Track Listings (9) - Disc #1| All Artists: Jack Kerouac Title: Reads on the Road Members Wishing: 0 Total Copies: 0 Label: Rykodisc Original Release Date: 9/14/1999 Release Date: 9/14/1999 Genres: Special Interest, Pop Style: Poetry, Spoken Word & Interviews Number of Discs: 1 SwapaCD Credits: 1 UPCs: 014431047428, 014431047466 |
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Search - Jack Kerouac :: Reads on the Road
 | Jack Kerouac Reads on the Road Genres: Special Interest, Pop
This collection scrapes the bottom of the Jack Kerouac barrel, unearthing Kerouac documents both worthy of public scrutiny and ones that are not. The title to this CD is a tad misleading, as it begins with a late-1950s ses... more » |
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Amazon.com This collection scrapes the bottom of the Jack Kerouac barrel, unearthing Kerouac documents both worthy of public scrutiny and ones that are not. The title to this CD is a tad misleading, as it begins with a late-1950s session of Kerouac singing, to jazz accompaniment, a song written for him by Sammy Kahn. There are several jump jazz tunes with Kerouac's scat-flavored vocalizings; they will be of interest solely to fans. Hipster music is added to several works, by avant-funk keyboardist John Medeski and the jazz musician David Amram, who'd collaborated with Kerouac on Robert Frank's magnificent beat-era film Pull My Daisy. The meat of the collection is the 28-plus-minute previously unreleased reading of On the Road, a section that depicts the novel's two central protagonists in the jazz haunts of San Francisco. Kerouac's enthused (if affected) and likable jive-bop poesy really comes alive on this cleaned-up acetate recording; thankfully there is no '90s hipster music added to it. The other work of interest is a fragmentary song called "On the Road," which appears in a pseudo-original state (with Medeski organ added) and in a bluesy, ballsy interpretation by Tom Waits backed by Ralph Carney and Primus. --Mike McGonigal Similarly Requested CDs
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CD ReviewsHearing him sing his "On the Road' song still brings tears. Antoine Maloney (stratis@odyssee.ne | Montreal, Quebec, Canada | 10/31/1999 (5 out of 5 stars) "My first hearing of his whispering / singing his "On The Road" took my breath away. Done before Dylan, Tim Buckley, and Leonard Cohen produced similar material...what a loss to have only this; the playing of Victor Juris and especially John Medeski on this song is perfectly ethereal.The swing/scat songs are a treat too with him goofing on the lyrics and the dedications. All proof of why he must have been a great guy to hang around with when he wasn't in his cups.David Amram's accompaniment on other pieces immediately transported me to the kind of late night reading / playing that he's described doing with Jack.Listen to Kerouac play with his voice, with his words, and with all the names and pseudonyms of his friends. A great addition to his published work." Keep your hands off the Kerouac Scott Leslie | 09/30/1999 (2 out of 5 stars) "The stuff that is in it's original form (or at least close to it) is great. "Ain't We Got Fun", "Come Rain or Come Shine", and especially the reading from On the Road all sound great. This could have actually been a decent 40-minute CD. But why screw around with Jack's work? The pieces with newly recorded backing tracks are awful, they remind me of the Sinatra "Duets" stuff where there was no connection between Sinatra and his collaborators. It's like Ted Turner colorizing old classics. And I love Tom Waits, but what is he doing on this collection? Unfortunately, a lame concept. Get the Rykodisc boxset, it's the real deal." Can't go wrong with 28 minutes of On the Road. Antoine Maloney (stratis@odyssee.ne | 10/27/1999 (4 out of 5 stars) "True, the title is misleading, but Track 2 IS 28 minutes of Jack reading from On the Road and this makes it worth the $$$. The folk-bluesy song "On the Road," from a story collected in Good Blond, sung by Kerouac on one track and Waits/Primus on the final track, is really the only song integral to more fully developing an appreciation for Keruoac's literary themes. Yet, for the serious Kerouac fanatic, the other jazzy-goof songs are novel at worst. The Steve Allen (and the rest of the Box Set for that matter) recordings will forever be the benchmark for Kerouac's readings, but that does not diminish the importance of the On the Road readings on this CD. On the Amram collaborations: I've always been a disciple of Kerouac's prose, but his poetry has never done much for me. Outside of Amram's tiresome, recurring "Pull my Daisy" backing melody, the music compliments the poetry much better than the techno-junk that accompanies "McDougal St." on the Kicks CD. I give it 4 stars (instead of 5) only because these tracks aren't the Steve Allen recordings. I'd give it 3 stars and pay $20 if it were Kerouac reading a shopping list."
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