Newport 65

After Nirvana ended their Unplugged in New York special with Where Did You Sleep Last Night, the producers wanted an encore. But Kurt didn’t think he could top the performance. Plus, he had prefaced it with “Fuck you all, this is the last song of the evening.” So, that was it. It’s easy to say in retrospect, but this sure does look like the work of a supremely talented and deeply troubled artist. Whatever combination of drugs, demons, and passion produces the look at 5:06, it is truly haunting.

Nirvana’s Unplugged in New York show was taped 5 months before Kurt Cobain died in April 1994, and was released later that year. At the time of its filming, Kurt was apparently suffering drug withdrawals, was unwilling to truly play acoustic, and asked that the set be decorated like a funeral. The setlist was filled with somewhat obscure covers including Where Did You Sleep Last Night, Nirvana’s take on a Lead Belly arrangement of a traditional tune. Unplugged in New York was a commercial enterprise and a huge commercial success, but Kurt and Nirvana did it their way.

According to Rolling Stone, Neil Young’s Cortez the Killer is the 321st best song of all time, featuring the 39th best guitar solo of all time. So the original album version is awesome. But it’s been covered a lot too, and covered well. Warren Haynes has made a habit of playing epic versions in his own band (Gov’t Mule) and with others (The Dead, The Dave Matthews Band).

But the version posted below is too good to pass up. Joe Satriani does things on the guitar that are incomprehensible, even after multiple views. Grace Potter’s vocals start off slow and just keep building, getting bigger and better as she goes. And she looks like she’s having more fun than anyone in the building. Except maybe for Willie Waldman, who adds a new dimension to the song with a killer trumpet part, then throws his hands up in victory at the end. As he should. As they all should.