O yea verily the Black Beats enigmatic and exotic and assimilation into as Michal McClure related to me at thr beat poets crib in Haight Ashbury: the Black Bests & talent were assimilated into a Beat Beat Generation of mostly white poets
Reading Another Country turned me on to Bessie Smith . It seemed that the characters in the novel were always listening to Bessie Smith . Naturally I wanted to hear her music. There was a record store right next to the Apollo Theater-where I went to frequently from 62-64- so I walked in and asked fora Bessie Smith record. I was shocked when the proprietor told me that he'd never heard of her. Luckily at 42nd St's King-Karol records they had all 4 Columbia albums.It always seemed to me that Classical Black Music -Jazz,Blues,& Gospel, was fundamental to Baldwin. The beats ,hippies, and Punks who dismiss -can't or won't listen to the classic gospel quartets because of the manifest content of the music ,have always seemed to me to be missing out on a crucial expression of the Black Soul. Anthony Halibut's The Gospel Sound which James Baldwin praised to the skies -is still the great introductory guide as far as I know... Baldwin's writing has always paid homage to Black music in a far more complete sense than Kerouac's or Ginsberg's-not that they're in competition.
How intriguing that Baldwin led you to Bessie Smith and that, for you, he had a feel for the power and meaning of music which was even greater than the key Beats.
O yea verily the Black Beats enigmatic and exotic and assimilation into as Michal McClure related to me at thr beat poets crib in Haight Ashbury: the Black Bests & talent were assimilated into a Beat Beat Generation of mostly white poets
Reading Another Country turned me on to Bessie Smith . It seemed that the characters in the novel were always listening to Bessie Smith . Naturally I wanted to hear her music. There was a record store right next to the Apollo Theater-where I went to frequently from 62-64- so I walked in and asked fora Bessie Smith record. I was shocked when the proprietor told me that he'd never heard of her. Luckily at 42nd St's King-Karol records they had all 4 Columbia albums.It always seemed to me that Classical Black Music -Jazz,Blues,& Gospel, was fundamental to Baldwin. The beats ,hippies, and Punks who dismiss -can't or won't listen to the classic gospel quartets because of the manifest content of the music ,have always seemed to me to be missing out on a crucial expression of the Black Soul. Anthony Halibut's The Gospel Sound which James Baldwin praised to the skies -is still the great introductory guide as far as I know... Baldwin's writing has always paid homage to Black music in a far more complete sense than Kerouac's or Ginsberg's-not that they're in competition.
How intriguing that Baldwin led you to Bessie Smith and that, for you, he had a feel for the power and meaning of music which was even greater than the key Beats.
great intro, great interview! well done. thank you, Kirpal
Thank you, Kirpal.