Jack Kerouac - The Beat Generation (His Complete Albums) (2016)

Jack Kerouac (1922-1969) is considered a literary iconoclast and a pioneer of the Beat Generation (along with William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg) who is recognized for his method of spontaneous prose. He became an underground celebrity and, with other beats, a progenitor of the hippie movement.

Author of various books considered classics today, among them On the Road, The Subterraneans, and Visions of Cody, Kerouac also produced three LPs on which he recited his own prose and poetry. On two of those albums, Poetry for the Beat Generation (Hanover HML5000), and Blues and Haikus (Hanover HM5006), he was backed by jazz musicians (pianist Steve Allen on the former, and saxophonists Al Cohn and Zoot Sims on the latter). The third LP, On the Beat Generation (Verve MGV- 15005), presented him reciting unaccompanied.

This set compiles the three albums in their entireties, plus all existing additional material from the sessions, as well as rare bonus items: a radio show featuring Kerouac again with Steve Allen, an interview with the writer made by Ben Hecht, and a conference about the Beat Generation.

Tracklist
Disc 1
1. October In The Railroad Earth
2. Deadbelly
3. Charlie Parker
4. The Sounds Of The Universe Coming In My Window
5. One Mother
6. Goofing At The Table
7. Bowery Blues
8. Abraham
9. Dave Brubeck
10. I Had A Slouch Hat Too, One Time
11. The Wheel Of The Quivering Meat Conception
12. McDougal Street Blues
13. The Moon Her Majesty
14. I'd Rather Be Thin Than Famous
15. Readings From "On The Road" And "Visions Of Cody"[Bonus Track]

Disc 2
1. American Haikus
2. Hard Hearted Old Farmer
3. The Last Hotel & Some Of Dharma
4. Poems From The Unpublished "Book Of The Blues"
5. Old Western Movies
6. Conclusion Of The Railroad Earth

Disc 3
1. The Beat Generation
2. Poems (Fragments): San Francisco / Street Scene / Money Honey / Westinghouse Elevators / Old Age / Praised Be Man / The Sad Turtle
3. Lucien Midnight: The Sounds Of The Universe In My Window, Part 1
4. Lucien Midnight: The Sounds Of The Universe In My Window, Part 2
5. Fantasy: The Early History Of Bop
6. Excerpts From "The Subterraneans"
7. Visions Of Neal: Neal And The Three Stooges, Part 1
8. Visions Of Neal: Neal And The Three Stooges, Part 2
9. Is There A Beat Generation?[Bonus Track]
10. Interview With Ben Hecht[Bonus Track]