Throughout the history of rock music, there have been several ‘tough luck' members of renowned bands -- who've exited groups just before their big breakthrough (the best known example being the Beatles' Pete Best). In the modern era, such a figure would have to be bassist/guitarist Jason Everman, who was briefly a member of what would become two of the ‘90s biggest bands - Nirvana and Soundgarden. Hailing from Seattle, Everman was a longtime acquaintance of early Nirvana drummer Chad Channing and Earth guitarist/friend of Nirvana, Dylan Carlson. With Nirvana leader Kurt Cobain looking to add another guitarist to the group by early 1989 (but more importantly, looking for someone to foot the $600 bill it cost to record their debut album, Bleach), Everman landed the gig. Although he's listed as having played on the aforementioned album, Cobain disclosed in later interviews that Everman didn't play a note on the recording, but was given the credit as a sort of ‘thank you' for paying the cost of recording. But it soon became apparent that Everman didn't fit in with the band as initially hoped, especially on the album's supporting tour (the group described his on-stage demeanor as too ‘showbizzy,' while offstage, he was introverted). Before leaving Nirvana, Everman did manage to play on one song, a cover of Kiss' "Do You Love Me," for an indie tribute album (Hard to Believe).

It didn't take long for Everman to land a gig with another up-and-coming Seattle band however, as Soundgarden was looking for a replacement for founding bassist, Hiro Yamamoto. With their major label debut, 1989's Louder Than Love, already recorded and ready to go, Everman joined the group for the initial leg of its supporting tour. But once more, Everman's tenure proved to be a fleeting one, as it appeared that the bassist's personality didn't mesh with the other members, and by the summer of 1990, was out of the band. Although he didn't last long enough to play on a full-length Soundgarden album, he did contribute bass parts to a cover of the Beatles' "Come Together" (issued as a UK b-side and on the Loudest Love import compilation), appeared in a pair of promo video clips ("Hands All Over" and "Louder Than Love"), and on the concert home video, Louder Than Live. Everman turned up once more in 1992, as he contributed bass to the album Lo Flux Tube, by the grindcore outfit Old, before signing on permanently as a guitarist with the New York-based alt-metal outfit Mindfunk. Everman lasted long enough to appear on their 1993 sophomore effort, Dropped, but predictably, Everman's residence in his latest band failed to last long, as he was long gone by the time of their third release, 1995's People Who Fell From the Sky. Everman then opted to turn his back on music entirely, as he enlisted in the U.S. military. ~ Greg Prato, Rovi