Neal Cassady: Issa's Sunday Service, #108

This is at least the fourth time Neal Cassady has made an appearance on Issa's Sunday Service (previously here, here, and here) and that says boatloads about lots of things (he also got a mention on the Sunday Service here, though the song wasn't about him).

For the second week in a row, I'm featuring a song by a group I hadn't known 10 days before. Weather Underground I somehow stumbled on, possibly on youtube, but how I couldn't say. They are obscure enough to not even have a bio on allmusic, just some cursory info on their self-released discs, When I Was a Soldier and Psalms & Shanties, the last being where "Neal Cassady" comes from.

I particularly like the pacing of this song. Which got me to thinking about the musical approach of each of the bands to their enigmatic subject - is their any relation between Aztec Two-Step, King Crimson, the Grateful Dead, and The Weather Underground, musically, in how they portray Mr. C.?

Here they are all together:

And, because serendipity is the grease that works the wheel of magic, after putting this together, I stumbled across this article in The Guardian about a famous photo which I was familiar with but had no idea was of Cassady.

Photo by Lawrence Schiller

-----------------------------------------

This week's featured poem comes from Lilliput Review #83, November 1996. Dream on.

for Melanie
   I called to confirm the calling dream,
   the dream, the dream, the calling dream.

            Kyle Christopher

(While typing this poem, this song came on the random mix of, oh, 14,000 or so songs.  Never get in the way of a runaway train ...)












calling down--
from deep in the well
an answer

Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue

- Don

PS  Get 2 free issues    Get 2 more free issues     Lillie poem archive

Send a single haiku for the Wednesday Haiku feature.  Here's how.

Go to the LitRock web site for a list of all 107 songs

Subscribe to Lilliput Review

Sartori in Tangier: Issa's Sunday Service, #35

Tangier, 1961




Here's a little something I never expected to happen on Issa's Sunday Service: a LitRock instrumental. Not only is it appropriate but, considering the circumstances, it's perfect. This week saw the birthday of guitar impresario, Adrian Belew, whose studio and solo work, and contributions to the groups The Bears and King Crimson, are the stuff of legend. Particularly his instrumental contributions are legendary, though his lyrics are pretty amazing, too.

So, how is an instrumental, in this case "Sartori in Tangier," LitRock? For those who know a bit of Beat history, Tangier looms large. It is where Bill Burroughs went while avoiding legal complications, following the path of Paul and Jane Bowles. On my wall right now I'm looking at a famous photo of Burroughs, Ginsberg, Peter Orlovsky, Alan Anson, Corso and Bowles posing in Burroughs' garden in Tangier, 1961 (Photo above). In addition, it alludes to Kerouac's novel, Satori in Paris, in its title. Satori, of course, is what all were seeking; in English parlance, enlightenment (NOTE: as pointed out in the comments, the actual title is Sartori, not Satori, but the pun seems intended and, in the end, seems a wash) .

This cut comes from the King Crimson album, Beat, which also supplied the sixth song in this series, "Neal and Jack and Me." Also included on the album is a cut entitled "Heartbeat," which may be an allusion to the Beat Heart Beat by Carolyn Cassady, wife of Neal. "Neurotoica," another cut on the album, refers to a Beat magazine of the same name and "Howler" gets its name from the original, Mr. Ginsberg himself. So, if ever there was a Beat rock album, this is it.

Ironically, "Sartori in Tangier" actually features the work of the other guitar impresario in the band, the incredible Robert Fripp. On this cut, Belew ably backs up Bill Bruford on a 2nd set of drums. Just watch the following live performance and attempt to keep your jaw from hitting the floor.





***********************************************

This week's poem comes from issue #55, April 1994. The issue was previously featured in a post back in January of this year.

Exceptions

Here is the mountain
from which no one has fallen.
Here is the lake
where no swimmer has drowned.

Here is the gun
that was never loaded.
Here are the toys
that have never drawn blood.

Here is the revolution unbetrayed.

Here is the poem that saved a life.

Robert Edwards

autumn mountains
one by one
the evening falls

Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue

best,
Don

PS For a list of all 45 (and a half) songs to date, click here.

Issa's Sunday Service, #6

Today's LitRock entry is "Neal and Jack and Me" from art rock masters, King Crimson. This is the second reference to Kerouac in only the 6th sermon from Issa's Sunday Service, so I'll try to be a little more varied in the future.

Of course, suggestions for literature influenced rock cuts are always welcomed.

Paying forward, we arrive at Lilliput Review #8, from December 1989. Here's a surreal bit of goodness rarely found in more recent issues:

Spiroman

she wondered how large the man
standing beside the person
clipping hairs from walls
would ever have to be
to cover the shortest curve
of the last strand
while still being able to see himself
fit any crevice
without knocking her cold

Stacey Sollfrey

And, finally, word:

persimmon leaves--
once they turn crimson
game over

Issa
translated by David Lanoue

best,
Don