Layne Staley: Angry Chair is not a biography of the late Alice
In Chains singer. Argentinean writer Adriana Rubio barely even cracks a
small window into his life. Essentially, the book is nothing more than
one fan's viewpoint on the tortured existence of Staley, and how he
affected her life, his words and music getting her through a battle
with bulimia.
Separating itself from the pack of disposable quick books that
endlessly come out on any artist of note, flash in the pan, living or
dead, it is the depths to which Rubio went to gather a greater
understanding of what made Staley tick that makes Angry Chair
particularly interesting. Gaining close confidence with Nancy McCallum
and Liz Elmer, Staley's mother and sister respectively, it is through
their stories that Rubio paints a picture of the grunge icon's youth.
These interviews reveal little other than familial speculation, which,
in all fairness, was as close to Staley as anyone had come in recent
years.
More senseless is the dedication of an entire chapter to John Brandon,
author of the awful 2001 biography Unchained: The Story of Mike
Starr, about the former Alice In Chains bassist. Rubio not only
gives him undeserved credence and space, she goes as far as to reprint
six songs that he penned for and about various members of AIC and their
family members. In one passage, Brandon comes off nothing short of a
stalker, discussing how he pictured Staley and guitarist Jerry Cantrell
trading vocals on one of his songs. That Brandon's book is from the
same small publisher that produced Rubio's should not be discounted.
Angry Chair does contain items of worth, notably many of
Staley's early drawings, letters to his mother while on tour,
previously unseen artwork, handwritten lyrics and photos from his
childhood. Articles such as an undated Staley resume ("Personal
Strengths: I am hard working, honest and get along well with people")
and the four--page program from his memorial are absolutely priceless.
Yet, the fact that most of the images look as if they were reproduced
by a low-grade photocopier leave the paperback almost like a ghetto
version of the critically acclaimed Journals by Kurt Cobain.
Most riveting -- but ultimately disappointing -- is the highly touted
"final interview" with Staley himself. Taking up less than a page, his
words are harsh and painful, making the nonsensical filler bandied
about elsewhere in the book almost digestible.
Staley had long ago sworn off journalists, yet two months before his
death last year, he called Rubio in her home country in the middle of
the night, railing against her for writing the book. With death
hovering, and knowing that this might be his last chance to express
anything of merit, Staley warned of the evils of heroin, the drug that
left him defecating in his pants, constantly vomiting, nearly toothless
and stripped of his ability to be artistic. Most importantly, he wanted
Rubio to convey through Angry Chair the fact that it was not
drugs that killed his girlfriend, Demri Parrott, but rather bacterial
endocarditis, an infection of the heart's inner lining.
Bringing her up in his own stage of swift deterioration further adds to
speculation that after Parrott's death in 1996, Staley had completely
fallen apart. Since her passing, he had recorded only a few songs and
ceased performing all together while becoming Seattle's Syd Barrett.
Adamant about having a chapter dedicated to Parrott almost confirms the
fact.
In retrospect, everyone, it seems, wanted something different from
Angry Chair. From hardcore Alice In Chains fans to Nancy
McCallum, many are loudly discounting the book as pure drivel. What has
Staley's mother so up in arms is anyone's guess, but she most likely
has a good reason. As do those who wanted a juicy tell all and expose,
which is what early publicity for the book promoted. Perhaps, short of
all expectations, it might best to view the book as nothing more than a
cathartic personal experience that Rubio tried to share with
like-minded fans. Her life was truly affected deeply by Layne Staley,
but instead of just writing a letter to him or silently passing tears
at some post mortem vigil, she left her country, came to the United
States and sought out the man who changed her life. She wanted to find
out what it was about Staley that was so powerful, and for all of the
book's shortcomings, she found her answer -- and no criticism
directed at Angry Chair can take that away.
— 19 March 2003
