He was the leading light of the Beat Generation writers and the most dynamic author of his time, but Jack Kerouac also had a lifelong passion for music, particularly the mid-century jazz of New York City, the development of which he witnessed first-hand during the 1940s with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk to the fore. The novelist, most famous for his 1957 book On the Road, admired the sounds of bebop and attempted to bring something of their original energy to his own writing, a torrent of semi-autobiographical stories he published between 1950 and his early death in 1969. Yet he was also drawn to American popular music of all kinds - from the blues to Broadway ballads - and when he came to record albums under his own name, he married his unique spoken word style with some of the most talented musicians on the scene.Kerouac's musical legacy goes well beyond the studio recordings he made himself: his influence infused generations of music makers who followed in his work - from singer-songwriters to rock bands. Some of the greatest transatlantic names - Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead, Van Morrison and David Bowie, Janis Joplin and Tom Waits, Sonic Youth and Death Cab for Cutie, and many more - credited Kerouac's impact on their output. In Kerouac on Record, we consider how the writer brought his passion for jazz to his prose and poetry, his own record releases, the ways his legacy has been sustained by numerous more recent talents, those rock tributes that have kept his memory alive and some of the scores that have featured in Hollywood adaptations of the adventures he brought to the printed page.

An entrée to major artists who have been involved with Kerouac and recordings, secured by co-authors Jim Sampas, who is both a leading record and film producer and also the nephew of the late novelist

AcknowledgementsPermissionsForewordIntroduction Simon Warner1. Jack Kerouac's Jazz Scene Jim Burns2. 2nd Chorus: Blues: Jack Kerouac Larry Beckett3. Duet for Saxophone and Pen: Lee Konitz and the Direct Influence of Jazz on the Development of Jack Kerouac's 'Spontaneous Prose' Style Marian JagoInterview 1: Lee Konitz Marian Jago4. Jack Kerouac Goes Vinyl: A Sonic Journey into Kerouac's Three LPs: Poetry for the Beat Generation; Blues and Haikus; and Readings by Jack Kerouac on the Beat Generation Jonah Raskin5. Art Music: Listening to Kerouac's 'Mexico City Blues' A. Robert LeeInterview 2: David Amram Pat Thomas6. Beat Refrains: Music, Milieu and Identity in Jack Kerouac's The Subterraneans, the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Film Adaptation Michael Prince7. Bob Dylan's Beat Visions (Sonic Poetry) Michael Goldberg8. Carrying a Torch for Ti Jean Paul MarionInterview 3: Richard Meltzer Michael Goldberg9. The Grateful Dead: Jack Manifested as Music Brian Hassett10. Driver Mark Bliesener11. Jim Morrison/Angel of Fire Jay Jeff Jones12. Light is Faster than Sound: Texans, the Beats and the San Francisco Counterculture Holly George-Warren13. Hit the Road, Jack: Van Morrison and On the Road Peter Mills14. Detecting Jack Kerouac and Joni Mitchell: A Literary/Legal (Not Musicological) Investigation into the Search for Influence Nancy Grace15. Kerouac and Country Music Matt Theado16. 'Straight from the Mind to the Voice': Spectral Persistence in Jack Kerouac and Tom Waits Douglas FieldInterview 4: Barney Hoskyns Simon Warner17. From Beat Bop Prosody to Punk Rock Poetry: Patti Smith and Jack Kerouac; Literature, Lineage, Legacy Ronna JohnsonPoems: Marc ZegansInterview 6: Allen Ginsberg Pat Thomas18. Tramps Like Them: Jack and Bruce and the Myth of the American Road Simon MorrisonInterview 5: Graham Parker Pat Thomas19. Punk and New Wave James SullivanInterview 7: Jim DeRogatis on Lester Bangs James Sullivan20. The Tribute Recordings Jim Sampas and Simon WarnerAppendix I: Jack Kerouac BiographyAppendix II: Jack Kerouac Discography Dave MooreAppendix III: Tribute DiscographyAppendix IV: Kerouac/Cassady Song List Dave Moore/Horst SpandlerNotes on ContributorsIndex