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“He was one of the strongest singers of the grunge era,” said former Dayton Daily News music critic Dave Larsen of Cornell.
Larsen, who now works in communications for the University of Dayton, saw several performances involving the singer and guitarist.
“He had a tremendous voice and was a strong songwriter. I was a true fan.”
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Other Daytonians remember Cornell and Soundgarden long before the Seattle Sound exploded across the airwaves in the early ‘90s. The young band toured heavily, but not everyone was a fan.
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"Honestly, I never saw 'em once when I was looking forward to it," local musician Eric Purtle recalled after seeing them multiple times in the late '80s. "We caught 'them three times before (third album) Badmotorfinger even came out and they sucked. I was in no mood for '70s throwback when we were in the mood for '80s faux-futurism. Mind you, once Badmotorfinger came out, it was another story – the songs were a lot better and we were more in the mood for the idea of them."
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Dayton musician Chad Wells heard things differently.
“The first time I saw them was transcendent,” Wells said of their performance opening for Danzig and Corrosion of Conformity in 1990 at Cincinnati’s Bogart’s. “Just perfect. So psychedelic and swirly and so heavy. (They) covered ‘Earache My Eye’ by Cheech and Chong and the pit at Bogart's went berserk -- but not violent, just fast running swirl.”
Jim Contway of Dayton was living in Seattle when Cornell and Soundgarden were just getting started and saw him perform in his all-star side project Temple of the Dog as well.
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“One of the most pure voices ever,” Contway said. “I didn’t consider (Soundgarden) alternative rock or heavy metal. They were just a great rock band.”
Soundgarden played the Dayton area three times, most notoriously at the Nutter Center Jan. 13 and 14 of 1992 as the opening act for Guns 'N' Roses.
Scheduled to start the second show “around 8 p.m.,” Cornell and crew hit the stage at 9:30 p.m. and played for an hour. It would be well past midnight before fans heard from Guns ‘N’ Roses due to an alleged technical glitch, though Guns singer Axl Rose had reportedly not even shown up to the venue until after midnight.
Credit: Jay Janner
Credit: Jay Janner
Soundgarden returned two years later, this time at Hara Arena, as one of rock’s biggest bands.
>> Representative: Rocker Chris Cornell dead at age 52
“The band delivered a powerfully assured two-hour set for the crowd of 3,500,” Larsen reported at the time. “Cornell even recalled that Nutter Center show and what a mess it was from the stage.”
Despite his initial impression of Cornell and his band, Purtle believes the group’s legacy as one of the greats is well assured.
"I'm not sure anybody ever put out a three-album string better than Badmotorfinger, Superunknown, and Down on the Upside."
Do you have memories of Chris Cornell and his music? Send them to Jim.Ingram@coxinc.com.
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