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6 Songs for Bruce

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6 Songs for Bruce
Demo album by
Soundgarden
RecordedApril 24, 1985
GenreGrunge
LanguageEnglish
ProducerJack Endino

6 Songs for Bruce, also commonly known as 4-Track Demo, is an early single-sided demo cassette tape by American rock band Soundgarden.

Overview

The band, at the time a three-piece named Sound Garden, composed of guitarist Kim Thayil, bassist Hiro Yamamoto, and Chris Cornell on drums and vocals,[1] recorded the demo in Jack Endino's basement four-track studio[nb 1] on April 24, 1985 for their friend Bruce Pavitt,[3] hence the name of the tape; which features a rare early version of "Tears to Forget" sung by Yamamoto, and, as a bonus song, a Cornell's solo recording titled "The Storm". The side B of the cassette, humorously titled Zen Deity Speaks, contains no recordings.

The demo tape was among many of the artifacts displayed at the EMP Museum's Nirvana: Taking Punk to the Masses exhibit in Seattle, Washington.[4]

6 Songs for Bruce was Soundgarden's second demo; it was preceded by a cassette tape titled The First 15, recorded in 1984.[5]

Reissues and re-recordings

"Tears to Forget" would be re-recorded in late 1985, with Cornell on vocals and Scott Sundquist on drums, for the C/Z Records compilation album Deep Six,[nb 2] released in 1986. The song was recorded for a third time in 1987, with Matt Cameron on drums, for the band's debut EP Screaming Life.[nb 3]

"The Storm" was laid down for a second time during a March 1986 session, on a 16-track demo tape that got shelved.[1][6] 28 years later, again with Endino as producer, the tune would be re-recorded in finished form in May 2014.[6] Retitled as simply "Storm", it was released on the band's rarities box set Echo of Miles: Scattered Tracks Across the Path.[nb 4][1]

"Incessant Mace" was reissued on the 1986 C/Z Records limited edition cassette-only various artists compilation Pyrrhic Victory.[7][8] In 1988, the song would be re-recorded, with Cameron on drums, for its release on the band's first full-length album Ultramega OK.[nb 5] In 2017, two previously unreleased eight-track versions of "Incessant Mace", taken from a demo tape, called "the Ultramega EP" by the band, produced in 1987 by Endino and Chris Hanzsek at Seattle's Reciprocal Recording studio, were featured on the expanded and remixed reissue[nb 6] of Ultramega OK.[9][10][11][12]

Track listing

Side A: 6 Songs for Bruce
No.TitleArtistLength
1."I Think I'm Sinking"  
2."Bury My Head In Sand"  
3."Tears to Forget"  
4."The Storm" (bonus track)Chris Cornell 
5."Incessant Mace"  
6."In Vention"  
7."Out of My Skin"  
Side B: Zen Deity Speaks (blank side)
No.TitleLength

Personnel

Sound Garden

Production

Notes

  1. ^ "... I already knew Soundgarden pretty well, since they and Skin Yard had shared the stage many times in Seattle’s tiny club scene circa 1985-1986. ... I had a basement 4-track setup and had done some demos for them and others..."
                                    – Jack Endino, Seattle 2013[2]
  2. ^ C/Z #CZ 01
  3. ^ Sub Pop #SP 12
  4. ^ A&M #B0022156-02
  5. ^ SST #SST 201
  6. ^ Sub Pop #SP1172

References

  1. ^ a b c Kreps, Daniel (October 28, 2014). "Soundgarden Unveil Three-Disc 'Echo of Miles' Rarities Collection: The band also revive 30-year-old track for menacing new song 'Storm'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
  2. ^ "Soundgarden on Sub Pop Records". Sub Pop Records. Archived from the original on November 15, 2016.
  3. ^ (April 10, 2012). "April 24, 1985 - Sound Garden (Soon to be Soundgarden) recorded this 4-Track Demo for Bruce Pavitt". The Grunge Scene. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
  4. ^ Lipp, Chaz (August 26, 2011). "Book Review: Taking Punk to the Masses: From Nowhere to Nevermind by Jacob McMurray". Blogcritics. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
  5. ^ Prato, Greg (2009). Grunge Is Dead: The Oral History of Seattle Rock Music. Toronto, Canada: ECW Press. ISBN 9781550228779. p. 97.
  6. ^ a b Marlowe, Keith (February 5, 2015). "Meet the Guy Who Has Recorded Almost Every Major Seattle Album" (interview). Noisey. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  7. ^ Tow, Stephen (2011). The Strangest Tribe: How a Group of Seattle Rock Bands Invented Grunge. Seattle, Washington: Sasquatch Books. ISBN 9781570617430. p. 167.
  8. ^ Various Artists, Pyrrhic Victory. Discogs. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
  9. ^ Reed, Ryan (January 18, 2017). "Soundgarden Finalize 'Ultramega OK' Remix for Reissue". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 7, 2017.
  10. ^ Lore Mark, Mark (March 9, 2017). "Soundgarden: Ultramega OK: Expanded Reissue Review". Paste. Retrieved June 7, 2017.
  11. ^ Johnston, Maura (March 20, 2017). "Soundgarden - Ultramega OK" (review). Pitchfork. Retrieved June 7, 2017.
  12. ^ Sub Pop Records. "Soundgarden - Ultramega OK (Expanded Reissue)" (review). Sub Pop Mega Mart. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
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