ROCK Sex: NIRVANA - "Our little group has always been, and always will until the end"

ROCK Sex feels that "all in all is all we are".

Today's Kurt Cobain's birthday. This is a tribute to his memory.

_______________

T R I B U T E S

One of the first tributes was on the heels of Nirvana's breakthrough hit, "Smells Like Teen Spirit". Tori Amos stripped the Grunge down to the fragile heart at the core of the song with this haunting ballad rendition.

TORI AMOS -"Smells Like Teen Spirit" (1992)



In the wake of losing Kurt, many were moved to give back some of the galvanizing energy he had given them. Sinead O'Connor made a luminous elegy out of his "All Apologies".

SINEAD O'CONNOR -"All Apologies" (1994)



Kurt was supposed to work with R.E.M., and this lament is Michael Stipes calling his spirit.

R.E.M. -"Let Me In" (1994)



When Kurt died, he referenced a Neil Young lyric, "it's better to burn out than it is to rust", in his farewell note. Young himself, familiar with the symptoms of Kurt's increasingly self-destructive behavior, had tried in vain to reach him before it was too late. Deeply hurt by the loss and pained by the lyric, Young and Crazy Horse dedicated their "Sleep With Angels" album and song to Kurt.

CRAZY HORSE -"Sleep With Angels" (1994)



Taking a cue from his Beatles-inspired song "About a Girl", Patti Smith responded with "About a Boy". She later recorded a cover of "Smells Like Teen Spirit".

PATTI SMITH -"About a Boy" (1996)



The leader of Living Colour made this textural elegy.

VERNON REID -"St. Cobain" (1996)



After four hard years, Courtney Love spoke to her pain in HOLE's "Reasons To Be Beautiful". She transforms Neil's lyric into the admonition "It's better to rise than fade away". The uplift and agony in the last minute of this song still brings me to tears.

HOLE -"Reasons To Be Beautiful" (1998)



Dave Grohl wrote a song about his friend while they were recording the NEVERMIND album, but didn't release it until 2008.

NIRVANA -"Friend Of A Friend" (2008)



_______________

C O V E R
V E R S I O N S

Here are some heartfelt and explorative interpretations of Kurt's songs in many styles.

CHARLIE HUNTER TRIO -"Come As You Are" (1995)


HERBIE HANCOCK -"All Apologies" (1996)


SONIC YOUTH -"Moist Vagina" (1998)


CIBO MATTO -"About A Girl" (1999)


KRISTIN HERSH -"Pennyroyal Tea" (1999)


FLIPPER -"Scentless Apprentice" (2001)


VITAMIN STRING QUARTET -"Breed" (2005)


HOOVERPHONIC -"In Bloom" (2008)


THE BAD PLUS -"Lithium" (2009)


CHRISTOPHER O'RILEY -"Heart Shaped Box" (2009)


LITTLE ROY -"Dive" (2011)


JESSICA LEA MAYFIELD -"Lounge Act" (2011)


CHARLES BRADLEY and The Menahan Street Band -"Stay Away" (2011)


MARGOT AND THE NUCLEUR SO And SO'S -"Something in the Way" (2011)


EMA -"Endless Nameless" (2011)


LANA DEL REY -"Heart-Shaped Box" (2012)


ROBERT GLASPER -"Smells Like Teen Spirit" (2012)


RAMIN DJAWADI -"Heart Shaped Box" (2019)


HANNAH WILLIAMS And The Affirmations -"Heart Shaped Box" (2020)


BULLY -"About A Girl" (2020)


MALIA J -"Come As You Are" (2021)





"Take a rest,
As a friend,
As an old memory..."


© Tym Stevens

---

See Also:

• Cool Lost Grunge: Nirvana + Hole = VERBENA

• Shocking Blue > Nirvana

• "I Wanna Be Your Dog!" - The
Stooges > Sonic Youth > Las Vulpes > Nirvana
• "Something In The Way" - James Taylor > The Beatles > Nirvana

• "Girl U Want" - Devo > Soundgarden > Polysics > Boyskout

• "Rebel Girl!" - Dean Carter > Bikini Kill

• ROCK Orgy: Le Tigre's "Hot Topic" + Women Who Rock!



• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: The Music Player Checklist

---

ROCK Sex: "Walk On By" - Dionne Warwick > Isaac Hayes > The Stranglers > Hooverphonic > Mono > Pete Rock

ROCK Sex dishes the dirt on the clandestine liaisons of music.

Some songs are so resonant that they reverberate beyond any time or style. "Walk On By" is one of those.

_______________

The original was the breakthrough hit for diva Dionne Warwick and her write-hand man Burt Bacharach:

DIONNE WARWICK -"Walk On By" (1964)



Covered immediately by everyone, it took a radical left turn when Isaac Hayes turned it into a 12-minute funk-rock masterpiece. It's my unhumble opinion that the epic build of strings and psychedelic guitar is one of the greatest intros in Pop history:

ISAAC HAYES -"Walk On By" (1969, long version)



Later it came full circle when Dionne and Isaac performed it together on their live album:

DIONNE WARWICK & ISAAC HAYES -"Walk On By" (1977, live)



The Punk band The Stranglers put some fuzzy edge back into it:

THE STRANGLERS -"Walk On By" (1978)



And El Michels Affair brought back the hot buttered Funk to it.

EL MICHELS AFFAIR -"Walk On By" (2006)

---

The fantastic beat of Isaac Hayes' version became a sampler's paradise, crossing the intersections of TripHop and HipHop.

Here's the Belgian alchemists Hooverphonic with their debut hit:

HOOVERPHONIC -"2 Wicky" (1996)



Taking a subtler tact, the British duo Mono played to the cinematic qualities of TripHop by synching it with the moody keys and guitar of Roy Budd's GET CARTER soundtrack, as seen this creepy David Lynch-ian video:

MONO -"Silicone" (1997)



The beat has figured in samples by Compton's Most Wanted (1991), Notorious B.I.G. (1994), Slick Rick, DJ Shadow (1996), MF Doom (1999), The Wu Tang Clan (2000), Ludacris (2003), J Dilla (2006, using The Undisputed Truth's version), and Pete Rock:

PETE ROCK -"Walk On By" (2001)



And Dionne's version has been homaged in songs by Ashanti(2002), Alisha Keys (2003), and Joss Stone (2007).



© Tym Stevens

---

See Also:

• SHAKE AND FINGER POP! Soul Music and the Interior Truth, with Music Player!

• FUNK, The True History: The 1960s, with 3 Music Players!

• "Time Is Tight!" - Booker T > The Clash > Elvis Costello > Squeeze

• "I Thank You" - Sam And Dave > ZZ Top

• "Sour Times" - Lalo Schifrin > Portishead


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: The Music Player Checklist

---