Kurt Cobain Tried To Recruit Dinosaur Jr's J Mascis for Nirvana

The early alternative rock scene was fertile with Gen X guitar greatness. From the fuzzed-out shoegaze bursting from Bilinda Butcher of My Bloody Valentine to the sharp arpeggios leaping from Peter Buck’s Rickenbacker to Ian MacKaye’s post-hardcore pluckings in Fugazi, the scene was saturated with six-string superstars — but one stood above them all.

J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr., dubbed the "Jimi Hendrix" of his generation, was so influential on alternative rock that Kurt Cobain tried to get him to ditch Amherst, Massachusetts and go west to Seattle. But Mascis turned him down.

Kurt Cobain Tried To Get J. Mascis To Join Nirvana

Cobain’s failed attempt to woo Mascis happened on July 13, 1989, in Hoboken, New Jersey. "Nirvana was playing Maxwell’s and after the show I was talking to Kurt and [Sonic Youth’s] Thurston Moore," Mascis told Spin in 2012. "Kurt said, 'You should join my band.'"

Mascis brushed the invitation off, saying, "I didn’t think much about it."

For context, in 1989, Cobain was a scrappy 22-year-old from Aberdeen, Washington. The generation-defining Nevermind was a few years away. "Bleach [Nirvana’s debut album] wasn't out yet," said Moore, in the documentary, Freakscene: The Story of Dinosaur Jr., per Metal Injection. "It was just the single ["Love Buzz"]. And I remember Kurt saying [to Mascis], 'Why don't you join us?'"

(It’s possible that Moore misremembered his dates. Bleach was released in June 1989, meaning it was about a month old during the conversation between Kurt and J. Perhaps, the album, which was released on the independent Sub Pop label, hadn’t made its way out east yet.)

"I think he was sick of the guy, Jason [Everman], who was in the band at the time and thought I should play guitar," Mascis said in Freakscene.

"I think we were much bigger than them at the time," Mascis said in the Freakscene doc, and he was right. Joseph "J" Mascis formed Dinosaur Jr. in 1984 with Lou Barlow and Emmett "Murph" Murphy. By 1989, they were well established as thunderous titans of the nascent alternative scene, with three landmark albums: Dinosaur, You’re Living All Over Me, and Bug.

But Dinosaur Jr. had fallen apart by mid-1989. Tensions between Mascis and Barlow were always high, often leading to on-stage fights. In one clash, described by Michael Azerrad in his book, Our Band Could Be Your Life, Mascis rushed across the stage and tried to hit Barlow with his guitar. Barlow "raised his bass like a shield while Mascis bashed away repeatedly."

Mascis ended up firing Barlow. 1991’s Green Mind, though attributed to Dinosaur Jr., was essentially a J. Mascis solo album (Murph is only featured on a few tracks).

So, it makes sense why Cobain, seeing Mascis essentially without a band, would invite him to join Nirvana. It would be beneficial for both: Mascis would have a band to play with, and Cobain would get a chance to share the stage with one of his heroes.

"[The invite] made me realize maybe how much they’d influenced Nirvana, too," said Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon in Freakscene. "Dinosaur had this other dissonant quality that I think Kurt really liked."

J. Mascis Is Considered the Generation X Jimi Hendrix

While J. Mascis is soft-spoken and reserved in nature, Dinosaur Jr.’s music is loud. With a guitar style described as a blend of Tony Iommi’s thick, chunky riffs, Ron Asheton’s proto-punk snarl and Bob Mould’s unbound energy, Mascis created a tidal wave of sound from a 1958 Fender Jazzmaster that he bought from a trailer park in Vermont. (h/t Fender).

"J. Mascis is our generation’s [Jimi] Hendrix," said John Lombardo, founding member of 10,000 Maniacs and co-host of the alternative music podcast, 120 Months. "He was that guy that when he touched a guitar, we were all like, wow."

Lombardo explained that Mascis was akin to Hendrix in his ability to inspire guitarists with a new form of melody and playing, even those still caught up in early ‘80s hardcore punk. "We didn’t sit on the edge of our bed, learning arpeggiated scales," said Lombardo. "We were just kind of banging out shit …he brought this way of playing to us."

The comparison between Mascis and Hendrix is not that far-fetched. "Hendrix probably seems obvious, but he’s the best guitarist ever, you know?" Mascis told Guitar World in 2023. "No one is ever gonna get close to him. So, he's on the list for that reason alone. He's an influence for all the obvious reasons."

Mascis turned down the invite in ’89. And he once again missed out on playing with Nirvana. "Later, there was also talk of playing drums on a single [‘Sliver’] they were doing," Mascis told Spin, "but it ended up being [Mudhoney's] Dan Peters."

Nirvana, as we all know, became one of the biggest bands in the world with the release of Nevermind in 1991. Dinosaur Jr. had a run of major label albums (Green Mind, Where You Been, Without a Sound and Hand It Over), with Murph leaving the group after touring for Where You Been. Mascis disbanded Dinosaur Jr. in 1997 to pursue a solo career. By then, Barlow had started Sebadoh.

But time heals all wounds. Mascis began attending Sebadoh shows at the turn of the century to make peace with Barlow. Barlow, Mascis, and Murph then reunited, resurrecting Dinosaur Jr. in 2005, and have toured and recorded ever since (with 2021’s Sweep It Into Space being their most recent album).

Dinosaur Jr. fans remain jubilant that their band has reunited, but a few Gen Xers are left wondering what could have been.