The Beat Generation

To celebrate Neal Cassady’s 83rd birthday earlier this month, San Francisco’s Beat Museum had Carolyn Cassady stop by to sign a few copies of Off the Road. Published late last year, the novel sketches an intimate look at one of the Beat Generation’s most notorious characters: her husband Neal Cassady.

A few days before, The San Francisco Examiner put up a short interview with Carolyn Cassady that I will now excerpt here:

How do you think Neal Cassady influenced San Francisco? It was later when he got known, from [Jack] Kerouac’s writing that he had an influence. And the reason he was [in San Francisco] was because I moved there in 1947 and he followed me. And Kerouac followed him, and [Allen] Ginsberg followed him. So there would never have been a Beat scene there otherwise.

So his influence didn’t come until later? Yes, because Kerouac was inspired by [Neal’s] letters, and changed his whole style because of those letters. And then Kerouac created “On the Road,” a book that Neal didn’t like but that he kind of inspired. And the more kids read it, the more they wanted to know about Dean Moriarty [the character inspired by Neal].

Neal didn’t like “On the Road”? He didn’t like Kerouac celebrating features that he was trying to overcome. His whole life was spent on becoming respectable or worthy. I liked the book for the writing, but not for the portrait of Neal.

What was it that you were trying to impart with your book? I wanted to present a more complete picture of Neal. The others never celebrated his brilliant mind or education. And, that he was a family man as well. What a wonderful father he was.

I can’t help but think about the man Cassady would have become had he not eaten all that Secobarbital and died.

Buy Off the Road from Amazon here.

Carolyn Cassady offers a new view to Beat legend Neal Cassady [SF Examiner]

Photo by Larry He’s So Fine.

William S. Burroughs and Kurt Cobain are two heavily influential American artists. Burroughs for his grotesque, cut-up style of writing; Cobain for his music and then finally for his suicide.

Two years before Cobain’s death, in 1992, he and Burroughs collaborated on the “Priest” they called him, a track that I’ve been a big fan of it since the days of Napster and dial-up internet connectivity. Due to the fact that the record was only available as a 10″ picture disc, I’ve consequently only ever possessed digital copies. Over the years, I’ve seen a few actual records surface at local stores, but I never had the cash to buy one for myself.

Which is certainly the case with this copy available on eBay—a frigging test pressing, which makes it almost inconceivably expensive to regular people like me: $14,999.99 plus shipping.

For more info on the “Priest” they called him, read about it on Wikipedia.

Kurt Cobain William S. Burroughs Nirvana 10″TEST PRESS [eBay]

Boing Boing’s Mark Frauenfelder recently posted about a newly discovered cache of Timothy Leary-related videos up on Archive.org.

I like seeing technology (Twitter, in this example) implemented with the goal of disseminating actual, useful information rather than pure garbage, which is most of what people seem to use it for.

Lisa Rein twittered about Archive.org’s new Timothy Leary video archive. It currently has over 80 videos.

The above screenshot is from a documentary called Growing Up In America: Breathing Together, Revolution of the Electric Family, from 1986, which has interviews with Allen Ginsberg, Jerry Rubin, Abbie Hoffman, Fred Hampton, Deborah Johnson, John Sinclair, and Timothy Leary.

Timothy Leary videos at Archive.org [Boing Boing]

Amiri Baraka phoned in an interview with Sound Authors Radio last month. In it, he talks about his contributions to the American milieu and what it’s like to be a Beat.

Join us for Amiri Baraka, author of over 40 books of essays, poems, drama, and music history and criticism, a poet icon and revolutionary political activist who has recited poetry and lectured on cultural and political issues.

Audio: Sound Authors Radio 11/21/08

Sound Authors Radio “Poetry And More” November 21st, 2008 Show [blogtalkradio]

Now that we’re officially in the middle of a recession and the holidays are only getting closer, it’s time to start thinking about gift-giving on the cheep. Worried about what to get your favorite Beatnik, Hippie, Digger or Mau-Mauer? Here’s my third (and final) suggestion:

There’s Gonne Be a God Damn Riot in Here (20008)

The Beat Generation and its contemporaries aren’t covered all that well in the DVD market. There are a few documentaries out there (The Source being the best of the lot) as well as a handful of dramatic reenactments that never do justice to the stories they represent. And Bukowski is no exception. His audio recordings are gritty but amazing. There’s Gonna Be a God Damn Riot in Here captures on video the full night’s performance from Oct. 12, 1979.

Little was ever captured of him reading his poems to an audience; clips would show up now and then. But now we have two works, dormant for over 25 years, finally being released. In 1979-80 Bukowski gave two sold-out readings to audiences in Vancouver, Canada and Redondo Beach, California. After the Redondo Beach reading, he gave up public performances, concentrating instead on his writing, for the final 14 years of his life. For those of you who were lucky enough to personally experience his performance art the banter with the audience, the insane atmosphere that almost culminated in a riot these DVDs will bring vivid memories. For those of you who only know of Bukowski through his written work, prepare yourselves.

Buy it from Amazon.

Previously on The Beat Generation:

• Naked Lunch for the holidaze
• The Beat Handbook for the holidaze