Notes from FileMaker 'Lecturer/Performer' field: Ginsberg, Allen & Snyder, Gary

Notes from FileMaker 'Cross-Reference Titles' field: See Also CD copies Reed College Talk by Gary Snyder and Allen Ginsberg; copied from master reel-to-reel tape Notes on First Listening to Reed College Tape "Allen Ginsberg Reading 1956"

© John Suiter All Rights Reserved

I believe this recording, found in the Special Collections of Hauser Library this past spring, is the earliest known sound recording of Allen Ginsberg's "Howl for Carl Solomon." It is generally believed hat no recording was made of the first public reading of the poem at the Six Gallery on October 7, 1955; at least no recording of it has ever surfaced. Ginsberg's next reading of the poem was at the University of Washington in Seattle between January 30 and February 5, 1956 (with Gary Snyder). Queries to the Special Collections library at UW have turned up no evidence of recordings of that reading (as of this writing). The next reading of "Howl" was in mid-February 1956 at Anna Mann Cottage on Reed College campus, recorded on this tape.

This recording does not include the entire 3-part poem, as noted below, but it is of excellent sound quality, historic interest, and varies significantly both from known drafts and the published version. It is a unique text, interesting to scholars and exciting to the popular listener, despite certain technical problems. In addition, there are seven shorter poems on the recording, and these are the earliest known recordings of these poems as well (Query is out to Steve Dickison, director of the Poetry Center at San Francisco State on this. AG gave a reading there on November 20, 1955, but apparently no tape was made).

CONTENT

1. "Epithalamion" / later published as "Love Poem on Theme by Whitman" in Reality Sandwiches 2. "Wild Orphan" / later published in Howl & Other Poems 3. "Over Kansas" / later published in Reality Sandwiches 4. "Dream Record: June 8, 1954" / later published in Reality Sandwiches 5. "Blessed be the Muses" / later published in Reality Sandwiches 6. "A Supermarket in California" / later published in Howl & Other Poems 7. "Transcription of Organ Music" / called here "The Trembling of the Veil" but should not be confused with earlier poem of same title / "TOOM" later published in Howl & Other Poems 8. "Howl for Carl Solomon, Part I" incomplete 9. "Howl for Carl Solomon, Part I concluding lines 10. "Howl for Carl Solomon, Part II incomplete

VARIATIONS FROM KNOWN DRAFTS & PUBLISHED TEXTS

First seven poems (text variations noted in most general quantitative way, leaving in-depth text analysis for later):

1. "Epithalamion": Several additional lines not in published version, plus a few minor changes. 2. "Wild Orphan": A few minor changes (in five lines) 3. "Over Kansas": A few minor changes (in six lines) 4. "Dream Record: June 8, 1954": Several changes: 2 additional lines; one deletion, substituted words in 6 lines. 5. "Blessed be the Muses": Identical to published version except "around" for "round" in line 2. 6. "A Supermarket in California": Six very minor changes; no additions or deletions. 7. "Transcription of Organ Music": Significantly different than published version; more than a dozen phrases and lines later deleted.

"Howl for Carl Solomon"

8. "Howl for Carl Solomon" on this recording is closest in content to "Draft 5" in Howl: Original Draft Facsimile, Transcript & Variant Versions, pp. 44-55. Listening to the tape while following those pages will easily show where this recording differs from known texts and fits into the compositional process. Note particularly the sound on the recording of AG turning the pages of his typescript; the sounds match exactly the page breaks of pages 44 to 55. This is true of none of the other facsimiles. At the same time, this Reed version is unique: there are more than two dozen differences between it and the Draft 5 typescript.

9. Identifcal to published version.

10. Section 2 in the recording is closest to "Draft 13" of Howl: Original Draft Facsimile, Transcript & Variant Versions, p. 76. Only difference is that the recording keeps the word "monolith" in line 4, instead of "monument."

TAPE / SOUND RECORDING

Sound quality is excellent throughout. Room acoustics good; no echo or sound distortion; very little ambient noise, only occasional audience laughter, and never interfering with poem. Ginsberg is well-miked, speech clear and well enunciated, good volume. Overall feeling of small-room intimacy, as opposed to echoing large hall raucous feeling of other early recordings.

While the sound quality of the tape is superior to any known recordings of these poems, the tape unfortunately ends one and a half lines before the natural break at the end of Part I of "Howl." It's unclear exactly what happened, but it appears that the tape was simply used up and spooled off the reel. Ginsberg attempts to remedy this loss of the last lines by separately re-recording the last few lines of the poem, repeating some of the previously recorded lines to be sure nothing is lost. This would allow for a seamless splice if an attempt were made to create an uninterrupted version of the reading. (It is my opinion that such a production for popular appreciation of the poem would be an appropriate use of digital technology, providing that the editing were prominently noted, and that an unretouched master is kept for scholarly use. Because AG's re-recording of the last few lines was made under the same acoustic condiitions as the pre-break recording, same tape stock, etc., just a few minutes after the break was discovered, the splicing could be done with extreme ease.-JS.)

Part II of "Howl"-the "Moloch" section-comes to an abrupt stop four lines in, not due to any audio malfunction, but more due to the poet's fatigue. He tops reading suddenly and says, ""I don't really feel like reading any more. I just sorta haven't got any kind of steam, so I'd like to cut, do you mind?"

It should also be noted that there were originally two reels of tape recorded, and that one tape is missing. It is unclear what was on the missing tape-quite possibly Gary Snyder reading his poems, or Ginsberg reading additional poems.

ANCILLARY REMARKS BY ALLEN GINSBERG

On this recording, there is no introduction of Allen Ginsberg, and no comments to indicate the date, venue of the reading or any other details. During the reading of the first seven poems, there is little banter with the audience, which is for the most part very quiet.

Prior to "Dream Record," AG kids with the audience a bit, says at one point, "I don't want to corrupt the youth." It's unclear from the recording what precipitated this remark.

At one point, AG begins to read "A Strange New Cottage in Berkeley," saying "The same scene…" refering to the previous poem with its locale of AG's Milvia Street cottage. He decides against it: "No…I think it's too much of the same scene."

Voice offstage (possibly Snyder): Do you want to read "Howl"?

AG: I don't really. I don't know if I've got the energy…I might as well start reading it, then I can quit…"

'Howl for Carl Solomon'…What time is it now by the way? [Answer inaudible]. She hasn't come yet?...Okay, is there anybody here that wasn't here yesterday-or last night? No? I mean is there anybody that was not here last night? Oh well, okay. I hate to go through all that again.

"The line length, I ought to say something about also. You'll notice that they're all built on bop-for those who weren't here last night-you might think of them as built on a bop refrain-chorus after chorus after chorus-the ideal being, say, Lester Young in Kansas City in 1938, blowing seventy-two choruses of 'The Man I Love' till everyone in the hall was out of his head-and Young was also…"

AG then reads "Howl for Carl Solomon, Part 1." At the end of Part 1, AG jokes, ""Should end with a da-da-da-da-dadaaaaa."

He then reads the first four stanzas of Part 2, the Moloch section, but stops abruptly, as noted above, saying "I don't really feel like reading any more. I just sorta haven't got any kind of steam, so I'd like to cut, do you mind?"

Notes from FileMaker 'Title' field: Allen Ginsberg & Gary Snyder; Includes Ginsberg reading "Howl"