Counterculture cornucopia

Open the treasure trove of a Dutch collector and trader, publisher and chronicler extraordinaire, and you enter a transatlantic wonderland of Beat ephemera

OPERATING out of The Hague in the Netherlands, Rene van der Voort collects and sells items from the post-war counterculture and has a particular interest in the Beat Generation writers. But he is, first and foremost, a committed enthusiast of this radical scene and its connected artefacts, a man who wants to both pass on and celebrate those pieces which mark a fascinating and often unconventional history.

Van der Voort spent many decades working in the music business and his engagement with the musical ingredients or recorded elements of this particular world is a clear indication of this. His latest venture as publisher, with the literary, sonic and pictorial richly entwined, represents, he says, ‘a lifelong passion’.

As he explains: ‘I had a record shop for over 35 years here in The Hague and specialised in 1960/70s music and spoken word. I have also organised musical and literary events, including sound poetry readings. In addition, I regularly write about Fluxus art mainly and the anecdotal side of the Beat Generation.’

Pictured above: Rene van der Voort with William Burroughs image

One of his most current projects involves a poet and musician whose ongoing collaboration he actually first encountered in the pages of Rock and the Beat Generation. Poet Larry Beckett and musician Stuart Anthony performed a rare gig in London in June linked to the release of their latest album Mirabeau Bridge. Now, Vdvoort’s own label will soon issue the performance on cassette with Beckett’s reading of Ginsberg’s ‘Howl’ in San Francisco also included in the set.

‘For the last couple of years,’ van der Voort tells me, ‘I have run my Counter Culture Chronicles imprint.’ This undertaking has various branches dealing with tapes and maps, broadsides and other special objects, a chapbook arm in association with Casioli Press and Erik Sluijter and a Beat postcard series alongside V. J. Eaton.

Pictured above: Wish you’d been there? A Beat postcard selection from the Counter Culture Chronicle series

When you dip into just a small sample of the items he has available, they are an extraordinary window onto an inarguably thrilling yet gradually fading scene: programmes, tickets, posters, letters, readings, tapes, photographs, reviews, calling cards and much more. The list simply goes on!

Pictured above: Programmes, manifestoes and flyers from the 1960s New Departures touring show. Inspired by Michael Horovitz’s original journal, poets, artists and musicians gigged widely

Examples include a recording of the Mantra-Rock Dance at the Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco, in January 1967, featuring Ginsberg, the Grateful Dead, Moby Grape and Janis Joplin; a tape of Charles Plymell captured reading at Cherry Valley in 2013; and an amazing gathering of printed items focusing on Michael Horovitz and his New Departures live gigs of the 1960s, including a spiky hand-written communication to his fellow poet friend and Cream lyricist-to-be Pete Brown.

We spoke to Rene van der Voort about his varied activities, his motivations and the plans he has in the pipeline…

How do you source these intriguing objects and documents?

I’ve been collecting recordings by my favourite writers/musicians for years now so I have a lot to choose from. I buy literary archives when I get the chance and for releases by contemporary artists, I just ask them!

Obviously much of the material is photocopied or in facsimile form. Have you sent me any original pieces?

All the paper materials are facsimile printed, no originals…

Pictured above: Cassette tapes featuring Ginsberg with the Dead and Charles Plymell, Ed Dorn and Ed Sanders on the same poetry bill, a Herbert Huncke flyer and Ken Kesey’s business card

How do people select or purchase the items you have to offer?

I have a bunch of regular customers who I notify when there’s new stuff. The rest can be found and fixed a bought through mail-order companies like Sound Ohm, Rusti Pumsti, Fusetron Sound…

Do you send out random packages in the way you did for me?

Ah, no. But that might be a good idea!

Is there a catalogue or website?

I am not really good at that, but it’s a plan for the near future. There are a few of my tapes on Discogs but the list is incomplete and the descriptions not always correct. For the chaps, you can also visit cccandcp.blogspot.com, though that is also not complete.

Do you have a sense of purpose or motivation, as mission even, behind what you do?

A long time ago you could go to a city and visit loads of interesting music and bookshops. Chapbooks, poetry books fresh from the mimeo machine, crudely home-made tapes of readings, posters and postcards of writers, many, many postcards, all available.

My favourites were the Ins and Outs Press shop and Real Free Press in Amsterdam, Compendium in London, the 8th Street Bookshop in New York and Shakespeare & Company in Paris.

All my releases/publications are a tribute to, and made in honour of, the pioneering work these shops did for me. And to put some light on obscure (almost) forgotten writers/musicians. That sort of thing.

Can you tell me about your forthcoming Kerouac Centenary event?

The date is October 9th, 2022, and the place is the artists’ village of Ruigoord, near Amsterdam. At the end of August we have a full programme available and I will share it then.

A list of recent Counter Culture Chronicles releases are outlined below:

tape CCC 90 Allen Ginsberg, Mantras

tape CCC 91 Lady June, I’ve Never Been to Canterbury

tape CCC 92 Lady June, Live at the Residensia Hotel in Deija, Mallorca

tape CCC 93 Gary Snyder, Washington DC 1989

tape CCC 94 From the archives with recordings by Huey P. Newton, Gerd Stern, Charles Plymell, Marshall MacLuhan.

tape CCC 95 Gerd Stern, USCO Tapes

tape CCC 96 The Bob Lens Archives, Vol. 1 (with LaMonte Young)

tape CCC 97 The Bob Lens Archives, Vol. 2 (with Henning Christiansen)

chap CCC 98 Ian MacFadyen & Ira Cohen, Black Rose Blue Iris

tape CCC 99 Tuli Kupferberg, Teach Yourself Fucking

tape CCC 100 Steve Richmond, Santa Monica Poems

tape CCC 101 Robert Filliou en conversation avec Georg Jappe

tape CCC 102 Stanley Kunitz, The Poet’s Poet

tape CCC 103 Ira Cohen, NYC 11/20/02

map CCC 104 Live New Adventures

chap CCC 105 Hans Plomp, The Art of Dying

tape CCC 106 Michael McClure, Antechamber

tape CCC 107 Foamola, Songs

map CCC 108 Steve Richmond, 1

map CCC 109 Steve Richmond, 2

map CCC 110 Eli Wilentz, The 8th Street Bookshop

tape CCC 111 Jan Herman, All That Would Ever After Not Be Said

map CCC 112 Herschel Silverman, 1

chap CCC 113 Leo van der Zalm, Dichter

tape CCC 114 S.A. Griffin, Skyscraper Martini Guitar

map CCC 115 Leo van der Zalm

map CCC 116 Herschel Silverman, 2

NB If readers are interested to receive regular mailing lists with new items, they can mail Rene van der Voort here: sylie51@hotmail.com

Note: See also ‘Muse and music: Bridging the gap’, published in Rock and the Beat Generation on May 26th, 2022