Mid - '89 to Late '90
The first recording session after the finishing of Bleach was at the Evergreen State College, in June 1989. They recorded two songs; an attempted version of 'Dive', and a Kiss cover, 'Do you love me?'. Do you love me? later found its way onto the Kiss tribute album Hard to Believe. This is the only session featuring second guitarist Jason Everman.
Here's a sound clip of 'Do you love me?':
Do you love me?
The next session is one of the most important in Nirvana's recording history. Sometime in late September/early October the band recorded five songs at Reciprocal Studios with producer Steve Fisk:
- Been a Son
- Stain
- Even in his youth
- Polly (Electric)
- Token Eastern Song
Been a Son and Stain from this session were used for the Blew EP, the latter also being on Incesticide. Been a Son was also a bit different than the Incesticide version; it had different lyrics and a bass only solo. Wheter the solo was meant to be only bass or not is not known. Even in his youth was tried out and recorded, and so was Polly. Polly was electric, and it was neither a good recording nor version. It was left at an unfinished state, and can be found with Even in his youth on Outcesticide 3. But the most sought after outtake from this session is 'Token Eastern Song', which hasn't surfaced yet. It has been heard many times live, and is often referred to as 'Junkyard'. Jack Endino said that this version only has lead/scratch vocals, and that it doesn't seem fit for release. However, this might be on the possible new album. Here's a clip of a live version of Token Eastern Song, from 10/25/89 Newcastle, England:
Token Eastern Song (live)
In early 1990 Nirvana did a session at Reciprocal Studios, again with Jack Endino. The session on January 2-3 yielded one song, Sappy. This version hasn't surfaced, but Jack E. thinks it sounds wimpy. In April they got in touch with producer Butch Vig, and went to his Smart Studios in Madison, WI to record some demos for their forthcoming second album. They recorded 7 songs at Smart Studios:
- Dive
- In Bloom
- Polly
- Pay to Play
- Here she comes now
- Lithium
- Imodium
- Sappy
'Dive' went onto Incesticide later, while 'In Bloom' had a video made for it and can be found on the Sub Pop Video Network 1 video. Polly was remixed at the Nevermind sessions with Dave's drum track, and then released on Nevermind. 'Pay to Play' can be found on the Geffen compilation DGC Rarities Vol. 1. 'Here she comes now' was released on a Velvet Undeground tribute album, Between Heaven and Hell vol. 1. Lithium was done with at least three different mixes, some with different guitar tracks. One version, called "mix six" can be found on Outcesticide 2.
On July 11 and 24 they recorded 'Sliver', which was released as a single and is also on Incesticide.
During the fall the band did some 4-track/boombox demos. Two songs from these demos have surfaced; an early version of 'Drain You' which can be found on Outcesticide IV, and an unknown instrumental song. Rumours say that they were recorded at the Melvins' house. 'Come as you are', 'Pennyroyal Tea' and possibly others were recorded too. Kurt talks about 'Pennyroyal Tea':
Dave and I were screwing around on the 4-track, and we wrote it in about 30 seconds. Dave came up with the melody, and then I sat down and wrote the lyrics.
Here are some sound samples from the fall '90 4-track demos:
Unknown song
Drain You
Another rare song heard during late '90 to early '91 is one we don't know the true name of, but we call it In his hands (or In his room). The studio version of this song has not surfaced, but is hoped to be on the new album. It may also be the song recorded during the Nevermind sessions as Verse Chorus Verse. The first recording we have of it is from the 8/17/90 soundcheck, with Dale Crover on drums. The next recording is from 11/25/90, then with Dave on drums, and the last recording is from 4/17/91. The best sounding version (since it's a soundcheck version) is from 8/17/90. Here's a clip of the song from that show:
In his hands
The next recording session was at Music Source Studios, on New Year's Day 1991, which is the first of the sessions for the Nevermind album. That's the next section.