Allen Ginsberg: “At Reed College: The First Recorded Reading Of Howl & Other Poems” (2021) CD Review

It was in my teen years that I first found myself drawn to a lot of the writing and music of the 1960s, and particularly the San Francisco scene from 1965 to 1968. Interest in that time and place led me, quite naturally, to the writers of the so-called Beat Generation, especially as several of them had settled in San Francisco, and had quite an impact on the culture there. Neal Cassady, who was the inspiration for Dean Moriarty in Jack Kerouac’s On The Road, showed up in the Grateful Dead’s “The Other One,” after being the main driver of Furthur, Ken Kesey’s psychedelic bus (read The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test for a fantastic account of those travels). Allen Ginsberg had loose tied to the Dead as well, both having performed at the Human Be-In in 1967. And apparently at one point Phil Lesh began setting “Howl” to music (I would love to hear that). It was Allen Ginsberg that really first got me excited about poetry. As I recall, a teacher in high school had us read “A Supermarket In California,” and the language and rhythm of that poem grabbed me. That poem is one of several included on Allen Ginsberg At Reed College: The First Recorded Reading Of Howl & Other Poems, being released by Omnivore Recordings. Of course the main draw of this release is, as its title indicates, the very first recording of Ginsberg’s most famous poem, “Howl.” It was first read in October of 1955, but no one recorded that reading. The recording here is from February 14, 1956 at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. The disc includes liner notes by Dr. Pancho Savery, professor at Reed College. It is a pleasure to read Ginsberg’s poetry, but, in part because of the strong influence of jazz on his work, hearing it is so much better.

Allen Ginsberg begins with a poem titled “Epithalamion,” which would later be published as “Love Poem On Theme By Whitman” in his book Reality Sandwiches. It is an exciting and sexy piece, singing of a gloriously bisexual experience, and it must have been so freeing to hear it spoken in public in the mid-1950s, a time that seems to us now to be in large part repressive. And though he was fairly young at the time, Allen Ginsberg sounds confident. There seems nothing nervous in him. In all the recordings I’ve heard and footage I’ve seen, he has always seemed so composed, so natural. In 1969, Allen Ginsberg testified at the Trial Of The Chicago Eight (then Seven, once Bobby Seale had been removed). During the cross-examination, he was asked by one of the prosecuting attorneys to recite lines from a few of his poems and, for some reason, to explain the religious significance of each one (which led to a humorous moment regarding “The Night Apple”). “Epithalamion,” by then under the title “Love Poem On Theme By Whitman,” is one of the poems that he was asked to recite. As much as it must have been wild to be at this reading in 1956, I think it would have been even more thrilling to be in that courtroom. “Epithalamion” is followed by “Wild Orphan,” which was included in the book Howl And Other Poems. I love that we can hear the paper being shuffled after the poem, helping us to feel like we are there. And during “Over Kansas,” we can hear a door close in the background. This poem displays some of Ginsberg’s humor, and a line like “Someone who should collect my insurance” draws laughter from the audience. The rhythm of his work seems like the way I imagine all the Beats spoke in normal conversation.

Allen Ginsberg pauses at the beginning of “A Dream Record,” and there is some laughter. I wonder what happened, but he responds, “I don’t want to corrupt the youth.” He starts again, and actually again after mentioning phrases are separated by colons. This poem mentions William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, recounts a conversation. That’s followed by a short piece titled “Blessed Be The Muses,” and then “A Supermarket In California,” the poem that really got me excited about poetry, and which also led me to want to read Walt Whitman and to wonder who Garcia Lorca was (I was soon to learn). There is some humor here too, in the line “Aisles full of husbands! Wives in the avocados, babies in the tomatoes! – and you, Garcia Lorca, what were you doing down by the watermelons?” I think if I can memorize a few lines of this and keep them in mind whenever I have to do grocery shopping, it will make the whole excruciating routine much more manageable, even enjoyable. Ginsberg then reads “The Trembling Of The Veil,” which would later be published as “Transcription Of Organ Music.” I love this poem, in part because of the lines “My books piled before me for my use/waiting in space where I placed them, they haven’t disappeared, time’s left its remnants and qualities for me to use – my words piled up, my texts, my manuscripts, my loves.”

“Howl” is presented in four tracks on this disc. The first is the poem’s introduction. It is interesting, for Allen Ginsberg seems to at first plan on reading a different poem, but changes his mind, and someone asks, “You got time for ‘Howl’?” Allen replies, “I don’t really know if I’ve got the energy.” He also asks the time, and inquires whether anyone in the audience hadn’t been at the previous night’s reading. I love that all this is included. And then, in the disc’s next track, he begins “Howl,” that famous first line as powerful as ever – “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked.” And here, unlike the readings of the other poems, his voice raises, becoming more dramatic, a prophet, a spiritual and carnal leader. Some of the lines here are different from the published version, and the order of lines changes too at times. Some phrases elicit laughter from the crowd, such as “investigating the F.B.I.” and “passing out incomprehensible leaflets” and “waving genitals and manuscripts” (that last one a personal favorite of mine). And for some reason the phrase “contemplating jazz” always stands out for me. This track cuts at a certain point just before the end of the first part of the poem, as apparently the tape ran out and needed to be switched. So in the next track he figures out where he was, starts again at a point a bit before that, and finishes the first part of the poem. The second section of the poem, the “Moloch” section, is then presented as a separate track. Interestingly, Ginsberg stops before finishing it, saying he doesn’t feel like reading anymore, that he’s run out of steam. And that’s how the disc ends.

CD Track List

1. Epithalamion
2. Wild Orphan
3. Over Kansas
4. A Dream Record
5. Blessed Be The Muses
6. A Supermarket In California
7. The Trembling Of The Lamb
8. Introduction
9. Howl
10. Line Pick Up
11. Howl (Part II)
    

At Reed College: The First Recorded Reading Of Howl & Other Poems is scheduled to be released on April 2, 2021 through Omnivore Recordings, and is going to be available on both CD and vinyl.