To improve the odds of featuring an artist who is not hated, today there are 3 from which to choose. Don’t get used to it.
Kurt Cobain, the talented, troubled lead singer, songwriter and guitarist for Nirvana was born on February 20, 1967 in Aberdeen, WA. Hard to believe he’d have turned 49 today. Unfortunately, he’s better known for his death on April 5, 1994. Generalissimo JC’sLP conducted a TIMH Nirvana seminar a few months ago, and it’s highly recommended.
There are only a handful of musicians who have influenced their art in so short a time. Buddy Holly, Jimi, Morrison, Janis. Kurt Cobain’s comet was first seen with Bleach in 1989, and flared out a scant 5 years later. The sad fact is that Kurt only seemed satisfied when he was howling in pain. The more successful he became the less happy it made him. He distrusted and rejected fame and its trappings, so where did that leave him? He could never heal.
Where did that leave us? Fortunate to have heard him.
- Bleach (1989)
- Nevermind (1991)
- In Utero (1993)
- Unplugged (1994)
Walter Becker and Donald Fagen
Walter Becker was born February 20, 1950, in Queens, NY. He is best known as the co-founder, bassist, guitarist and co-songwriter of Steely Dan. Once again, Gen. JC’sLP has anticipated our interest in the Dan with this master class.
We were lucky to have Walter Fagen after the summer of 1980. He and Donald Fagen had just finished mixing “Babylon Sisters” for the Gaucho album. Walking back to his NYC apartment, a taxi came careening down the street. Walter pushed the woman who was with him to safety before being struck and seriously injured. Multiple leg fractures, internal injuries, life-threatening complications. But, Walter Fagen healed and we’ve enjoyed his second Steely Dan incarnation.
John Warren “Jay” Geils, Jr. was born February 20, 1946 in NYC. He founded the J. Geils Band in 1967, and was its lead guitarist. The blues/rock group was a band of road warriors. Their albums Full House Live (1972) and Bloodshot (1973) attracted national attention. Freeze Frame was a Billboard #1 album with its single, “Centerfold”, a #1 single. The band charted 18 other Billboard Hot100 singles.
The group disbanded in the mid-80s due to undisclosed “irreconcilable differences”. J’s interests turned to jazz, and restoring classic race cars. The band reunited for a short tour in 1999, and then played together occasionally until 2012, when the other members decided to tour again, but without J. It’s not clear whether J actually wanted to tour again, but the group’s decision, and some earlier legal skirmishes over J’s right to use the name “J. Geils” in his jazz shows, prompted him to file a lawsuit to stop the band from using his name for the band. It’s not clear whether or how the lawsuit was resolved, but the J. Geils Band without J. toured with Bon Jovi in 2013, and with Bob Seger in 2014. J. gave us decades of hot party music with the J. Geils Band. No matter who is to blame, it’s sad to see his legacy with the group end in legal wrangling.
3 great musicians born on the same date. 3 very different arcs to their lives and careers. Curt Kobain’s star went supernova. Walter Becker has had two careers, one before his brush with mortality and one after surviving it. J. Geils had a solid 30 years with his band, only to seemingly disappear from it at the end. It leaves us with the age-old question: Is it better to burn out, than to fade away?
