The great Kurt Cobain pulled from a host of areas to establish his distinctive sound. From the greats of early popular music to his generation’s most exciting pioneers, the Aberdeen native was, in many senses, a product of his influences. Fusing the lessons he learned from them with his natural talent made for a potent pairing. It would change the trajectory of modern rock music and popular culture.
Revisiting the enlightening Kurt Cobain Journals, the collection of writing and drawings created by the late Nirvana leader from the late 1980s until his heartbreaking suicide in April 1994 offers yet another peek behind the curtain of Cobain’s creative influences.
The work was first published by Riverhead Books in 2002. Although critics of the release might have been weary of its motivations, decrying it as an invasion of privacy as Cobain’s death was still raw because it had not even been a decade, it has proved to be a fascinating glimpse into the grunge legend’s mind. As the information on such an elemental figure is finite, the journals form a significant part of his story.
Perhaps the most crucial part of the journals is that Cobain named his 50 favourite albums. Stretching from the great troubadour Lead Belly to the 1980s punk underground and the work of British heroine PJ Harvey, it is the most comprehensive list the Nirvana leader put together. It displays just how far-reaching his taste was. With his finger on the pulse from a young age, numerous important records are included.
Today, we’ve trimmed that extensive collection into the classic albums Cobain called his favourites. The most famous of them all is 1964’s Meet the Beatles!, the divisive record that the Fab Four produced at the height of Beatlemania, featuring the sugary hit ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’.
The Nirvana frontman wasn’t shy in discussing the impact of the Liverpool band on him, stating: “I like the Beatles, but I hate Paul McCartney,” he once remarked. “John Lennon was definitely my favourite Beatle, hands down. I don’t know who wrote what parts of what Beatles songs, but Paul McCartney embarrasses me. Lennon was obviously disturbed [laughs]. So I could relate to that. And from the books I’ve read – and I’m so sceptical of anything I read, especially in rock books – I just felt really sorry for him. To be locked up in that apartment. Although he was totally in love with Yoko and his child, his life was a prison.”
Elsewhere, Cobain included 1971’s The Man Who Sold the World, one of the pre-superstardom albums by David Bowie. Produced by Tony Visconti and featuring the band that would eventually become The Spiders from Mars – guitarist Mick Ronson, bassist Trevor Bolder and drummer Mick Woodmansey – the album’s highlight is the title track, which Nirvana would make their own during the iconic MTV Unplugged appearance.
The great David Bowie was a big fan of Cobain’s rework of the song. Bowie said of Nirvana’s cover: “I was simply blown away when I found that Kurt Cobain liked my work, and have always wanted to talk to him about his reasons for covering ‘The Man Who Sold the World’” and that “it was a good straight forward rendition and sounded somehow very honest”.
He added: “It would have been nice to have worked with him, but just talking with him would have been real cool.”
Despite criticising Aerosmith and their hard rock contemporaries Led Zeppelin for what he saw as rampant sexism coursing through their work, Cobain surprisingly included the Boston outfit’s 1976 effort Rocks on his list. Featuring ‘Back in the Saddle’ and ‘Nobody’s Fault’, the record also influenced Metallica and Guns N’ Roses.
Elsewhere, Cobain registered the divisive Combat Rock by The Clash, an effort that came towards the end of their career, when the cracks were starting to show, and their music had moved in a more explicitly reggae direction. Despite this, it is still a masterful offering and features staples such as ‘Rock the Casbah’ and ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go’. Only three days before Nirvana released their era-defining 1991 album, Nevermind, Cobain told NME: “I think the best Clash album is Combat Rock. I fucking love that record! It’s definitely better than Sandinista “.
Find the list of Kurt Cobain’s favourite classic albums below.
Kurt Cobain’s favourite classic albums:
Lead Belly – Leadbelly’s Last Sessions Volume One (1953)
*The Beatles – Meet the Beatles! (1964)
*David Bowie – The Man Who Sold the World (1970)
*Iggy & The Stooges – Raw Power (1973)
*Aerosmith – Rocks (1976)
*Sex Pistols – Never Mind the Bollocks,
*Here’s the Sex Pistols (1977)
*The Knack – Get the Knack (1979)
*The Clash – Combat Rock (1982)
