Composition
Jack Kerouac had released Poetry for the Beat Generation and Blues and Haikus (1959) following the publication of The Dharma Bums. Both albums featured jazz-based acommpaniment, however, for Readings by Jack Kerouac on the Beat Generation, Kerouac had decided to record the album solely in spoken word. Despite the musical acommpaniment, biographer Gerald Nicosia stated that "the musicality of Kerouac's art is best exemplified by the Readings album."
Several readings on the album are from several of Kerouac's written works. The opening track, "San Francisco Scene (The Beat Generation)," is read from extracts of Desolation Angels. Extracts from the eponymous novel The Subterraneans and poetry collection San Francisco Blues are also featured. "Visions of Neal" features extracts from the original drafts of Kerouac's most notable novel On the Road.
Read more about this topic: Readings By Jack Kerouac On The Beat Generation
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