Readings by Jack Kerouac on the Beat Generation

Jack Kerouac - Readings by Jack Kerouac on the Beat Generation
MP3 @320kbps
Artwork Scans @ 150dpi
Recording Date: 1958-1959 | Audio CD: October 28, 1997 | Original Release Date: October 28, 1997
Time: 41:32 | Label: Verve
Genre: Spoken Word / poetry, beat poetry

Tracks:
1. San Francisco Scene (3:09)
2. Medley: San Francisco Blues (Fragments) (3:02)
3. Lucien Midnight: The Sounds Of The Universe In My Window (4:22)
4. History Of Bop (10:53)
5. The Subterraneans (3:07)
6. Visions Of Neal (Neal & The Three Stooges) (16:59)

"The wind from Lake Michigan, bop at the Loop, long walks around South Halsted and North Clark, and one long walk after midnight into the jungles, where a cruising car followed me as a suspicious character. At this time, 1947, bop was going like mad all over America. The fellows at the Loop blew, but with a tired air, because bop was somewhere between its Charlie Parker Ornithology period and another period that began with Miles Davis. And as I sat there listening to that sound of the night which bop has come to represent for all of us, I thought of all my friends from one end of the country to the other and how they were really all in the same vast backyard doing something so frantic and rushing-about. And for the first time in my life, the following afternoon, I went into the West. It was a warm and beautiful day for hitchhiking."
-- Jack Kerouac, from 'On The Road'


Allmusic.com:
Readings by Jack Kerouac on the Beat Generation was the culmination of the author's short-lived recording career, a solo performance that transcends poetry and music — it's literally spoken jazz, the artist improvising freely on the printed text of his own work in front of him. Produced by Bill Randle, it was Kerouac's most musical performance, despite the fact that the recording contained only his voice and no accompaniment, using his voice and language the way a saxophonist might improvise on a particular melodic line or riff. He's spellbinding throughout, intense, focused, and even subtly changing voices with the work itself.

Amazon reviewer:
If you've read any of Kerouac's books, and likely if you're reading this review and considering this purchase, you have - then you are truly in for a treat. This is an excellent Spoken Word disc. Hearing Kerouac reading his own words, the wonderful cadence of his voice, the slight Massachusetts accent coming through, the improvised jazz be-bop, and even the very crisp noise registered when he turns the page of his ever present notebook - this is the Kerouac you've wanted to hear since you first read "On The Road". He expounds on San Francisco, Allen Ginsberg, Jazz and Be-Bop, and impressively The Beats. Hearing him describe the "beat" in the opening track, the tempo he uses, the tonality in his voice, you'll hear what the "Beat Generation" is all about.

The excellent liner notes and packing, some of which are presented as postcards, indicate this recording was made sometime in 1958 or 1959 and Mr. Jack Kerouac is at his prime. This is a treasure, a real gift for the Kerouac fan.

I strongly suggest you purchase this excellent recording. The production values are very high. The sound is crisp and clean. Thank you Verve Records for this real historic find.

(The album was also nominated for the 1999 Grammy Award for Best Recording Package.)