MYNORTHWEST NEWS

Long forgotten Kurt Cobain memorabilia found at Seattle record store

Sep 9, 2019, 11:02 AM | Updated: Sep 10, 2019, 6:06 am

Kurt Cobain...

Kurt Cobain is shown in a file photo from April 9, 1993 during a benefit concert at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California. (AP)

(AP)

Matt Vaughan bought a record collection in the early 1990s. With plenty of product already on hand, the owner of Seattle’s Easy Street Records put the collection in storage at the time.

But going through that storage recently, store employees realized there was more than records in that collection.

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“Matt bought a record collection back in 1993 off of someone who was most likely friends with Kurt,” said Dillon Sterns, an employee at Easy Street Records.

Kurt, as in Kurt Cobain of the legendary Seattle band Nirvana.

“I’m not sure what the worth could be,” he said. “I’m sure it’s worth what someone is willing to pay for it, that kind of a thing.”

Stuffed in the record collection were receipts and various paperwork related to Cobain and Nirvana. There were old tour schedules, handwritten notes, a backstage pass, a pass due doctor’s bill, a money order to Cobain’s Olympia landlord, and a royalty check for $26.57 from a music company. The royalty check was never cashed. It would be worth about $50 in 2019, according to NME.

“I’m assuming the Royalty check is pretty rare,” Sterns said. “It’s from like six months before Nevermind came out.”

It was dated March 6, 1991 to be exact. The band’s hit Nevermind album was released September 26, 1991, so by the time the record collection was purchased, the group was fairly well-known across the globe. The only album they released before Nevermind was Bleach, released in 1989.

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“I know he had written some notes in the tour itinerary of local places to eat and stuff like that which is kind of cool,” Sterns said.

Vaughan told NME that, initially, it just appeared to be a record collection with some itinerary books. Such itinerary books were quite common and didn’t stand out. Lots of bands had them, their roadies, friends, etc. But in this case, the book had a bit more.

NME further reports that the tour itineraries were for Nirvana’s 1992 Nevermind tour through the United Kingdom, and also a 1993 tour for the In Utero album.

KIRO Radio’s Diane Duthweiler contributed to this story.

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