# Kurt Cobain - 16 Years?



## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Its been 16 years (April 8th) that Kurt Cobain died? Wow, where has the time gone? Seems like yesterday that a few friends of mine were turning me on to this band called Nirvana.


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## Ti-Ron (Mar 21, 2007)

YOp, Already!

Remember the N64 was the thing to have!


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## zurn (Oct 21, 2009)

I learned guitar copying Kurt, he was my teenaged idol. Great simple riffs with awsome melodies and lyrix.

R.I.P


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## Powdered Toast Man (Apr 6, 2006)

Yep. And now Robert Pattinson is supposed to play Kurt in the bio pic. Ugh.


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## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

..........................


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## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

[YOUTUBE]vzUPyKLp0zI[/YOUTUBE]


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## xuthal (May 15, 2007)

I wanted that role all my life,Oh well my only acting experience was in a 5th grade play,but at least i can play guitar wrong handed:rockon:


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## Starbuck (Jun 15, 2007)

I remember the very first time I heard Nirvana, I was at work and "Teen Spirit" came on the radio. not only did I love it, but I thought it was about the antiperspirant out at the time so I thought it was really funny. Can't belive it's been so long.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Way back when, in the 70's, there used to be a show called "The National Lampoon Radio Hour" (It was a half hour), that featured many of the people we have come to know, love, and respect for their vast oeuvre asince then. You can see the list of notables here: The National Lampoon Radio Hour - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (One was my CEGEP English teacher Sean Kelly, who had started off writing for the magazine. He used to tell us in class that the primary of objective of satire is to make the object of the satire want to kill themselves.)

One of my favourite bits from that series was about this guy who had awoken from a coma after being beaten up by a Hell's Angel at a Grateful Dead show, and was hitching a ride. He strikes up a chat with the guy who gives him a lift, and the subject turns to music, whereupon the driver fills him in on all that has happened since he got knocked out. The passenger is shocked to find out that Jimi Hendrix has died "while he was out". "Jimi's dead!?" he asks in disbelief. Then he learns, one by one, that Jim Morrison, Mama Cass Elliot, and Al Wilson (Canned Heat) are dead, responding the same way for each one. And just when he thinks this terrible run of bad luck is over, he asks if his tickets to see Janis are stioll secure, he learns that she too is dead. The passenger is overcome. "Janis, man!? Ohhhhhhhhh MANNNNNN". Finally, the driver says, "Not only that, but Jim Croce is dead too". "Who?", the passenger replies, confused.

And as much as I do not like to speak ill of the dead, that's sort of the way I feel about Kurt Cobain. This is not born out of some my-generation-was-better-than-yours sentiment. Honestly, the only reason I know what year Lennon died was because it ended in a 0, and happened shortly after my wife and I moved to Edmonton for me to start my masters program. Ask me when Elvis Presley or George Harrison died, and I can't tell you (actually, I don't remember when any of the people in the aforementioned sketch died). There are plenty of folks I idolize, and can't recall how long they've been gone (when did Zappa die? or Stevie Ray Vaughan, or Mike Bloomfield, or Paul Butterfield, or Roland Kirk, or Joe Pass, or Lenny Breau, or Miles Davis? I know Les Paul died last year, but give me a couple years and I won't remember that either).

Cobain is one of those folks who holds considerable meaning for a very specific cohort, and virtually no meaning to people outside of that bracket. Indeed, I see Dave Grohl's contribution since Nirvana as having been more substantive, and Cobain's role as being about the same as Courtney Love's. It came; it went.

Of course, there are folks for whom the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper (yeah,_ there's_ a giant of the music world) was a seminal event in their lives, and who would have observed the 50th anniversary of that last year. So I'm not going to shake my head dismissively at folks who *do* find something of personal meaning in Cobain's short flicker. But I gotta tell you that, just like the recently comatose hitch-hiker in the sketch, part of me wants to respond "Who?".

So, I'm not being snarky. I'm just pointing out that the number of people for whom Cobain's career and passing is NOT meaningful is pretty big, and the list of people for whom it IS is very focussed.


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## Rugburn (Jan 14, 2009)

mhammer said:


> So, I'm not being snarky. I'm just pointing out that the number of people for whom Cobain's career and passing is NOT meaningful is pretty big, and the list of people for whom it IS is very focussed.


Anyone could say this about any artist/group,, and you know what *they'd *be right......to an extent. Puts me in mind of Nick Drake. He was very young when he passed away in 1974 from an overdose of anti-depressants. He'd released only 3 albums to very poor sales. However, the reach of his influence/impact can be felt right up to the music of Radiohead. I don't care if we're talking about Hendrix or Hank Williams, "substantive" and a long career aren't one in the same.

YouTube - Nick Drake - Northern Sky

YouTube - Nick Drake - River Man

YouTube - Nick Drake - 'Cello Song

One of my favorite songs period:
YouTube - Nick Drake Pink Moon

Shawn


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

I used to have a vinyl copy of whatever album "Northern Sky" and "River Man" were on (I remember it had a yellowish cover). Terrific album. Stupidly short career. Most people know him principally from the Volkswagon commercial that used "Pink Moon" (YouTube - VW Pink Moon Commercial).

Tim Buckley is another one who overlapped a bit with Drake, though he had more force and stridency in his voice than Drake could ever muster. Also interesting writer and singer of songs that stick with you, but a stupidly short career. To my mind, the two dirtiest songs *ever* written are Joan Osborne's "Right hand man" (from 1995's "Relish"; I dare you to listen and NOT start thinking about finding your better half and "taking the afternoon off": YouTube - Joan Osborne - Right Hand Man ) and Buckley's "Get on top" (from 1972's "Greetings from L.A."). It is hard to find as much lust-per-second compacted into any song as those two. I mean, we're not talking tongue in cheek coy sexiness; we're talking ADULT-my-mind-is-blank-except-for-precisely-what-I'm-doing-at-this-*very*-moment lust. Just a sec....I need a cigarette.

Another career that lasted somewhat longer, but still all too short, was Laura Nyro. Her stuff still send shivers down my spine, even when its corny. I was surprised to learn on Costello's show, when he had Elton John as his guest, that John saw himself as borrowing extensively from Nyro. And when he played examples of what I thought was some of his very best work from the 70's, the connection became crystal clear. I had always thought of her as the progenitor of all subsequent breathy pensive female singer-songwriters Joni, Siberry, Jewel, Norah Jones, et al), but clearly her influence extended to just about everyone who ever wrote pop songs based on the piano. You can even hear her in people like Ben Folds. And beyond, too. Just try imagining Chrissie Hynde singing "Back on the Chain Gang" without Nyro ever having existed. Hard, eh? Now try imagining Nyro playing the same song on the piano. Easy.


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## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

man, nick drake- i was listening to 'bryter layter' last night.
something so honest and 'naked' about that guys tunes.
i was already grown up and playing in my own band when 'bleach' came out- i didnt grow up listening to nirvana or any of those bands.
but i had a similar musical education as those guys, and sort of came from the same place in time.
what struck me was how the focus was on the song- a song everybody could enjoy, not just a guy song or a girl song, or a guitar players song.
a song anybody armed with 3 chords and a guitar could emulate. thats special- i was teaching kids to play back then, and it was great to be able to teach a total beginner to play his favourite song in less than an hour.
i know a lot of people who cant stand nirvana, even people who actually 'dont believe in nirvana'- i guess the same way i 'dont believe' in U2, or madonna. but its all perspective.
pull out your copy of 'i hate myself and want to die'- turn it up until your windows rattle. feels good lol.


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## bolero (Oct 11, 2006)

well I never liked nirvana much, & always thought that guy was an idiot....which was pretty much confirmed when he offed himself

they did help get music away from the crap that was being played during the '80's though....although now god forbid, every damn restaraunt I eat in these days seems to have '80's music cranked & it drives me crazy

....bring back Kurt Cobain!!


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## al3d (Oct 3, 2007)

I guess you did'nt lived trought the 80's...best music we had realy. all the best hard rock and metal years....THEN Cobain brought us GRUNGE...just nasty power chords all day all night. "HEY..let's use shitty gear and let's not wash outself for months...we're GRUNGE..LOL



bolero said:


> well I never liked nirvana much, & always thought that guy was an idiot....which was pretty much confirmed when he offed himself
> 
> they did help get music away from the crap that was being played during the '80's though....although now god forbid, every damn restaraunt I eat in these days seems to have '80's music cranked & it drives me crazy
> 
> ....bring back Kurt Cobain!!


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## bolero (Oct 11, 2006)

haha, I lived thru the '80's....only stuff I liked was the Police & original Van Halen...and the last 2 real albums by Pink Floyd ( full band)


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

...i only listen to mormon songs about booze and loose women. everything else is crap...


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## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

> THEN Cobain brought us GRUNGE...just nasty power chords all day all night. "HEY..let's use shitty gear and let's not wash outself for months...we're GRUNGE..LOL


no- the media, and the folks busy stuffing thier pockets brought us grunge.
all kurt brought was simple punk songs, and not really in any way that was even unique or new-
its sad really to think, that something like this will be pigeonholed, and forever referred to as a part of something manufactured and packaged, with a silly name stuck on it.
i mean realistically, what does nirvana have in common with soundgarden, or alice in chains, or pearl jam? what are other grunge bands? i dunno.
alice in chains was miles ahead of nirvana, musicianship wise, and the tunes were even better- but they lacked the simplicity- a nirvana tune is simple, like a beatles tune.
eddie vedder sings on tv commercials. lol- id suggest that kurt showed excellent foresight and good taste.
the guy never even bought a new couch when he got rich- and had no interest in sticking around to enjoy the material results of his popularity. thats punk as all get out.

im not one of those who sees the 80s as a bad time for music- i grew up in the 80s, lots of great tunes.
when i was in high school, there were 2 guys(maybe 3) who dressed up like michael jackson. red leather jacket, greasy hair, a glove- weird yes, but no big deal lol
i was watching RATT on yutube last night. i can sit my judas priest cds right beside my motley crue, jethro tull and nirvana cds. i like music.


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## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

david henman said:


> ...i only listen to mormon songs about booze and loose women. everything else is crap...


dh- got any yutube links? sounds interesting!


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