", After "Rooster" became one of the most successful songs from their 1993 album,Dirt,Cantrell said it "sparked a new bond between Cantrell and his estranged dad. In 2009, the new lineup released the fourth AiC studio album,Black Gives Way to Blue,and they've kept busy ever since. The couple was already separated at that point, and while Staley had plenty of rock star money to finance his habits, Parrott's lower funds forced her to ultimately sell her body in order to finance her drug use. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. As James Hickie of Kerrang! "Looking back," Paul admitted, "it was maybe ill-advised because the poor guys had to play a show with dirt down their throats. So the soilders were up at dawn and went to sleep at dusk. Privacy
Jerry Cantrell Sr. has had the nickname "Rooster" since childhood because of the way his hair stood on end in his youth. By clicking Accept All, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. After her passing, his uncle told him that his mother also wanted to be a musician, and it was her dream. god bless you for your playing of these songs to the world. I was thinking about the things he might have thought and felt there., In a separate interview with Rolling Stone, Cantrell talked about his dad trying to transition back into civilian life after the war, My dad was trained to be a f-ing killer. So with time on my hands, I turned to Google and discovered an interesting history. We Can Fix America If We Just Bring Back Schoolhouse Rock, Song Analysis Corner: Istanbul (Not Constantinople), I Just Called To Say Stevie Wonder's Song Deserved a Better Movie. Starr took care of bass duties on Alice in Chains' beloved debut studio album,Facelift,as well as their even more esteemed sophomore effort,Dirt. Also talk to infantry soldiers, not POG's about this kind of shit. His mother Gloria died in 1990, the very same year that his close friend Andrew Wood (of Mother Love Bone) died, leading Jerry to pen the song "Would?" Jerry Cantrell Jerry Cantrell was born in Tacoma, WA, on March 18 1966. The first time I ever heard him talk about it was when we made the video and he did a 45-minute interview I was amazed he did it. Let's get a couple of takes.'". Jerry Cantrell Jr., the guitarist, co-vocalist, and songwriter, was the son of a Vietnam War veteran, Jerry Cantrell Sr. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. It does not store any personal data. Fortunately, the Cantrells eventually managed to grow closer after the guitarist was inspired to write a song about his father's experiences in Vietnam. The death was ruled accidental, and caused by a "speedball" (a combination of cocaine and heroin). Rest in Peace soldier. That was some pretty scary shit to have to go through, and it definitely affected the overall feel of the album.". Layne can also be seen wearing a peace symbol earring, something the director claimed was a coincidence. He is best known as the founder, lead guitarist, co-lead vocalist, and main songwriter [9] of the rock band Alice in Chains. He watched as his father struggled with PTSD throughout his childhood until, eventually, it destroyed his family. 77 on its list of "100 Greatest Guitar Solos" in 2008. The song is about resilience, as the soldier get sent off to war, leaving a wife and child behind. Not that they felt like heroes but they were used and spit out by their own government. '", 8. However, after recording just one song, Cantrell started experiencing excruciating pain in his arm, which he described feeling "like an icepick in your joint." A lot.". The elder Cantrell wouldnt talk about the war, so Jerry crafted the lyrics based on what he thought where his fathers feelings and experiences, told from his perspective. 2023 Audacy, Inc. All rights reserved. 1. In October 1996, Staley was deeply shocked by the death of Demri Parrott, the vocalist's long-time girlfriend and fellow drug addict. Jerry Fulton Cantrell was born in 1941 in Atoka, Oklahoma, USA. I understand that you hope the world and people worked as logically as you say. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. He is best known as the founder, lead guitarist, co-lead vocalist, and main songwriter of rock band Alice in Chains. And I remember when we played it he was back by the soundboard and I could see him. "I said, 'God, you look like a badass in those sunglasses.' Alice in Chains co-headlined the 1993 Lollapalooza festival and never did a full-scale tour with Staley again EIN: 52-1149668, Copyright 2023 The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Javascript must be enabled for the correct page display, HONORED ON PANEL 20W, LINE 75 OF THE WALL. Cantrell Sr. served two combat tours in Vietnam, and also appears in the music video talking about his war experiences. div_id: "cf_async_" + Math.floor((Math.random() * 999999999)) Jerry Cantrell, the founder and co-lead vocalist of Alice in Chains, unveiled the meaning of the band's song 'Rooster' while sharing the memories from the time when his mother passed away.. During an interview he gave lately, Cantrell has recalled the hard times back then with the loss of his mother. Alice in Chains drummer Sean Kinney, in particular, attempted to contact Staley three times a week for years, but Staley refused to even talk to him. It spent 20 weeks on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and peaked at No. screams that begin "Them Bones." '", 2. "He just made that up on the spot," Carlstrom recalled. It was the start of their healing process. Jerry Fulton Cantrell Sr., nickname "Rooster," was a combat veteran of the Vietnam War. Cantrell has also collaborated and performed with Heart, Ozzy Osbourne, Metallica, Pantera, Circus of Power, Metal Church, Gov't Mule, Damageplan, Pearl Jam, The Cult, Stone Temple Pilots, Danzig, Glenn Hughes, Duff McKagan and Deftones, among others. Truly, art is suffering. His final show with the band, before he was replaced by Ozzy Osbourne bassist Mike Inez, was at the Hollywood Rock festival in Brazil in January, 1993. Contact us about this article or share your story atgethelp@connectingvets.com. After writing the track, he played the song for his father. "Their period of time with us in the band, on those records is indelible and completely unique." Oh, and Staley even broke his foot shortly before they started touring the album as a warm-up act to Ozzy Osbourne, so he had to perform several dates in a wheelchair. As such, his body wasn't found until two weeks after his death, when people realized they hadn't heard about him in a while. We had a lot of problems and occurrences because of that. Van Halens Disastrous Rock N Roll Hall of Fame Induction, Mother Love Bone and The Tragic Death of Andrew Wood, Pearl Jams Disastrous Fight With Ticketmaster, The Cults Making of Love and She Sells Sanctuary. Your donation to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund will help expand our mission to honor, educate and heal. Rooster by Alice In Chains was Jerry Cantrell's tribute to his Vietnam veteran dad, and it showed a different kind of dark side to the band (Image credit: Chris Carroll/Corbis via Getty Images) Rooster by Alice In Chains may have become one of the band's defining tracks, but its meaning was rooted in humble beginnings. Like, literallyallof it, except for drugs. Jerry Cantrell described to the LA Times the impact the Vietnam War had on his dads life, Vietnam is something he never talks about. Rooster was his nickname in Vietnam, where he fought in the war. tells us, one of the biggest blows came when Cantrell was only 21, and he lost his mother and grandmother over a short period of time. Of course, I was never in Vietnam and he wont talk about it, but when I wrote this it felt rightlike these were things he might have felt or thought. He graduated from high school in 1984. Starr's life proved to be a hard one, as he found it difficult to shake his addiction. As bad luck would have it, Kinney broke his hand before the band was due in the studio, and Greg Gilmore, the drummer of Mother Love Bone, sat in to take care of that side of things. Jerry Sr. was the main subject of the song "Rooster", which Cantrell wrote as a tribute to his father, and his mother Gloria is also mentioned by name in the song. Staley distanced himself from his band and the world in general, opting instead to taking copious amounts of narcotics and playing video games. He watches his friend die, and does his best to stay alive. Indeed, in an interview, Cobain attested to as much, though slightly jokingly. About The comment that anti-war protesters did not spit on soldiers. 3. In his senior year, Cantrell became choir president, and the quartet sang the national anthem at basketball games and won competitions with the highest marks achievable. "I was actually in a store buying some beer when some guy came in and started looting the place," he said. ", 7. "Rooster" was the name that he went by in Vietnam. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. Layne loved it but his dealer offered some unsolicited advice with Layne telling him to shut up. He asked his father if his depiction of the war was accurate, to which his father responded, You got too close you hit it on the head. The video also consisted of a few performance shots of Layne Staley, which proved to be one of the hardest parts of the video to capture. But the turbulence captured on the album would soon overtake Alice in Chains. Soon after the release of Dirt, the singer spent several of his band's fall 1992 dates opening for Ozzy Osbourne confined to a wheelchair, after a mishap on an all-terrain vehicle backstage at a show in Oklahoma City resulted in him riding over his own foot. Traduo Context Corretor Sinnimos Conjugao. Jerry Fulton Cantrell Sr., nickname "Rooster,"was a combat veteran of the Vietnam War. They did some drinking, but there were no drugs. ", Inside the CD notes of 1999'sMusic Bankbox set collection, Jerry Cantrell also talked about the song, explaining, "It was the start of the healing process between my Dad and I from all that damage that Vietnam caused. The band filmed a video for Rooster that would be praised and at the same time, criticized for being too graphic. The run would prove to be Alice's final full-scale tour; the following spring and summer they were scheduled as one of the openers on Metallica's Shit Hits the Sheds jaunt, but they canceled at the last minute, as Staley was in the throes of his heroin addiction. As Jon Wiederhorn of Rolling Stone writes, the rest of the bandwere less than pleased, to the point that drummer Sean Kinney swore he'd never play with Staley again. var opts = { Why is Alice in Chains song called Rooster? }; Actually in an interview Jerry Cantrell said that 'Rooster' was his fathers nickname as a kid growing up in the south. What is the meaning of the song Rooster by Jerry Cantrell? Due to the strain of war, his parents divorced when he was seven years old, and Cantrell was raised by his mother, Gloria, and his maternal . Lack of evidence for the LNAB and parents of Catherine (Heath) Cantrell, My family is from morgan county ky..and morehead ky. My great grandfather was henry Cantrell, here for the full-sized version (1080 x 2160). So the next time you need to rock, crank up this grungeanthem from 1993. Politicians,power freaks,wall street. A famous long-haired guitarist and his pops, Jerry Cantrell, Sr. Jerry Cantrell, Jr.'s dad. Alice In Chains might seem like a band that ended its existence in a tragic way when singer Layne Staley died, only to later rise from the ashes as a sort of 2.0 version of themselves with the advent of guitarist-singer William DuVall. Property records also list the home as having an elevator. 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