[ed. I like the image of Krist Novoselic picking up a Nirvana songbook to re-learn his own songs.]
The thought of entering the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his work in Nirvana barely even entered Dave Grohl's head until shortly after he walked offstage at last year's ceremony in Los Angeles after inducting Rush and jamming with them on "2112." "I did a quick interview and someone said, 'Are you excited to be eligible next year?'" Grohl says. "I just hadn't done the math. Then it hit me. But I couldn't imagine they would nominate us in our first year of eligibility."
Groups are eligible to enter the Hall of Fame 25 years after the release of their first album or single, and Nirvana's debut release - a cover of "Love Buzz" by Shocking Blue - hit shelves in the final weeks of 1988. "I found out we were on the ballot right around the same time we were nominated for a Grammy [for the Paul McCartney collaboration "Cut Me Some Slack,"] says Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic. "I was just like, 'Wow!' But it was bittersweet because the ceremony was scheduled for about a week after the 20th anniversary of Kurt's passing. I got anxious about that, but then I thought, 'Well, why don't we just make this a great tribute to him?'"
Most groups inducted into the Hall of Fame perform in one form or another, but the surviving members of the group hadn't played a Nirvana song in public since Cobain's death. "We didn't even start talking about playing until about eight weeks ago," says Grohl. "It just seemed practically impossible. It was hard to imagine jumping onstage and playing those songs. It takes a little bit of musical preparation, and a lot of emotional preparation."
Once they decided to give it a shot, the obvious next issue became finding guest singers. "That was a matter of finding people that we respected and that shared the Nirvana aesthetic," says Grohl. "Whether that's musical or otherwise." The group reached out to a handful of A-list male rock stars, but none wanted to take on the challenge. "Some of them were nervous," says Grohl. "I think some of them were maybe apprehensive because of how heavy the whole thing is."
The first person to agree was Joan Jett. "She took it on like it was her calling," says Grohl. "She got really excited and sent me this flurry of e-mails. She learned every song on Nevermind. She's everything that Nirvana stood for. She's a powerful, rebellious, musical force of nature. We couldn't think of anyone better to join us." (...)
But the conversation gave Grohl an incredible idea. "We thought, 'Wait, it has to be all women,'" he says. "'Don't even ask anyone else. If we can fill the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame performance with these incredible women singing Nirvana songs, then we'll have achieved our own revolution.' It also added a whole other dimension to the show. It added substance and depth, so it didn't turn into a eulogy. It was more about the future."
Things moved very quickly from there. "Dave just started rattling off names," says Novoselic. "He was like, 'We should get Kim Gordon! And then someone up-and-coming…Annie Clark from St. Vincent!' I didn't even know who she was, but now I'm her biggest fan. Then we asked Lorde."
The goal was to present the guest singers in chronological order. "Joan Jett, who formed the Runaways, changed rock & roll for women," says Grohl. "Kim Gordon, from Sonic Youth, was this beacon of light in the predominantly macho, male underground punk rock scene. St. Vincent is a wicked musician that's pushing boundaries now. And Lorde has an incredible future ahead of her as a writer, performer and vocalist."
The group came together with Nirvana's former touring guitarist (and current Foo Fighter) Pat Smear at Gibson Guitar's rehearsal space in New York City a few days before the induction ceremony. "We said 'Hi' to everyone and launched into 'Lithium,'" says Novoselic. "I picked up a Nirvana tab book a week before to re-learn my parts, but we weren't up to speed at first. But then it started to flow and it got better and better. Then it hit me and I got kind of somber. I was like, 'Oh my God. I'm playing these songs again.'"
It was equally intense for Grohl. "The first time we played together, it was like seeing a ghost," he says. "The second time, it was a little more reserved. And the last time we played it was like that fucking Demi Moore/Patrick Swayze pottery wheel scene from Ghost. We usually got the song by the third take. It started to sound like Nirvana. Our road crew and some friends were in the room when we launched into 'Scentless Apprentice' for the first time. There were jaws on the floor.
by Andy Greene, Rolling Stone | Read more:
