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1989 EP by Nirvana From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Blew" is a song by American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain. It is the first song on the band's debut album Bleach, released in June 1989 by Sub Pop.
| "Blew" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song by Nirvana | ||||
| from the album Bleach | ||||
| Released | June 15, 1989 | |||
| Recorded | December 1988 | |||
| Studio | Reciprocal Recordings (Seattle, Washington) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 2:56 | |||
| Label | Sub Pop | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Kurt Cobain | |||
| Producer(s) | Jack Endino | |||
| Nirvana singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
The song was re-released on Tupelo Records as the title track of a four-song EP in the United Kingdom in November 1989, where it charted at number 15 on the UK Indie Singles chart.[6][7]
"Blew" was first performed live at the Community World Theatre in Tacoma, Washington, on March 19, 1988. This was also the first show the band played with their name as Nirvana.[8]
The song was first recorded in the studio by Jack Endino at Reciprocal Recording Studios in Seattle, Washington on June 11, 1988,[9] during the recording sessions for what became the band's debut single, "Love Buzz".
A second studio version was recorded by Endino at Reciprocal in December 1988, and was released on Bleach on June 15, 1989.
The Bleach version of "Blew" was accidentally recorded one step lower than the band had intended, which contributed to what Nirvana biographer Michael Azerrad called its "extraordinarily heavy sound".[10] Not realizing that they had already tuned to their favored D Standard tuning, the band tuned further down to Drop C on the first day of the sessions and recorded several songs in that tuning. As bassist Krist Novoselic recalled in a 2009 Seattle Times article, "we came back the next day and decided the idea wasn't so hot, and we recorded over most of it with things tuned back up a little. In fact, 'Blew', with that growly bass, is the only survivor of that experiment."[11]
The Bleach version of "Blew" was re-released on the Blew EP in November 1989, along with the Bleach mix of "Love Buzz" and the previously-unreleased songs "Been a Son" and "Stain", which had been recorded by Steve Fisk at Music Source in Seattle, Washington in September 1989. The band's original plan had been to release an EP to promote their upcoming European tour, but the EP was delayed and released exclusively in the United Kingdom a few days before the final tourdate in London. However, the EP built on the interest the band had generated in the UK with Bleach, and was promoted by English DJ John Peel, who had also played Bleach on his influential show. The Blew EP eventually peaked at number 15 on the UK Indie chart.[6][7]
"Blew" was one of only three songs from Bleach, along with "About a Girl" and "School", that remained in the bands setlists until the end of their touring career. It was performed live for the final time in Munich, Germany on March 1, 1994, as the second-to-last song preceding "Heart-Shaped Box".
In his 1993 Nirvana biography Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana, Azerrad described the song as having a "theme of entrapment and control."[10]
In 2009, Novoselic said that "Blew" was perhaps his favorite song on Bleach "because it has a groove, and again, it's the sole survivor of the Doom Pop experiment."[11]
In 2015, Rolling Stone listed "Blew" at number 22 on their ranking of 102 Nirvana songs.[12] In 2023, the A.V. Club ranked it at number 29 in their list of Nirvana's "30 greatest songs.[13]
The Blew EP was released in November 1989 on Tupelo Records on 12-inch vinyl and CD. With a working title of Winnebago,[14] the EP was originally intended as a release to promote an upcoming European tour, but due to production delays, [15] the maxi-single ended up being released exclusively in the United Kingdom a few days before the tour's completion.
Released exclusively in the UK, the EP was difficult to obtain elsewhere, with only 3,000 copies of the maxi-single pressed on 12-inch vinyl and CD. Both vinyl and CD counterfeit copies exist, with the vinyl copies varying in color. The official 12-inch vinyl was pressed only on black vinyl. The cover art was photographed by Cobain's then-girlfriend Tracy Marander at a May 26, 1989 concert at the Green River Community College in Auburn, Washington.[16] Marander shot the back cover photo as well.
"Stain" was re-released by DGC Records in December 1992, on the band's rarities compilation, Incesticide. The Blew version of "Been a Son", hailed by Kurt St. Thomas as the "definitive take" due to its trashy sound and pronounced bass solo,[17] remained a rarity until it was re-released in October 2002 on the band's first best-of compilation, Nirvana.[18]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Blew" | 2:56 | |
| 2. | "Love Buzz" (Shocking Blue cover) | Robbie van Leeuwen | 3:36 |
| Total length: | 6:32 | ||
All tracks are written by Kurt Cobain, except where noted
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 3. | "Been a Son" | 2:22 |
| 4. | "Stain" | 2:38 |
| Total length: | 5:00 11:32 | |
| Chart (1989) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Indie Singles (MRIB)[6][7] | 15 |
| UK Indie Singles (NME)[19] | 8 |
| Year | Publication | Country | Accolade | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | The A.V. Club | United States | Essential Nirvana: Their 30 greatest songs, ranked[20] | 29 |
Nirvana
Production
Additional Personnel
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