12/29/88, 12/30/88 & 12/31/88

From Jack Endino's website:
The 10-song demo w/Dale Crover on drums was recorded at Reciprocal Recording on 23 Jan 88, recorded AND rough-mixed in five hours. (Mixing time: about 6 minutes per song...)
Five of these songs went on Incesticide in their original rough mix form. (No, I was sadly not given the opportunity to do a decent remix on 'em.) Another, "Spank Thru", has never been officially released in that form. It was re-recorded when Chad joined the band and later appeared on Sub Pop 200. Two more, "Floyd the Barber" and "Paper Cuts", were properly remixed and added to Bleach. Of the remaining two, "If You Must" was never released because Kurt disliked it, and "Pen Cap Chew" because it was never finished; the master tape ran out halfway through it and the band didn't want to buy another reel. (The rough mix, therefore, has a fade ending that I did just for their amusement. By the way, one reel = about 32 minutes...) "Spank Thru", "If You Must" and "Pen Cap Chew" have been widely bootlegged, all from cassettes that were given out to many people. "Spank Thru" and "Downer" had Dale on backing vocals.
An interesting live tape I was recently sent purported to be "Tacoma, 12/87". Curiously, on the day I recorded the first demo, 1/23/88, they had to leave by dinner time so they could make it to Tacoma (30 miles) in time to sound check for a show that night, probably at the Community World Theater (the only place to play in Tacoma at that time). On this tape, they play the same songs we recorded on 1/23/88, in the same order we recorded them! (Starts with "If You Must", "Downer", "Floyd" etc, and later there's a partial "Hairspray" interrupted by a broken string, and later in the set a complete version.) For this reason I wonder if it is actually the 1/23/88 show. Azzerad's book says they only practiced with Dale "for a couple weeks" before recording on 1/23, and it's definitely Dale on this live tape playing quite well, so I think it's 1/23. Curious that on this tape are two extra songs near the end, possibly known as "Anorexorcist" and "Raunchola", which we surely would have recorded if we'd had enough time/tape that day; on the other hand 10 songs were enough for one afternoon. This live recording is so bad that not much can be made out of these songs (it's REALLY bad), not even the notes or riffs, but they sound like Nirvana songs to me. What a bummer to hear 'em now, this way.

(Update: I asked Dale, and he says he only played ONE show at that time, the one on 1/23/88. I have video that matches the audio for the show that is supposedly 12/87, and it's definitely Dale, so therefore the supposed 12/87 show is actually 1/23/88. That settles that.)

An aside: Anything they did before this session I know little about. Someone sent me the so-called "Fecal Matter" demo and it just sounded like noise; it could be anybody. I do know that wierd thing "Beans" is Kurt. There was a 4/87 KAOS radio show that is also making the bootleg rounds now too. If you want to know more, don't ask me, see Loughney's page.)

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Reciprocal Recording Studios, Seattle, WA, US

Band members: Kurt Cobain (guitar, vocals), Krist Novoselic (bass), & Dale Crover (drums)

Producer: Jack Endino

Recorded:
[U] If You Must
[O] Downer
[O] Floyd The Barber
[O] Paper Cuts
[U] Spank Thru
[O] Hairspray Queen
[O] Aero Zeppelin
[O] Beeswax
[O] Mexican Seafood
[U] Pen Cap Chew
Sources: 'Downer', 'Floyd The Barber' and 'Paper Cuts' are available on Bleach. 'Aero Zeppelin', 'Beeswax', 'Hairspray Queen' and 'Mexican Seafood' are available on Incesticide. Only 'If You Must', 'Pen Cap Chew' and 'Spank Thru' remain unreleased. 'Spank Thru' and 'Pen Cap Chew' can be found in the best quality on a recently surfaced band tape which contains an incomplete version of this session (Master Reel>DAT>CDR - NB. this generation may be incorrect, in reality being Master Reel>ANA(?)>DAT>CDR). 'If You Must' can be found on a plethora of commercial CDs, but probably in best quality on 'Into The Black'. The whole session features on numerous bootleg CDs, such as Outcesticide I and Into The Black. However, on all these releases, there is editing between the tracks. Band tapes are in circulation, all of unknown generation, which contain all the songs, with additional guitar noises and other sounds between the tracks.

Notes: This recording is termed the 'Dale Demo' by producer Jack Endino (8), because Dale Crover was on loan from the Melvins, since Nirvana did not have a drummer at that point. (9) Reciprocal Studios is a small studio in Seattle. (9)

Jack Endino later found out that he was chosen as producer because Cobain was a fan of Soundgarden's debut single 'Screaming life', which was the first release Endino ever produced. (9) But in CAYA Cobain insisted that the band chose the studio simply because it was the cheapest in Seattle. (4)

The band arrived at about 11:30 am and left at about 18:00 because they were playing a concert that evening in Tacoma (10), which is about 30 miles out of Seattle (9) and the band needed time to soundcheck. (8) The session thus lasted about six hours in total.

According to Endino in 'Entertain Us': "This band called, completely out of the blue and said hi we wanna come up to Seattle, we're from Aberdeen, we're living in Olympia right now and we're friends with the Melvins and we've got Dale from the Melvins playing drums with us just for the session and we wanna come up and just record some songs". (9)

Endino booked the band in under the name 'Kurt Kovain' (1), since the band did not appear to have a name at that point. (8) Endino took the job because he was a big fan of the Melvins. He loved Dale's drumming and was convinced that if Dale was playing with them then they had to be OK. (1)

Endino remembers that their equipment wasn't that great, apart from Dale's drums. (9)

They recorded the 10 songs on an old 8-track machine. (9) According to CAYA, (4) all the tracks were basically cut live, and in one or two takes. Kurt did all the vocals in one take. By 15.00 in the afternoon had finished all the recording. (4)

Endino was struck that: "They didn't screw around in the studio they just wanted to get it done. I mean you don't record and mix 10 songs in one afternoon unless you are very very focussed and they were very focussed. Most of the music was done in one take. So that in itself impressed me enough." (9)

But impressed him even more by the band: "It was Kurt's singing that stood out ... He screamed with such passion, just something about his voice was arresting ...". (9) For the record Endino also emphatically denied any outlandish rumours about the bands behaviour at this and any sessions he did with them. Contrary to Sandford's claims in his book on NIRVANA, the band did not screw around in the studio or do thing such as pour beer into the recording board. (8)

Gillian Gaar in her definitive survey of NIRVANA recording sessions gives the most detail on the individual songs recorded that afternoon, which is summarised and expanded below. (1)

The first song recorded was "If You Must". Cobain later came to hate this song (or at least this version of it), because Cobain felt it was too "heavy" and was embarassed by it. This explains why the song does not feature on Incesticide, since he did not want anyone to hear it again. (8)

Next up was "Downer", which appears on Bleach, (although Endino is unsure if it is remastered there), (8) and also on Incesticide, with Dale Crover on backing vocals.

"Floyd the Barber" was remastered for Bleach, and "Paper Cuts" was remastered for Bleach with additional background vocals added which were not from this session.

"Spank Thru" from this session remains unreleased and features Dale Crover on backing vocals.

"Hairspray Queen" appears on Incesticide, and Endino claims the track was not remixed for this album, being taken straight from the "one-hour mix" which is described below. (8)

"Aerozeppelin" similarly appears on Incesticide, and again according to Endino it was not remixed for this album, being taken straight from the "one hour mix". (8)

"Beeswax" appears on both the Kill Rock Stars compilation and Incesticide.

"Mexican Seafood" features on both Teriyaki Asthma and Incesticide.

The last song of the session was "Pen Cap Chew", which has a fade-out ending because master tape ran out half way through and the band did not want to buy another reel. [One reel lasts about 32 minutes.] (8)

Five of the songs were released on Incesticide in their original rough mix form because Endino was not given the opportunity to remix them. (8)

"If You Must", "Spank Thru" and "Pen Cap Chew" remain unofficially released, but have been widely bootlegged. (7)

Endino was generous enough to charge them for only five hours at a cost of $152.44. (8) Cobain paid for the session with the money he earned as a janitor, as Krist had been laid off from his job at this point. (4)

Two mixes exist of the session, both of which are apparently available on the collectors' circuit (1). The band mix which they left with and was done in one to one and half hours, on ¼-inch tape. Endino made his own "after hours quick-mix" of the session after the band left since he was so impressed with the band, this mix being virtually identical to the band's mix.

Endino gave copies of his "after-hours" mix to many people, including Jonathan Poneman, whose Sub Pop label was still in its infancy. (8) Cobain sent the tape to numerous indie labels, including to Cory Rusk, the head of Touch & Go (originally NIRVANA wanted to be on them, but Rusk never got round to listening to the tape.) (1) Cobain also sent a copy to Alternative Tentacles, but not to Sub Pop, because Cobain barely knew they existed . (1) No one got back to them. (8)

That evening, the band played a twelve-song set at Tacoma's Community World Theater (10), playing the ten songs of the Dale Demo in the same order as they had been recorded that afternoon, and ending with Anorexorcist and what is presumably Raunchola, but according to Endino the two additional songs played at Tacoma that evening were not recorded or attempted in the studio, owing to lack of time. (1) Endino laments, " It's such a shame to hear them in this form [as a B quality bootleg audio]".

Cobain was apparently delighted with his efforts that afternoon: "Tracy [Marander, his girlfriend] remembers him sitting in the car holding on to the finished tape, with a huge smile on his face." (4)

The next day the band recorded music videos for these demos at the Radio Shack, an electric store in Aberdeen, Washington. It was filmed by the owner of the store, Eric Harder. Clips of two songs from this video have surfaced ('If You Must' and 'Paper Cuts'), being broadcast on the TV show 'American Journal' in 1994.

[O] = This version of the song can be found on an official release.
[U] = This version of the song can be found on an unofficial release.
[X] = This version of the song is known to exist, but is not circulating amongst collectors at the time of writing.
[?] = This version of the song may or may not still exist.

Reciprocal Studios - Seattle, WA

Circulating discs (30)

A Season in Hell Bootleg CD

Before We Ever Minded Bootleg CD

Christmas in Seattle 1988 Bootleg CD

Early Nirvana Bootleg CD

Grunge is dead Bootleg CD

How all Started... Bootleg CD

Into the Black Disc 1 & 2 Bootleg CD

Life's Like Pit-bulls on crack Bootleg CD

Loose Ends Bootleg CD

Loose Ends 2006 Upgrade Bootleg CD

Loose Ends 2007 Upgrade Bootleg CD

Outcesticide in memory of Kurt Cobain Bootleg CD

Outcesticide Vol. 6 Bootleg CD

Pay to Play Bootleg CD

Pissing Factory Bootleg CD

Rare Traxx Bootleg CD

Twilight of the gods Bootleg CD

Bleach Album

Bleach: Deluxe Edition Album

Incesticide Album

With the lights out Album

Kurdt's Tape Side A Tape SBD

Reciprocal Tape SBD #1f

Reciprocal Studio Tape SBD

Teriyaki Asthma Compilation

Bleach 12" Album

Incesticide 12" Album

Nirvana Demos OK Let's Rock Bootleg LP

Beauty And Power EP Bootleg Single

Bleach Cassette SBD

Notes & circulating recordings