Kurt Cobain gave a collection of old demo tapes and notes to his friend John Purkey back in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Purkey kept it all secured in a metal box for decades, but now he’s finally sharing it on his Observer YouTube channel.
This week, Purkey uploaded four separate videos of old cassette tapes containing rare Nirvana demos. Much of the material is made up of early recordings that later turned into the band’s 1989 debut studio album, Bleach. The tapes also include early recordings from before Dave Grohl joined the band, when Chad Channing was behind the drums.
This collection follows a set of recordings from 1993 that surfaced when a fan purchased a session reel on eBay. You can listen to all four of Purkey’s tapes below, alongside further context from Purkey and tracklists courtesy of Consquence of Sound.
Tape #1
“This is the first tape Kurt gave to me. Sound quality is not perfect but it’s not too bad. It is listenable. Paper cuts sounds a little warbaly at first and that is exactly how it was when Kurt gave it to me. I got used to it. It slowly becomes clear sounding.”
0:38 – “Paper Cuts”
05:03 – “Downer”
06:53 – “Beeswax”
09:52 – “Aero Zeppelin”
14:36 – “Floyd the Barber”
17:03 – “If You Must”
21:12 – Spank Thru
24:57 – “Mexican Seafood”
27:06 – “Pen Cap Chew”
30:06 – “Montage of Heck”
Tape #2
“This is the second of four demos that Kurt game me back between 1988 and 1990.”
00:47 – “Blandest”
04:37 – “Mr. Moustache”
08:23 – “Sifting Instrumental”
13:51 – “Blew”
16:52 – “Spank Thru”
20:08 – “Love Buzz” (Early Single Version?)
23:55 – “Big Cheese”
Tape #3
“This was the tape he gave me after they recorded songs for what would become Bleach.”
00:00 – Intro
01:39 – “Scoff”
06:02 – “Swap Meet”
09:17 – “Blew”
12:23 – “Love Buzz”
16:11 – “About a Girl”
19:27 – “Negative Creep”
22:02 – “School”
24:50 – “Big Long Now”
Tape #4
“Recorded with Chad produced by Butch Vig. I think it is known as the smart studio demo. Kurt started high speed dubbing at the beginning of pay to play. [You] can hear a slight glitch when he pressed the high speed button.”
00:00 – Intro
00:44 – “Immodium”
04:04 – “Pay to Play”
07:39 – “Sappy”
11:17 – “Polly”
14:19 – “In Bloom”
19:00 – “Lithium” (Mix 6)
23:31 – “Dive”
For more Nirvana hidden treasures, continue for five deep cuts that every fan should hear.