Out now: Kerouac on Record. A Literary Soundtrack

Out now:
Kerouac on Record ◊ A Literary Soundtrack
Edited by Simon Warner and Jim Sampas

Co-edited by Jack Kerouac’s nephew, including pieces written by Kerouac himself as well as interviews from major literary and musical figures including Allen Ginsberg, Lee Konitz and David Amram, Kerouac on Record gives a unique insight into how Kerouac brought his passion for jazz to his full creative output.

Kerouac on Record is the touchstone for the music of Kerouac – Kerouac’s love for music, the depth of its influence on his work, and the influence that his work continues to extend to waves of contemporary musicians, from David Bowie and Janis Joplin to Sonic Youth. It is a book rife with the work of cultural icons, essential for any fan of the Beat Generation and popular music alike.

About Kerouac on Record
He was the leading light of the Beat Generation writers and the most dynamic author of his time, but Jack Kerouac also had a lifelong passion for music, particularly the mid-century jazz of New York City, the development of which he witnessed first-hand during the 1940s with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk to the fore.

The novelist, most famous for his 1957 book On the Road, admired the sounds of bebop and attempted to bring something of their original energy to his own writing, a torrent of semi-autobiographical stories he published between 1950 and his early death in 1969.

Yet he was also drawn to American popular music of all kinds – from the blues to Broadway ballads – and when he came to record albums under his own name, he married his unique spoken word style with some of the most talented musicians on the scene.

Kerouac’s musical legacy goes well beyond the studio recordings he made himself: his influence infused generations of music makers who followed in his work – from singer-songwriters to rock bands.

Some of the greatest transatlantic names – Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead, Van Morrison and David Bowie, Janis Joplin and Tom Waits, Sonic Youth and Death Cab for Cutie, and many more – credited Kerouac’s impact on their output.

In Kerouac on Record, we consider how the writer brought his passion for jazz to his prose and poetry, his own record releases, the ways his legacy has been sustained by numerous more recent talents, those rock tributes that have kept his memory alive and some of the scores that have featured in Hollywood adaptations of the adventures he brought to the printed page.

1. Jack Kerouac’s Jazz Scene Jim Burns – 2. 2nd Chorus: Blues: Jack Kerouac Larry Beckett – 3. Duet for Saxophone and Pen: Lee Konitz and the Direct Influence of Jazz on the Development of Jack Kerouac’s ‘Spontaneous Prose’ Style Marian Jago Interview 1: Lee Konitz Marian Jago – 4. Jack Kerouac Goes Vinyl: A Sonic Journey into Kerouac’s Three LPs: Poetry for the Beat Generation; Blues and Haikus; and Readings by Jack Kerouac on the Beat Generation Jonah Raskin  – 5. Art Music: Listening to Kerouac’s ‘Mexico City Blues’ A. Robert Lee Interview 2: David Amram Pat Thomas – 6. Beat Refrains: Music, Milieu and Identity in Jack Kerouac’s The Subterraneans, the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Film Adaptation Michael Prince – 7. Bob Dylan’s Beat Visions (Sonic Poetry) Michael Goldberg – 8. Carrying a Torch for Ti Jean Paul Marion Interview 3: Richard Meltzer Michael Goldberg – 9. The Grateful Dead: Jack Manifested as Music Brian Hassett – 10. Driver Mark Bliesener – 11. Jim Morrison/Angel of Fire Jay Jeff Jones – 12. Light is Faster than Sound: Texans, the Beats and the San Francisco Counterculture Holly George-Warren – 13. Hit the Road, Jack: Van Morrison and On the Road Peter Mills – 14. Detecting Jack Kerouac and Joni Mitchell: A Literary/Legal (Not Musicological) Investigation into the Search for Influence Nancy Grace – 15. Kerouac and Country Music Matt Theado – 16. ‘Straight from the Mind to the Voice’: Spectral Persistence in Jack Kerouac and Tom Waits Douglas Field Interview 4: Barney Hoskyns Simon Warner – 17. From Beat Bop Prosody to Punk Rock Poetry: Patti Smith and Jack Kerouac; Literature, Lineage, Legacy Ronna Johnson Poems: Marc Zegans  Interview 6: Allen Ginsberg Pat Thomas – 18. Tramps Like Them: Jack and Bruce and the Myth of the American Road Simon Morrison Interview 5: Graham Parker Pat Thomas – 19. Punk and New Wave James Sullivan – Interview 7: Jim DeRogatis on Lester Bangs James Sullivan – 20. The Tribute Recordings Jim Sampas and Simon Warner  –  Jack Kerouac Biography –  Jack Kerouac Discography Dave Moore  –  Tribute Discography –  Kerouac/Cassady Song List Dave Moore/Horst Spandler

Simon Warner
is a journalist, lecturer and broadcaster who teaches Popular Music Studies at the University of Leeds in the UK. He has, over a number of years, written live reviews and counterculture obituaries for The Guardian and The Independent, and has a particular interest in the relationship between the Beat Generation writers–Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs and others–and rock culture. His previous books include Rockspeak: The Language of Rock and Pop (1996) and Howl for Now: A Celebration of Allen Ginsberg’s epic protest poem (2005). – Writes: Popular Music, North American Literature – Author of : Kerouac on Record, Text and Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll

Jim Sampas
is a music and film producer. His musical works often focuses on major cultural figures such Jack Kerouac (who is his Uncle), The Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, The Smiths, Bob Dylan, and The Rolling Stones. He has persuaded a galaxy of stars to partake of a unique aesthetic marriage, as vintage works are resurrected in contemporary arrangements in projects covered by such major news outlets as People Magazine, NPR, The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, and many others. – Writes: Popular Music, North American Literature – Author of: Kerouac on Record

Following Text and Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll: The Beats and Rock Culture (2013), Simon Warner partners with Literary Executor of the Estate of Jack Kerouac, Jim Sampas, to go deeper into his exploration of the connections between the great figures of the Beat generation and the music of the so-called ‘rock era.’ Interspersed with exclusive interviews of the likes of Lee Konitz, Graham Parker, Lester Bangs, and Allen Ginsberg, the twenty chapters are signed by an impressive array of journalists, music industry professionals, rock critics, writers, film makers and academics from all over the world. Addressing such issues as the influence of jazz on Kerouac’s ‘spontaneous prose’ style, the lineage between his ‘Beat bop prosody’ and Patti Smith‘s ‘punk rock poetry,’ or his inspiring ‘the myth of the American road’ in Bruce Springsteen’s lyrics, they shed light on what appears to be a two-way relationship between popular music and the work of the author of On the Road. As Warner puts it: ‘if, for Kerouac, it was jazz that would have the principal impact, then it was rock on which the writer would have the main effect.’” – Olivier Julien, Lecturer in the History and Musicology of Popular Music, Paris-Sorbonne University, France

Kerouac on Record
A Literary Soundtrack
By: Simon Warner, Jim Sampas
Published: 08-03-2018
Format: Hardback
Edition: 1st
Extent: 480
ISBN: 9781501323348
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic
Dimensions: 229 x 152 mm
RRP: £28.00

Kerouac on Record
A Literary Soundtrack
fleursdumal.nl magazine

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