Inspiration for the art work for the new Bob Dylan release, “False Prophet” – Maxwell Grant (Walter B Gibson)’s “The Shadow” (Dylan, last week, announced the release next month (on June 19) of a new album, “Rough and Rowdy Ways” (the title, a tip of the hat to this Jimmie Rodgers song – and the song (“False Prophet”), a tip of the hat (more than a tip of the hat!) to this!). Allen would’ve been pleased, (heck, likely as not, Allen would’ve badgered Bob, and listened to the completed album already!)
“Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows.”
“Who has ever stopped to think of the divinity of Lamont Cranston?/(Only Jack Kerouac, that I know of – & me” (writes Amiri Baraka (as Leroi Jones) in his early (1961) poem “In Memory of Radio“)
The Shadow (Lamont Cranston) (both in print, and, most especially, breathlessly listened to coming out of the radio) plays a pivotal part in Beat lore –
There’s, notably, Allen’s 1949 lyric, “The Shrouded Stranger”
Check out this exchange (from a Naropa class discussion, from 1980)
Student: (So it wasn’t contemporaneously published?)
AG: No this was published in 1972.
Student: I heard (Bob) Dylan might have helped with that
AG: I don’t know. I loaned it to somebody who… way back when.. who just circulated it around. I remember I took it to England, and brought it back, and then I don’t know how it got (to).. a friend, Lizzie Lehrman, and she just circulated it.. I just showed it to people, in 1953 (’51? ’52?) And (then) I lost it, the manuscript, actually. And I didn’t have a duplicate. And. somehow or other, it wound up in (Bob) Dylan’s hands, in 1967 (that’s right, that’s the reason it wasn’t published earlier, I didn’t have a copy).
The Shadow is also, of course, at the very heart of Kerouac’s Doctor Sax – see here (and also here) – and, most definitely, here
“Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?”
More Michael McClure – We neglected last week to mention Colin Still‘s extraordinary recordings – Check out a wonderful trove of videos – here – (and Rockdrill 9 (Ghost Tantras) and Rockdrill 10 (Rebel Lions), audio recordings, CD retrospectives (alongside a host more McClure recordings from other sources) – here. Much of the video footage comes from Colin’s 2011 full-length documentary Abstract Alchemist of Flesh (for more on that documentary – see here)
& more memories of Michael – Rebecca Solnit – here, Tosh Berman – here
– and here’s Jonah Raskin
Bernadette Mayer’s 75th birthday this past Tuesday, the irrepressible Bernadette Mayer! – Here‘s her famous collection of writing experiments. Here’s her PennSound page. Here’s a three-part 2014 interview with her – here, here and here
& Remembering rock ‘n roll legend Little Richard, Here’s Bob Dylan’s awed assessment – (“My shining star and guiding light”) – Awopbopaloobop alopbamboom! – R.I.P. Richard Penniman
Happy Birthday Wavy Gravy (Hugh Nanton Romney Jr.), 84 years old today