Kerouac: Kicks Joy Darkness

Kerouac: Kicks Joy Darkness is a 1997 spoken word tribute album performed by various artists in tribute to late beat poet Jack Kerouac. Kerouac died at the age of 47 from cirrhosis of the liver, brought on by excessive alcohol consumption . The star-filled album features performances of Kerouac's work often backed to music. The music is of a variety of styles due to the large amount of performers contributing to the album. Notable performers include: Michael Stipe, Allen Ginsberg, Hunter S. Thompson, Johnny Depp and Patti Smith amongst others. Ginsberg's performance of "The Brooklyn Bridge Blues" is missing the final tenth chorus. This was due to a faxing machine error which stuck the last pages together when Ginsberg was faxed the lyrics. The final chorus is read by Eric Andersen instead, recorded on a DAT recorder from the Brooklyn Bridge.