Serving the Servant

2019 non-fiction book by Danny Goldberg

Serving the Servant: Remembering Kurt Cobain

First edition (US)

Author| Danny Goldberg
Language| English
Genre| Memoir
Publisher| Ecco Press (US)
Orion Books (UK)

Publication date

| April 02, 2019[1]
Publication place| United States
Pages| 304
ISBN| 978-0062861504

Serving the Servant: Remembering Kurt Cobain is a book by Danny Goldberg, former music manager of Nirvana, and current president and owner of Gold Mountain Entertainment. It was published in April 2019, on the 25th anniversary of Cobain's suicide.

## Release

[edit]

The book was announced in July 2018, and was released April 2nd, 2019, around the 25th anniversary of Kurt Cobain's death. It was published by Ecco Press.[2] In May 2019, Goldberg held an "Ask Me Anything" Session to promote the book, on Reddit.[3] The book is named after the Nirvana song "Serve the Servants" which is the first track on the band's 1993 album, In Utero.[4]

In promotion of the book, Goldberg stated:

> I think that in terms of icons, Kurt was kind of the last icon of the rock era and then the hip-hop era started.

> Then, obviously, in our kid's generation, hip-hop has been a dominant voice for adolescence. It's not the only one, there were still rock artists but not only was he iconic in terms of depth in which he touched people, that music was pop. Those songs were as big as Rihanna, Travis Scott or Justin Bieber or anything today.

> They were pop hits as well as touching the underground culture. That fusion of pop and underground, I don't think rock has produced someone else who could do that since Kurt. I think he's arguably the last of that era.

> You could almost have bookends of an era that started with The Beatles and ended with Kurt. I mean, yeah, there was rock and roll before The Beatles but The Beatles broadened it and I think you can make that argument.[5][6][7]

## Reception

[edit]

The book was well-received. Rolling Stone writer Angie Martoccio stated of the book "[Goldberg] added a fascinating perspective to one of rock’s most harrowing stories, one that will certainly enhance the late icon’s legacy."[8] Gillian Gaar, for bookandfilmglobe.com, wrote that "The pain he feels over Cobain’s death still lingers, and he writes of still wondering if there’s something he could’ve said or done that might have made a difference. But while Goldberg’s feelings of loss run deep throughout the story, Serving the Servant never hesitates to accentuate the positive".[2]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Serving the Servant: Remembering Kurt Cobain Hardcover – April 2 2019. ASIN 0062861506.
2. ^ a b Gaar, Gillian G (April 3, 2019). The Man Who Loved Kurt Cobain. Retrieved April 18, 2020. `{{cite book}}`: `|website=` ignored (help)
3. ^ "Danny Goldberg". reddit.com. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
4. ^ Smoak, Shelby. "Serving the Servant: Remembering Kurt Cobain". nyjournalofbooks.com. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
5. ^ "Nirvana Manager: I Don't Think Dave Grohl Touches People as Deeply as Kurt Did. I Suspect Dave Would Acknowledge That Too". Ultimate Guitar. April 20, 2019. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
6. ^ Jenke, Tyler (April 21, 2019). "Nirvana's manager calls Kurt Cobain the 'last icon of the rock era'". Tone Deaf. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
7. ^ Mazzarone, Mike (April 20, 2019). "Nirvana Reveal If Dave Grohl Made More Money Than Kurt Cobain". Alternative Nation. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
8. ^ Martoccio, Angie (April 5, 2019). "Book Review: Danny Goldberg's 'Serving the Servant' is a Fascinating Account of His Years Inside Nirvana's Drama". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 18, 2020.

* v
* t
* e

Nirvana

* Kurt Cobain
* Krist Novoselic
* Aaron Burckhard
* Dale Crover
* Dave Foster
* Chad Channing
* Jason Everman
* Dan Peters
* Dave Grohl

Studio albums|

* Bleach
* Nevermind
* In Utero

Live albums|

* MTV Unplugged in New York
* From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah
* Live at Reading

Compilation albums|

* Incesticide
* Nirvana
* Sliver: The Best of the Box
* Icon

Box sets|

* Singles
* With the Lights Out
* Nevermind: The Singles

Extended plays|

* Blew
* Hormoaning

Singles|

* "Love Buzz"
* "Sliver"
* "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
* "Come as You Are"
* "Lithium"
* "In Bloom"
* "Heart-Shaped Box"
* "All Apologies" / "Rape Me"
* "Pennyroyal Tea"
* "About a Girl"
* "You Know You're Right"

Split singles|

* "Candy" / "Molly's Lips"
* "Here She Comes Now" / "Venus in Furs"
* "Puss" / "Oh, the Guilt"

Promotional singles|

* "On a Plain"
* "The Man Who Sold the World"
* "Where Did You Sleep Last Night"
* "Lake of Fire"
* "Aneurysm"
* "Drain You"
* "Endless, Nameless"

Other charted
songs|

* "Dumb"
* "Sappy"
* "Something in the Way"

Other songs|

* "Been a Son"
* "Blew"
* "Breed"
* "Dive"
* "Do Re Mi"
* "Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle"
* "I Hate Myself and Want to Die"
* "Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam"
* "Marigold"
* "Negative Creep"
* "Old Age"
* "Opinion"
* "Plateau"
* "Polly"
* "Scentless Apprentice"
* "Serve the Servants"
* "Spank Thru"
* "Talk to Me"

Videos|

* Live! Tonight! Sold Out!!
* MTV Unplugged in New York
* Live at Reading
* Live at the Paramount
* Live and Loud

Related|

| Articles|

* Discography (Bootlegs)
* Awards and nominations
* Songs
* Concerts
* "Smells Like Nirvana"
* Frances Bean Cobain
* Suicide of Kurt Cobain
* Kurt Cobain Memorial Park
* Viretta Park
* Church of Kurt Cobain
* 12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief

|

Bands|

* 3rd Secret
* Eyes Adrift
* Fecal Matter
* Flipper
* Foo Fighters
* Giants in the Trees
* Melvins
* The No WTO Combo
* Scream
* Sweet 75
* Them Crooked Vultures
* Queens of the Stone Age

Touring members|

* Pat Smear
* Melora Creager
* John Duncan
* Lori Goldston

Books|

* Nirvana: Flower Sniffin', Kitty Pettin', Baby Kissin' Corporate Rock Whores
* Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana
* Teen Spirit: The Stories Behind Every Nirvana Song
* Who Killed Kurt Cobain?
* Heavier Than Heaven
* Journals
* Love and Death
* Nirvana: The Chosen Rejects
* Dirty Blonde
* Cobain Unseen
* Taking Punk to the Masses
* Letters to Kurt
* Experiencing Nirvana: Grunge in Europe, 1989
* I Found My Friends
* Cobain on Cobain
* Serving the Servant

Albums|

* Nevermind It's an Interview
* The "Priest" They Called Him
* Verse Chorus Verse
* The Songs of Kurt Cobain
* Montage of Heck: The Home Recordings

Tribute albums|

* Smells Like Bleach: A Punk Tribute to Nirvana
* Newermind: A Tribute to Nirvana
* Nevermind Tribute
* In Utero, in Tribute, in Entirety
* Whatever Nevermind
* Doused in Mud, Soaked in Bleach

Films and
documentaries|

* 1991: The Year Punk Broke
* A Tribute to Kurt Cobain
* Teen Spirit: The Tribute to Kurt Cobain
* Hype!
* The Vigil
* Kurt & Courtney
* Classic Albums: Nirvana – Nevermind
* Last Days
* All Apologies: Kurt Cobain 10 Years On
* Nirvana – A Classic Album Under Review – In Utero
* The Last 48 Hours of Kurt Cobain
* Kurt Cobain: About a Son
* Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck
* Soaked in Bleach
* When Nirvana Came to Britain
* Kurt Cobain: Moments That Shook Music

* Category

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