First Blues archive draws $30k price tag

Documents and photographs linked to Allen Ginsberg's legendary 1983 record are up for sale through well-established New York booksellers

A COLLECTION of autographed, printed and audio materials linked to the production of First Blues, Allen Ginsberg’s rock album issued by John Hammond Records in 1983, have been put up for sale.

With a guide price of $30,000, the items are being sold by James Cummins booksellers, based in the heart of New York City on Madison Avenue, and were gathered by Hank O’Neal, an employee of the Hammond music imprint’s parent business.

O'Neal, who was photographer, author, record producer and Executive Vice-President of Hammond Music Enterprises, assembled an impressive inventory of valuable pieces, including photographs, connected to a recording project that took more than a decade to come to fruition.

Cummins’ online announcement says that collection ‘includes autograph letters, notes and postcards from Ginsberg to O'Neal, drafts and proofs of the linear [sic] notes […], lyric and chord sheets, fourteen cassette tapes of early mixes and unreleased tracks, and an extensive file of press clippings assembled and annotated by Ginsberg.’

The poet's frequent letters and postcards to O'Neal exhibit his intense interest in the publicity and press coverage surrounding the album's release.

Pictured above: Ginsberg with Joe Strummer and Mick Jones of the Clash, one of the O’Neal photographs which forms part of the collection on sale

Ginsberg started work on this album as early as 1971, following a jam session with his friend Bob Dylan, who praised Ginsberg's ability to improvise lyrics. He recorded with Dylan shortly thereafter and again in 1976 with great singer-songwriter and members of his famed Rolling Thunder Revue ensemble.

John Hammond, venerated A&R man for Columbia who discovered some of the twentieth-century’s most renowned talent, from Basie to Holiday, Dylan himself and later Springsteen, attempted to issue the record on CBS in the mid-1970s.

But the talent-spotter’s best efforts went nowhere. Major label executives feared the album was too controversial, including song titles such as ‘Everybody Sing (Gay Lib Rag)’ and ‘You are My Dildo’.

Extra tracks and overdubs were recorded in 1981 following the formation of Hammond Music Enterprises, and the album was finally released two years later.

The for sale collection also includes a selection of large format photographic portraits of Ginsberg with William Burroughs, Joe Strummer and other participants, by Hank O’Neal himself.