Green River - Demos

Regular readers here will know that I just diiiiiiiiiiig grunge.

And no one did it better than arguably the original grunge band, Green River.

Here we have the earliest demo recordings from Green River, which represent the earliest grunge recordings available to us mere mortals.

These demos are pretty raw and formative, but show obvious signs of the greatness that was to emerge later.

There are a number of versions of these demos available on bootlegs and the interweb. As far as I can tell, all versions are incomplete and have incorrect track listings. And while I think I've determined the most accurate track listing to date, I make no claims to have it completely correct (see below).

I've collected the tracks from two sources: CD 2 of the Pearl Jam Hallucinogenic Recipes bootleg, and from Bootlegs from Bucklberry. However, the most useful source of correct track information is the fantastic Lamestain site, which I strongly recommend to fellow grunge tragics. The Lamestain post features (defunct) links to the demo tracks, comments from readers clarifying the track names, and some further comments from Green River drummer Alex Vincent in response to a tape of the demos provided to him by Lamestain. Most of the information below is borrowed (stolen?) from this site, so head over there if you want to hear more.

The first eight tracks of these demos appear to have been recorded in the summer of 1984, when the band was a four piece (Mark Arm, Steve Turner, Jeff Ament and Alex Vincent) prior to the arrival of Stone Gossard. The tracks 33 RPM and Leech were released as a single on translucent green vinyl  . The latter was later covered by The Melvins. Or, as Mark Arm humorously described from the stage at the 2008 Green River reformation "We wrote this song in 1984, it was just a demo tape we passed along. The Melvins later, in Led Zeppelin-like fashion, recorded the song and credited it to themselves -- making us the Willie Dixon of grunge." 

New God and Tunnel of Love later appeared on the debut LP Come On Down.

Baby Help Me Forget later appeared in a very similar form on the B-side of Mudhoney's 1999 single This Gift. 

A significantly revamped version of 10,000 Things later appeared on the 1986 compilation Deep Six, as previously posted on this blog.

Against the Grain is a mid-tempo track similar in feel to most of the tracks on the Come On Down LP. It is also the track whose title I am least sure of, owing to the fact that is listed as Take Me on Youtube! However, I'm sticking to the title provided on Lamestain given that Alex Vincent commented that an additional track that was not on the tape provided to him by Lamestain, Take Me, was recorded for the 1984 demo. And since Against the Grain is on Lamestain, I assume it was on this tape.

The remaining 1984 track, Personality Meltdown,   featuring Steve Turner on vocals, is unfortunately incomplete. It is a punk rocker that may date back to the one of the bands predecessors. Interesting, but non-essential!

Bazaar apparently dates from 1985. Note this is not the version that appeared on the 1999 compilation Another Pyrrhic Victory. This track again is again similar in feel to most of the tracks on the Come On Down LP.

Together We'll Never apparently dates from 1986, and is most likely a high generation copy of the 1986 single (again on translucent green vinyl!) released on the Tasque Force label, rather than a demo. This version is not quite as good as the version that appeared on the final (posthumous) Green River album Rehab Doll, but it's still pretty damn good!


Green River - Demos

01 - 33 RPM
02 - New God
03 - Tunnel of Love
04 - Leech
05 - Against the Grain (possibly Take Me?)
06 - Baby Help Me Forget
07 - 10,000 Things
08 - Personality Meltdown
09 - Bazaar
10 - Together We'll Never

MP3