Jack Kerouac - 100 Years of Beatitude / 2CD set

2022 CD collection. Bear Family Records tribute to Jack Kerouac on the occasion of his 100th birthday in March 2022. Jack Kerouac, who along with Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs formed the core cell of the Beat Generation. The beatniks, as representatives of pop literature, listened to a wide range of specific styles of music; we have compiled 52 songs and historical audio documents from 1946 to 1963, from the core of the beatnik era.

    Be Bop Jazz as the favorite music of the Beat Generation is featured with Chet Baker, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and others, as well as 'Word Jazz', the combination of jazz and beatnik poetry, such as by Oscar Brown, Jr., Don Morrow and of course Jack Kerouac himself with Steve Allen!
    Contemporary pop music and rock 'n' roll around the beatnik subject are also represented, including satirical novelty numbers.
    Featuring Big Jay McNeely, Babs Gonzales and others, rhythm 'n' blues is essential as a bridge between beatnik jazz and rock 'n' roll!
    Historical sound documents, such as a Jack Kerouac reading, an interview, or the Allen Ginsberg recitation, round out the sound picture!
    Two readings from the movie 'High School Confidential', which appeared on an MGM single in 1958, are here on CD for the first time!
    And sounds from the 1959 film 'The Beat Generation'!
    The colorful 36-page booklet contains rare photos and memorabilia as well as the history of the Beat Generation and its music, written by a connoisseur of the Beatnik scene, Roland Heinrich Rumtreiber!

Jack Kerouac
On March 12, 2022, Jack Kerouac would have celebrated his 100th birthday, reason enough to remember him and his companions with a unique compilation! Kerouac is, together with Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs the nucleus of the Beat Generation, the Beatniks, who from the late 1940s, across the Fifties, until the mid-Sixties acted mainly in California. Their type of pop literature was revolutionary at the time, like rock'n'roll in music. This compilation offers a great selection of unique recordings on this double CD.

The Beat Generation
A lot of rare recordings, some for the first time on CD! Including both sides of an MGM single, which was released for the movie 'High School Confidential', in which among others Jerry Lee Lewis participated. The title song of the film 'The Beat Generation' by Louis Armstrong is here, as is the version by Mamie Van Doren not used in the film. With artists such as Chet Baker, Ken Nordine, Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny Clarke, Slim Gaillard and Charlie Parker, beatnik jazz is well represented, while Perry Como, Edd Byrnes, Barbara Evans and others cover the pop/easy listening area. With Louis Nye, drummer Jimmy Van Eaton, Patsy Raye & The Beatniks and others, the dose of rock'n'roll is also guaranteed.

That the Beatnik wave also reached Europe which is proven by the British recordings of John Barry and Adam Faith for the film 'Beat Girl'. However, the music industry of the time tried to make fun of the Beat Generation with countless novelty recordings. With Bob McFadden & Dor, Johnny Beeman, Joe Hall & The Corvettes and others, we have integrated the best recordings. Bridging the gap between be bop/beatnik jazz to rock 'n' roll is rhythm & blues by Big Jay McNeely, Paul Gayten, Babs Gonzales and others. There are also examples of beatnick poetry on historic audio documents, such as readings by Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, TV recordings by Carl Sandburg, Ben Hecht and Kerouac, and the combination of poetry and music, 'word jazz', such as by Don Morrow, Ken Nordine, Shel Silverstein, Lenny Bruce and Jack Kerouac with Steve Allen on piano!

The 2-CD digisleeve includes a 36-page color booklet with many rare photos and nostalgic illustrations, as well as an accompanying text written by Roland Heinrich Rumtreiber