Jack Kerouac - The Jack Kerouac Collection

As a reader and performer of his own words, Kerouac wasn't as potent as his beat-generation pals. He lacked the greasy charisma of Allen Ginsberg or the razor squawk of William Burroughs. But what Kerouac did have was real joy, a certain innocence (despite his wild experiences), and an Everyman's charm. This last quality infects these historic recordings, making Kerouac's freethinking, beautiful words and images jump out of the past with as much potency as when he laid them down in the late 1950s. The Collection gathers Kerouac's three albums (which feature the author riffing alongside jazzmen Steve Allen, Zoot Sims, and Al Cohn) and a brace of bonus tracks. The performances are coupled with expansive liner notes, photos, and commentary. This set is required beat listening. --Michael Ruby Amazon.com

Major Brownie Points

Bought this set for my husband. To see his face light up was priceless. He loves it!! March 10, 2008

Had the Universe in his Hand.

I can't express enough how spell binding this experience was for me. I am a poet and listening to this was pure ecstasy. He speaks the language of the street with the rhythm of nature. He had his hands on the pulse of America and his ears were open to the invisible words of the ancients. Its not enough to explain it. You have to listen to it yourself. It is purely timeless and not a relic at all. It is still relevant for these times. You will waft on magic winds going deep into the heart of the cities and looking right into the souls of the people you meet along the way.
That being said this set is beautifully packaged. At first when it came in the mail I thought it was a vinyl and the seller had made a mistake. It was just a big package and as big as a vinyl. Inside there is a big book that gives lots of interesting information on Jack and the recordings inside. All recorded in 1959, they were controversial for the time. As you will hear there is sex and drug references in the poetry. "Poetry for the Beat Generation" has Jack spitting out his poetry like words of a God and Steve Allen adding piano to the background. The piano is a beautiful touch and adds a magical and melodic ripple to the poetry. Yes it is that Steve Allen who had his own TV show. The president of Dot records the label it was originally on, deemed it obscene and wanted only family oriented stuff. Rob Thiele one of the producers of the album got pissed and quit Dot because of that. Steve and Rob got the masters back and started their own company Hanover/signature and released it independently. Next they did "Blues and Haikus" which is different for the fact that Jack has sax backing his words this time. Al Cohn and Zoot Sims performing the honors, providing a jazzy backdrop to Jack's rapid fire Haikus and poems. "On the Beat Generation" is just Jack and his voice, this proves he doesn't need instruments for his poetry to have power. His voice is a instrument in it's self and it has a calming rhythm all its own. It has in it the working man's dreams, a god's conversation and a mind's wanderings. This was great and this set does perfect justice to the man and to the legend who inspired so many. July 1, 2007

A Superb Voice Searches for and Finds Itself

A friend gave me this great CD collection and photo book for Christmas 2000 a month after we met. I listened to it sparingly then, but lately when I have trouble sleeping, I put one of its three great CDs on to soothe me to sleep and encounter my own personal Book of Dreams. There is Kerouac with Steve Allen riffing "October in the Railroad Earth" from "Lonesome Traveler", scatting Charlie Parker and Dave Brubeck, and most spectacular of all, a bonus track with Jack reading from "On the Road" and "Visions of Cody." I never have heard anything quite as haunting and poignant as Jack reading the final passage from "On The Road" ... "Dean Moriarty the father we never found," followed by applause. Having read almost all of Kerouac in the ten years of my foolish youth beginning at age 15, I grew disenchanted with him as the years dragged on. These audios are a new inspiration to us burn-outs; it will be quite a while before I listen to that final passage again, delivered with sober humbleness, and thought for new appraisal of the blazing artistry behind the man. The second CD is the Verve recording of "The Beat Generation" with finely honed rapid=fire haikus and other bebop poetry as well as "Visions of Neal" and bonus track "Is There A Beat Generation" at Brandeis in November 1959. The third CD has haikus, and very notably some of the very late posthumously released gargantuan "Some of (the) Dharma" and also "Conclusion of the Railroad Earth". There subsequently have been several other Kerouac CDs worth searching out; all prove his true genius and that he was not just another drunken bum. Hearing his voice, sober, clear, racing, and spooky, gives a whole new light to his written art, indelibly making clear that he was in fact a great true scat and jazz artist. Nobody should miss this one. It raised my opinion of him as an editor-sanitized pretender to one of the most important voices and writers of American literature ever. December 19, 2006

Jack the Great

Jack Kerouac is not my favorite "Beat" writer...that goes to Lawrence Ferlinghetti...but Jack has a style that many have tried and have successfully failed to imitate. He's an original. He's one-of-a-kind. He's totally his own. I mean, we all are, but his originality goes deeper than his footprints...his is right at the core and whenever you come from the core of beingness, you stamp everything you touch with a kind of sacred beauty.

Mind you, it does not make everything flawless. But that's the beauty of life, there is perfection in imperfection. Perfection is not stingy. It is not greedy. Perfection flows through everything even though it may be channeled through some pretty imperfect channels.

"Jack Kerouac. Bum saint. Priest of the down 'n out. Reluctant messiah of the spoken/broken word that cries everytime someone crucifies it with form and arrangement and rules...what fools who do this for they miss the elegance, the beauty, the dance that comes from a mind fixed on trance being...seeing only ironic catholic statues weeping at the lost and the sleeping...."

There's my tribute to a man that I deeply cherish.

This collection is quite good. It really paints a great picture of the artist and gives you almost a voyeuristic view of a guy who really didn't want to be the "leader" of the "Beat Generation".

He's gone now and the literary world has somehow never been quite the same. Somehow writers nowadays think that all their writing has to be of a high gloss sheen...that it has to be perfect...that it has to be over-edited...get raw...seek awe...and you will glorify the "I" of the soul.


August 30, 2006

This is the greatest treat of the beatnik era.

From the first sound of the piano on "October in the Railroad Earth", you will know then that your money was well spent on this set. The book inside with all of the pictures and quotes from fellow beats such as Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs and many others along with 3 discs of Jack reading his poetry and prose, what could be better?
The first disc is Jack reading accompanied by Steve Allen on piano. His best pieces are found here, such as "October", "Charlie Parker", "I had a slouch hat too one time", and the famous reading of "On the Road" from The Steve Allen Show.
The second disc is when Jack is in the studio with Zoot Sims and Al Cohn, two brilliant sax players, and it has a loose feel with the restarts and the talking in the background before a take. The jewel on here is the readings from the then unpublished Book of Blues.
The last disc is simply Jack reading with no music, but the rhythm of his speech is easily heard and it is a joy to listen to.
this is the essential set for fans of Kerouac or anyone interested in the beat era. A must buy! September 9, 2005

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