VIA PRESS RELEASE | Allen Ginsberg’s original 1970 MGM album Songs of Innocence and Experience, in which he sang the poetry of the English Romantic William Blake, will be released on CD and digital for the first time, complemented by a second disc of rarities and previously unissued songs. The Omnivore Recordings expanded reissue will hit the streets on June 23, 2017.
Lester Bangs, writing in Rolling Stone magazine, said the album was “like a labor of love, a salute from a young visionary to an ancient sage.”Complied by producer Pat Thomas (who also worked on the 2016 Ginsberg reissue The Last Word on First Blues), the forthcoming double CD package includes a new essay by Thomas, who tracked down several of the original musicians (never before interviewed) for this project, uncovering rare session photos as well.
Allen Ginsberg began “tuning” Blake’s poetry in 1968 (inspired by attending the tumultuous protests at that year’s Democratic Convention in Chicago), but the origin of the album dates back to a 1948 vision, or “auditory illumination” as Ginsberg called it, of Blake reciting poetry to him in his Spanish Harlem apartment.
Moved by this, Ginsberg began to set Blake’s poetry to music. In 1969, he began recording the results with Peter Orlovsky and jazz legends Bob Dorough, Don Cherry, and Elvin Jones. Nineteen of those songs were released the following year as Songs of Innocence and Experience. In addition to the original LP, Omnivore’s set adds two previously unissued tracks: an alternate take and a song intended for the record but left off due to time constraints.
But that is not where the story ends. In 1971, Ginsberg returned to Blake, recording 11 songs in San Francisco with avant-garde cellist Arthur Russell — four of which were never issued. The ensemble also recorded three Tibetan mantras with a Buddhist choir, resulting in a full-on psychedelic East-West experience — also all previously unissued. This material comprises a second CD, truly making this Complete. With restoration and mastering from Grammy-winner Michael Graves, the tracks sound timeless.
Blake’s writings from the late 18th century and Ginsberg’s interpretations from the 20th come full circle in the 21st century’s The Complete Songs of Innocence and Experience.
