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  2. Sessions History
  3. Studio Sessions
  4. Spring, 1989 - Chorus Rehearsal & Audio Studio, The Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA, US

LIVE NIRVANA SESSIONS HISTORY Spring, 1989 - Chorus Rehearsal & Audio Studio, The Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA, US View in Google Maps

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Artist

  • NIRVANA
    • Kurt Cobain (vocals, guitar)
    • Jason Everman (guitar)
    • Krist Novoselic (bass)
    • Chad Channing (drums)

Crew

  • Greg Babior (producer, engineer)

Set

  • [O] Do You Love Me?
  • [U] Dive part of instrumental
  • [U] Dive instrumental
  • [U] Dive instrumental
  • [O] Dive

Format

  • Audio: 2-inch 24-track analog magnetic tape (session tape)

Best available sources

Source ID Quality Complete Runtime Lowest Gen Tracks Featured Notes
SBD #1a 10.0 0:03:34 Official CD (Various Artists - Hard To Believe: A KISS Covers Compilation, Waterfront Records DAMP121CD)
  • Do You Love Me?
  • Mixed by Greg Babior, 1989.
SBD #1b 10.0 0:04:51 CD(X)>FLAC
  • Dive
  • Mixed by Greg Babior, 1989. This source is also known as WTLO Reference Disc 10, track 19.
AMT #1 8.0 0:07:33 VHS(1)>DVDR
  • Dive (part of; instrumental)
  • Dive (instrumental)
  • Dive (instrumental)
  • Footage shot inside the Chorus Rehearsal shows the band performing Dive. Take 1 cuts in, take 2 cuts in and out, and take 3 cuts in and out. Footage also shows the band preparing to load-out.

Notes

NIRVANA's only studio performance with Jason Everman.

Do You Love Me? was recorded for C/Z Records' Hard To Believe: A KISS Covers Compilation, Dive had apparently been slated for a split single with Alphabet Swill. (1)

The session was produced by Greg Babior, an Evergreen student who had shared bills with NIRVANA in his own band, Lush (Babior would later found Earth with Dylan Carlson and Slim Moon). Babior needed to produce tracks for a class project, while NIRVANA welcomed free time in the college's professional Audio Studio.

Tanked up on red wine, the band had listened to a tape of the original Do You Love Me? on their way to the college, [We] just went in and had fun, recalls NIRVANA bassist, Krist Novoselic. (1) They were really into the hard panning of their improv rants toward the end of the song, remembers Babior. They're in different channels, left and right, so you can actually turn the balance on your stereo and hear them individually. The track originally ended with the sound of the tape slowing down as the machine was shut off, replaced on the tribute album by a quick fade. The thing I picture is the people doing the mastering going, Oh my God! What the hell is this at the end? This is so unprofessional! (1)

The Kiss song didn't seem like something they gave a hell of a lot of thought to, says Babior. But the other song [Dive] they seemed relatively serious about. Jason didn't know what key it was in and he was having a hard time playing the solo. He just couldn't figure it out. He was playing a lot by scales rather than by ear, so he wasn't quite able to hook in. (2)

Cobain apparently penned the lyrics to Dive as the group listened to the playback. It was interesting to watch him too, because he really worked himself up into a frenzy right before he sang. (1)

A video-clip from this session has surfaced, showing the band performing Dive. The video, however, is extremely poor quality and suffers from severe tracking problems.

References

  1. Gaar, Gillian G., 2004. Mondo Nirvana, Tablet Siffblog, [online] Available at: http://siff.tabletmag.com/other/mondo_nirvana_002003.html. ↑
  2. Borzillo, Carrie, 2000. Eyewitness Nirvana: The Day-By-Day Chronicle. Carlton Books. ↑
© Alex Roberts. Last modified: June 05 2024