jersey and join the band in San Diego. The band is rounded out by drummer Eric Kretz.
- STP’s original name was Mighty Joe Young, but were forced to change the name because a blues act already had the name. There are also Mighty Joe Young demos out on the web.
- STP signs to Atlantic Records in 1992 and open up for Megadeath and Rage Against The Machine.
- The band taped an episode of MTV Unplugged in November of 2003. The performance consisted of songs from the band’s debut album, Core, the unveiling of “Big Empty” and a cover of David Bowie’s “Andy Warhol”. Unfortunately, the master tape was damaged, so some of the songs exist no more. This includes the song “Sin”.
- 1994 was a huge year for STP; their second album, commonly known as Purple, debuts at #1 and they open up for the Rolling Stones.
- “Big Empty” was not the original song choice for the movie The Crow; The band had rerecorded a demo called “Only Dying”, but scrapped the use of the song after the tragic death of Brandon Lee during the filming of the movie.
- STP canceled most of their promotional tour for 1996’s Tiny Music…Music From The Vatican Gift Shop; The shows that they did also featured Cheap Trick.
- In 1998 Scott released his first solo album, 12 Bar Bluesand the rest of the band teamed up with singer Dave Coutts for Talk Show.
- Promotion for the 1999 album No. 4 was pushed back because Scott was in jail, the band reunited in 2000 and kicked ass on tour.
- From 2000 - 2003, STP toured with everyone from The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Aerosmith, Disturbed, Godsmack and the Family Values Tour w/ Staind and Linkin Park.
- STP released their fifth and final album, Shangri-La-Dee-Da in June 2001.
- The band has several unreleased songs that include: “Only Dying”, “You Can’t Drive Me Away”, “The Way She Moves” and “Heed The Horse Whisperer” from the No. 4 sessions, as well as “About A Fool” and “Samba Nova” from the Shangri-La-Dee-Da sessions.
- The unreleased song, Learning To Drive, was rerecorded by Scott and is on the soundtrack to Bug, as a solo effort.
- STP also loved to cover songs; There are recorded versions of Led Zeppelin’s “Dancing Days”, The Beatles “Revolution” and The Doors “Break On Through”. They’ve also performed live Pink Floyd’s “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”, David Bowie’s “Andy Warhol”, Filter’s “Hey Man! Nice Shot” w/ Richard Patrick, Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion” w/ Steven Tyler and Joe Perry and Alice in Chains’ “Got Me Wrong” w/ Jerry Cantrell.
- The band also recorded a cover of “Watchin’ You” for the Kiss tribute album, but was not used. They were also supposed to cover “Sheer Heart Attack” by Queen and “Where Do The Children Play” by Cat Stevens.
- The song “All In The Suit That You Wear” was originally intended for the Spiderman soundtrack, but was not used because it wasn’t going to be used as a lead single. The song was added to their greatest hits package Thank You.
- Even though the members have moved on from STP, it seems like they’re keeping in touch and have patched things up. And a reunion could happen, The DeLeos Army of Anyone project looks finished and the members of Velvet Revolver seem to always worry that Scott can leave at any moment.
For lots of STP sweetness, check out Below Empty.
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