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November 19th, 1991 saw U2 release “Achtung Baby” after the bands longest hiatus between albums. At times they even doubted they would ever release another record after “Rattle and Hum”. However in one of the greatest re-inventions in rock history, U2 entered the 1990s with an era defining album in the shape of “Achtung Baby“.

The stratospheric trajectory that U2 followed, peaking with the mega-hit that was “The Joshua Tree”, was brought to a jarring halt by the critical mauling of their curiosity album and film “Rattle and Hum”. The musical landscape was also changing rapidly, with albums like Nevermind and The Stone Roses debut coming out between “Rattle and Hum” and “Achtung Baby“, U2 were in real danger of becoming dinosaurs. U2 were in a strange place.

A serious rethink was in order. Bono announced from the Stage at their hometown gig in Dublin in 1990 that “We’ve been around for ten years and we’ve enjoyed it. We say thank you to those that have believed in us since the beginning. But we’ve got to go away for a little while. Now we have to go away and dream it all up again.” The members of U2 were in agreement that their new album would need to be something new, they needed to re-invent the band.

The gestation and recording period for what would become “Achtung Baby” saw U2 take the longest time between records since they formed.  The members of U2 felt they needed to get away from the familiar back at home in Ireland. They were taken by long term producer Brian Eno to Berlin to record, using the same Hansa Studios that he and the past master of re-invention, David Bowie, had used to such great effect in the 1970s on albums like “Low” and “Heroes”.

So, in early October 1990, U2 landed aboard the last plane to set-down in East Berlin as the Berlin Wall came down and from then on it was simply Berlin as Germany became re-unified. This could easily be seen as a great symbolic moment of the new U2 emerging, but in reality another incident best summed them up. Upon arriving, a march went past their hotel. They joined it, assuming it was going to be people celebrating the re-unification of their country, when in fact it had been organized by the local communist party protesting The Wall coming down!

Unlike the jubilation they expected, they found the mood in Berlin “dark and gloomy” as the initial jubilation had been replaced with a dawning realization about how much work re-unification would take. Their hotel was dilapidated and Hansa Studios had been converted from the SS Ballroom.  The Edge’s comment that this provided a certain “texture and cinematic location” was probably nothing more than the sepia tinged nostalgia as almost all the reports were of the friction and arguments. Bono himself described it as, “definitely the most serious sessions we’ve ever had – terribly tormented.”

The working dynamics of U2 were altering with the song-writing team of Bono and The Edge taking center stage. So much so that drummer Larry Mullen Jnr believed that it may have been the beginning of the end for the act. While he was listening to classic rock like Cream and Led Zeppelin, The Edge had been listening to music like Nine Inch Nails, Madchester and Jesus Jones.

The Edge and Bono had been working on dance and industrial sounds for a while before “Achtung Baby“. They had contributed to the loop-based score for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s theatrical version of “A Clockwork Orange” and were keen to forge ahead with this new sound. The problem was that their ideas were “under-rehearsed and under-prepared”.

With The Edge and Bono unable to get their ideas across, Larry Mullen Jnr and Adam Clayton’s suggestions were, they felt, being discounted unfairly and their producer, Daniel Lanois, who was expecting something more “cinematic” in scope, bemused. The frustrations and tensions were threatening to pull them apart. They knew they had to be forward thinking, but with the musical sands shifting beneath their feet, they really were not sure how to do this. As Larry Mullen Jnr later confessed, “We were suddenly, musically, on different levels and it affected everything. No-one knew what the fuck anyone else was talking about!”

According to Adam Clayton, what got them through this was “Force of Will”. “Everything was against us making a great record.” he said, “But no matter how people failed and became isolated, they saw what was good and followed that.”

Finally they got their breakthrough in the shape of “One”. The Edge combined two chord progressions he had been toying with. With Daniel Lanois‘ encouragement the band jammed on it and the song took shape very quickly. As The Edge remembered, “We were all playing together in the big recording room, a huge, eerie ballroom full of ghosts of the war, and everything fell into place. It was a reassuring moment, when everyone finally went, ‘oh great, this album has started.’”

As they threshed out the what it was they were trying to achieve, Brian Eno took on the role of Abstract Arbitrator. He would throw buzzwords around for the do’s and don’t of the album – no more “earnest”, more “trashy”, less “righteous” more “sexy”.

They set out their stall on the opener ‘Zoo Station’, which opens with a chainsaw guitar and industrial beats. Just in case you were still unsure that this wasn’t the same old U2, the lyrics tell you that they are changing, “I’m ready for the laughing gas” – U2, laughing? “I’m ready for what’s next…”

It must be said though, underneath the bluster of the noises and beats, musically it is still definitely U2 – and nothing wrong with that! Change within the band was a key factor in the switch to a more contemporary sound and even dance infused style of songs but the personal lives of the band members were going through massive changes as well.

Where they would depart from U2 most dramatically was in the way they embraced a more personal level of lyrics as the band regrouped back in Ireland at the beginning of 1991 at the seaside mansion “Elsinore” in Dalkey, a short distance from both Bono and The Edge’s homes.

The Edge had recently split from Aislinn O’Sullivan, his wife and mother of his three children. Bono had recently become a father for the first time and his wife fell pregnant with their second child around this time. However Bono, in an oblique way, confessed his own marital problems, “I think fidelity is just against human nature….I may or may not be writing from my own experience.” The very un-U2-like themes of heartbreak, romance and new life were evident throughout the record.

Lead single ‘The Fly’, with its distortion and synthesized backing confounded a lot of the critics of the band who deemed them derivative and lacking the conviction to try anything new. It also saw Bono singing from a morally ambiguous place, even taunting his own image with lines like, “It’s no secret that a conscience can sometimes be a pest.”

The Edge’s understandable heartache seems to come through on tracks like “So Cruel”. The refrain from the piano and lines like, “It doesn’t matter to you, it matters to me. We’re cut adrift but still floating. I’m only hanging on to watch you go down” portray someone fragile, bitter and alone.

All this and I still haven’t mentioned “One” possibly U2’s high water mark. The song that got “Achtung Baby” up and running is a classic even amongst U2’s impressive back catalog. A lament to a faded love, lost friends or just the way the band felt about each other at the time? Bono strips away the specifics of the lyrics to leave it as personal to each listener as it must have been to him.

As they finished recording at Windmill Lane Studios and turned it over to Steve Lillywhite and Flood for mixing, things were still no easier. In the last few days before having to deliver the tapes for mastering they will still not happy. “One” and “The Fly” were among the tracks with some last minute overdubs and recording before settling on a final mix and track order just in time to meet Island Records deadline for the album.

Part of the criticism that surrounded the band on their previous records and tours was a lack of humor and a po-faced seriousness but the Zoo TV and subsequent Zooropa Tours featured a different U2, one that could poke fun at itself whilst putting on a bewildering show. In taking the live show from music concert to interactive medium saw U2 move well ahead of the game and left their contemporaries looking very staid.

Well over a decade into their career with a number of highs and lows behind them, U2 found the nerve and courage to tear up their blueprint and came back stronger than ever, playing to bigger audiences and creating an album that the critics still rate highly today.

With the political posturing that Bono has undertaken in recent years, it can be easy to forget how the band were stung by their critics and looked to be close to calling it a day. “Achtung Baby” not only stands as one of the best records in U2’s history, it is a perfect example of the merging of styles that ushered in the 1990s. With both “Achtung Baby” and live shows, when the band finally calls it a day, this era will probably be remembered as the critical high point of the bands illustrious career.

U2

• Bono – lead vocals, additional guitar
• The Edge – guitar, synthesizers, backing vocals
• Adam Clayton – bass guitar,acoustic bass.
• Larry Mullen Jnr – drums, percussion

Additional Musicians

• Brian Eno – keyboards (on tracks “One”, “Tryin’ to Throw Your Arms Around the World” and “Love Is Blindness”)
• Daniel Lanois – additional guitar (on “Zoo Station”, “One” and “Tryin’ to Throw Your Arms Around the World” ), percussion (on “Until the End of the World” and “Mysterious Ways”)

Production

• Daniel Lanois – Main Producer
• Brian Eno – Assistant Producer
• Steve Lillywhite – Mixing and Engineering
• Flood – Mixing

Tracklist

1. “Zoo Station” 4:36
2. “Even Better Than the Real Thing” 3:41
3. “One” 4:36
4. “Until the End of the World” 4:39
5. “Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses” 5:16
6. “So Cruel” 5:49
7. “The Fly” 4:29
8. “Mysterious Ways” 4:04
9. “Tryin’ to Throw Your Arms Around the World” 3:53
10. “Ultraviolet (Light My Way)” 5:31
11. “Acrobat” 4:30
12. “Love Is Blindness” 4:23

Catlog Number

ISL 3145103472

Awards and Accolades

On Release

• Rolling Stone (1/9/92) – 4.5 Stars – Outstanding – “…the band is able to grow confidently and consistently on its own native strengths…few bands can marshal such sublime power…”
• Entertainment Weekly (11/29/91) – “..refreshingly personal – deeper and denser than any of the band’s previous releases…” – Rating: A
• Q (12/91) – 5 Stars – Classic – “…U2’s heaviest album to date. And best…” – One of Q Magazine’s 50 best albums of 1991.
• Musician (12/91) – “…ACHTUNG, BABY is dense, tough and endlessly surprising…a great accomplishment…”
• Jazziz (Dec.-Jan./92, p.94) – Picked by critic John Dilberto as one of the 10 best albums of 1992.
• New York Times (Publisher) (1/1/92) – “..Dense, self-serious and overly ambitious: all the things this band is rightfully famous for..”

Post Release

• Ranked #3 in Entertainment Weekly’s best album of the last 25 years
• Ranked #62 in Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Albums Of All Time” – “…The album has lots of uncertainty, irony and distortion. It also has one of the most beautiful songs U2 ever recorded: ‘One’…”
• Included in Rolling Stone’s “Essential Recordings of the ’90s.”
• Ranked #19 in Spin Magazine’s “90 Greatest Albums of the ’90s”
• #11 on Spin’s “100 Greatest Albums, 1985-2005″
• Ranked #9 in Q’s “Best 50 Albums of Q’s Lifetime”
• Included in Q Magazine’s “90 Best Albums of the 1990s”
• Included in CMJ’s list of “Top 25 College Radio Albums of All Time”

Awards

• 1991 Grammy Award for “Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal”.

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Nirvana released Nevermind on September 24, 1991 with 46,251 copies of the album shipped to American record stores and 35,000 copies were shipped in the UK, where Nirvana’s previous album, Bleach, had been successful.

Nirvana’s first album, Bleach, was a heavy affair, influenced by both Chris Novoselic (whose real name is Krist Novoselic, which he also used on some releases) and Kurt Cobain’s love of The Melvins. Along with many of The Melvins records, Sub Pop released Bleach. It went on to become moderately successful on college radio and in the UK.

After Bleach, as Nirvana worked on the demos in Butch Vig’s studio in Wisconsin, the songs Nirvana were coming up with for their next album were more melodic. Kurt Cobain said, “The early songs were really angry … But as time goes on the songs are getting poppier and poppier as I get happier and happier.” This did not sit well with Chad Channing, Nirvana’s drummer from Bleach, who became disillusioned with the sound and his exclusion from the songwriting process. After the demos Chad Channing was fired.

Nirvana hired Mudhoney drummer Dan Peters, to record and release the song “Sliver” on Sub Pop, a sign of the sound to come. However this did not last long and Nirvana were left looking for another drummer.

Buzz Osbourne of the Melvins had introduced Nirvana to Dave Grohl, who was looking for a new band following the break-up of his band Scream, a hardcore punk band. A few days after arriving in Seattle, Chris Novoselic and Kurt Cobain auditioned Dave Grohl, with Chris Novoselic later stating, “We knew in two minutes that he was the right drummer.”

The recruitment of Dave Grohl, along with the release of Sliver, was a pivotal moment for Nirvana. Sliver did not fit with the typical Sub Pop sound and on learning that Sub Pop’s financial worries meant they were looking to be taken over by a major label anyway, Kurt Cobain took Nirvana to Geffen Records on Kim Gordon’s recommendation.

Butch Vig’s  services were retained for the album and with a budget of $65,000, Nirvana recorded Nevermind at Sound City Studios in Los Angeles, California in May and June 1991.

Geffen Records hoped that Nevermind would sell around 250,000 copies. The best estimate was that if the band, the management, and the label all worked really hard, the record could possibly be certified gold by September of 1992.

As Nirvana set out for their European tour at the start of November 1991, Nevermind entered the Billboard Top 40 for the first time at number 35. By January 11, 1992 Nevermind became Nirvana’s first number one album, replacing Michael Jackson’s Dangerous at the top of the Billboard charts. Nevermind eventually spent two hundred and fifty-two weeks on the Billboard 200. Geffen president Ed Rosenblatt told the New York Times, “We didn’t do anything. It was just one of those ‘Get out of the way and duck’ records.”

When you now listen Nirvana’s Nevermind it is hard to understand the fuss. The problem is not Nevermind’s greatness, it is simply that everybody who has picked up a guitar since then has been influenced by them at best and ripped them off at worst.

You need to go back to the time Nevermind was released. The 1980s rock scene had descended into farce, with bands seemingly more interested in their hair than even sex, drugs or rock and roll. Even those that cared about their music had found their own decadence in 45 minute long guitar solos, which seemed to punctuate every live show I saw back then.

Kurt Cobain although reportedly originally happy with Andy Wallace’s mixes, later disparagingly described it as “a Motley Crue record”. It is true that there is a sheen that you do not hear on a Pixies or Smithereens record, but Nevermind was as far removed from what was on the rock scene at the time as their 1970s punk predecessors were to the hippy and prog-rock artists of their time. No polished guitar solos and big-hair, just stripped back songs played with passion or “Bay City Rollers getting molested by Black Flag” as Kurt Cobain described it.

Whatever it was, the music world was never going to be the same.

Track Listing

All songs were written by Kurt Cobain, except where noted.

1. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (Kurt Cobain , Chris Novoselic, Dave Grohl) – 5:01
2. “In Bloom” – 4:14
3. “Come as You Are” – 3:39
4. “Breed” – 3:03
5. “Lithium” – 4:17
6. “Polly” – 2:57
7. “Territorial Pissings” – 2:22
8. “Drain You” – 3:43
9. “Lounge Act” – 2:36
10. “Stay Away” – 3:32
11. “On a Plain” – 3:16
12. “Something in the Way” – 3:55
    * “Endless, Nameless” (6:44) is a hidden track on some copies of the record.

Nirvana

• Kurt Cobain (appears on the credits for the “Monkey Photo” as Kurdt Kobain) – vocals, guitar, photography
• Krist Novoselic (credited as Chris Novoselic) – bass guitar, vocals
• Dave Grohl – drums, vocals

Crew

• Nirvana – co-producers, engineers
• Butch Vig – co-producer, engineer
• Kirk Canning – cello on “Something in the Way”
• Chad Channing – cymbals on “Polly” (uncredited; song recorded when he was still in the band)
• Jeff Sheehan – assistant engineer
• Andy Wallace – mixing
• Howie Weinberg – mastering
• Michael Lavine – photography
• Robert Fisher – artwork, art direction, design, cover design
• Craig Doubet – assistant engineer, mixing
• Kirk Weddle – cover photo
• Spencer Elden – infant in cover photo

Release Information

Nevermind was originally released on September 24, 1991 on Geffen Records in the US and on Polydor Records in the UK.

References

• Heavier Than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain
• Nirvana: Nevermind (Classic Rock Albums)
• Mojo
• Q Magazine
• Classic Rock

Dave Grohl Arrives in Seattle

On September 21st, 1990 Krist Novoselic and Kurt Cobain picked Dave Grohl up from Seattle’s Sea-Tac airport. He stayed with Kurt Cobain in his “Hellhole” apartment in Olympia and auditioned for the band a few days later. He got the job, with Krist Novoselic later stating, “We knew in two minutes that he was the right drummer.”

This search had been a long and tortuous one and came at the end of a frustrating summer for Nirvana.

Aaron Buckhard, Nirvana’s first Drummer

Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic had got together and started playing. In early 1987 they started playing with a neighborhood kid called Aaron Buckhard. There was no audition, as Aaron put it, “They said they needed a drummer and I was a drummer”

However by October 1987 Aaron Buckhard, got a new job as assistant manager of Aberdeen’s Burger King. With the job taking up more of his time he was not prepared to make the trip to Nirvana’s rehersal space in Krist’s basement in Tacoma and he was out of Nirvana. “I thought Kurt’s songs were great, but I never thought there would be a market for them”, said Aaron Buckhard later.

In an attempt to find a new drummer Kurt (or Kurdt as he spelled his name then) decided to place an advert in the Seattle Rocket for a drummer -

By December they still had not found a drummer so started rehearsing with Dale Grover as an interim solution. Soon after they went into Reciprocal Studios with Jack Endino to record their first demo. However in January Dale Grover left to go back to play with the Melvins again soon after Kurt’s 21st birthday.

Before leaving Dale Grover had recommended a hard-living drummer by the name of Dave Foster to Kurt and Krist.

Dave Foster did not look like a the Washington punk that Kurt wanted, but when he mentioned that Dave should, “Get with it” he got and angry retort, “It’s not fair to make fun of the short-haired guy, I’ve got a job!”

He also had the misfortune to get into a fight and beat up the son of the mayor of Cosmopolis. So along with 2 weeks in jail, losing his driver’s license and having to pay thousands for his victim’s medical expenses he was also fired from Nirvana. In actual fact he was not fired, Kurt simply stopped asking him along to practices and asked Chad Channing instead.

Chad Channing

Chad Channing joined Nirvana as things began to happen for them. They recorded “Love Buzz” the first single released on Sub Pop’s record of the month club and their debut album “Bleach” also for Sub Pop. They also embarked on a tour across the US in the back of a van and the relationship between Kurt and Chad began to break down.

By the time Nirvana went to Madison to record the follow up to “Bleach” with Butch Vig at his Smart Studios, although the two respected each other, they could not find common ground on a musical level. He and Kurt’s relationship became very strained during the sessions in Madison.

Kurt had often complained that he was the focal point of the band, with all the stress on him, but whenever Chad had offered to help with the song writing process his ideas had always been ignored, which irked him. Also Chad’s style of drumming did not gel with the music Kurt wanted to make. “Chad was a softer style drummer, but he changed to become harder and more rhythmic.” said Krist Novoselic, “He didn’t like doing that.”

Soon after the Smart Studios sessions at the end of May, Chad Channing left Nirvana.

The Hunt for a Drummer Continues

Nirvana used Mudhoney drummer Dan Peters, to record and release the song “Sliver” on Sub Pop (ironically one of the only songs with a writing credit for Chad Channing), with “Dive” from the Smart sessions on the B-side (you can find both on “Incesticide”) However this was only a temporary arrangement and Nirvana were left looking for another drummer.

, who was looking for a new band following the break-up of his band Scream, a Washington hardcore punk band. The

Dave Grohl Joins Nirvana

Dave Grohl’s band Scream had split up mid-tour in LA. Dave Grohl found himself a long way from home in Washington DC, and Dave Grohl did not have the money to get back to the east coast. So he called his friend Buzz Osbourne of the Melvins, who was living in LA and he introduced Dave to Nirvana.

Nirvana had seen Scream play in San Francisco and liked the way Grohl played, Kurt Cobain frequently compared him favorably with Led Zeppelin’s legendary sticksman, John Bonham. Very quickly he gelled with Nirvana and their summer of frustrations with being unable to play and problems with Sub Pop was at an end.

Now Nirvana were a band again and they set off on a tour of Europe during the fall of 1990. It would also not be long before they had sorted the issues with their record label to as they were now actively pursuing a major label deal.

References

• Heavier Than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain
• Nirvana: Nevermind (Classic Rock Albums)
• Mojo
• Q Magazine
• Classic Rock

Nirvana prepare to make the follow-up to “Bleach“

Nirvana had released their debut album “Bleach” in 1989, which went on to become Sub Pop’s biggest seller and popular with college radio and in the UK. Even though Sub Pop were going through some financial difficulties, they knew they had to get Nirvana back into the studio to record a new album as the likely sales were needed to keep them afloat. So as spring 1990 came in, Nirvana were to make their second album for Sub Pop, speculatively titled “Sheep”.

Butch Vig

Although it was Sub Pop co-founder Jonathan Poneman’s idea to use Butch Vig on “Sheep”, he was well known to the members of Nirvana, having produced their friends Tad and Killdozer, whose sound they liked and would ask Butch Vig to recreate for them.

Also, when Jonathan Poneman called Butch Vig to propose that he produce the new Nirvana album for Sub Pop he found Butch Vig very receptive to the idea. Butch Vig was keen to work with Sub Pop as he was well aware of their standing in the independent music world, “I wanted to work with Sub Pop because I knew they were a cool label” he later recalled.

Nirvana Record “Sheep” with Butch Vig at Smart Studios

Having played a gig the night before in Chicago, Nirvana drove down to Madison, Butch Vig’s home and the location of Smart Studios, in early April 1990. Sub Pop did not have the money to pay them advances, so Nirvana were reliant on gigs to pay their living expenses and were booked to start a 6 week tour on April 10th in Ann Arbor, so Nirvana knew they had to work fast to get all the tracks done.

Unlike “Bleach”, where the songs were finished and had been well rehearsed before entering the studio, Nirvana’s new songs were not yet finished. Nirvana had been touring extensively and not had the time to sit down and thresh them out, although most of the arrangements had been solidified through playing at sound checks and in some cases, live. However most were lacking completed lyrics.

So Nirvana went to work on “Sheep” with Butch Vig at his Smart Studios in Wisconsin feeling under prepared and under pressure.

Butch Vig and Nirvana soon struck up a good rapport. Nirvana were not used to people bringing ideas to them about how to record and Butch Vig had the knack of doing this without seeming overbearing. He had experience getting the type of sound Nirvana wanted and went out of his way to try to capture the intensity of Nirvana’s live performances to the point of putting sheets of plywood around the studio to try to get a sound closer to that in a club. He also pushed Cobain’s pop sensibility.

The songs Kurt Cobain was coming up with were more melodic and poppy than those on “Bleach”. Kurt had been torn between his heavy, punk roots and this new direction, but Butch Vig thought this was the way to go and told Kurt, “You have a genius for doing this. Don’t ignore it, it is beautiful”. However Nirvana felt nervous about both the unfinished nature and the differences between this new material compared to “Bleach”. This all left them unsure which to tackle first and which to leave alone.

For all Nirvana’s early nervousness, Butch Vig was impressed at how focused the arrangements were, especially since several of the songs had never been played live before.

Doug Olsen, the engineer at Smart Studios for the sessions, was also amazed at how certain Kurt Cobain was about what he wanted. When he offered him what he thought was a better Marshall valve amp to use over Kurt’s transistorized Sunn he was greeted with an acerbic, “No, I don’t want to do that…”

The Songs that became the “Nevermind” Demos

By the end of the week they had recorded eight tracks, seven of Kurt’s compositions and a cover of the Velvet Underground’s “Here She Comes Now”

In Bloom

In Bloom remained almost identical to the version that appeared on “Nevermind“, although it was completely re-recorded. On the original version there was a bridge, which after recording they decided they did not like, so the section was cut out and that is how the song remained.

The only area that showed any real change was the drumming. Dave Grohl’s no nonsense style on the “Nevermind” version is starkly different to the more complex fills employed by Chad Channing and highlighted one of the reasons he and Nirvana would later part ways.

Dive

Dive was a live favorite for Nirvana, a bass driven track that did not make it to “Nevermind” but was released as the B-side to Sliver (and appears on Incesticide)

Lithium

Lithium was another track that made it to “Nevermind“, but the Smart Studios recording was a fraught affair. Chad Channing and Kurt Cobain’s visions of what the drumming should be differed, and it came to a head on the recording of Lithium. Kurt grabbed the sticks and showed Chad what he wanted. Chad had been feeling under appreciated and this was another sleight he felt and would contribute to their worsening relationship.

Imodium

Imodium was the name of a diarrhoea treatment that Tad Doyle of Tad used while Nirvana toured with them in Europe. The track became “Breed” on “Nevermind“, possibly to avoid legal problems with McNeil Healthcare, the makers of Imodium.

Pay To Play

This song became “Stay Away” on “Nevermind“. Musically it changed little, with the addition of a tighter ending and Dave Grohl’s more streamlined drumming.
The original lyrics refer to the practice of many club owners to force bands that played at their club to buy a quantity of tickets upfront, which they would have to sell to their fans to make any money. Kurt thought this practice was reprehensible, but also felt that the people that went along with it were simply sheep, hence the lyrics “Monkey See Monkey Do, I Don’t Know Why, Walk Around I Follow You”

Sappy

Originally titled “Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus” due to it’s simple structure, Sappy would be revisited during the “Nevermind” sessions but it did not make the album.

Polly

Polly is the only track where the original Smart Studios recordings made it to “Nevermind“. The haunting track was, according to Butch Vig, in half an hour flat on a beaten up, cheap, 5 string acoustic guitar (apparently the strings were as old as the guitar as they had never been changed!) Vig, just set up a microphone and recorded it.

Kurt had tuned the guitar down a semi-tone from E, but the guitar was horrible, with duct tape holding the tuning keys in place. The basic take was recorded with Kurt and Krist playing live and they got a take that was hauntingly beautiful, if a little out of tune. However Kurt was impatient and did not want to try for another take, so this was the take that the song was built on using overdubs.

The overdubbed cymbal accents, the only percussion on the track, are the only contribution of Chad Channing that makes it onto “Nevermind“.

The song was based on the case of Gerald Friend. Friend was a 49 year old who was convicted on August 19, 1987 of kidnapping, raping and torturing a teenage girl from outside a music venue in Tacoma, near Seattle.

Kurt cast himself as the rapist, writing in the first person in a haunting manner. The lyrics are even more harrowing when you read the reports from the trial -

Prosecutor Tom Stratton said he would recommend an exceptionally long sentence for Friend, 49 (age), who was convicted in a similar attack 27 years ago. In the latest case, Friend was charged with first-degree kidnapping and first-degree rape in the attack that occurred over several hours late June 5 and early June 6.

Officials said the victim was a runaway who accepted a ride from Friend near the Tacoma Dome after she attended a rock concert in the area. When the girl tried to get out of the car, authorities said, she was handcuffed and abducted at knife-point to Friend’s mobile home.

The victim testified last week that Friend tortured and repeatedly raped her with several objects in his mobile home. She said he blindfolded her and ran a propane torch close to her skin. She eventually escaped.

Here She Comes Now

According to Krist Novoloselic, “Here She Comes Now” was done not for Sub Pop but for Tupelo Records for a Velvet Underground tribute album. It was recorded in a single take and was one of the easiest tracks to lay down according to both Krist Novoloselic and Chad Channing.

Post Smart Studios

According to Butch Vig recording Lithium, “Blew out Kurt’s voice” so they could not record more tracks. However other reports state that Nirvana played a gig with label-mates Tad in Madison on April 6th, their last night in town before they headed up to Ann Arbor, which seems to imply Kurt’s voice was fine.

What is known is that Jonathan Poneman had flown in to see how the sessions had gone. According to Butch Vig he liked what he heard, but the members of Nirvana remember him being very subdued. According to Chad Channing, Poneman’s lack of enthusiasm was one of the reasons that almost nothing from the Smart Sessions was released on Sub Pop.

After Nirvana left Wisconsin on their tour, Butch Vig got down to mixing the tracks. The majority were done on April 11th, 12th and 13th, but according to Butch Vig, “For some reason I didn’t get down to mixing ‘ Here She Comes Now’ until June 8th, 1990”

Sub Pop were aiming for a September 1990 release of Nirvana’s album and all parties were expecting to be back at Smart Studios to record a few more tracks and finish the album, but Butch Vig did not hear anything for a while as Nirvana were to lose one drummer in the shape of Chad Channing, gain another in Dave Grohl and sign with DGC before they would record together again, this time to make “Nevermind”

References

• Heavier Than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain
• Nirvana: Nevermind (Classic Rock Albums)
• Mojo
• Q Magazine
• Classic Rock