Blew (EP)

Infobox Album
Name = Blew
Type = EP
Longtype =
Artist = Nirvana


Released = December 1989
Format = CD
12" Vinyl
Recorded = Various sessions during 1988–1989
Genre = Grunge
Length = 11.32
Label = Sub Pop
Tupelo (UK)
Producer = Jack Endino, Steve Fisk
Reviews =
Last album = "Bleach"
(1989)
This album = "Blew"
(1989)
Next album = "Nevermind"
(1991)

"Blew" is the title of a song and EP by the American grunge band Nirvana.

ong

"Blew" was written in 1988 by Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. The song was recorded in December of 1988 and initially appeared as the first track on Nirvana's 1989 debut album "Bleach".

On the EP, as well as Nirvana's "Bleach" LP, "Blew" is tuned in the Drop C key. During the production process, a studio technician mistakedly adjusted the tuning a second time without realizing the tuning had already been adjusted once. The studio session that yielded this heavier-than-normal version of "Blew" also yielded Drop C renditions of "Mr. Moustache", "Scoff", and "Sifting" [http://www.livenirvana.com/sessions/studio/december-1988.php] . The band opted to offically release the Drop C rendition of "Blew", however, the remaining songs in Drop C tuning remain unreleased.

EP Vinyl & CD Release

The "Blew EP" was released in December of 1989 on Tupelo Records. The EP was originally scheduled to be released to coincide with the beginning of Nirvana's European leg of the "Bleach" tour, but the EP was released several months late. In addition to the song "Blew", the EP also includes "Love Buzz". This mix of "Love Buzz" is the "Bleach" version, and is not the same mix as the 7" Sub Pop Singles version. To round off the rest of the EP, two previously-unreleased songs, "Been A Son" and "Stain" are included from a 1989 studio session with Steve Fisk.

The "Blew EP" was released only in the United Kingdom and is thus difficult to obtain elsewhere. Only 3,000 copies of the EP were pressed on 12" vinyl record and CD. Both vinyl and CD counterfeit copies exist, of which the vinyl copies vary in color (the official EP was only pressed on black vinyl).

Demos & Live Versions

* Demos and early live performances of the song were played in their original Drop D tuning. These versions of "Blew" contain entirely different lyrics and a clunky, non-rhyming verse structure (i.e. the introductory verse: "We were in the garden wasting time/we were in love and like to blew)" [http://www.livenirvana.com/songguide/body49d7.html?songid=15] . This particular demo of "Blew" was recorded in June of 1988 with Jack Endino at Reciprocal Recording.

* A professional soundboard recording of the song was released on From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah. This live performance took place on November 25th, 1991 in the Netherlands.

* Video footage the aforementioned November 1991 performance originally appeared on the Nirvana VHS "Live! Tonight! Sold Out!!", and subsequently, on DVD.

Track Listing

#"Blew" (originally released on the band's debut LP "Bleach") – 2:54 (Kurt Cobain)
#"Love Buzz" (originally released on the first Sub Pop Singles Club 7" vinyl) – 3:35 (Robbie van Leeuwen)
#"Been A Son" (later re-released on the eponymous [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana_(album) "Nirvana"] compilation album) – 2:23 (Cobain)
#"Stain" (later re-released on the "Incesticide" B-Sides & rarities album) – 2:40 (Cobain)

Credits

*Kurt Cobain – guitar, vocals
*Krist Novoselic – bass guitar
*Chad Channing – drums
*Jack Endino – producer
*Steve Fisk – producer

Covers

*Japanese musician Miyavi has covered the song.
*American Pop-punk band The Ergs! covered the song on their Blue EP. The EP contained an original, Blue on side A, and a cover of Blew on side B. The EP was only pressed onto blue vinyl.
*Northern Irish Alternative rock band Ash covered the song, releasing it on their Numbskull EP in 1999.

External links

* [http://www.livenirvana.com/digitalnirvana/discography/nirvana/blew.html Blew EP on Nirvanadiscography.com]
* [http://www.livenirvana.com/official/blew.html Live Nirvana Companion to Official Releases - Blew EP]
* [http://www.livenirvana.com/sessions/studio/september-1989.php Live Nirvana Sessions History - September 1989]