Howl

Following on from the comedy section of eMusic, I then delved into the spoken word section and found it to be much the same story - lots of obscure works, but not much that appealed to my populist knowledge. I scanned the collection by name alphabetically until I came to G for Ginsberg.

I remembered seeing I'm Not There, the Bob Dylan film, a few months back, and the curious scene where a bearded middle-aged man named Allen Ginsberg comes alongside Dylan's car and Dylan (played by Cate Blanchett at that point) goes crazy and has a strange conversation with him before he peals off to the right. The name tweaked something in my subconscious - I knew he was somehow part of the beat movement and linked to Kerouac and Burroughs, but knew nothing at all of his works.

The tracks on offer were part of a series called Howls, Raps and Roars, containing what are suggested to be Ginsberg's most important works: Howl and Kaddish. Always willing to be educated in the parts of recent culture I hitherto have been ignorant of I decided to give it a try.

The recordings were all by Ginsberg himself, and whilst not of the highest quality, did, at least, have an authenticity about them that was compelling. As I listened to the profane and ornate imagery of Howl, a piece which lasts almost half an hour, I marvelled as much at his voice and technique in delivering what is basically one endless thought and sentence, invoking the youth, crime, poverty and injustices of New York and San Francisco in the 50's, as at the poetry itself.

I will need to give it a few listens before I even begin to fully understand what he's on about, and, importantly, whether it still has relevance or whether it is simply a curious artifact of that time and place. Anyway, it was interesting to be transported there for a while, and I'm pleased to be able to put a tick in the Allen Ginsberg box in case he's ever mentioned as a reference. it definitely has something of the essence of Miller and Bukowski in there, and for that alone it is worthwhile.

You can listen to samples of his work by clicking the link at the top of this post.