ALLEN GINSBERG at Reed College: HOWL & Other Poems (Vinyl LP Record)

Los Angeles, CA: Omnivore Recordings, 2021. Audio Book. New. Audio Book (LP). 1st Edition. LP - NEW (Sealed in publisher's shrinkwrap) - On February 13 and 14, 1956, Gary Snyder and Allen Ginsberg read at Reed College, with the Valentine's Day performance recorded, forgotten, then found in a box in 2007. Reading "Howl" out loud in front of an audience is an exhausting and emotional experience, so Ginsberg warmed up by reading several shorter poems first. The Reed recording includes these shorter selections and most of Part I of "Howl." The restored recording is crystal clear; you can not only hear Ginsberg turning the pages, but taking breaths after each long line. The audience is pin-drop quiet except for a few places in the reading, for instance, one moment when someone in the audience says something that can't be heard that elicits laughter, to which Ginsberg responds, "I don't want to corrupt the youth." Other lines generate laughter, but the audience is attentive and respectful, allowing for a present-day fly-on-the-wall listening experience. In testimony to how emotionally draining it was to read the poem two nights in a row, as Ginsberg launches into Part II, he stops after four lines saying, "I don't really feel like reading any more, I haven't got any kind of steam. So I'd like to cut, do you mind?" Thus ends the first known recording of "Howl". and now begins its 21st century access for all to hear....