Was Kurt Cobain influenced by classic rock?
Something that gets a little ignored in the story of Kurt Cobain is just what a rock ‘n’ roll nerd he was. The Nirvana frontman and legend of alternative culture was no shiftless, jaded Gen X-er who saw music as nothing more than his own form of self-expression. Quite the opposite, he was a student of rock history and a good one at that; definitely, some distance better than his more traditional studies.
Sure, the image of him as a dyed-in-the-wool punk exists for a reason. Everything from his politics to his voice as a songwriter and singer came from the 1980s hardcore scene. He worshipped bands like Black Flag, the Meat Puppets and obscure cult acts like Shonen Knife. However, he was far from the snobby record store clerk his reputation might suggest. This was a man who knew his stuff.
Among the best examples of this came when Butch Vig was producing Nevermind. The only way the production legend got Cobain to double-track his vocals was by telling The Beatles-obsessed frontman that John Lennon never sang a vocal that wasn’t double-tracked. Cobain himself famously coined the band’s sound as “the Bay City Rollers after an assault by Black Sabbath”.
However, the best look into this worship of rock’s past comes from his journals, which were first published to the public in 2002. Anyone who still thinks that he wanted Nirvana to remain a cult concern and hated stardom should look at his jotted fantasies of Nirvana being, in his words, “number one on Billboard Top 100… two times on the cover of Bowling Stoned.” Best of all, you’ll find a list that he made of his 50 favourite albums.
In fact, you’ll find a few since the only thing nerdier than making a list of your favourite albums is making a few drafts of it, and getting it right was of utmost importance to Kurt! What you can find here is the most accurate description of Nirvana’s sound possible. On the one hand, you’ve got the excoriating, bilious punk rock side, shown by the likes of Landshark! by Fang, My War by Black Flag and the self-titled debut album by Millions of Dead Cops.
On the other, you’ve got the poppiest side of classic rock. Get the Knack by The Knack, Rocks by Aerosmith and Meet the Beatles! among many others. It’s telling that the top five are all albums that combine these two sides. The top three were formed by Pod by The Breeders at number three, Surfer Rosa by Pixies at number two, and the top spot deservedly going to The Stooges’ Raw Power.
Don’t let the slacker reputation fool you; Kurt Cobain was a very smart, very driven man who wanted his music and message to be heard by as many people as possible. Perhaps becoming the biggest band in the world and one of its most famous people wasn’t quite on his to-do list, but his ambitions were to get closer to that summit than any of his peers.
This means he was also savvy enough to know what any student of classic rock knows—the best way to figure out what the best music of tomorrow will be is by looking at the music of yesterday.
