MTV Unplugged, Sony Music Studios, Soundstage, New York, NY, US
Band members: Kurt Cobain (guitar, vocals), Krist Novoselic (bass), David Grohl (drums), Pat Smear (guitar), & Lori Goldston (cello)
Recorded:Sources: The best quality audio version of this performance is found on the official release, Unplugged In New York, which was remixed by Scott Litt. A more complete and unmixed version, with between-song banter and jams is available amongst traders in VHS(1)>CDR and VHS(1)>DVDR form. Short video clips of the morning rehearsal have been aired on MTV, and a three hour video of the rehearsal is known to exist.
Notes: The MTV Unplugged set was rehearsed on November 16th and 17th at the SST Rehearsal Facility in New Jersey. (10) In 2002, NIRVANA guitar technician Earnie Bailey provided a scan of a list of songs apparently considered at the rehearsal on the 17th to the owner of the Nirvana Fan Club, Rasmus Holmen. (12) The stained scrap of paper in question is hosted at Holmen's site here. Holmen asserts that the handwriting on the right is Cobain's, and it is unknown who may have written the left hand column. Since the paper has been authenticated by Bailey, it is most likely legitimate, although without this confirmation it would have been dismissed by most fans, since the handwriting looks quite different from Cobain's usual.
The left hand column lists six songs: Penny Royal [Tea], Jesus [Wants Me For A Sunbeam], Screen, Old Age, Plateau, Lake Of Fire. The first two are asterisked, possibly denoting their inclusion in the final setlist. The handwriting does not seem characteristic of Cobain, Novoselic or Grohl. 'Screen' is a completely unknown song title, and no other references to it are known - it could be a new but currently unknown song, or a new name for a previously recorded song. 'Old Age' is a Cobain composition, as found on the 1991 Boom Box tape, but was recorded and released by Hole.
The right hand column lists eight songs: ??? Son [obscured; presumably Been A Son, and later scribbled out], Marigold, Molly's Lips [crossed out], All Apologies [crossed out], Dumb, On A Plain, Something In The Way, Where Did You Sleep Last Night. The last four songs are asterisked, again possibly denoting selection for the concert.
This would confirm that 'Been A Son' and 'Molly's Lips' were probably rehearsed, as was asserted by cellist Lori Goldston. Grohl can have been expected to promote his song 'Marigold' for the occasion, but it would appear that Cobain at some point overruled. Interestingly, All Apologies is crossed out - this could mean no more than the band had practised it to their satisfaction, but judging by the evidence presented below, it would seem more likely that Cobain had deleted it from the setlist. The author considers it possible that Cobain was struggling with the guitar part, which was why he played a much simplified version during the actual performance.
Further rehearsals were filmed at Sony Studios on the morning of the performance. (38) The morning rehearsal was over three hours long, and featured the following songs: (38)
A complete video recording of the rehearsal exists, but those who have seen it claim it is somewhat dull, with many tuning breaks. Many sources have reported Cobain struggling with the chord sequence of 'The Man Who Sold The World', which seems corroborated by the three attempts during rehearsal. Interestingly, the band did not feel the need to practise 'On A Plain', 'Something In The Way' or 'Where Did You Sleep Last Night' on this occasion.
In 2002, Rasmus Holmen, owner of the Nirvana Fan Club, interviewed NIRVANA guitar technician Earnie Bailey for his site, and Earnie provided scans of several fascinating documents. (12, 30) Two of the most important were the sheets of paper Cobain positioned on the misic stand in front of him during the performance.
The first page is correspondence between Cobain and NIRVANA's manager, John Silva, concerning the setlist. Cobain had already sanctioned nine songs (Polly, Dumb, Pennyroyal Tea, Something In The Way, Come As You Are, On A Plain (by which Cobain scrawled 'probably'), Where Did You Sleep Last Night, Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam, Lake Of Fire and Plateau), and Silva took it upon himself to suggest some other possibilities.
Cobain annotated the suggestions as follows: All Apologies? - [marked 'maybe']; Rape Me? [crossed out]; Heart Shaped Box? [crossed out]; Verse, Chorus, Verse? (almost certainly suggesting the song collectors refer to as Sappy) [crossed out]; Serve The Servants? [crossed out]; Sliver? [crossed out]; About A Girl? [not annotated]; Been A Son? [not annotated]; Teen Spirit (w/ Tori Amos on piano!!!)??? [crossed out]; and at the bottom Cobain had added 'Man Who Sold The World - if we practise enoug[h]'.
This reveals that 'Been A Son' was considered for inclusion until quite late on, again corroborating Lori Goldston's assertion. It seems surprising that Cobain did not consider 'All Apologies' and 'About A Girl', arguably two of the strongest songs of the set, anything more than possibilities for inclusion.
The second page shows the printout of the setlist, presumably as finalised just prior to the performance.
The main differences are that 'Pennyroyal Tea' is marked as to be played by both Cobain and Smear, whereas during the concert Cobain performed a solo rendition. On the official release of the concert, Dave Grohl can be heard suggesting, "Do it by yourself." Furthermore, only two Meat Puppets songs were scheduled, 'Plateau' and one from 'Oh, Me' or 'Lake Of Fire', to be decided by the band during the set. On the unofficial complete videos of the performance, the band can be heard electing to play all three of the songs.
The order of the songs is slightly different as well: About A Girl, Come As You Are, Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam, Dumb, Man Who Sold The World, Pennyroyal Tea, Polly, On A Plain, Something In The Way, Plateau, Oh Me or Lake Of Fire, All Apologies, Where Did You Sleep Last Night.
The concert footage on the complete video ends with Cobain signing autographs for audience members. Novoselic approaches, presumably to ask if an encore will be played, but Cobain declines the invitation. An encore was likely scheduled, but it is unknown which songs would have been played, aside from any which the band deemed to require a second take.
The set was a triumph for the band, who did not even need to record any alternate takes of any of the songs they performed that night. The concert was released as an album on October 31st, 1994 outside North America and on November 1st, 1994 in North America, and hit the number 1 spot in most major markets, including USA and UK, and has sold over 5 million copies to date. MTV frequently broadcasts a 12-song video edit (missing Something In The Way and Oh, Me).
