But the business of Nirvana continues to pay off. Nirvana imploded and the 'alternative rock’ era started coming undone almost as quickly as it began. Cobain never got old he killed himself in April 1994 at the age of 27. Twenty years later, those lyrics have proven at least partially prophetic. The cynical punk rocker had crashed the MTV party, and now what? Cobain kicked off his most scrutinised album with the words "Teenage angst has paid off well/Now I'm bored and old." In Utero was the album that tried to bring those two worlds together. Since then, singer Kurt Cobain had become the poster child for conflicted rock stars, a songwriter who coveted fame even as he embraced the noisy, underground sound of the indie ‘80s. The Seattle band had stormed the pop charts, toppling even Michael Jackson from his usual number 1 spot, when they released Nevermind two years earlier. Here is a look at some recent sales from eBay.A lot was at stake when Nirvana went into Pachyderm Studio in Cannon Falls, Minnesota, in 1993 to record their third album, In Utero. But for the interested fan, there are items out there for less than $100. Many of us do not have the means to purchase a guitar like this.
The album debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200. It has currently gone five times platinum according to the RIAA. NME ranks Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged in New York as #1 in their list of the “50 Greatest Live Albums.” The album won the GRAMMY award for Best Alternative Music Performance of 1995. It was perfect for Nirvana it was perfect for their fans.Īn album of the performance was released on November 1, 1994, just a little less than a year from the taping at Sony Music Studios in New York on November 18, 1993. Not a corporate kind of perfect, maybe not even musically perfect. Despite the uneven rehearsals, reported illness by Cobain, and Dave Grohl having to pull back on his drumming, the performance came off perfectly. Most bands did two or three takes of a song to correct errors. It is wild to note that Nirvana was the only band to complete an Unplugged episode in one take. An amp was hidden inside a monitor and placed next to the stage. Cobain insisted on having an amplifier on his acoustic-electric Martin. The Unplugged format was meant to be acoustic. It is one of only 302 made by Martin as one of their first forays into producing acoustic-electric guitars.īut Cobain cheated with this guitar. According to Nirvana guitar tech Ernie Bailey, “I believe Kurt like the D-18E because it was so strange and unique for a Martin acoustic.”Ĭobain purchased the guitar in Los Angeles in the Fall of 1993 at Voltage Guitars. Cobain didn’t play remarkable guitars Cobain played guitars remarkably. The set included eight of Nirvana’s own songs: one song from Bleach, four songs from Nevermind, and three songs from In Utero.Īll of this was played on one very special Martin D18-E, but it wasn’t that special. It is hard to convey just how uncool he was in the early Nineties.” Cobain took risks with this performance.Ī color slide of Cobain, wife Courtney, and their daughter Francis at the 1993 MTV Music Video Awards sold for $24.99.
According to Ed Power in an Independent article titled Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged at 25, “Back then Bowie was still regarded as a sort of super-naff crazy uncle to Phil Collins. While it is difficult to believe today, Bowie was actually out of style at the time. They planned a fourteen-song set where they played six covers, three by the Meat Puppets, one by the Scottish band the Vaselines, one by David Bowie, and probably the most famous, by Lead Belly. Nirvana, and Kurt, got their way in most things. MTV wanted “big stars” to make an appearance in the performance. Everything down to the stage setting was influenced by the band. MTV appeared to want a “greatest hits” performance by the band. The lead up to the performance did not go smoothly. Whatever the reason, or despite the reason, they agreed to work together on an episode of MTV Unplugged.Īccording to Cobain biographer Danny Goldberg, Cobain saw the Unplugged performance as “his show.” Goldberg went on to say, “Kurt saw it as art, not as promo, and no one was going to tell him what to do with his art.” It might have begun at the 1992 MTV Video Awards, or because Cobain didn’t think that Nirvana was in enough rotation on the video channel. This guitar was used to perform on MTV Unplugged in 1993.Īt that time, Nirvana and MTV had some tension – or more specifically, Kurt Cobain and MTV had a lot of tension.
On June 19, 2020, Julien’s Auctions will sell Kurt Cobain’s 1959 Martin D-18E.