Grunge Fight: Temple of the Dog Master Recordings Up For Grabs

Temple_Of_The_Dog

If the 1990’s was the greatest decade for rock music, Seattle was its greatest destination.  The birthplace of grunge, Seattle brought us such influential bands as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Mudhoney, and Stone Temple Pilots to name a few. Without question, the Seattle sound served as the proverbial nail in the coffin of the over-the-top 1980’s hair bands that had dominated radio the previous decade. And, for this we should be thankful. For those of us here at Abnormal Use, however, we are most thankful that Seattle gave us the famed super group, Temple of the Dog.  Not just because the band was the beautiful fusion of Soundgarden and Pearl Jam, blowing the minds of grunge aficionados. But, rather, because Temple of the Dog is the subject of a new lawsuit, and thus, became perfect blawg fodder.

According to a report from the Seattle Times, A&M Records has filed a lawsuit in federal court in Seattle regarding the possession of the master recording tapes to Temple of the Dog’s self-titled – and only – album. As legend has it, Temple of the Dog was recorded at the London Bridge Studios in Seattle over 15 days in 1990.  In the suit, A&M Records claims it bought the album from the band in 1991; however, Rajan Parashar, co-founder of London Bridge Studios, won’t turn over the master tapes.

According to the lawsuit, London Bridge produced the album by way of a verbal agreement with the band. A&M Records released the album in 1991. The band subsequently played a single full convert set before parting ways. With the growing popularity of Soundgarden and Pearl Jam, A&M found itself sitting on a gold mine and re-released the album in 1992 to much greater success.  At that point, A&M alleges it memorialized a deal with London Bridge in which London Bridge agreed to turn over the master tapes.

If you are wondering why this 1991 transaction has become the subject of a 2015 lawsuit, A&M apparently only recently discovered London Bridge still had tapes.  A&M believed that the artists kept the master recordings. Upon that discovery, A&M filed suit.

As music fans, we here at Abnormal Use care not who has the legal right to the tapes. As lawyers, however, we recognize that we are expected to take a side. Nonetheless, it is difficult to do so without knowing the actual scope of any agreements between the parties. Our guess is that neither London Bridge nor A&M suspected the future significance of those tapes back in the early 1990’s. As such, it wouldn’t surprise us if London Bridge agreed to hand them over. Nor would it surprise us to learn that A&M failed to negotiate for them. What we do know is that both sides want those tapes today – some 20 years later.

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