VIA PRESS RELEASE | The story behind this album, which marked Jack Kerouac’s debut as a recording artist, is almost as fascinating (but not quite) as the performances it contains. Kerouac had completely bombed in his first set during a 1957 engagement at the Village Vanguard when TV personality, comedian, and musician Steve Allen volunteered to accompany him on piano during the second.
The results were so impressive that legendary engineer Bob Thiele then brought the duo into the studio to record an album for Dot Records. In true, stream-of consciousness, Beat fashion, the entire album was cut in one session with one take for each track, Allen’s piano weaving in and out and occasionally commenting on Kerouac’s verbal riffs to great effect.
However, when Poetry for the Beat Generation was ready for release in March 1958, Randy Wood, the president of Dot Records, was appalled by the then-daring language and subject matter and canceled the release—but not before 100 promo copies got out. (And if you have one you’re set for life!)
Thiele then left the company over the dispute and got the master tape in the bargain, which he finally released on the Hanover label which he founded with Allen in June 1959. That release still stands as one of the most momentous spoken word albums not just of the ‘50s but of all time—and we at Real Gone Music are proud to bring it to you in a milky clear vinyl version in Jack Kerouac’s 100th birthday year!
Just like its predecessor, Poetry for the Beat Generation, legendary beatnik writer Jack Kerouac’s second album, Blues and Haikus, teamed him with producer Bob Thiele and came out on Thiele’s Hanover label in 1959. But this time around, instead of the debut’s inspired amateur jazz piano flourishes from Steve Allen, Kerouac insisted on bona fide jazz musicians to accompany his stream-of-consciousness prose.
And boy, did he get them—big-time post-bop saxophonists Al Cohn and Zoot Sims made their bones in Woody Herman’s band, and here they provide effective counterpoint commentary to Kerouac’s readings. As for those who approach this release from a more literary angle, Blues and Haikus reflects Kerouac’s interest in Eastern religion and meditative practices as expressed in his novel The Dharma Bums as opposed to the more On the Road-like exultations of Poetry for the Beat Generation.
But whatever your interest, boppish or bookish, Blues and Haikus is an essential document from one of our most iconic American authors, and, after listening to this album, one thing is for sure: no one is having a better time at this recording session than Kerouac himself! On the occasion of Kerouac’s 100th birthday year, our release of this cult classic record comes in tobacco tan vinyl.
