Blew is a song by 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. The song was re-released by the Tupelo record label as the title track of a four song Nirvana EP in the United Kingdom in November 1989, where it charted at number 15 on the UK Indie Singles chart. The song was first recorded in the studio by Jack Endino at Reciprocal Recording Studios in Seattle, Washington in June 1988, 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 in June 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”. 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.”
The Bleach version of Blew was re released on the Blew EP in December 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 August 1989. The band’s original plan had been to release an EP to promote their current European tour, but the EP was delayed and released exclusively in the United Kingdom after the tour was over. 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. Blew remained one of only three songs from Bleach, along with About a Girl and School, that the band performed until Cobain‘s death in April 1994. It was performed for the final time live at Nirvana‘s last show, at Terminal Einz in Munich, Germany on March 1, 1994, as the second to last song, preceding Heart Shaped Box.
Tracklist:
- Blew
- Love Buzz (Shocking Blue cover)
- Been a Son
- Stain
Nirvana
Kurt Cobain: guitar, vocals
Krist Novoselic: bass guitar
Chad Channing: drums
Production
Jack Endino: production for “Blew” and “Love Buzz”
Steve Fisk: production for “Stain” and “Been a Son”
Additional Personnel
Tracy Marander: photography
Kurt Cobain (February 20, 1967 April 5, 1994).
