Due to the fact that we're still on Ginsberg and Howl in lecture, which I'm totally not complaining about or anything, I felt the need to showcase his punk rock side in the years after the publication of Howl. For starters, "A Supermarket in America" truly did inspire this song from the Clash called "I'm All Lost in the Supermarket" off of (in my opinion) their magnum opus London Calling.
The Clash had been signed to a big boy record label and a lot of fans called them sellouts, even though their albums continued to have some really solid hits. So at one point during their Sandinistas! tour, the band were playing in Times Square and had Ginsberg backstage. As the urban legend goes, apparently straight from Ginsberg's mouth, Joe Strummer invited him on stage to talk smack on American politics, but Ginsberg had written a little anti-authoritarian song instead. So the band and Ginsberg practiced together for five minutes, then performed their impromptu song called "Capital Air," which the Clash later emulates with "Ghetto Defendant." Though this video is again, not an actual movin' pictures sorta clip, here's a nice live recording:
(Don't be fooled by Youtube. There's another video similiar to this that claims to have the Clash backing Ginsberg, but it clearly was not the Clash in that video. Though it's called Poetry in Motion and has some kind words from Ginsberg at the beginning and end of the clip.)
Is it not fitting for a Beat like Ginsberg to expand his musical horizons from jazz to punk rock? Goin' on stage to say whatever is on his mind without going on trial for it? It's pretty great because thirty years after the trial for Howl, Ginsberg likely couldn't fully identify with "I Fought the Law" because HE WON!
Joanna -
ReplyDeleteGreat post. I'm a huge Clash fan, so I may be a little biased, but I'm stoked on hearing Ginsberg and The Clash on-stage together. You've definitely one-upped my "Ballad of the Skeletons" video I shared in class. Thanks for sharing this.
- T
I guess I'm also a little biased for the same reason as Trey but this is a really awesome video and an even more awesome acknowledgement of Beat culture morphing alongside and with popular and underground culture.
ReplyDeleteI also think its really interesting that you brought up the criticism of the Clash becoming 'sellouts'. I often think there is a fine line between being creatively and commercially successful. As an artist, you wish to express your art in a meaningful way, not (always) to gain recognition, but to contribute a little bit of yourself to the growing progression of humanity -- to be remembered in history for what you creatively achieved during your time on earth. I suppose that the other side of that is becoming so successful in yourself that you become blinded. Your creative success turns into something that can be measured in tangible, worldly terms. This could mean making more money or being more commercially recognized. I don't think that this necessarily derails the talent or creativity behind the art but it is interesting to recognize art (in the case of the Clash and, arguably, the Beats) as becoming helplessly commercial and whether this devalues its meaning or credibility, or whether it can be solely read as a marker of popularity and growing recognition.