Mark Yarm's Blog, page 786

Old-school reggae singer Little Roy covers Nirvana's...

Old-school reggae singer Little Roy covers Nirvana's "Sliver" and "Dive." 

"We were horrible. We had a car with a trailer, which broke down in Bakersfield—that's a long..."

"We were horrible. We had a car with a trailer, which broke down in Bakersfield—that's a long way from Seattle. So we hitchhiked with our guitars and used the Fastbacks' gear. But it was great for me coming back to Seattle. That was our first real gig. Well, I think we played a gig the night before we left, at Madame Wong's East or something, to three people. In Seattle, we played to 12. There's been thousands that said they were at that gig, but actually there were 12, and four of them were ...

Nirvana's Nevermind is No. 3 on RollingStone.com's...

Nirvana's Nevermind is No. 3 on RollingStone.com's link-baity list of the best album covers of all time (as determined by its readers).

Soundgarden cover the Beatles' "Everybody's...

Soundgarden cover the Beatles' "Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me and My Monkey" (1989 Peel session)

"[Bleach is] one of my favorite albums ever made. I still listen to that shit to work out."

"[Bleach is] one of my favorite albums ever made. I still listen to that shit to work out."

- Dr. Dre, from a Vibe magazine cover story interview outtake

"I try not to elaborate too much on the metaphors, but here's something I haven't told a..."

"I try not to elaborate too much on the metaphors, but here's something I haven't told a lot of people. We have an older song called 'It'll Be OK.' It's directly about me fantasizing inside of the depression of someone with a tortured mind, like Kurt Cobain. I really connect with him. I have my own torture. I've been impacted by his poetry, his philosophies and music, obviously. On this new song [a bonus track called 'My Own Cobain'], it's another way into my depression and expression of that...

"Major labels didn't want to have anything to do with me. I was not the one who did the record that..."

"Major labels didn't want to have anything to do with me. I was not the one who did the record that broke Nirvana. I was the guy who did the Nirvana record that said it was done for $600. That probably did not help my career. Most people didn't even listen to [Bleach] because it said 'made for $600.' They'd go, 'Ha ha, next!'"

- from my interview with Bleach producer Jack Endino

"No, they never repaid it, but I'm not going to go crazy over $500. I've lost more money than that to..."

"No, they never repaid it, but I'm not going to go crazy over $500. I've lost more money than that to friends, so whatever."

- former Nirvana guitarist Jason Everman, on the money he lent the band to record Bleach

The 'Vedderisation' of Pakistani rock

The 'Vedderisation' of Pakistani rock

"There is a story that is true, and it's kind of embarrassing: I called Kurt up and said, 'Can..."

"There is a story that is true, and it's kind of embarrassing: I called Kurt up and said, 'Can I borrow your money to put out your album [Bleach]?' Which sounds absolutely insane, but that's where we were at financially. You have to be really shameless. He said no. We ended up borrowing $5,000 from a friend to put it out."

- from my interview with Sub Pop cofounder Bruce Pavitt