WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS AND KURT COBAIN – THE “PRIEST” THEY CALLED HIM (TIM KERR RECORDS)
I’m not really sure if William Burroughs had any idea of who Kurt Cobain was but as you repeatedly pour over the lyrics of Nirvana it becomes glaringly obvious of how much of an influence Burroughs’ techniques were towards Cobain’s technique of putting words together. Whereas the Beatniks and hipsters clung onto Kerouac and the hippies grabbed hold of Ginsberg it was always the punks that fell for Burroughs. This was logical and inevitable.
“The “Priest” They Called Him” is a William Burroughs Christmas original. It’s the story of a junky looking for a fix on Christmas Eve and struggling to find solace or refuge in anyone, anywhere or anything. This is a tale Burroughs recounted a number of times including as “The Junky’s Christmas”. It is probably autobiographical. Over the top of his recording is Kurt Cobain wheeling out feedback drenched guitar along the lines of “Silent Night” then “To Anacreon In Heaven” serving as the closest he ever got to recording a Christmas carol. It is all so fucking festive. And thankfully it ends with an act of empathy.
Clocking in at almost ten minutes this is a drug addict’s version of “Twas The Night Before Christmas”. Even though the pair of them shared a taste and passion for such pursuits they recorded their parts separately with Burroughs doing his vocals on 25 September 1992 in Lawrence, Kansas while Kurt Cobain recorded his guitar part with Barrett Jones at the Laundry Room in Seattle in November 1992.
Originally released as a ten inch then later on CD, the record features a treated and fairly indistinguishable Krist Novoselic on the cover posing as “The Priest”.
Thesaurus moment: festive.
William S. Burroughs
Kurt Cobain
Tim Kerr Records
I’m not really sure if William Burroughs had any idea of who Kurt Cobain was but as you repeatedly pour over the lyrics of Nirvana it becomes glaringly obvious of how much of an influence Burroughs’ techniques were towards Cobain’s technique of putting words together. Whereas the Beatniks and hipsters clung onto Kerouac and the hippies grabbed hold of Ginsberg it was always the punks that fell for Burroughs. This was logical and inevitable.
“The “Priest” They Called Him” is a William Burroughs Christmas original. It’s the story of a junky looking for a fix on Christmas Eve and struggling to find solace or refuge in anyone, anywhere or anything. This is a tale Burroughs recounted a number of times including as “The Junky’s Christmas”. It is probably autobiographical. Over the top of his recording is Kurt Cobain wheeling out feedback drenched guitar along the lines of “Silent Night” then “To Anacreon In Heaven” serving as the closest he ever got to recording a Christmas carol. It is all so fucking festive. And thankfully it ends with an act of empathy.
Clocking in at almost ten minutes this is a drug addict’s version of “Twas The Night Before Christmas”. Even though the pair of them shared a taste and passion for such pursuits they recorded their parts separately with Burroughs doing his vocals on 25 September 1992 in Lawrence, Kansas while Kurt Cobain recorded his guitar part with Barrett Jones at the Laundry Room in Seattle in November 1992.
Originally released as a ten inch then later on CD, the record features a treated and fairly indistinguishable Krist Novoselic on the cover posing as “The Priest”.
Thesaurus moment: festive.
William S. Burroughs
Kurt Cobain
Tim Kerr Records
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