Following the tour for Facelift, Alice in Chains entered the studio to record a song for the Cameron Crowe movie Singles, but decided to turn the engagement to their advantage. As the guitarist Jerry Cantrell recalled: “So in the session that was meant for recording that one song , we ended up demoing about 10 songs, which included all the stuff that ended up on the Sap EP, Rooster and a couple of others from Dirt.” While in the studio, drummer Sean Kinney had a dream about "making an EP called Sap." The band decided "not to mess with fate," and Sap was recorded and mixed in 1991 with producer Rick Parashar at London Bridge Studio. The EP was recorded in four or five days in November 1991.
Music and lyrics
Lead vocalistLayne Staley encouraged guitarist Jerry Cantrell to sing lead vocals on the EP. Cantrell sings lead vocals on "Brother" and splits lead vocals with Staley on "Got Me Wrong". The EP features guest vocals by Ann Wilson from the band Heart, who joined vocalist Layne Staley and guitarist Jerry Cantrell for the choruses of "Brother" and "Am I Inside." It also features Mark Arm of Mudhoney and Chris Cornell of Soundgarden, who appeared together on the song "Right Turn," credited to "Alice Mudgarden" in the liner notes. The song was featured in the 2001 film Black Hawk Down. It was guitarist Jerry Cantrell who invited Wilson, Cornell and Arm to sing on Sap. Regarding the lyrical content, Cantrell said he wrote "Brother" about his relationship with his younger brother. The song specifically refers to the period after Cantrell's parents divorced, when his younger brother went off to live with his father while he stayed with his mother, and Cantrell said that the song "was a way of trying to build a bridge." Commenting on "Got Me Wrong," Cantrell said he wrote the song about a relationship where one person thinks he or she can change the other person, and added that the song speaks of "the different ways that men and women see each other." A version of the song "Rooster" was recorded during the sessions for Sap and was to be included on the EP, but the band then decided to use the song on their second full-length album instead. This version is featured on the band's 1999 box setMusic Bank. The hidden track, "Love Song", described by Cantrell as "the most bizarre song we've ever recorded", was Kinney's idea and all the members switched instruments in the recording. Staley plays drums, Cantrell plays bass, Kinney sings and plays piano and Starr plays guitar.
Release and reception
On February 4, 1992, Alice in Chains released their second EP, Sap. The band did not want any ads or promotion for the EP, they just put it in the stores to see if people would buy it. Cantrell said that Alice in Chains released Sap "without any fuss or fanfare so as the real Alice fans could find it." The EP was released while Nirvana's Nevermind was at the top of the Billboard 200 charts, resulting in a rising popularity of Seattle-based bands, and the term grunge music. Sap was soon certified gold. The album was re-released on March 21, 1995, when "Got Me Wrong" became a hit after its inclusion on the soundtrack to the 1994 film, Clerks. The re-released version included lyrics and slightly different artwork. The aforementioned song, as well as "Brother," were performed live during Alice in Chains' MTV Unplugged concert. In addition to the CD, the album was also released in a limited edition double vinyl along with Jar of Flies. In the UK, Sap and Jar of Flies were issued as a double CD, as Sap had not previously had a UK release. In the UK, "Brother" and "Right Turn" were initially released on the "Would" single and "Got Me Wrong" and "Am I Inside" were released on the "Them Bones" single. Hidden track "Love Song" never appeared on a UK single release and was previously unreleased when Sap was released with Jar of Flies.
Track listing
All lyrics and music written by Jerry Cantrell, except where noted. "Alice Mudgarden" is Alice in Chains with Mark Arm of Mudhoney and Chris Cornell of Soundgarden. Cantrell and Staley insisted that both Arm and Cornell be involved with a song on the EP. "Love Song" is a hidden track and there are no credits for it in the album. The ASCAP database lists all four members as songwriters.
Personnel
;Alice in Chains
Layne Staley – vocals, drums on "Love Song"
Jerry Cantrell – guitar, vocals, bass on "Love Song"
Michael Starr – bass, guitar on "Love Song"
Sean Kinney – drums, percussion, megaphone and piano on "Love Song"
;Alice Mudgarden
Alice in Chains
Mark Arm – vocals
Chris Cornell – vocals
;Additional vocalists
Ann Wilson – vocals on "Brother" and "Am I Inside"
Chris Cornell - vocals on "Right Turn"
Mark Arm - vocals on "Right Turn"
;Production
Produced by Alice in Chains and Rick Parashar.
Mastered by Eddy Schreyer at Future Disc Systems, Hollywood, CA
