Thanks Simon. And, like you, Meltzer was a skillful interviewer getting to the core of the artists' germinating vision and practices .His "San Francisco Beat:Talking With The Poets" is an invaluable document in bringing the San Francisco Renaissance to a wider audience...And TDRR is certainly the best capsule introduction to Meltzer because it includes not only tales of his youthful glory days, but also the insightful, and necessarily critical analyses of his later years ,as he saw how what he loved and learned became ,in too many cases, degraded and misunderstood.
Share your admiration, as I state, and endorse your recommendation of the SF poet interviews volume: a valuable document indeed. And thank you for your mention of and kind comments re TDRR (that’s my own book Text and Drugs and Rock’n’Roll from 2013 BTW). Cheers, Dave.
This piece sent me to The Meltzer Chronicles in TDRR where you shrewdly say that Meltzer " played an intriguing role as a preemptive matchmaker between the singer (Dylan) and Ginsberg"(p.307)... Of the original Beats ,for all their enthusiasm for Jazz , somewhat younger than the "Big Six"- Kerouac,Ginsberg,Burroughs,Ferlinghetti,Corso,Snyder, only Meltzer could actually playJazz-and Rock, Folk,& Blues,in addition to writing Beat Poetry that stands on its own merits as extremely credible- The only other musicians/poet (besides Dylan himself) who demonstrated an admirable level of mastery in both worlds that I can think of -with all due deference to Ginserg's appealing Harmonium playing- are Jim Carrol and Patti Smith who came along much later...I'm sure there must be others -Leonard Cohen, & Tom Waits are difficult to imagine without Dylan & The Beats-
Thank you, Dave, for those interesting thoughts. You are clearly, like me, an admirer of David Meltzer, a highly talented, versatile and somewhat underrated figure in the Beat pantheon.
I dig that iconic photo of Bob and Allen in the alley next to City Lights Books in San Fransisco. Ginsey is smoking! McClure and even Robbie Robertson are in the frame. Ginsberg and I played at a benefit concert at the Greek Theater in Berkeley for Chet Helms' Avalon Ballroom, me on guitar, and Allen on his harmonium. All my rock star heroes were there, just to meet Allen, of course. I asked Allen, "will Dylan show up to jam with us?" "No, sorry, Johnny. Maybe next time." We openend with a song Allen just made up that he called, "LSD At Breakfast Time," and the crowd went crazy. Fond memories with AG, but I never got to meet Dylan! Boof. "Come gather around people, wherever you roam..." John Allen Cassady
Neat memory, sir! The alley shots are delicious. I used one on my book Text and Drugs and Rock’n’Roll. In many ways the moment the Beats passed the baton to the rockers.
Thanks Simon. And, like you, Meltzer was a skillful interviewer getting to the core of the artists' germinating vision and practices .His "San Francisco Beat:Talking With The Poets" is an invaluable document in bringing the San Francisco Renaissance to a wider audience...And TDRR is certainly the best capsule introduction to Meltzer because it includes not only tales of his youthful glory days, but also the insightful, and necessarily critical analyses of his later years ,as he saw how what he loved and learned became ,in too many cases, degraded and misunderstood.
Share your admiration, as I state, and endorse your recommendation of the SF poet interviews volume: a valuable document indeed. And thank you for your mention of and kind comments re TDRR (that’s my own book Text and Drugs and Rock’n’Roll from 2013 BTW). Cheers, Dave.
This piece sent me to The Meltzer Chronicles in TDRR where you shrewdly say that Meltzer " played an intriguing role as a preemptive matchmaker between the singer (Dylan) and Ginsberg"(p.307)... Of the original Beats ,for all their enthusiasm for Jazz , somewhat younger than the "Big Six"- Kerouac,Ginsberg,Burroughs,Ferlinghetti,Corso,Snyder, only Meltzer could actually playJazz-and Rock, Folk,& Blues,in addition to writing Beat Poetry that stands on its own merits as extremely credible- The only other musicians/poet (besides Dylan himself) who demonstrated an admirable level of mastery in both worlds that I can think of -with all due deference to Ginserg's appealing Harmonium playing- are Jim Carrol and Patti Smith who came along much later...I'm sure there must be others -Leonard Cohen, & Tom Waits are difficult to imagine without Dylan & The Beats-
Thank you, Dave, for those interesting thoughts. You are clearly, like me, an admirer of David Meltzer, a highly talented, versatile and somewhat underrated figure in the Beat pantheon.
I dig that iconic photo of Bob and Allen in the alley next to City Lights Books in San Fransisco. Ginsey is smoking! McClure and even Robbie Robertson are in the frame. Ginsberg and I played at a benefit concert at the Greek Theater in Berkeley for Chet Helms' Avalon Ballroom, me on guitar, and Allen on his harmonium. All my rock star heroes were there, just to meet Allen, of course. I asked Allen, "will Dylan show up to jam with us?" "No, sorry, Johnny. Maybe next time." We openend with a song Allen just made up that he called, "LSD At Breakfast Time," and the crowd went crazy. Fond memories with AG, but I never got to meet Dylan! Boof. "Come gather around people, wherever you roam..." John Allen Cassady
Neat memory, sir! The alley shots are delicious. I used one on my book Text and Drugs and Rock’n’Roll. In many ways the moment the Beats passed the baton to the rockers.
Thank you for this fantastic interview!!
It is a very good interview, isn’t it, Ron – I do agree. Thank you for saying so and I’m also guessing that you perhaps know Nina Z. Is that possible?