Portland Coliseum, poem by Allen Ginsberg

PORTLAND COLISEUM
by Allen Ginsberg

A brown piano in diamond
white spotlight
Leviathan auditorium
iron run wired
hanging organs, vox
black battery
A single whistling sound of ten thousand children’s
larynxes asinging
pierce the ears
and following up the belly
bliss the moment arrived
 
Apparition, four brown English
jacket christhair boys
Goofed Ringo battling bright
white drums
Silent George hair patient
Soul horse
Short black-skulled Paul
with the guitar
Lennon the Captain, his mouth
a triangular smile,
all jump together to End
some tearful memory song
ancient-two years,
The million children
the thousand words
bounce in their seats, bash
each other’s sides, press
legs together nervous
Scream again & claphand
become one Animal
in the New World Auditorium
—hands waving myriad
snakes of thought
screetch beyond hearing
 
while a line of police with
folded arms stands
Sentry to contain the red
sweatered ecstasy
that rises upward to the
wired roof.

— August 27, 1965

“Portland Coliseum” by Allen Ginsberg commemorates the Beatles’ appearance in Portland, Oregon, on August 22, 1965. The poem is found in READ THE BEATLES: Classic and New Writing on the Beatles, Their Legacy, and Why They Still Matter (Penguin, 2006), available at Amazon.com.

Photo: The Beatles performing “I’m Down” in Portand, Oregon, on August 22, 1965 (Bob Boris, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED)

Key to the Highway, Poem by Mark Halliday

KEY TO THE HIGHWAY
Mark Halliday

I remember riding somewhere in a fast car

with my brother and his friend Jack Brooks

and we were listening to Layla & Other Love Songs

by Derek & the Dominos. The night was dark,

dark all along the highway. Jack Brooks was 

a pretty funny guy, and I was delighted

by the comradely interplay between him and my brother,

but I tried not to show it for fear of inhibiting them.

I tried to be reserved and maintain a certain

dignity appropriate to my age, older by four years.

They knew the Dominos album well having played the cassette

many times, and they knew how much they liked it.

As we rode on in the dark I felt the music was,

after all, wonderful, and I said so

with as much dignity as possible. “That’s right,”

said my brother. “You’re getting smarter,” said Jack.

We were listening to “Bell Bottom Blues”

at that moment. Later we were listening to

“Key to the Highway,” and I remembered how

my brother said, “Yeah, yeah.” And Jack sang

one of the lines in a way that made me laugh.

I am upset by the fact that that night is so absolutely gone.

No, “upset” is too strong. Or is it.

But that night is so obscure—until now

I may not have thought of that ride once

in eight years—and this obscurity troubles me.

Death is going to defeat us all so easily.

Jack Brooks is in Florida, I believe,

and I may never see him again, which is

more or less all right with me; he and my brother

lost touch some years ago. I wonder

where we were going that night. I don’t know;

but it seemed as if we had the key to the highway.

…from Mark Halliday‘s poetry collection Little Star (William Morrow & Co., 1987), available at Amazon.com.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  Mark Halliday is an American poet, professor and critic. He is author of five collections of poetry, most recently Keep This Forever (Tupelo Press, 2008). His honors include serving as the 1994 poet in residence at The Frost Place, inclusion in several annual editions of The Best American Poetry series and of the Pushcart Prize anthology, receiving a 2006 Guggenheim Fellowship, and winning the 2001 Rome Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Pennies From Heaven, song performed by Billie Holiday

PENNIES FROM HEAVEN
Song by Johnny Burke & Arthur Johnston (1936)

Oh every time it rains

It rains pennies from heaven

Don’t you know each cloud contains

Pennies from heaven

You’ll find your fortune

Fallin’ all over town

Be sure that your umbrella is upside down

Trade them for a package of sunshine and flowers

It you want the things you love

You must have showers

So when you hear it thunder

Don’t run under a tree

There’ll be pennies from heaven

For you and me

…“Pennies from Heaven” was one of jazz-great Billie Holiday‘s signature songs. Listen to Lady Day (1915-1959) sing the tune at youtube.com.

Illustration: Portrait of Billie Holiday by Derrick “Vito” Hollowell. Prints available at etsy.com.

Record Release Show: David Dondero Golden Hits Vol. 1

Come one, come all — if you are in the San Francisco, California, environs or plan to visit — to the David Dondero Record Release Show on June 5, 2013 (it’s free!). If you haven’t heard of singer/ songwriter/ guitarist David Dondero — like Bob Dylan, a native of Duluth, Minnesota, and like Dylan named one of the “Best Living Songwriters” by National Public Radio‘s Robin Hilton, who called Dondero “a brilliant artist” — do yourself a favor and check out this amazing performer/poet.

If you’re a fan of Tom Waits, Daniel Johnston, and other original bard/troubadours, you’ll  feel as if you’ve discovered a new planet in the indy folk/rock universe when you start to listen to David Dondero. Check out “#Zero with a Bullet” at youtube.com.

WHAT: David Dondero Record Release Show for Golden Hits Vol. 1

WHO: David Dondero with special guests Tom Heyman and Rymodee

WHEN: Wednesday, June 5, 2013, 8 p.m.

WHERE: Rite Spot Cafe, 2099 Folsom St. (at 17th St.) San Francisco, California, 94110

MORE INFORMATION: davedondero.com or unrequitedrecords.com

David Dondero‘s lyrics will appear in the upcoming Silver Birch Press Summer Anthology — available in June 2013. Stay tuned for more information.

Ode to Joy, music by Beethoven, lyrics by Schiller

On this Memorial Day morning, I woke up to the child next door practicing the “Ode to Joy” section of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony on the piano, with a crow sitting in the lemon tree outside the building singing along with the music. As the junior pianist repeated passages over and over, ending in the middle and beginning again, I felt privileged that life was reminding me to recognize and appreciate joy.

So this post is my way of sharing a joyous moment — and wishing the same for all of you.

Beethoven based the “Ode to Joy” chorale on a poem written by Friedrich von Schiller in 1785. While much of the language is obscure by today’s standards, suffice it to say the verses address Joy as a goddess and cite her accomplishments and attributes. Here are some excerpts (English translation from German).

TO JOY (Excerpts)
by Friedrich von Schiller

Joy, beautiful sparkle of the gods,
Daughter of Elysium,
We enter, fire-drunk,
Heavenly one, your shrine.
Your magics bind again
What custom has strictly parted…

Joy is the name of the strong spring
In eternal nature.
Joy, joy drives the wheels
In the great clock of worlds.
She lures flowers from the buds,
Suns out of the firmament,
She rolls spheres in the spaces
That the seer’s telescope does not know.

###

Read the entire poem at wikisource.org.

Listen to Leonard Bernstein conduct the Vienna Philharmonic in the “Ode to Joy” chorale of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at youtube.com — beautiful!

Illustration: “Crow in a Lemon Tree,” giclee archival art print by Lynnette Shelley. Find the print at etsy.com. Visit Lynnette Shelley‘s etsy.com store and view more of her beautiful artwork — including whimsical, original depictions of animals.

The Desert, Poem by Jim Morrison

THE DESERT
by Jim Morrison

The Desert
    –roseate metallic blue
    & insect green

    blank mirrors &
    pools of silver

    a universe in
    one body

###

“The Desert” appears in THE AMERICAN NIGHT: The Writings of Jim Morrison, Volume 2 (Vintage, 1991)

Photo: Jim Morrison in the desert, late 1960s.

Reading and Growing, Quote by Keith Richards

“We age not by holding on to youth, but by letting ourselves grow and embracing whatever youthful parts that remain.” KEITH RICHARDS

PHOTO: Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards reads by the fire at his Weston, Connecticut, home in September 1977. Known as one of the most iconic rock musicians, Richards is an avid reader who owns an extensive library. Photo by Ken Regan, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

We wrote a previous post about Keith Richards‘ home library, love of books and reading, and one-time desire to become a librarian. In the above photo from September 1977, Richards is reading a magazine with a three-column format that I’d guess is a copy of the NEW YORKER. 

Illustration: Cover of New Yorker magazine, September 19, 1977.

Elvis Presley Reads on the Train, 1956

“Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him.”

MAYA ANGELOU

Photo: Elvis Presley reading ARCHIE comic book on train (July 4, 1956) by Alfred Wertheimer, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Elvis Presley started his phenomenal career in 1954, and two years later had his first number-one hit, “Heartbreak Hotel.” RCA released the record  in January 1956, but a few months later, it appears, Elvis was still able to travel by train without getting mobbed. In the photo above, the soon-to-be-icon relaxes with his favorite reading material, an ARCHIE comic.

I am in no way criticizing Elvis’s taste in reading material — in my younger years, I, too, read ARCHIE comics during my annual train journey from Chicago to St. Louis to visit relatives. (For the record, I identified with Betty, not Veronica.) And I will agree with the Maya Angelou quote at the top of the post — reading comics did help me form a habit of reading.

But there’s a whole other subcategory here — reading material suitable for trains, buses, and planes. Of course, with all the distractions and interruptions during public journeying, you want to read something easy to follow — so why not an ARCHIE comic, even for someone Elvis’s age (he was 21 when the top photo was shot)?

Illustration: Cover of ARCHIE comic. May-June 1956 issue.

The Rolling Stones 50 & Counting Tour

The Rolling Stones kick off their “50 & Counting…” tour tonight (May 3, 2013) at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. After gigs in Anaheim and Northern California, they’ll be back on May 20. There’s been a lot of buzz and excitement in L.A. over the Stones’ tour — especially after they played a last-minute gig on April 27 at a small venue in Echo Park.

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards both turn 70 this year, Charlie Watts turns 72 in June, and youngster Ronnie Wood is 65. These rockers continue to inspire with their creativity, passion, and stamina.

As writers, Jagger and Richards are geniuses — how else to explain their endless stream of remarkable compositions?

Richards talks about songwriting in his autobiography LIFE (Little, Brown, 2010). Here’s a quote:

What is it that makes you want to write songs? In a way you want to stretch yourself into other people’s hearts. You want to plant yourself there, or at least get a resonance, where other people become a bigger instrument than the one you’re playing. It becomes almost an obsession to touch other people. To write a song that is remembered and taken to heart is a connection, a touching of bases. A thread that runs through all of us. A stab to the heart. Sometimes I think songwriting is about tightening the heartstrings as much as possible without bringing on a heart attack.” 

I was lucky enough to attend Stones’ concerts in Chicago a couple of times, but for the “50 & Counting…” appearances at the Staples Center the “cheapest” seat price, with limited availability, is $85. No matter. I won’t complain about the prices — because the Stones are worth every penny. If you can afford it (and even if you can’t) — go!  This is a once in a lifetime chance to see the greatest band in the world on what may be its final tour.

For ticket information and tour dates, visit ticketnetwork.com.

Subway Rush Hour, Poem by Langston Hughes

A few days ago, I said, “I’m gonna pop some tags” (to quote “Thrift Shop,” a humorous/profane song by blond rapper Macklemore — a tune with over 250 million views on youtube), so I went to my local Goodwill store and for $2.99 snagged a pristine copy of POEMS OF NEW YORK (Everyman’s Library, 2002), a collection of 125 poems about Gotham’s many facets. 

Here’s a poem from the anthology — part of the Everyman Library’s Pocket Poet Series — a beautiful hardcover book, with gorgeous photos on the dust jacket, and a threaded gold bookmark.

SUBWAY RUSH HOUR
by Langston Hughes

Mingled
breath and smell
so close
mingled
black and white
so near
no room for fear. 

###

So pay a visit to your local thrift shop this week — most of these operations benefit worthy causes — and pop some tags. You never know what you’ll find.