Nirvana Before Nevermind

Kurt Cobain wasn't born a rock god. Before Smells Like Teen Spirit, Come As You Are, Lithium, Something in the Way, Nevermind, Heart Shaped Box, or In Utero, Nirvana was just a band. Learn about their first label, Sub Pop, their first single, Love Buzz, their first album, Bleach, their first tours, and a lot more. Most notably, how they found Dave Grohl, and how they signed to DGC. All in one neat video.
If you liked this video please be sure to like, subscribe, comment, and share with anyone who'd be interested!
Twitter: / marcbutevil
Oh btw, Krist Novoselic, Chad Channing, the Melvins, Foo Fighters, About a Girl

[@stolenmeats]

i think nirvana is a pretty neat band :)

[@YouraverageDusterfan]

Don't we all?

[@the-dot43]

@@YouraverageDusterfanWe do

[@loveseat-honey]

@@YouraverageDusterfanno

[@kristopherguilbault5428]

Me too Kurt is peachy keen

[@patrickstar3593]

yeah it's cool i thinks

[@alfonsoroneras7821]

Jason: *does the same things as kurt* Kurt: P O S E R

[@borbleborb4586]

punk rock in a nutshell

[@danibiyarslanov]

every genre involving guitars in a nutshell

[@kurdt1012]

That was just a joke. Nirvana and Jason parted ways because Jason wanted to play sludge (Bleach), whereas Kurt wanted to write pop songs (Nevermind).

[@idosounds]

Imagine that feeling of having a song you recorded be played by a radio station for the first time.

[@joleneloveland4602]

I do think that Kurt was plagued by a feeling that nobody understood him or got him. I think he saw himself as an ineffective communicator and there was so much he wanted to express and so he relied on his music to be heard. You can imagine how he felt when the jocks and rednecks thought they understood him. He was continually frustrated and felt so alone a lot in this world.❤

[@antgames2484]

I know you probably get this a lot, but your videos are very well edited, as well as informative, you manage to keep the balance between being too boring and being to loud, you have established the perfect medium for music lovers looking for a bit of insight on their semi niche topics. either way I'm all here for it. keep up the great work!

[@MarcButEvil]

That's very nice of you to say. Thank you!

[@sandpiper9288]

It is terrible. Stop watching 20 minute trash videos and thinking you educated yourself on something.

[@Lucile_the_Lunatic]

Agreed.

[@Lucile_the_Lunatic]

@@MarcButEvil your videos are better than social studies if it was music instead of our country’s history

[@SouthPhillyHustla215]

Yep good job brother 💯

[@theshiningemerald4288]

As a hardcore Nirvana fan, I'm happy a pre nevermind history video with this amount of class, respect, knowledge, era appropriate footage/photos and good taste in humor. Thank you very much for this video and all your other works

[@backpack_buddies93]

@theshiningemerald4288 completely agree with you. We need more videos like this one. I think Cobain will never cease to be an important figure on the international rock scene. He left its mark on an entire generation and continues to impact the most recent ones. Kurt's story is worth knowing and telling.

[@ItUnidentified]

Yes

[@Nic_8121]

Nirvana is probably one of the best examples of hard work pays off. They literally started off so broke that they were having trouble paying off bills. And yes, hard to believe that the world’s largest grunge band started off with no money. Now if I were them, I wouldn’t believe in myself and I would probably just give up on trying to make it big. But Nirvana (specifically Kurt and Krist) didn’t think or do that. They kept working and working and going to shows and preforming. Kurt was literally singing and playing the guitar while dealing with stomach pains. And after 3 hard years of work, they did it. They had become the #1 grunge band in the world. They went from selling thousands of records to selling millions. They went from preforming in front of a few hundred people or a thousand people to preforming in front of tens of thousands of people. They had become the biggest band of the early 90s. And that is a good example of why hard work pays off.

[@Teekay617]

To bad Kurt had demons he literally was a genius, and genius misunderstood

[@Vexezito]

I'm just correcting this out of my OCD but it's not preforming it's performing

[@RollerJoester7]

Happy birthday Brian Bell, Nevermind changed my life and im so glad Brian left his indelible mark on history with this one

[@Jervenshmine]

He's so goddamn hot bro

[@yesseru]

Chad actually looks alot like Rivers Cuomo tbh.

[@luginess0]

I fucking love brian bell​@@Jervenshmine

[@sandpiper9288]

The lyrics thing isn't true. He wrote lyrics and poetry in a notebook and all the songs had lyrics when they were practicing them. New songs he would change the lyrics until he was happy with them and when he went in the studio he would have to settle on what they should be. Dave said he saw him scribbling lyric ideas at the last minute on the way to the studio and everyone took this to mean he didn't care about lyrics and threw them together at the end. But he was just taking what he already had from his notebook and finalizing them. He also went to the library and studied poetry. So the, "he didn't care about lyrics" myth really sucks. He also liked teen spirit despite what the internet generation think.

[@c.a.k.comedy692]

I posted a similar comment lol no great lyric writer does it in 5 minutes

[@pedrov.8087]

but still, that's not really caring about lyrics, right? just getting some pieces of poetry and glueing them together to form something somewhat coherent is far from caring about lyrics

[@FDALl-ms5kg]

Studying about the subject doesnt really seem like something anyone would do if they didnt give a shit ​@@pedrov.8087

[@joleneloveland4602]

Hey whatever works..looks like it worked for him. His lyrics can all be pared down to get what he was addressing and how he felt about it..although his screaming indicated the depth of that pain, while the lyric lines were the back story. He was alot about relating his pain to you in hopes that somewhere someone could relate or understand.❤

[@sabbracadabra8367]

@@pedrov.8087 It is his own poetry...

[@MarcButEvil]

My favorite comment gets pinned in one week!

[@aedenl863]

1st

[@Jacob_Hingst]

2nd

[@DriverWeb]

im from aberdeen ama

[@The_Isabella]

I will now be using love buzz to describe that

[@jayuno3009]

I was thinking about it & I realized that Nirvana was touring Bleach in Europe right when the Berlin Wall fell. In fact, they started the German leg of the tour two days before it fell. Not that they were some huge stadium act at the time, but I think that the excitement of the era definitely contributed to their success, because they were an American punk band. I think they were actually bigger in Europe first before Nevermind was released, you can kinda see this vibe in 1991: The Year Punk Broke.

[@backpack_buddies93]

I have the flu but I saw nirvana/ MarcbutEvil I clicked on it and I already feel better. Thanks marc. It is incredible how well detailed the story is, you are a great storyteller with a particular sense of humor. I really enjoyed these videos about nirvana.

[@andig7929]

Nirvana left their mark on an entire generation. Some fans said that he hated “Smells Like Teen Spirit”. According to them Kurt wasn't the most excited about playing it live. It is said that in many shows he avoided doing so and if he did, he made an intentional mistake.

[@royalrice5191]

You can see videos of them f*cking up the song live.

[@BlaiseStAmand]

The thing about never mind is that it kind of goes against a lot that curt stood for Curt cobain hated the mainstream and loved being an underground band so now that all the jocks and popular people think it’s the best album ever he kind of no longer enjoyed it If that makes sense My dad loves underground bands and used to listen to nirvana before never mind It’s not necessarily a bad album at all it’s just the mainstream ruining cultures / music scenes

[@aotctd]

@@BlaiseStAmand lol People talking about their dads OH MY GAWD

[@ghoulthebraineater]

I've never bought the idea that he didn't put much thought into the lyrics. With the number of rewrites he did it's clear he put a lot of thought into them. I've always thought he was just distancing himself from how truly personal a lot of them are.

[@joleneloveland4602]

Indeed. I think he resented people trying to "figure him out" as if that could be done from a few lines he wrote. So I think he very much tried to simplify his songs by making his situations more universal than personal. But because of his raw emotional vocals you could tell the words meant a lot to him. So as not to encourage speculation, in interviews he would down play them. I think the last thing he wanted was anybody feeling sorry for him.❤

[@SilentBob3rd]

This is the first of your videos that I've ever seen, and it absolutely shreds the lazy video essays I have so far seen here about music from my formative era during the alt/grunge renaissance. It's really satisfying to consume a video made by someone whose personal investment in the topic is unmistakable and whose research goes deeper than Wikipedia and Rolling Stone. So I've got to say thanks, man - my radio heroes as a kid were Kurt, Layne, Scott, Chris, and Eddie... and Eddie's the only one that life, the industry, or a combination of both didn't break in the end. I miss them all, and getting to see Kurt's stories done right in this format has been a treat.

[@kat_cobain]

It's so refreshing to find someone who makes informative but entertaining videos about Nirvana! I never heard about the nervous breakdown and also the breakup with that girl and what made him push to drugs... Thank you.

[@Pig_Man06]

The care and consideration that went into this video is very apparent. You've ballenced the line of funny and informative increadibly and your voice! Silky smooth! Please make more videos! (And maybe about other Seattle groups)

[@ryanguitar0517]

i got so excited when i saw you posted, i love your content man, keep it up!!

[@Catelaaa]

We need a Novoselic After Nirvana video. Absolutely love your content been bingewatching all weekend

[@ZEKYAHWEHBLUD]

Honestly an amazing video, looking forward to the next part!

[@The1mbeany]

I found your channel today and have enjoyed every video so far! My hat is off to you, you will 100% get more subs with this content and you deserve it too! Would love to see more videos about various bands, One I think would fit your recent videos would be one about the Soviet rock band Kino and Viktor Tsoi

[@applesaurusrex8075]

a new marcbutevil video is the best thing to happen to me today

[@aaacomp1]

I am a founding member of the Nirvana fan club on prodigy message boards. Pre nevermind days were rough as the internet was basically people dialing up to prodigy or AOL to write a message on a public forum that might never even be seen by anyone. I was 12 years old and it was a really fun time!

[@andig7929]

Nirvana is back! Great video as always👍

[@ColdRaysOfWinter]

i love your videos they are so good and you go into so much detail its impressive

[@logicom825]

I love the way you presented this video, the memes, the photos, and footage of their old days before nevermind! Great video!

[@NoobTrollster]

Nice video!! I can tell that you put a lot of effort in it, keep it up!!

[@leotmbg.]

it’s so surprising you don’t get hundreds of thousands of views, genuinely well put together videos

[@sovietairpods6052]

You are awesome I watch every video you make you light up my day.

[@steelyburt]

My bladder/prostate area gave me absolute hell for almost 20 years. I’m still glad it wasn’t my stomach. Gastrointestinal discomfort will fuck your life up and nobody sees it.

[@MapleMilk]

Absolutely love these videos Pretty much some of the best music journalism on KZbin Great summaries of the history of various bands that really only present the most important or interesting info Question: Are you gonna check out the new edition of Come As You Are? I heard it doubled the page length I know I wanna check it out eventually

[@ChazGAMING989]

It’s my lucky day A MARCBUTEVIL VIDEO HAS BEEN RELEASED

[@cozmix6545]

Yet another banger brought to you by MarcButEvil

[@eisemannzagon9628]

I see your real, objective and humurous perspective dear sir and I appreciate it. Well put.

[@emiliosamperio628]

Thks a lot for the info and the researching. Im just discovering Nirvana and wanting to know more objetive info. It was a video with value amd also I passed a good time ^^

[@Riberscumo]

Every time MarcButEvil uploads a video it’s the best part of the time until he uploads again

[@Bismark1815]

Ah another great video from my favorite nieezer hall channel

[@digglydonk]

aw yeah man new marcbutevil nirvana video

[@unapersona931]

i would love it if you continue the nirvana videos until their end

[@amonynous9041]

wow, dgc really took a leap of faith and Nirvana truly delivered beyond all expectations.

[@crippledcow2235]

i really look forward to your videos thank you a lot

[@GABRIEL_CRAFT]

Every video is excellent. You make it seem effortless but I can tell you put so much effort into your research, script and editing ~ excuse me while I rewatch every Weezer video 😅

[@Gary-bc2rc]

That was awesome...probably gonna watch it more than once...Thanks...

[@_Pauper_]

Very well done video. Thank you!

[@itswizardofloneliness]

I've been waiting for another NIRVANA video after the last one.

[@SqueakyMcSqueaks]

Thank you bro! We finally got good a band that isnt the foo fighters or weezer

[@redstonetheanimecat3390]

Mannn i want the 3rd video i love them!!!

[@Kaboom-Comedy]

Honey, wake up Marc uploaded!

[@mrhjonkhjonk359]

I never really enjoyed music that much i liked listening to it but nothing outside of that until I found buddy holly and thus found ur channel ik it sounds cheesy but ur channel helped spark an interest in music for me and I'm grateful i found it

[@MarcButEvil]

That's awesome! I hope that interest only grows from here.

[@joleneloveland4602]

Buddy Holly was the one that seriously started the varied genre of rock n roll. He lived just long enough to see it's very beginnings; it's birth, but he was very aware of it and realized it's potential power.

[@ABCDyeahyeahyeah]

The stuff Nirvana was playing between 1987-1988 deserved its own album. Dark, weird, uncomfortable, hilarious.

[@AzzaTwirre]

It's the spontaneity of the lyrics, the immediate thoughtlessness of them, that make them so awesome. And Mudhoneyed af.

[@hailmaryrecordings8255]

“Tad” threw a party in July of ‘94 & my band played our first show together there. Time flies. ☮️❤️🎶

[@diegoinbloom9012]

truly an amazing video

[@LordSluggo]

Personally I've always preferred Bleach to Nevermind Also Jason Everman became a Green Beret and went to Columbia so I think he wound up doing OK Also also Kurt probably had Celiac before people knew what it was

[@Tomnedreb]

Well done vid of early days Nirvana. I like it!

[@MrBooYa-yd5er]

Haha hey man!

[@nagodio]

This band going to be BIG , cant wait

[@ELi_Silver]

Now we can just wait for the “Nirvana after Nevermind” or “Cobain before becoming a contemporary artist” in fact ngl I’m really interested to see the next video

[@user-jc5yg2hm9z]

i appreciate how much you emphasize on how much 100,000 dollars is

[@jojomane7023]

Fantastic video, thanks!!

[@TeagueChrystie]

Oh this is gonna be fantastic.

[@Rhodylens]

Dude I am completely convinced you are the KZbinr that could make a video on how similar Weezer/Nirvana are. Your research for videos and content is very noticeable

[@Randomness.Incoming]

YES NEW POSTT

[@jonvia]

The best art is made after a heart is broken

[@vinniemass]

Dude great video

[@ZachFromAOSBAN]

i love this channel

[@AltRocker69]

As soon as I saw this on my for you page I was like oh hell yeah

[@bleachblewawaykurdt]

fire video. i luv nirvana

[@strangehousefl]

love videos like these

[@metalmilitia744]

I personally read Heavier than Heaven about 2-3 years ago and I gotta say, it's a great read if you're into Nirvana. Also amazing video 🤘🤘

[@lorisnyder8224]

The author takes Courtney Love's word as gospel so there's alot of lies in the book.

[@paulwblair]

@@lorisnyder8224 I hear people say this, but no one ever points out the specific lies. I've read both Heavier Than Heaven and Come As You Are and I don't recall there being much difference between the two.

[@lorisnyder8224]

You should see Soaked in Bleach & listen to CL being taped. I would not read it but can guess what she said about her great love for Kurt. Bet she left out the part about him asking for a divorce.

[@paulwblair]

@@lorisnyder8224 I'm not interested in that conspiracy BS. I asked for an example of the lies in Heavier Than Heaven. I'm assuming you haven't even read it.

[@ABCDyeahyeahyeah]

​@@paulwblair an easy example is in regards to Nirvana's final recording session. the information was easily accessible to him given how much access he had to courtney when he was writing the book. instead he peddled BS like the following: * You Know You're Right had lyrics like "walking in the piss" when this was in Courtney's version. * Kurt played drums on Marigold (the entire song was recorded by Dave and Dave only) * Kurt screams "Pain" in You Know You're Right when listening to the acapella he clearly just screams "hey" * He attributes "Skid Marks" and "Butterfly" to Kurt when these were both written by Dave and were recorded without Kurt around (the second song is actually Butterflies and is a popular unreleased Foo Fighters song) Bonus: He claims Courtney "co-wrote" Pennyroyal Tea when the first recording is of Kurt and Dave recording it in 1990 in their apartment. The book is a piece of garbage full of inaccurate information. Before you give me the "oh, how could he have known," there are other folks like Gillian Gaar who had less access than he did and put in the time and research and got paid less to actually obtain the facts. If you need more proof of the worthlessness of the book, happy to keep going. Thanks.

[@THE-CRT]

Back when Nirvana was punk!

[@komputnik]

I was happy seeing them in 1989 in Austria Graz. It's was only a coincidence but after the first song, i knew they will get big. Even in his youth was my favorite at that day…

[@Hiatusof]

DUDE YOUR VIDOES ARE SO GOOD I LOVE THIS SHIT

[@comotuabogada]

Awesome video❤

[@DudeBro76]

Never been this early to a video I know will blow up

[@AshtonRogers-se1zj]

I enjoy your videos cuz I'm a big fan of bands like Nirvana and Weezer,etc... But I'm also a huge comic book dork. And so I HAVE to ask; what's the deal with Nightcrawler's face on your little channel icon thing?

[@sheekennmove]

Waited 4 months for this video 😿

[@ace15Nura]

This end before the "90s" actually started. Incredible how one album shape the music of half a decade.

[@obimullberry1836]

It is hard to get those opportunities nowadays in music industry.

[@trnationmusic]

Great Video !

[@BubblesKBS]

Im not too sure if u have done a video like this, but do u have plans to do a video on chris novoselic? And where he is today and what not

[@shittycomedy5288]

I found you while going down a rabbit hole last night. I now have no sleep but have never been more entertained.

[@Zama_Zama]

Beautiful video

[@allenschmitz9644]

Yea 1989 on tour he still sounded like any other drunk bar band back then, when I saw them live.and he was on Sub Pop the 'THEE' label back then.

[@JacubWhite38]

Damn, Nirvana didn't seem to like Rome very much.

[@marklanders6833]

True. Rome is the city where Cobain will later be hospitalized in 1993, about a week before his death.

[@Dead_Again1313]

The original Love Buzz song by Shocking Blue is trippy.

[@joleneloveland4602]

The bands were all looking for their "psychedelic sound" around then with a trippy instrumental break in the middle of the song. The Grateful Dead continued the practice, at their live concerts, which they called "space"

[@user-ll3bt3cd7b]

I was 16 living in an isolated little town in NZ when Nirvana broke.They changed my life. Nirvana's sound was always soaked to the gills in opiates. The junky nihilism of the music is there in spades from that first single. Yank teeny bopper MTV had no idea what they were really releasing to the masses.

[@aotctd]

Their demography is 80's teens

[@dmp354]

Please do a part 3

[@clarkegregory954]

It's confirmed: Garfield is a punk rocker

[@_Meadowlark_]

These videos are great because Nirvana is my new hyperfixation lmao, thanks

[@westywest4480]

I grew up listening to Nirvana. Read a couple of biographies. Man, oh man, was Kurt cobain A little whimp lol. But I still love them.

[@bajablink]

18:19 that camera man was wilding

[@salemmustdie]

i get him though

[@wmvnotmp4]

Hell yeah

[@formerlyskidsinmyute]

I had a music assignment in 9th grade lit where you read the lyrics to a song and Hom Tutchinson read Come As You Are and our English teacher just belittled him, made fun of him, made fun of the music, half way though I raised my hand and said “I love this song and I love Nirvana, too” and a couple other people gave a “yeah! Me too!” Because she was really going in on Tom. How two generations reacted two one voice.

[@joleneloveland4602]

Geez... I had a teacher like that who threw a story, I was not finished with, into the trash can in front of the class. Stifling creativity is never okay with me. Whether you understand it or not, you should not be a teacher if you have to be- little your pupils.

[@aotctd]

Many from the Grunge Generation left home in the 80s

[@sorryimsosad]

He might’ve not intende the lyrics on bleach to mean anything but typically when you wrote off the top of your head (free flow) it tends to be more personal, even w no intent to be personal. Bc whatever has been on your mind will be the first thing that comes out. I doubt it’s autobiographical but some of the feelings could be honest

[@stitchgrimly6167]

I really wish you had have mentioned the first Peel session in November '89. It sounds like frayed edges, but must've been a big deal.

[@michaelsuder486]

The way in which Krist went down and made sure they had a contract is just one example of why Nirvana isn't just Kurt Cobain.

[@ezsmith3765]

18:01 -Noveselic looking kinda like Pete Townshend -Grohl sporting a Bonham cap -Kurt is thinking “boy howdy Heroin sure clears up that chronic stomach problem”

[@nonservitium]

1st time i saw them was in 89

[@aktionreinhard8913]

Some heads up about Jason Everman, after getting tye boot from Nirvana he later played with Pearl jam for a while then did a complete 180 n became aNavy Seal n served in Afghanistan n Iraq so basically he went from being a "Poser" to one hardcore warrior.

[@m00ncat89]

“nirvana before nevermind” (uses a picture of kurt after nevermind in the thumbnail)

[@Kristnovoselic8]

epic video