Beat Soundtrack #18: Steve Turner
In which prominent Beat figures, writers and critics, historians and academics, fans and followers, talk about the relationship between that literary community and music
Steve Turner is a poet, author and journalist who published the illustrated biography Jack Kerouac: Angelheaded Hipster in 1996. A London resident, he was a regular contributed to Melody Maker, New Musical Express and Rolling Stone in their heyday, has also written books on Van Morrison, the Beatles, gospel music, the song ‘Amazing Grace’ and the band on the Titanic.
We interviewed him about his commendable Kerouac volume in an article published back in March 2022, and he also contributed to the centenary feature ‘Jack’s books: A forum of biographers’ in the same month. Here he turns his attention to his personal musical and literary likes and how they connect to his own Beat vision.
What attracted you to the Beats? When did you first encounter them? Are you drawn to a particular text, novel or poetry?
It must have been around 1965 that I first heard of the Beats, probably because of their influence on musicians like Donovan and Dylan who I liked. I read On the Road in the summer of 1967 after picking up a 1963 Pan paperback edition in a tobacconist’s shop for five shillings [25p in today’s money]. I was on holiday at Barmouth in North Wales. I was captivated with it right from the start, particularly as it was a novel about a writer searching to deepen his craft. I’d been writing poetry since 1965.
Before the decade was over I’d read Howl and Other Poems (Ginsberg), Gasoline (Corso), Coney Island of the Mind (Ferlinghetti) and the Penguin Modern Poetry anthology with all three Beat poets. I’d also been lent a copy of the 1966 Paris Review interview between Tom Clark and Ginsberg. I later saw Ginsberg, Burroughs, Corso and (Michael) McClure read at different times but never saw Ferlinghetti or Kerouac.
What is the relationship between the Beat writers and music? How do you think that literary scene and musical sound connect(ed)?
The Beat writers were each inspired by music and went on to inspire musicians. In recent Western history, poets were thought of as people who created in solitude and were read in solitude, but the Beats often created in the presence of others (think of Ginsberg composing The Fall of America by speaking the words into a tape machine while being driven or Kerouac, Cassady and Ginsberg making up alternate lines of ‘Pull My Daisy’) and they also delivered in the presence of others (cafes, clubs, bars, jazz cellars).
In this way the Beats identified with the way musicians jammed, improvised, and performed. They wanted to write like Charlie Parker or Lester Young played. Ginsberg was attracted to the way that the sounds of music could alter consciousness and wanted to discover a form of poetry that could do the same. The work of the Beats was therefore attractive to young musicians who admired the intrinsic musicality of their work and the freewheeling approach to daily living.
Subsequently rock music had an impact in the later writing of the Beats and relationships built up between people like Dylan and Ginsberg, Jerry Garcia and Neal Cassady, Lou Reed and William Burroughs, Jim Morrison and Michael McClure.
As a journalist and author have you been shaped or influenced by Beat experiences?
I recognise the Beats as my literary ancestors as far as my poetry is concerned. I still adhere to their vision that poetry should come down from the library shelves and into the street. I think they also did a lot to bring into focus my interest in the interface between music, religion, poetry and the counterculture which runs through almost all my books. To write specifically about Kerouac in Angelheaded Hipster gave me a great opportunity to explore his work and the wider Beat phenomenon.
When I wrote a biography of the song ‘Amazing Grace’ a reviewer for People magazine commented: ‘Turner measures different perspectives…with a hipster’s eye and a parishioner’s faith.’ I credit that balance to the Beat experience.
Which musical artists from whichever era appear to make links with the Beat Generation – and how?
There are obviously the people who impressed the Beats (Sinatra, Charlie Parker, Slim Gaillard, Leadbelly, etc) and the people the Beats impressed (Dylan, Doors, Grateful Dead, Bowie, Lou Reed, Van Morrison, etc) but a lot of musicians who cite the Beats often show no obvious influence other than a lifestyle kinship (travel, drugs, sex, creativity, adventure).
Tom Waits is a good example of someone who drew his early persona from Kerouac’s novels, and his words were an extension of that 1950s Beat experience, but later people who experimented with Burroughs’ cut-up technique and claimed to be his direct literary descendent were often just lazy artists looking to produce work that was more mysterious and obscure than they were themselves as people.
Steely Dan are often cited as being influenced by Burroughs I’m not sure what the proof of that is other than the fact that the group name came from Naked Lunch.
Who are your own favourite singers, musicians and bands? Do they represent Beat ideas or attitudes in their lives and art`?
I suppose my heart is in the music made by those who came of age in the 1950s or 1960s, particularly those who’ve grown old gracefully still making music. Of those I certainly think people like Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Van Morrison, Paul Simon and David Byrne benefited from the Beat ethos. They remain(ed) true to themselves, carry on experimenting, but always honour their roots. A lot of what I listen to has to do with what I’m working on, which must be very confusing for both Apple and Amazon because my tastes appear to swerve all over the place!
Note: Steve Turner was the subject of ‘Interview #5’ in the pages of Rock and the Beat Generation on March 6th, 2022. He was one of our featured writers in the Kerouac centenary article ‘Jack’s books: A forum of biographers’, which appeared on March 9th, 2022
Beat Soundtrack #18: Steve Turner
Always interesting to read how people first encountered the Beats. I'm not sure I would be able to answer a question like that - ha!
A fine interview. I particularly resonated with what Mr. Turner had to say about the lines of influence on the Beats and by the Beats, and the distinction he makes between meaningful creative influence and lifestyle affinity. His observation about how the interfaces between music, poetry, religion and counterculture affected his development as a poet resonated with me strongly.