A Tribute in Words, Music & Voices

Now and then a CD gets better the more you listen. Such is the case with Kicks Joy Darkness, a tribute to Jack Kerouac. It was released in 1997, but I recently rediscovered it and put it in my car so I could listen again. I'm glad I did.



The CD is a tribute in words, music and voices to one of the greatest writers of our time. Here, his work is interpreted by a diverse range of talents, including actor Matt Dillon, Morphine, Michael Stipe, the awesome band Come, and Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, as well as Jack's contemporaries Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Allen Ginsberg.



The best two tracks are "Dream: "Us Kids Swim off a Gray Pier" by Tyler, who does a phenomenal job of evoking Jack's images of summer through spoken word, and "MacDougal Street Blues," which is Jack's own voice backed by the late great Joe Strummer on electronic beat and keyboards. It's nothing short of sublime.



I like Jack's work because he seems to be a reluctant hero, which is what he was. Once his "On the Road" was reviewed by the New York Times in 1957, he was touted as The Next Big Thing and the spokesperson of a generation (the Beat generation for sure). And sort of like Kurt Cobain in the Nineties, who was also given the role of spokesperson of a generation against his will, Jack resisted. He never wanted to be anything but a writer, so fame ate him up and overshadowed the very thing that had catapulted him to the forefront in the first place - his talent.



My only complaint about this CD is that none of Jack's novels (his best work) are represented here, which is why I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 5. I recommend picking up this CD as it's definitely worth a listen.

Esoteric performances in the name of Jack.

I bought this as a budding Kerouac fan and also for the appearances by Michael Stipe and Eddie Vedder, and ended up quite liking most of it. The poem that Michael recites, "My Gang", is probably my alltime favorite Kerouac poem and to hear it read by my favorite singer makes it sublime. However, all of the performances here are unique and have something quite transcendent.

There's Lydia Lunch's unsettling and voyeuristic "Bowery Blues" reading, Maggie Estep & The Spitters' dark interpretation of "Skid Row Wine", Johnny Depp & Come's hypnotic and monotone presentation of an excerpt from "Visions of Cody", the Patti Smith/Thurston Moore/Lenny Kaye folk song rendition of "The Last Hotel", Matt Dillon et. al doing a very brooding take on "Mexican Lonliness", and Inger Lorre and the dearly departed Jeff Buckley doing a psychedelic feedback-laden meditation on "Angel Mine" just to name a few.

These performances make Kerouac's work come to life in a truly recondite fashion. This will please the Kerouac fan and bring out the beatnik in all of us.

No, no suicide, wine please, wine...

A well chosen and diverse mix of musicians, poets and writers contribute intimate interpretations of Kerouac's poetry. Haunting, graceful, raw and humorous, a brilliant album highly recommended. Special hilights-Hunter S Thompson's gonzo "Ode to Jack," Morphine's smoky "Kerouac," and Maggie Estep & the Spitters aggressive "Skid Row Wine." Jack himself is heard to a house beat by Joe Strummer on "Macdougal St Blues." One of a kind.