JACK KEROUAC — Reads On The Road (1999) Voices Series | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

While Rhino's compilation might mark a better place to start, Reads on the Road is certainly a worthy collection of some of Jack Kerouac's narratives and poetry, embellished by some actual singing. Kerouac is a more enjoyable author to hear reading on disc than most, since his prose had much of a jazz rhythm, and since he was an engaging reader/performer himself. The big find on this 74-minute CD is the 28-minute excerpt from On the Road his most famous and widely-read book, found on '50s acetates that had been thought lost. "On the Road" is presented as it was discovered, with just Kerouac's voice, but guitarist Vic Juris and Hammond organist John Medeski recorded music in 1998 for his early-'60s musical song-poem "On the Road" (a separate performance from his reading of material from the book). It's unexpected, and amusing if not brilliant, to hear Kerouac sing three jazz standards by the likes of Sammy Cahn, Johnny Mercer, and Gordon Jenkins in the late 1950s (presented with the original musical backing, by unknown musicians). David Amram, who had provided musical backup for Kerouac's readings in the late 1950s, wrote and recorded music in 1998 for two more Kerouac poems, cut by Kerouac in the back of a record shop, including the previously unpublished "Washington D.C. Blues," which runs for 17 minutes. Ending the set is Tom Waits, backed by Primus, doing yet another "On the Road," for which Waits put music to Kerouac's prose. Richie Unterberger
Tracklist :
1.    Jack Kerouac–    Ain't We Got Fun 2:31
Instrumentation By – Unknown Artist
Recorded By, Mixed By – Jerry Newman
Technician – Sean Slade
Vocals – Jack Kerouac
Written-By – Egan, Whiting, Sammy Kahn
2.    Jack Kerouac–    On The Road (Jazz Of The Beat Generation)  28:40
Technician – Greg Calbi, Steve Fallone
Voice – Jack Kerouac
3.    Jack Kerouac–    On The Road 2:16
Arranged By, Guitar – Victor Juris
Arranged By, Organ [Hammond] – John Medeski
Engineer [Assistant] – James Harned
Engineer, Mixed By – Danny Lawrence
Technician – Jim Sampas
Voice – Jack Kerouac
4.    Jack Kerouac–    Come Rain Or Shine 3:37
Instrumentation By – Unknown Artist
Lyrics By – Johnny Mercer
Music By – Harold Arlen
Recorded By, Mixed By – Jerry Newman
Technician – Sean Slade
Vocals – Jack Kerouac
5.    Jack Kerouac–    Orizaba 210 Blues 9:32
Composed By, Performer, French Horn, Piano, Shanai, Goblet Drum [Dumbek], Drums [Frame Drum], Flute [Lakota], Tin Whistle [Penny], Ocarina, Congas, Percussion – David Amram
Engineer [Assistant] – James Harned
Engineer, Mixed By – Danny Lawrence
Technician – Jim Sampas
Voice – Jack Kerouac
6.    Jack Kerouac–    When A Woman Loves A Man 2:54
Instrumentation By – Unknown Artist
Recorded By, Mixed By – Jerry Newman
Technician – Sean Slade
Vocals – Jack Kerouac
Written-By – Bernard D. Hanighen, Gordon Jenkins, John H. Mercer
7.    Jack Kerouac–    Leavin' Town 3:00
Instrumentation By – Unknown Artist
Recorded By, Mixed By – Jerry Newman
Technician – Sean Slade
Vocals – Jack Kerouac
Written-By – George Handy, Jack Segal
8.    Jack Kerouac–    Washington D.C. Blues 17:43
Alto Saxophone – Jerry Dodgion
Bass – Victor Venegas
Bassoon – Jane Taylor
Composed By, Performer – The David Amram Ensemble
Congas – Candido
Drums, Bongos – Johnny Almendra
Engineer [Assistant] – Danny Harned
Engineer, Mixed By – Danny Lawrence
Guitar – Victor Juris*
Oboe, English Horn – Ronald Roseman
Organ [Hammond] – John Medeski
Piano, French Horn, Shanai, Goblet Drum [Dumbek], Whistle [Penny] – David Amram
Technician – Jim Sampas
Viola – Midhat Serbagi
Voice – Jack Kerouac
9.    Tom Waits & Primus–    On The Road 3:58
Bass [Upright], Percussion – Les Claypool
Engineer [Second] – Jeff Sloan
Guitar, Percussion – Larry LaLonde
Mixed By – Bernd Burgdorf
Music By, Performer, Vocals, Guitar, Percussion – Tom Waits
Percussion – Brain (26)
Performer – Primus
Recorded By – Biff Daws
Saxophone – Ralph Carney 

JACK KEROUAC / STEVE ALLEN - Poetry for the Beat Generation (1959-2012) FLAC (tracks), lossless

Poetry for the Beat Generation marked Jack Kerouac's debut as a recording artist. Strangely enough, it was the by-product of a disastrous first show by Kerouac in an engagement at the Village Vanguard during December of 1957. For the second performance, Kerouac's friend Steve Allen provided the accompaniment at the piano, with results so impressive that it would lead Kerouac to a short but dazzling career as a recording artist. The first result was this album, which came at the suggestion of either Allen or his friend, producer Bob Thiele, who was working for Dot Records at the time. The record was cut in a single session and a single take for each piece. Allen's graceful piano opens the recording and Kerouac comes in, reading "October in the Railroad Earth" for seven minutes, off of a roll of paper in front of him. Kerouac's reading are in a class by themselves, and separate from Allen -- the two performances co-exist and weave together without ever really joining, and the result is a peculiar form of jazz; Kerouac did his thing, Allen did his, and the result was a spellbinding performance, and it was musical, despite Kerouac's seeming monotone reading, which never slowed or otherwise interacted with Allen's piano -- his voice dances to its own beat, with Allen embellishing and working around him; in the process, you get visions of various facets of Kerouac's work and personality, in extended pieces such as "October in the Railroad Earth" and short, piercing brilliant exclamations such as "Deadbelly" and "Charlie Parker." The resulting album, cut in March of 1958, was one of the crowning achievements in recording of the 1950s. But it so appalled Randy Wood, the president of Dot Records, with its meandering narrative and daring language and subject matter, that the release was canceled, with Wood denouncing the recording in the trade papers as tasteless and questionable. Somewhere over 100 promotional copies of the Dot album (catalog number 3154) had gotten out to disc jockeys and reviewers, however, thus making it one of the rarest LPs in the label's entire history. Thiele finally left the company over the dispute and he reclaimed the master tape -- it was on the Hanover label, formed with Allen (who was virtually a pop-culture institution at the time), that Poetry for the Beat Generation finally reached the public in June of 1959. It's still worth a listen now every bit as much as it was in 1959, and perhaps even more so. [Reissued on Rhino's Jack Kerouac Collection, with one bonus track.] by Bruce Eder  
Tracklist:
1 October In the Railroad Earth 7:09
Jack Kerouac

2 Deadbelly 1:05

Jack Kerouac
3 Charlie Parker 3:45
Jack Kerouac

4 The Sounds of the Universe Coming In My Window 3:17

Jack Kerouac

5 One Mother 0:49

Jack Kerouac

6 Goofing At the Table 1:45

Jack Kerouac

7 Bowery Blues 3:56

Jack Kerouac

8 Abraham 1:17

Jack Kerouac

9 Dave Brubeck 0:31

Jack Kerouac

10 I Had a Slouch Hat Too One Time 6:12

Jack Kerouac

11 The Wheel of the Quivering Meat Conception 1:55

Jack Kerouac
12 McDougal Street Blues 3:25
Jack Kerouac
13 The Moon Her Majesty 1:38
Jack Kerouac

14 I'd Rather Be Thin Than Famous 0:38

Jack Kerouac
Credits:
Piano – Steve Allen
Voice – Jack Kerouac

JACK KEROUAC ft. AL COHN & ZOOT SIMS - Blues and Haikus (1959-2012) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

In the spring of 1958, just a few weeks after cutting Poetry for the Beat Generation, producer Bob Thiele suggested making a second album -- quite a daring notion, considering that the first album would prove so controversial that it wouldn't reach the public for a year -- and Jack Kerouac agreed. Instead of pianist Steve Allen, however, Kerouac insisted that he be accompanied this time by two good friends, tenor saxmen Al Cohn and Zoot Sims. With Cohn doubling on piano, the resulting Blues and Haikus is a stunning duet between speaker and saxmen, working spontaneously in this peculiar mix of jazz and voice, in which the saxmen do get their solo spots around Kerouac's work. There's much more of a sense on this album of a conscious interaction here between Kerouac and his accompanists, and the album is more arch but also more intense and more imposing than its predecessor. [Reissued as part of Rhino's Jack Kerouac Collection with 16 minutes of outtakes.] by Bruce Eder
Tracklist:
1 American Haikus 10:02
Jack Kerouac
2 Hard Hearted Old Farmer 2:16
Jack Kerouac

3 The Last Hotel & Some of Dharma 3:51

Jack Kerouac

4 Poems from the Unpublished "Book of Blues" 14:12

Jack Kerouac

5 Old Western Movies 6:42

Jack Kerouac
6 Conclusion of the Railroad Earth 10:05
Jack Kerouac

JACK KEROUAC – Readings by Jack Kerouac on the Beat Generation (1960-1990) MONO | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Readings by Jack Kerouac on the Beat Generation was the culmination of the author's short-lived recording career, a solo performance that transcends poetry and music -- it's literally spoken jazz, the artist improvising freely on the printed text of his own work in front of him. Produced by Bill Randle, it was Kerouac's most musical performance, despite the fact that the recording contained only his voice and no accompaniment, using his voice and language the way a saxophonist might improvise on a particular melodic line or riff. He's spellbinding throughout, intense, focused, and even subtly changing voices with the work itself. [Reissued in Rhino's Jack Kerouac Collection with a bonus track consisting of an excerpt from a 1958 forum on the existence of the "Beat Generation," held at Hunter College in New York.] Bruce Eder
Tracklist :
1 San Francisco Scene (The Beat Generation) 3:09
Jack Kerouac
2 San Francisco Blues 3:02
Jack Kerouac

3 Lucien Midnight: The Sound of the Universe in My Window 4:22

Jack Kerouac

4 History of Bop 10:53

Jack Kerouac

5 The Subterraneans 3:07

Jack Kerouac

6 Visions of Neal: Neal and the Three Stooges 16:59

Jack Kerouac

Credits:

Liner Notes – Allen Ginsberg, Randy Hutton

Photography By – Allen Ginsberg

Voice, Written-By – Jack Kerouac

Recorded probably 1958 or early 1959.

Readings by Jack Kerouac on The Beat Generation originally released on LP (Verve LP #15005, January 1960).

Allen Ginsberg's original liner notes are reproduced on fifteen illustrated postcards.

Nominated for the 1999 Grammy award for Best recording package.