The Typewriter Is Holy.

It was Allen Ginsberg who said in his footnote to Howl, ‘The typewriter is holy the poem is holy, the voice is holy, the hearers are holy, the ecstasy is holy!’

I was looking through my stuff today, searching for something else and I came across an envelope. It contained a letter from an internet friend called Shannon Vale from 2007. Shannon had been in Lowell, Massachusetts where there had been a summer program of events about Jack Kerouac. As you probably know, Lowell was Jack’s hometown. Jack’s actual typewriter that he wrote On The Road was on display and Shannon wrote a note on it and sent it to me which was very thoughtful and kind of her. It is quite amazing to have something that was typed on the same machine which was used by one of the great literary figures of the 20^th century.

I have something else in common with Shannon. We are both Van Morrison fans. Shannon wrote an excellent book called Astral Weeks Live, A Fans Notes in 2011. I think it might  still be available from Shannon’s website  http://followshannon.com/about/ if you want to read it.

Friday Morning Poems.

It was Friday morning and I gazed out of the kitchen window at the dreary scene. It was overcast, windy and raining. “I won’t be going far today”, I thought to myself. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. I was greeted by the cheery smile of the post lady. She handed me my post which included a small package.

It contained a cd called Charles Bukowski Reads His Poetry. I made myself a cup of tea and put the cd in the machine. It is a recording made in 1972 at the Telegraph Hill Neighbourhood Centre in San Francisco. This is the first recording I have ever owned of Buk reading his poems. I enjoyed hearing it. Many people might be offended by it. He is obviously drunk, and insults and picks fights with the audience at various stages and keeps belching into the microphone. Some of the subject matter of the poems would outrage a lot of people but not me. As I have said before I like his honesty and his humour. After one listen, a poem called The Shoelace I enjoyed the most. They are all good, Bukowski was never boring. I like his style of writing prose as well. The sentences are short, get straight to the point and no words are wasted. I think Hemingway was an influence on him in his early days which might account for his sparse style. I would like to write like Bukowski.

It cheered me up on this Friday morning. I felt motivated to achieve something today after listening to Buk and hopefully learned something from him as well. I must stop writing anyway, though, really and I think all the time. I have cut some of them out of this piece today. I hope my writing improves soon.

The Wine Of Youth.

I had a couple of books by Toni Morrison in my shop. One was called A Mercy and the other was Song Of Solomon. They both sold in the last 24 hours. I wish I had read them when I had the chance, but I didn’t. It seems now that she has died everybody wants to read Toni Morrison. That is understandable I suppose. I have sold a few other books recently, by the likes of Graham Greene, Jane Austen, Caitlin Moran & John Le Carre. I have bought some nice ones as well.

Manana Means Heaven arrived the other day. That is the story of the Mexican girl in On The Road by Jack Kerouac. I also bought three books of poems by Charles Bukowski called Burning In Water Drowning In Flame, The People Look Like Flowers At Last and Come On In. I like his poetry because it often tells a story, I can understand what he is saying and also there is humour in his writing. I like the poetry of John Cooper Clarke for the same reasons. A lot of poets go over my head, I can’t understand what they are on about. I think that is because I haven’t been educated to appreciate it. I think poetry is like painting in that respect. I never appreciated Picasso at all, until one night I watched a television programme with David Hockney talking about Picasso’s genius and I started to realise how great he was. You need a teacher in order to understand art, well I do anyway. I like Robert Lowell because we studied his work at school for A Level English. I learned some of his poetry off by heart and can still recite it today almost 50 years later.

I also bought a collection of stories by John Fante called The Wine Of Youth. John Fante has become one of my favourite writers in recent years and I discovered him through Charles Bukowski. He himself found the work of Fante in Los Angeles public library when he picked up one of his books purely by chance. Bukowski said that Fante was his god. He used to visit him towards the end of Fante’s life and played a large part in getting his work which was long forgotten back into print. He was republished by the Black Sparrow Press which was founded by a man called John Martin who sold his collection of rare books in order to publish Bukowski. I think Black Sparrow and City Lights are my favourite American publishers. I even like the texture of the covers of Black Sparrow books and the feel of the paper. It has a nice quality to it.

Reading 'The Mexican Girl'.

It was a quiet Sunday afternoon, I was alone in my house and I thought I would pass the time by putting some books in my bookshop. I was mooching through the books in the bookcase in my bedroom when I alighted on a book that I had completely forgotten about. It is a paperback published in the USA in 1956 called The Best American Short Stories 1956 edited by Martha Foley. An American friend of mine called Matt had kindly sent me a box of books a few years ago and I had stowed this book away and completely forgotten about it until Sunday.

What is fascinating about this anthology of short stories is that it contains a story by Jack Kerouac called The Mexican Girl. This story had previously been published in a magazine called The Paris Review and copies of that edition now change hands for up to $500. This story I held in my hands was the 2^nd publication published by Ballentine books in 1956. In the introduction it says. ‘Mr Kerouac is a young American writer of French-Canadian parentage. He is the author of a number of short stories and a novel The Town And The City which was published in 1950'. Little did they know in 1956 that Jack Kerouac would shortly become one of the most influential writers of the 20^th century. It was the publication of this story that led to his greatest work On The Road being printed and the world was changed forever.

I sat on the edge of my bed yesterday afternoon and read The Mexican Girl all over again after not reading it for years. It is a love story about a brief relationship in 1947 and contains some of Jack’s most poetical quotes. (See picture at top) I also noticed things that I had missed when I first read it years ago, such as it mentions ‘nature boys’ in beards and sandals. We think of hippies as products of the 60’s but there were proto-type hippies in America even in the 40’s. Another thing I thought on reading the story again was that Jack was a bit of a rat. He left the Mexican girl when he received $50 from his mother so he could go back to New York. He could have given the Mexican girl $10 at least. Anyway, who am I to judge?.

When I finished the story, my curiosity was aroused. I know what happened to Jack Kerouac but what ever happened to the Mexican girl? I looked on google to find out. In the story Kerouac called her Terry but her real name was Beatrice Kozera. She had lived her whole life in total obscurity not knowing that she had been mentioned in at least 20 books about Jack Kerouac. In the film of The On Road made in 2012 Beatrice was portrayed by Alice Braga.

Although she and Jack had exchanged a few letters after they parted, she had no idea that he had become a famous writer. It wasn’t until 2010 that a writer called Tim Z. Hernandez tracked her down to her home in Fresno, California. Hernandez went on to write a story of Beatrice’s life called Mañana Means Heaven. I looked on the internet for the book and found it was still available, so I ordered a copy and I am looking forward to reading it. I’ll let you know what I think when I have read it. I know the ending to Beatrice’s life. She sadly died in 2013 aged 92 shortly after the book was published, but she will always be remembered forever because she was immortalised as The Mexican Girl.

Rhiannon Giddens With Francesco Turrisi: There Is No Other.

When I was in Bath last week to see Graham Nash, I noticed a poster in the venue announcing that Rhiannon Giddens was appearing there on November 26^th. Although I wasn’t familiar with her work, I thought it might be a good night out because I have heard great reports about her from internet friends. I bought myself a ticket and in order to get familiarised with her music I ordered a copy of her latest album which she has made with Francesco Turrisi. It arrived yesterday and I have listened to it twice now and I must say it is a very nice album indeed.

Rhiannon Giddens is from North Carolina although she also has a house in Ireland. I think it was a chance meeting in Ireland with multi-instrumentalist Italian jazz musician Francesco Turrisi that led to this collaboration. They discovered that their music complimented each other. That doesn’t surprise me because there are no boundaries in music. The music of different countries has been influencing each other for hundreds of years. The album was recorded at Windmill Lane studios in Dublin last year.

The opening track Ten Thousand Voices reminded me a little at first of the traditional song Nottamun Town that Fairport Convention recorded but this is an original song written by Rhiannon. She plays violin and Francesco plays lute. Gonna Write Me A Letter was written by Ola Belle Reed who was a famous banjo player from North Carolina and I would imagine quite an influence on Rhiannon. There is an annual Ola Belle Reed festival in North Carolina every year. Kate Ellis plays cello on this track and others. Wayfaring Stranger is a traditional ballad that has been recorded by many people including Steve Earle and Emmylou Harris. I love this version though. Rhiannon’s banjo playing makes me think of Karen Dalton who was also partly native American I believe. The title track There Is No Other is an instrumental with just banjo and frame drum and it is very powerful. I think I will enjoy hearing this track played live.

Trees On The Mountain was written by Carlisle Floyd who is an American opera composer born in 1926 who also hails from the Carolinas and based a lot of his work in the south. By complete contrast Pizzica Di San Vito is a very lively Italian traditional song that Rhiannon sings in the dialect of Puglia. I imagine that Francesco would have coached her in the singing. It almost sounds North African to my ears but again that is not surprising. Francesco plays percussion instruments that I haven’t even heard of before such as tamburella, tombak & colascione, although I imagine a tamburella is what Italians call a tambourine. Brown Baby is much more soulful and written by Oscar Brown Jr. As well as being a songwriter he was also a civil rights activist and Mahalia Jackson originally recorded this song. The lyrics are very appropriate to today's world. Briggs Forro is a lively instrumental featuring banjo and accordion which Rhiannon scats along to. The accordion sound reminded me slightly of Sharon Shannon. The tune was written by Thomas F Briggs who was a banjo teacher and wrote a guide to banjo playing in 1855.

Possibly my favourite track after two listens is Little Margaret. This is a variation of a traditional song that I have heard previously as Matty Groves by Fairport Convention and Little Musgrave by Christy Moore. This version is great and is just Rhiannon on vocals and Francesco on daf. I have never heard of a daf before, but I imagine it must be similar to what the Irish call a bodhran. Black Swan was written by Gian Carlo Menotti who was an Italian-American classical composer. I think the song must be from one of his operas. I’m On My Way is co-written by Rhiannon and Joe Henry who also produced the album. There is a nice video of this song which I have shared from youtube below if you want to see it. He Will See You Through is a very nice spiritually uplifting song to bring this album to a close. I am really looking forward to seeing Rhiannon Giddens & Francesco Turrisi in November.

Rhiannon Giddens - I'm On My Way (Official Video)

Graham Nash: Bath Forum 18/7/2019

I went to see Graham Nash in Bath on Thursday. I thought I would go to Bath on the bus which would save me the walk to the train station and also it is free with my senior citizens bus pass. This turned out to be a bad idea. It wasn’t too awful at first, I had a double seat all to myself. At every stop though more and more people got on. When we reached Trowbridge there was a big queue to get on the bus. I knew someone would sit next to me. “Please let it be a nice attractive woman who I can talk to”, I thought to myself. No such luck, I had some old man sit next to me all the way to Bath. It was really hot as well. I had brought a book along to read on the journey called Locked In The Arms Of A Crazy Life which is a biography of one of my favourite writers Charles Bukowski. Unfortunately, I had forgotten that if I read while being transported in a vehicle it makes me feel sick. When I finally escaped from the bus by Pulteney Bridge in Bath I had to sit down for ten minutes until the feeling of nausea abated.

Usually when I go to Bath, I like to have a look around the charity shops or listen to the buskers but after my horrendous bus experience I wasn’t in the mood. I made my way to the Lamb & Lion pub which is quite near the venue for the gig. This is the pub where Patti Smith accidentally ate somebody else’s lasagne a few years ago. I ordered a pint of cider and some vegetable curry. They didn’t have the curry, so I opted for halloumi & salad. It was like chewing rubber and the salad wasn’t very nice either. Never mind, I read my book for an hour and had two large chardonnays. Then it was time to go to the Forum.

On the merchandise stall they were selling signed and numbered framed limited edition prints of photos by Graham Nash. There was one photograph of Joni Mitchell that I liked but it was £70, so I decided not to be tempted to buy it. I felt a bit sorry for him because there were lots of empty seats in the auditorium. I was surprised about that because he was a member of one of the greatest bands of all time. Last week his former band mate Neil Young sold out Hyde Park in London and Graham Nash couldn’t sell out this relatively small venue in Bath. He was accompanied on keyboards by Todd Caldwell from Lubbock in Texas and on guitar by Shane Fontayne who is English. I was very impressed with the guitar playing in particular. The show began with Pre-Road Downs from CSN’s first album and Marrakesh Express which was also a hit song from that great album. Then it was a hit from 1966 when he was in The Hollies which was Bus Stop. This was followed by I Used To Be A King from his first solo album Songs For Beginners in 1971 which was a great album in my opinion and better than anything Stills or Crosby ever produced as a solo project. Then it was Right Between The Eyes from the live Four Way Street album. Then he paid a tribute to Steve Stills by singing 4+20 from Déjà Vu which is one of my favourite ever albums. Immigration Man was next and Graham told the story of how it came to be written and how the lyrics are very relative in modern times. One of my favourite Graham Nash songs was next which was Military Madness, another song which still has a lot of meaning in today’s world. Wind On The Water is an anti-whaling song and followed a humorous tale of an adventure aboard Dave Crosby’s boat. The first half of the show ended with a fabulous version of The Beatles A Day In The Life in which guitarist Shane excelled himself.

Wasted On The Way from 1982 opened the second half and was followed by King Midas In Reverse which was the song that made Graham Nash decide to leave The Hollies because he had outgrown them as a songwriter. Carried Away was next from the CSN album and Graham played keyboards and harmonica on this song. Love The One You’re With was next and that was followed by a song I don’t think I had heard before called Golden Days. It is quite a sad reflective wistful song from a recent album that I haven’t heard. Taken It All is another song that seems to have passed me by. I don’t think I had heard that one before either, but I enjoyed it. One of my favourite songs was next, the short and sweet Just A Song Before I Go. I also like Cathedral which is a song about an acid trip Nash had in Winchester Cathedral which must have been quite an experience.

I knew he would sing Our House at some point and he told the story of how the song came to be written. It is possibly his most successful song of all. That was the end, but we knew there would be an encore. The house lights came on and all three of them sang Buddy Holly’s Everyday. As you know Buddy Holly also came from Lubbock, Texas. The final song of the whole evening was the classic Teach Your Children. That brought an end to a most enjoyable evening.

I downed a quick pint in the pub opposite the railway station before catching the 10.22 train home and got back to Westbury before closing time in my local pub and that was the end of that.