As everyone knows that buying a Nirvana signed memorabilia’s is a crapshoot. You would not know what you are getting unless you got the autographs in person yourself. Nirvana autographs are widely forged and available all over the internet. There has been much discussion here on the forum on Nirvana autographs. But there are not too many Nirvana autographs that have been authenticated by widely recognized 3^rd Party Authentication companies. Solid provenance of where the autographs came from is the best evidence that you can depend on to be sure that the autographs are authentic to start with. But still more research and homework needs to be done to verify the authenticity of the autographs.  There are many sellers on the net that have the usual provenance of that it was obtained from someone who works in the music industry. Or it was from one of Seattle’s biggest in-person collector of Nirvana memorabilia’s. Lastly fake seller will always use a radio- station promo Nirvana CD as to suggest that it was signed at a radio station.

I always follow the five simple rules of “How to Buy Rock….Without Getting Rolled” by Steve Crykin when I acquire an autograph.

Recently I came across an early 1990 Nirvana Signed Bleach CD cover signed by Kurdt, Chris and Chad.  Bleach is the debut studio album by the American rock band Nirvana, released in June 1989 through the independent record label Sub Pop. The main recording sessions took place at Reciprocal Recording in Seattle, Washington between December 1988 and January 1989.

Here are some pictures of the 1990 Nirvana Bleach Signed CD Cover.

 Below is the statement from the seller. The seller did sell an authentic Kurt Cobain written Nirvana set list from the same show a few months ago. Here is the picture of the set list and show handbill.

"My name is Johnny Riggs. In 1989 & 1990 I was in a band called THUD. On April 29th 1990 we opened for NIRVANA,
who was the second band on the bill that night, as they were not yet famous, and they opened for LOOP.

The show took place at the original 9:30 Club at 930 F St. NW, before they changed locations and moved into a larger venue.

My band and I shared the tiny dressing room with Kurt, Chris and Chad (any of you who played there remember it).

That afternoon, I helped the guys from Nirvana load in their equipment and we ended up palling around all day.  Chris (Krist)
gave me and my girlfriend at the time a bunch of t-shirts (a couple of which I may still have somewhere.)

Having hours to spare, I asked the band to sign some things.
I have since given away or sold most of them, including a beautiful set list on a paper plate sold a few months ago! This is the final piece I own.

This is a piece of history from one of the most talented singer/songwriter/musicians ever.

At the time, and for many years later, I was a well-known DJ in Baltimore and DC, and eventually befriended future drummer Dave
Grohl, photographed him many times, and photographed Chris/Krist (who, oddly enough, remembered this gig, remembered me, and
remembered my girlfriend's name ten years later).

You can Google my name, Johnny Riggs, and see that I've photographed Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, Courtney Love and many
other famous folks.
 

Although the provenance seems rock solid, I still have my doubts about this signed CD cover the first time I saw it as the autographs on this signed CD cover were quite different from examples that I have seen and familiar with.  I have consulted a few people who are familiar with Nirvana autographs but they were skeptical on this signed CD cover. I proceeded to do some research on this signed CD cover especially on Kurt Cobain signature and Chad Channing signature. Both were quite different from examples that I have seen before.

 Kurt Cobain spelled his name several different ways for no apparent reason.  The odd spelling Kurdt came from when Nirvana recorded “Mexican Seafood” for the “Teriyaki Asthma” compilation. When it came time to make the album, they realized that they didn’t know how to spell Kurt’s name so they got a hold of someone who “thought they knew”.

Here are the credits from the “Teriyaki Asthma” album.

Here are the credits on the back of Nirvana’s “Bleach” album.

He later used the misspelling to give himself some anonymity. The ‘monkey photo’ credit on Nevermind is to Kurdt Kobain.

Other misspellings can be found in autographs, etc., like first names Curt, Curtis, and last names Cohbain, and Covain.

I have seen examples of Chad Channing autographs. He usually signed his full name. Here are some of Chad Channing autograph examples.

Chad Channing has a new band called Before Cars. I went to his Before Cars website info to try and get in contact with Chad Channing. I was directed to his Facebook page where I did sent him a message trying to get Chad’s confirmation that this was his signature. To my surprise, he replied me on the same day. Here is Chad Channing’s reply:

 The next issue was to check whether this signed Bleach CD cover was actually from the 1^st CD pressing back in 1989. A fellow forum member who is familiar with Nirvana autographs suggested that I make sure that this signed CD cover was from 1989. Since this was signed on April 29^th 1990, the CD cover has to be from the 1989 1^st pressing. The 1st Pressing CD has a flat finish. Later reissue CD has a glossy finish. From research, I found out the cover graphic and the printing resolution are different on the 1^st pressing CD cover. The fonts on the word “Nirvana” and “Bleach” are much bigger and print in silver. The later CD cover have much smaller fonts and print in white.

I have removed the Signed Nirvana Bleach Cover from the framing and has confirmed that the Nirvana Bleach CD Cover was from the 1st Pressing in UK by Tupelo and was released in August of 1989. It also have only 11 Tracks on the CD. The later Press CD has 13 Tracks o the CD.

Other interesting information that I found out while doing my research is that Dave Grohl does not signed Bleach album since he did not play on this album. There were occasions where he signed CHAD on Bleach LP if he did sign. Here are 2 examples of Dave Grohl signing Chad Channing name and Dan Peters. Photos and info from http://www.nirvana-discography.com/pages/memorabilia/autographs.html 

I am also writing to Krist Novoselic to get his confirmation on this signed Nirvana Bleach CD cover. I will update as soon as I hear back from him.

UPDATE: 11/21/13 I wrote to Krist Novoselic on this signed Nirvana Bleach CD Cover back on March 5, 2013. Just got a reply back from Krist Novoselic yesterday with a note. :)

Update: 7/27/15

Recently I was able to get Chad Channing to sign off on his Bleach CD Cover autograph. He also signed a Nirvana picture which was taken at the 9.30 Club, Washington DC on April 29, 1990.

Update: 05.23.19

The Kurt Cobain Written Set List was sold at Julien's Auctions on 05.18.19 for 
$24,200 plus the buyers premium.

Update: Here is an example of an authentic early Nirvana autographs on a Sub Pop Concert Poster from April 6, 1990. Note the similarity of Kurt Cobain’s autograph on the Bleach CD and the Sub Pop Poster. Also Chad Channing did not sign with a sun and z below his autograph. I have since confirmed that he did not earlier in his autograph signing.