his musical influences
November 1993
Kurt performed with Nirvana on MTV Unplugged
he would often refer to other alternative rock bands
one of his favorite bands was The Meat Puppets
he recruited Pat Smear, of The Germs, as a secondary guitarist
Curt and Cris Kirkwood of The Meat Puppets
appeared with him during the live taping of MTV Unplugged
and performed three of their songs with him on stage
he shared his influences and favorite bands in interviews
mentioning acts such as:
The Bay City Rollers,
Boston,
The Knack,
Leadbelly,
The Meat Puppets,
The Melvins,
Daniel Johnston,
The Pixies,
The Raincoats,
The Vaselines,
Young Marble Giants,
and The Wipers
he noted that "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
had sounds similar to The Pixies
as Sonic Youth had helped Nirvana gain broader success,
Nirvana did likewise for other indie acts
1992, Kurt told Melody Maker
after hearing Surfer Rosa for the first time
it convinced him to abandon influences by:
Black Flag and The Sex Pistols
and do songwriting more like "Iggy Pop / Aerosmith"
like in in the album Nevermind
[Melody Maker - "Kurt Cobain of Nirvana Talks About the Records That Changed His Life"]
on a split-single album with The Jesus Lizard (from Chicago)
"Oh, the Guilt" helped credibility with indie music
while giving The Jesus Lizard a wider audience
The Beatles were an early influence for Kurt
he called John Lennon an idol in his diary
at the core, Cobain/Nirvana was influenced by punk rock
but had early influences by bands of the 70s:
Black Sabbath,
KISS,
and Led Zeppelin
Nirvana did a studio recording of KISS' "Do You Love Me?"
"Where Did You Sleep Last Night" was a song made popular by Leadbelly,
"Polly" may have been influenced by "Pretty Polly",
a murder ballad by Dock Boggs in 1927
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