Listen to unheard demo tapes of Nirvana (and thank the friend of Kurt Cobain’s who posted them
The tapes were apparently given to John Purkey by Kurt Cobain himself.
Fans of Nirvana have been in mourning since 1994, when Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain is believed to have committed suicide. However, they may have something to brighten their day once again. The Observer, a YouTube channel run by John Purkey, who was an old friend of Cobain’s, has posted four rare, previously unheard demo tapes of the band.
Purkey posts uploads videos about Nirvana and Cobain on his YouTube channel. The demo tapes (above and below) were apparently given to him by Cobain himself, and contain digitised cassette audio of Nirvana demos from the ‘80s and early ‘90s. This includes recordings with Dale Crover and Chad Channing, before Dave Grohl took over as drummer of the band, as well as early recordings of the 1989 debut album Bleach (in the third demo tape), Montage of Heck, and pre-Grohl recordings of Nevermind (tape number four).
It all comes out to about two hours of total material. Some of the audio may have been heard already by fans, but not in their original raw, unpolished form. Purkey had announced on January 1 that he would be uploading the tapes. He posted another video (below) explaining how the tapes came into his obsession, the steps he took to ensure their safety, and why he uploaded them.