To think that seventeen years ago yesterday marked the death of 'Nirvana' singer and music icon, Kurt Cobain shocks me…in fact, it makes me feel really old. My earliest recollection of the band, 'Nirvana' was that my older brother liked them. This instantly meant that I hated them as a pubescent teen. I vividly recall sticking a dart in to the ‘Nevermind’ poster that adorned the wall on his side of our shared bedroom (following one of many heated arguments). I will leave to your imagination exactly where I made the incision. At the age of thirteen, the Seattle grunge scene had come too early for me, but I now really appreciate Nirvana’s work and Kurt Cobain’s legacy.
The musical influences which ultimately formed Nirvana’s sound run the spectrum. An early and lasting persuasion was, 'The Beatles'. Indeed, Cobain confessed that he wrote 'About A Girl', from Nirvana’s debut album, 'Bleach' having spent hours on end listening to 'Meet the Beatles'. He was also a fan of classic British rock bands like, Led Zeppelin and Queen before punk rock kicked in and proved to be a huge influence on a youthful Cobain's artistic nature. Further acts from the UK, 'The Clash' and more so the 'Sex Pistols' had a huge bearing on Cobain’s musical style prior to the introduction of American hardcore bands like 'Black Flag', 'Millions of Dead Cops' and 'The Melvins' who were all integral to 'Nirvana' with their heavy, grunge sounds. Furthermore, the 'Pixies' were instrumental in helping a now, ‘older and wiser’, Cobain to develop his own personal style of songwriting. His appreciation of early alternative rock bands extended to the likes of, 'Sonic Youth' and 'R.E.M.' becoming close friends with, Michael Stipe from the latter.
I frequently listen to 'Nirvana' and love the dirty rock sounds of ‘Bleach’ and ‘Nevermind’. I can’t begin to calculate how many of the bands that I listen to today were in some way influenced by 'Nirvana'. The MTV Unplugged set is my favourite of the entire unplugged catalog. It marked one of the final television performances by Cobain, recorded just five months prior to his death. In hindsight, I always view this performance as his final farewell with chilling lyrics, delivery and sounds of, ‘All Apologies’ as well as fantastic covers of Bowie’s, ‘Man Who Sold the World’ and ‘Meat Puppets’, 'Lake of Fire'.
On April 8, 1994, Cobain was found dead at his home in Seattle, the victim of what was officially ruled a suicide by a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head. Since their debut, 'Nirvana', with Cobain as lead and songwriter, sold in excess of fifty million albums worldwide. Cobain’s heroin addiction and depression are well publicised, but the burden of fame and the public limelight did not rest easily with him.
Only the good die young. Kurt Cobain R.I.P.
Looking back it is funny how much Nirvana influenced me and continues to do so now. I remember watching the Unplugged performance on MTV and deciding right then and there I wanted to play guitar. That Christmas, I begged my parents for an acoustic guitar and that was really when music changed for me from something I liked to something more of an all consuming love. Fast forward 17 years and I still listen to bleach on vinyl at least once a month and work for the channel that aired the special. All from the Nirvana unplugged performance.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Jerry.
ReplyDeleteHow are those guitar playing skills these days?