Vedder provides backing vocals

The release of a single was soon deemed a “stupid idea” by Cornell and dropped in favor of an EP or album . The album was recorded in only 15 days, produced by the band themselves, along with Rick Parashar of London Bridge Studio . Gossard described the recording process as a “non-pressure-filled” situation, as there were no expectations or pressure coming from the record company. Eddie Vedder , who had flown up to Seattle from San Diego to audition to be the singer of Ament, Gossard, and McCready’s new band, Mookie Blaylock (named for a basketball player , the band would later be renamed Pearl Jam), was at one of the Temple of the Dog rehearsals, and ended up providing backing vocals on a few songs, with ” Hunger Strike ” becoming a duet between Cornell and Vedder. Cornell was still figuring out the vocals at practice, when Vedder stepped in and filled in the blanks, singing the low parts because he saw it was hard for Cornell. As Cornell later described it: “He sang half of that song not even knowing that I’d wanted the part to be there and he sang it exactly the way I was thinking about doing it, just instinctively.” “Hunger Strike” became Temple of the Dog’s breakout single. It was also Vedder’s first featured vocal on a record. In the 2011 documentary Pearl Jam Twenty , Vedder states: “That was the first time I heard myself on a real record. It could be one of my favorite songs that I’ve ever been on — or the most meaningful.”