Taken lovingly from : http://www.louisville.edu/~mnwarr01/mlbbio.html
Walking up the street one day, Greg Gilmore ran into Stone Gossard, who asked him if he wanted to come jam with the Lords of the Wasteland: Jeff Ament, Andrew Wood, Bruce Fairweather, and himself. Gilmore, intrigued, said sure.
At first, Gilmore was only there to help the rest learn the songs. More rehearsals ensued, and one afternoon Regan Hagar showed up. Greg was totally unaware that Regan had also been playing with the band. Eventually, both Regan and Greg realized who was the band's drummer: Greg.
Now a new name was needed for the new band. Bruce brought in Daddy Long Legs, and Stone came up with the Dum Dum Boys. But it was Andy that eventually came up with the name: Mother Love Bone. He spent a week trying to convince the rest of the group, saying it at every practice. It eventually stuck.
The newly christened Mother Love Bone was in the studio by February 1988 recording their first demo. The tracks included "Showdown," "Holy Roller," "Jumping Jehovah," Lubricated Muscle Jive," "Capricorn Sister," "Half Ass Monkey Boy," "One Time Fire," "Stargazer," "The Other Side," and "Lady Godiva Blues." Jeff sent this out to try to get some shows. One copy found its way to Kelly Curtis at Mark Allen Productions. After Curtis's arrival, the band was soon recording another demo. This demo and various other cassettes combining songs from the two sessions were also used to get gigs and were sent around to record labels. Geffen received the demo and later financed another MLB demo. This third session took place in June 1988.
The next month, with Kelly Curtis in tow, the band went to Los Angeles to meet with Geffen. Returning home, the band finally asked Curtis to become their manager. He wasn't interested at first, but eventually accepted.
The waiting. . . . the Geffen meeting went well; the label wanted the band and the contract was meant to go off that week. So they waited, and waited, through the summer. They quit their jobs. Finally, in September, they went back and recorded yet another demo with six brand new songs: "Bone China," "Captain Hi-Top," "Heartshine," "Crown of Thorns," "Zanzibar," and "Red Hot Shaft." Meanwhile, their phones are ringing like crazy. One of their demos managed to make its way around to a host of different record companies. They were made many offers, and when the Geffen deal fell under, Polygram was the lucky winner. The company had even created the Stardog label specifically for the band.
In January 1989, the band began to work on their debut EP, Shine. The record release party was held March 20th in Seattle at the Oxford Tavern. Ten days later, they were at the Channel in Boston, playing their first date in a nationwide tour, opening for Dogs D'Amour. Upon their return home, they had a long break from spring into the fall. Then it was back into the studio, where they recorded a cover of Argent's "Hold Your Head Up." In September, they started work on their debut album, Apple. Almost everything the band recorded appeared on that album, but one out-take does exist, "Seasons of Change." Apple was completed at the London Bridge Studios around November, but the final remix was done without the band, in London, England. Polygram felt that a spring release date would be best for a new act, so there was more waiting.
With this, Andy checked himself back into a rehab program. He spent November and December 1989 dealing with his problem. By March 1990, the band was awaiting the release of the record. On Thursday, March 15th, Andy did an interview with Michael Browning in Seattle. Wood talks about his drug problem in it as though he's got it licked. The following evening, Andy was found by his fiance collapsed on their bed. On March 19th, Andy Wood left us forever.
Apple was still released on time, the band wanted it out there. But what of the band? Certain members of the band wanted to go on as Mother Love Bone. But when Gossard announced that he did not want to continue, the band ceased to be.