JACK KEROUAC'S "POETRY FOR THE BEAT GENERATION" ALBUM

$

76

The controversial record album you are bidding on was released by Hanover Records in 1959. There could not be very many additional copies of it around. See the review and notes below and in the photos to get the story. This is a "must-have" for serious Beat Generation collectors. The jacket has seen a lot of wear and tear over the years, but it's in pretty good shape. The record itself is remarkably well-preserved and presentable. There are a few scratches, but all the words come through clearly...a few pops and static as with any record that is almost 50 years old. Your satisfaction is guaranteed. This album is used, but plays well. Have some fun bidding on this piece of genuine Americana. I am a new eBay seller and will go to lengths to ensure your happiness with this purchase. "Poetry for the Beat Generation marked Jack Kerouac’s debut as a recording artist. Strangely enough, it was the by-product of a disastrous first show by Kerouac in an engagement at the Village Vanguard during December of 1957. For the second performance, Kerouac’s friend Steve Allen provided the accompaniment at the piano, with results so impressive that it would lead Kerouac to a short but dazzling career as a recording artist. The record was cut in a single session and a single take for each piece. Allen’s graceful piano opens the recording and Kerouac comes in, reading “October in the Railroad Earth” for seven minutes, off of a roll of paper in front of him. In the process, you get visions of various facets of Kerouac’s work and personality, in extended pieces and in short, piercing brilliant exclamations such as “Deadbelly” and “Charlie Parker.” The resulting album, cut in March of 1958, was one of the crowning achievements in recording of the 1950s. But it so appalled Randy Wood, the president of Dot Records, with its meandering narrative and daring language and subject matter, that the release was canceled, with Wood denouncing the recording in the trade papers as tasteless and questionable. Somewhere over 100 promotional copies of the Dot album (catalog number 3154) had gotten out to disc jockeys and reviewers, however, thus making it one of the rarest LPs in the label’s entire history. Thiele finally left the company over the dispute and he reclaimed the master tape -- it was on the Hanover label, formed with Allen (who was virtually a pop-culture institution at the time), that Poetry for the Beat Generation finally reached the public in June of 1959. It’s still worth a listen now every bit as much as it was in 1959, and perhaps even more so." ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide (slightly edited)