Kurt Cobain: 1967-1994

April 5th wanes, as does the 17th anniversary of Kurt Cobain’s death. It’s been 17 years since the musical world lost one of its most troubled souls. It’s been more than a decade and a half since we heard that intense, soul rattling voice; and the world of music hasn’t been the same since.

His music had that unique ability to both get you to jump out of your chair and dance around like a maniac while playing air drums with the pencils in your hands, and at the same time make you stop and think – force you to listen to his voice straining, the poetry of his lyrics tugging at your soul, as this man and his band bore their way into our musical consciousness like no one before them, and no one since.

So, to celebrate this man’s all-too-short life, his unbelievable talents, and the catalog of music he left behind, I wanted to share a few songs. Yishai suggested the video, and I thought all of these tracks show the band in all of its forms: intense, energetic, pained, and soulful.

Kurt – this one’s for you.

Nirvana – Been A Son

Nirvana – Polly

Nirvana – Pennyroyal Tea

Immortality – Live at the Orpheum

For those not in the know, Pearl Jam is reissuing remastered versions of their second and third albums, “Vs.” and “Vitalogy.” Released in myriad ways, I’ve ordered vinyls of both album, plus the deluxe versions of the CDs, which includes a copy of the band’s standout show on April 12th, 1994, at Boston’s Orpheum Theater.

And the highlight of that show, was the band’s unbelievable performance of the new song – Immortality. They had debuted it the night before at the Boston Garden, and it was clearly a song written in memory of Kurt Cobain; Mr. Cobain had tragically taken his own life just a week earlier, and the entire music community was still reeling and mourning from the loss.