What would the Nirvana frontman’s music sound like now?
Revisit the story below.
I was worried it could really, really go wrong.
Credit: Michel Linssen/Redferns
We went out on tour with them in the fall of 93, and he asked if wed doUnplugged.
Kurt already knew which songs he wanted to do when he asked.
ButUnpluggedmay have signaled the jumping-off point for wherever his musical muse was leading him.
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My main feeling with theUnpluggedthing was Wow, what do you do now?
The passion was at such a high level, says Kirkwood.
I was in awe of the whole thing, because there wasnt much pretense and there was no glam.
Paul Bergen/Redferns
There was a lot of hoopla around them, but not from them.
I think it would have been awesome to have a record or two of that kind of material.
Its definitely some of my favorite stuff that they did.
He was so happy.
When Cobain died, R.E.M.
frontman Michael Stipe toldNewsweek: I know what the next Nirvana recording was going to sound like.
It was going to be very quiet and acoustic, with lots of stringed instruments.
It was going to be an amazing fing record….
He and I were going to record a trial run of the album, a demo tape.
It was all set up.
He was talking about that record constantly.
in general, and I think thats where he wanted to go, says Merlis.
Eerily,Automaticwas reportedly on Cobains stereo when his body was found.
The Vaselines, the Pixies, Cross says.
Lets say Kurt had 10 major influences, but he got something from every one of those influences.
He was really into that ABBA cover band.
Kurt might have worked with Daniel Johnston, Pavitt says.
He would have used his fame to shed light on artists on the periphery of culture.
He did it with the Meat Puppets, too.
That was his style.
I cant see him jamming with Paul McCartney.
Of course, the surviving members of Nirvana famously did end upjamming with McCartney in 2012.
I was not that impressed withBleach,Nevermindproducer Butch Vig told me several years ago.
The only song to me that really stuck out was About a Girl.
That had a very Lennon-McCartney melodic structure.
That, I think, was an early template of where Kurt was going.
Cobain might actually have looked to the worlds most famous band in other ways.
By 94, Kurt was kind of over being an international rock star.
Its something very off-kilter like that.
Hes Neil Young, minus the fancy autos and train sets.
it’s possible for you to see a lot of it onUnplugged, where his voice will break.
Cobain was known for being a tinkerer, too.
I thought it was pretty huge, but he was really worried.
He kept asking if I liked it.
I dont think he was ever happy with the mixes on that record.
I think music was pretty much the only thing working for him to give him comfort, says Peterson.
Says Cross: The drive to create music is totally separate from the drive to release it.
I dont think so, says Cross.
He was not a man for these times.
Kurt was left-handed and needed them, so we would just buy whatever ones we saw.
