LIVE NIRVANA SESSIONS HISTORY January 2–3, 1990 - Reciprocal Recording, Seattle, WA, US

Set

• [O] Sappy

Studio Banter

Format

• Audio: 1-inch 16-track analog magnetic tape (session tape)

Best available sources

Source ID	Quality	Complete	Runtime	Lowest Gen	Tracks Featured	Notes
SBD #1	10.0		0:03:33	Official CD (Sliver: Best Of The Box)	Sappy	Mixed by Jack Endino, 1990.

Notes

Arguably the most unnecessary and uneconomical session NIRVANA ever recorded. Kurt Cobain was determined to record Sappy as he wanted it to sound, devoting a whopping 10 hours studio time to that end. (1) Jack Endino was bemused, I couldn't figure out why they even bothered with it. It seemed like such B-side material next to their other stuff. (2)

Even Sub Pop was kind of puzzled by it, Endino remarked. And there was no reason to record it right then, no single was planned or anything. Going through all that trouble just for one song is not a efficient use of time or recording money. (2)

Part of what took a long time was getting a drum sound, explained Endino. Because they literally wanted a Steve Albini drum sound. They wanted a lot of room mics, and frankly the room at Reciprocal was a lousy room to put room mics in; it was very dead sounding. (3)

We spent a lot of time experimenting with reverbs and gated room mics and just doing lots of strange stuff during the mix, Endino recalled. (4) It proved a wasted effort, as the track was consigned to the vaults until it's inclusion on Sliver: The Best Of The Box in 2005.

References

1. Gaar, Gillian G., 1997. Verse Chorus Verse: The Recording History Of Nirvana, Goldmine, [online] Available at: http://www.nirvanaclub.com/get.php?section=articles&file=02.14.97.html. ↑
2. Borzillo, Carrie, 2000. Eyewitness Nirvana: The Day-By-Day Chronicle. Carlton Books. ↑
3. Gaar, Gillian G., 2004. Mondo Nirvana, Tablet Siffblog, [online] Available at: http://siff.tabletmag.com/other/mondo_nirvana_002003.html. ↑
4. Gaar, Gillian G., 2006. In Utero. Continuum 33 1/3. ↑

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