| From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah | |
 | |
| Released | October 1st, 1996 |
| Genre | Grunge |
| Length | 53:55 |
| Label | Sub-Pop |
| Producer | Shauna O' Brien, Diane Stata |
| Album Guide | |
| previous MTV Unplugged in New York |
next Nirvana |
From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah is the second live album by Nirvana. It was released on October 1, 1996 and features live performances recorded from 1989 to 1994. As opposed to Nirvana's previous live album, MTV Unplugged in New York (1994), which features an acoustic performance, From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah is a compilation of live electric performances.
Release Details[]
From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah was the second Nirvana album to be released following the death of Kurt Cobain in April 1994. It was compiled primarily by Krist Novoselic, who also penned the album's liner notes. Novoselic and Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl had originally intended on releasing a live album in 1994, to accompany what became MTV Unplugged in New York in a two-disc set originally titled Verse Chorus Verse, named after both a Nirvana song and the most prevalent song structure in the band's music, but were emotionally unable to compile it so soon after Cobain's death.
The album's title refers to the Wishkah River in Aberdeen, Washington, where Cobain claimed to have spent nights sleeping under the Young Street Bridge as a teenager (as referenced in the song "Something in the Way," from the band's 1991 release, Nevermind). This claim has since been refuted by Novoselic, who said, "He never lived under that bridge. He hung out there, but you couldn't live on those muddy banks, with the tide coming up and down. That was his own revisionism."
No commercial singles were released from the album, but promotional singles were sent out for radio play for a number of the songs, including "Aneurysm" (U.S. and U.K.), "Drain You" (U.S.), "Lithium" (The Netherlands) and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (Spain and France). A limited edition promotional box set was also released in Australia containing three promotional singles for the songs "Aneurysm", "Heart-Shaped Box", and "Polly". The box set also included Nevermind: It's an Interview, a promotional interview disc first released in 1992.
Track Listing (Song Title) (Writers)[]
| 1. | "Intro" (recorded by Craig Montgomery at the London Astoria, December 3, 1989.) | 0:52 | |
| 2. | "School" (recorded by VPRO-TV in Amsterdam, Netherlands, at Paradiso, November 25, 1991.) | 2:40 | |
| 3. | "Drain You" (recorded by Westwood One at Del Mar Fairgrounds, CA, December 28, 1991.) | 3:34 | |
| 4. | "Aneurysm" (recorded by Westwood One at Del Mar Fairgrounds, California, December 28, 1991.) | Cobain, Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic | 4:31 |
| 5. | "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (recorded by Westwood One at Del Mar Fairgrounds, California, December 28, 1991.) | Cobain, Grohl, Novoselic | 4:47 |
| 6. | "Been a Son" (recorded by VPRO-TV in Amsterdam, Netherlands, at Paradiso, November 25, 1991.) | 2:07 | |
| 7. | "Lithium" (recorded by VPRO-TV in Amsterdam, Netherlands, at Paradiso, November 25, 1991.) | 4:10 | |
| 8. | "Sliver" (recorded by Craig Overbay at the Springfield Civic Center, Springfield, MA, November 10, 1993.) | 1:55 | |
| 9. | "Spank Thru" (recorded by Stereoral at Il Castello Vi de Porta, Castello 41 Rome, November 19, 1991.) | 3:10 | |
| 10. | "Scentless Apprentice" (recorded for MTV Live and Loud by Scott Litt at Pier 48, Seattle, WA, December 13, 1993.) | Cobain, Grohl, Novoselic | 3:31 |
| 11. | "Heart-Shaped Box" (recorded by Craig Overbay at the Great Western Forum, Los Angeles, CA, December 30, 1993.) | 4:41 | |
| 12. | "Milk It" (recorded by Craig Overbay at the Seattle Center Arena, January 7, 1994.) | 3:45 | |
| 13. | "Negative Creep" (recorded by Andy Wallace at the Paramount Theatre, Seattle, WA, October 31, 1991.) | 2:43 | |
| 14. | "Polly" (recorded by Craig Montgomery at the London Astoria, December 3, 1989.) | 2:30 | |
| 15. | "Breed" (recorded by Craig Montgomery at the London Astoria, December 3, 1989.) | 3:28 | |
| 16. | "tourette's" (recorded by Fujisankei Communications International, Inc. in Reading, England at the Reading Festival, August 30, 1992.) | 1:55 | |
| 17. | "Blew" (recorded by VPRO-TV in Amsterdam, Netherlands, at Paradiso, November 25, 1991.) |