“It literally put electric guitar rock back on the map”: Nancy Wilson explains how Seattle grunge icons Nirvana and Pearl Jam defeated corporate ’80s music
Nancy Wilson has shared her thoughts on “real deal” Seattle bands Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains, and how grunge music waved the “big hair” days of ’80s rock goodbye.
In a new interview with Ultimate Guitar, Wilson labels the end of “corporate ’80s” music a “relief”, crediting the Seattle rock scene for pushing the guitar world forward.
READ MORE: Heart postpone all 2024 tour dates after Ann Wilson reveals she’s undergoing cancer treatment
“The musical story of Seattle was never more fashionable than in the ’90s,” she says. “The music was a much-needed break from the corporate ’80s sound and literally put electric guitar rock back on the map. Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden became the pillars of the new sound that took over the world like a cultural flash mob.”
Wilson doesn’t stop there, either; she rattles off names hailing from Seattle who helped shape a new genre.
“Jimi Hendrix hailed from Seattle as well as great Northwest rock pioneers like the Wailers, Merrilee Rush and the Turnabouts, the Kingsmen, the Sonics, to name a few,” says Wilson. “And then there was Ray Charles.”
So, why does the grunge movement matter to Wilson? Well, as she tells it, Heart wouldn’t be anything without Seattle – a sentiment she echos in her upcoming new book, The Sound of Seattle, a love letter to 80 years of Seattle music.
“In the ’70s, Heart became part of the Seattle Sound although so much was also still being born out of the Bay Area, too,” she says. “The mind-expanded sounds of the ’60s folded easily into the ’70s where you’d hear more epic and longer songs like In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.
She adds: “Also, the genius of Led Zeppelin entered the story like the ultimate rock muses they were, and it was at a small venue called the Green Lake Aqua Theater where we witnessed their opening set for a youth festival. It was as mind-bending and life-altering as having seen the Beatles live at the Seattle Coliseum in 1966.”
The Sound of Seattle will be available on August 20. Preorder now via Penguin Random House for £18.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
