Fabled Nirvana Demos Written by Dave Grohl Surface
Unheard Nirvana recordings with drummer Dave Grohl front and center have surfaced after a fan bought a reel from the In Utero sessions on eBay.
Two never-before-heard tracks — a speedy, metallic untitled take and a dissonant, keyboard-heavy freeform number called "Lullaby" — were culled from the February 1993 Pachyderm Session reel, in addition to alternate versions of "Dumb" and "Marigold."
The reel recordings were apparently put to tape Feb. 15, Nirvana's third day in the Minnesota studio with producer Steve Albini. The process was a whirlwind, according to band member accounts compiled on the Live Nirvana website. Grohl apparently finished his parts in three days. Unconventional methods such as using a strobe light as a metronome on "Heart-Shaped Box" came into play.
Alternative Nation broke the news of the reel purchase, but there were no additional details on the identity of the buyer. Their Brett Buchanan told Diffuser in an email he "was sent it second hand from one of the first people who got it from the buyer of the eBay reel."
The Florida-based seller, known at press time by his eBay handle, butlerelectronicparts, apparently first posted the listing and samples of the recordings on Reddit in late May. He told the message board he acquired the tape from a "(f)riend of a friend with the multis." The listing was temporarily taken down ("either courtney love, or someone at Universal reported it," the seller wrote) and eventually sold off-site on June 3.
Tracking plans for "Dumb," "Dave," "Dave Mellow" and "Lullaby" show the breakdown of the instrumentation for March 12, 2001, "when it was first scheduled for digital archive," according to the seller. Calls to Westlake Audio and Westlake Recording Studios, as well as to Pachyderm, were not returned as of press time.
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