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Text and Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll

Page 65

by Simon Warner

So what might we make of the soundtrack as an entity? It is a production that eschews the predictable devices and skips the cliches: it could after all have simply drawn on the existing cues in the novel as its main template. Instead it uses some of those hooks but finds others and, if it doesn’t entirely respect historical accuracy at all times, that is perhaps a pedantic reflection we can rise above.

  Ultimately, I feel this album melds its own impressionistic, indeed plausible, portrait of the excitements and temptations, the rigours and the regrets, of these restless travellers and in Gustavo Santaolalla’s original score – an eclectic and engaging affair which draws on different tempos and textures and a sonic palette that is far from predictable – possesses a set of sensitive tone poems to which we can, and will, return.

  On the Road – the novel Songs, artists, recordings and performances mentioned in the 1957 book On the Road – the movie soundtrack The 2012 album track listing

  Charlie Parker – ‘Ornithology’

  Miles Davis

  Lionel Hampton – ‘Central Avenue’

  ‘Breakdown’

  Billie Holiday – ‘Lover Man’

  ‘Blue Skies’

  ‘A Fine Romance’

  George Shearing

  ‘Slow Boat to China’

  Slim Gaillard – ‘Cement Mixer’

  Slim Gaillard – ‘C-Jam Blues’

  Freddy Strong – ‘Close Your Eyes’

  Dizzy Gillespie & Charlie Parker – ‘Congo Blues’

  Willis Jackson – ‘‘Gator Tail’

  Lester Young

  Wynonie Harris – ‘I Like My Baby’s Pudding’

  Perez Prado – ‘More Mambo Jambo’

  Perez Prado – ‘Mambo de Chattanooga’

  Perez Prado – ‘Mambo Numero Ocho’

  Duke Ellington

  Greg Kramer – ‘Sweet Sixteen’

  ‘Roman Candles’ (Gustavo Santaolalla)

  Coati Mundi – ‘Yep Roc Heresy’

  ‘Reminiscence’ (Gustavo Santaolalla)

  ‘Lovin’ IT’ (Gustavo Santaolalla)

  ‘The Open Road’ (Gustavo Santaolalla)

  ‘Memories/Up to Speed’ (Gustavo Santaolalla)

  Ella Fitzgerald – ‘I’ve Got the World on a String’

  ‘That’s IT’ (Gustavo Santaolalla)

  ‘Keep it Rollin’’ (Gustavo Santaolalla)

  Slim Gaillard – ‘Hit That Jive Jack’

  ‘God Is Pooh Bear’ (Gustavo Santaolalla)

  Son House – ‘Death Letter Blues’

  ‘I Think of Dean’ (Gustavo Santaolalla)

  Jack Kerouac – ‘On the Road’

  Notes

  1The film received its UK premiere on 12 October 2012 and debuted in the US on 21 December 2012. See Simon Warner, ‘On the Road: Words beat pictures despite Salles’ best intentions’, Beatnicity, 20 October 2012, http://beatnicity.com/2012/10/20/on-the-road-words-beat-pictures-despite-salles-best-intentions/ [Accessed 16 December 2012].

  APPENDIX

  Kerouac and Cassady on record

  Compiled by Dave Moore and Horst Spandler

  A list of recordings which relate to Jack Kerouac and/or Neal Cassady.

  The qualification for inclusion is that the item must either refer directly to Kerouac or Cassady, or quote from their work.

  ARTIST TRACK TITLE DATE JACK/NEAL ALBUM (if any)

  Dizzy Gillespie

  ‘Kerouac’ (improvisation on ‘Exactly Like You’, named in 1953)

  1941

  Jack

  The Harlem Jazz Scene –1941

  Allen Ginsberg

  ‘The Green Automobile’

  1954

  Neal

  Holy Soul Jelly Roll

  Allen Ginsberg

  ‘Howl’ (for Carl Solomon)

  1956

  Neal

  Holy Soul Jelly Roll

  Allen Ginsberg

  ‘Sunflower Sutra’

  1956

  Jack

  Holy Soul Jelly Roll

  Ella Fitzgerald

  ‘Like Young’

  1959

  Jack

  Get Happy

  The Nervous Set cast

  ‘Fun Life’

  1959

  Jack

  The Nervous Set

  Lenny Bruce, Steve Allen

  ‘All Alone’

  1959

  Jack

  Swear to Tell the Truth (movie soundtrack)

  André Previn

  The Subterraneans (movie soundtrack)

  1960

  Jack

  The Subterraneans

  André Previn

  ‘Like Blue/Blue Subterranean’ (from The Subterraneans movie)

  1960

  Jack

  Like Blue

  Linda Lawson

  ‘Like Young’

  1960

  Jack

  Introducing Linda Lawson

  Don Morrow

  ‘Kerouazy’

  1961

  Jack

  Grimm’s Hip Fairy Tales

  Perry Como

  ‘Like Young’

  1961

  Jack

  For the Young at Heart

  Charles Laughton

  The Dharma Bums (extract)

  1962

  Jack

  The Story-Teller

  The Barrow Poets

  Mexico City Blues (104th Chorus)

  1963

  Jack

  An Entertainment of Poetry & Music

  Paul Simon

  ‘A Simple Desultory Philippic’

  1965

  Jack

  The Paul Simon Song Book

  David Amram

  ‘Summer in the West’ (from Lonesome Traveller)

  1965

  Jack

  A Year in Our Land

  Bob Dylan

  ‘Desolaion Row’

  1965

  Jack

  Highway 61 Revisited

  Bob Dylan

  ‘Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues’

  1965

  Jack

  Highway 61 Revisited

  Eric von Schmidt

  ‘Lolita’

  1967

  Jack

  Take a Trip with Me

  Paul Jones

  ‘Tarzan, etc. …’

  1967

  Jack

  Love Me, Love My Friends

  Joki Freund Quintett & Harald Leipnitz

  ‘Mordsspektakel’

  1967

  Jack

  Amerika (Europa?) – Ich Rede Dich An!

  Joki Freund Quintett

  ‘Charlie Parker’ (240th Chorus)

  1967

  Jack

  Amerika (Europa?) – Ich Rede Dich An!

  Grateful Dead

  ‘That’s it for the Other One’

  1968

  Neal

  Anthem of the Sun

  Four Jacks And A Jill

  ‘Master Jack’

  1968

  Jack

  Jukebox Hits Of 1968, Vol. 2

  David Amram, Lynn Sheffield

  ‘Pull My Daisy’

  1971

  Jack

  No More Walls

  Allen Ginsberg

  ‘On Neal’s Ashes’

  1971

  Neal

  Holy Soul Jelly Roll

  Michel Corringe

  ‘Kerouac Jack’

  1971

  Jack

  En Public

  Bob Weir

  ‘Cassidy’

  1972

  Neal

  Ace

  Aztec Two-Step

  ‘The Persecution & Restoration of Dean Moriarty’

  1972

  Jack and Neal

  Aztec Two-Step

  David Amram

  ‘East and West’

  1973

  Jack

  Subway Night

  David Amram

  ‘The
Fabulous Fifties’

  1973

  Jack

  Subway Night

  Gary Farr

  ‘Mexican Sun (?)’

  1973

  Jack

  Addressed to the Censors of Love

  Road

  ‘Come Back Jack Kerouac’

  1973

  Jack

  Road

  Mott the Hoople

  ‘The Wheel of the Quivering Meat Conception’

  1974

  Jack

  Brain Capers

  Willie Alexander

  ‘Kerouac’

  1975

  Jack

  Willie Loco Boom Boom Ga Ga

  Doobie Brothers

  ‘Neal’s Fandango’

  1975

  Neal

  Stampede

  Al Stewart

  ‘Modern Times’

  1975

  Jack

  Modern Times

  Jethro Tull

  ‘From a Dead Beat to an Old Greaser’

  1976

  Jack

  Too Old to Rock ‘n’ roll

  David Amram

  ‘Pull My Daisy’ (live)

  1976

  Jack

  Summer Nights, Winter Rain

  Willie Alexander

  ‘Kerouac’

  1976

  Jack

  Live at The Rat

  Tom Waits

  ‘Jack & Neal’

  1977

  Jack and Neal

  Foreign Affairs

  Willie Alexander

  ‘Kerouac’

  1978

  Jack

  Willie Alexander & the Boom-Boom Band

  Sylvain Lelièvre

  ‘Kerouac’

  1978

  Jack

  Sylvain Lelièvre

  Pataphonie

  ‘Kerouac’ (instrumental)

  1978

  Jack

  Le Matin Blanc

  The Cooper Brothers

  ‘Old Angel Midnight’

  1978

  Jack

  The Dream Never Dies

  Jack Nitzsche

  Heart Beat (movie soundtrack)

  1979

  Jack and Neal

  Heart Beat

  Dexy’s Midnight Runners

  ‘There, There, My Dear’

  1980

  Jack

  Searching for the Young Soul Rebels

  Allen Ginsberg

  ‘The Shrouded Stranger’

  1980

  Jack

  In Wuppertal: Poems & Songs

  Allen Ginsberg

  ‘Pull My Daisy’

  1980

  Jack and Neal

  In Wuppertal: Poems & Songs

  Allen Ginsberg

  ‘Prayer Blues: For John Lennon’

  1980

  Jack

  In Wuppertal: Poems & Songs

  Allen Ginsberg

  ‘Howl’ (incl. ‘Footnote to Howl’)

  1980

  Jack and Neal

  In Wuppertal: Poems & Songs

  Grateful Dead

  ‘Cassidy’

  1981

  Neal

  Reckoning

  Godley & Creme

  ‘Snack Attack’

  1981

  Jack

  Ismism

  Ramblin’ Jack Elliott

  ‘912 Greens’

  1981

  Jack

  Kerouac’s Last Dream

  Mark Murphy

  ‘Parker’s Mood (including The Subterraneans extract)

  1981

  Jack

  Bop for Kerouac

  Mark Murphy

  ‘Ballad of the Sad Young Men’ (including On the Road extract)

  1981

  Jack and Neal

  Bop for Kerouac

  Emil Mangelsdorff Quartett

  ‘Blues for Allen (i.e. Allen Ginsberg’s ‘Footnote to Howl’)

  1981

  Jack and Neal

  Das Geheul

  Emil Mangelsdorff Quartett

  ‘Rosengärten’ (excerpt from Ginsberg’s ‘Howl’)

  1981

  Neal

  Das Geheul

  Van Morrison

  ‘Cleaning Windows’

  1982

  Jack

  Beautiful Vision

  David Amram

  ‘This Song’s for You, Jack’

  1982

  Jack

  This Song for Jack (movie soundtrack)

  King Crimson

  ‘Neal and Jack and Me’

  1982

  Jack and Neal

  Beat

  Wah!

  ‘The Story of the Blues – Part 2’

  1982

  Jack

  The Way We Wah!

  Blue Oyster Cult

  ‘Burnin’ for You’

  1982

  Jack

  E.T.I.

  Charlélie Couture

  ‘La Route (Oui Mais Kérouac est Mort)’

  1982

  Jack

  Quoi Faire

  David J.

  ‘With the Indians Permanent’

  1983

  Jack and Neal

  Etiquette of Violence

  Graham Parker

  ‘Sounds Like Chains’

  1983

  Jack

  The Real Macaw

  Steve Tilston

  ‘B Movie’

  1983

  Jack

  In for a Penny…In for a Pound

  The Smiths

  ‘Pretty Girls Make Graves’

  1984

  Jack

  The Smiths

  The Icicle Works

  ‘When it all Comes Down’

  1985

  Jack

  Seven Singles Deep

  The Long Ryders

  ‘Southside of the Story’

  1985

  Jack and Neal

  Looking for Lewis & Clark (10’’ single)

  Van Morrison

  ‘Cleaning Windows’

  1985

  Jack

  Live at Grand Opera House Belfast

  Bob Dylan

  ‘Somethng’s Burning, Baby’

  1985

  Jack

  Empire Burlesque

  King Crimson

  ‘Neal and Jack and Me’ (live)

  1985

  Jack and Neal

  The Noise-Frejus 82

  It’s Immaterial

  ‘Driving Away from Home’ (Dead Man’s Curve mix)

  1986

  Jack

  Ed’s Funky Diner (12’’ single)

  Minor Characters

  ‘1972’

  1986

  Jack

  Minor Characters (7’’ EP)

  Andy Summers

  ‘Search for Kerouac’ (instrumental)

  1986

  Jack

  Down and Out in Beverly Hills

  David Carradine

  Reading from On the Road

  1986

  Jack and Neal

  On the Road (double cassette)

  East Buffalo Media Association

  ‘Sea’ (from Big Sur)

  1986

  Jack

  Sea

  East Buffalo Media Association

  ‘Mantra for Kerouac’

  1986

  Jack

  Sea

  Jesse Garon & the Desperadoes

  ‘The Rain Fell Down’

  1986

  Jack

  A Cabinet of Curiosities

  The Go-Betweens

  ‘The House That Jack Kerouac Built’

  1987

  Jack

  Tallulah

  Marillion

  ‘Torch Song’

  1987

  Jack

  Clutching at Straws

  10,000 Maniacs

  ‘Hey Jack Kerouac’

>   1987

  Jack

  In My Tribe

  The Panic Brothers

  ‘Bivouac’

  1987

  Jack

  In the Red

  Hobo

  ‘Üvöltés (‘Howl’) – Carl Solomonert – reszletek (Hungarian)’

  1987

  Neal

  Üvöltés

  Pierre Flynn

  ‘Sur la Route’

  1987

  Jack

  Le Parfum du Hasard

  Richard Séguin

  ‘L’Ange Vagabond’

  1988

  Jack

  Journée d’Amerique

  Beatnik Beatch

  ‘Beatnik Beatch’

  1988

  Jack

  Beatnik Beatch

  David Amram

  ‘Pull My Daisy’

  1988

  Jack

  Pull My Daisy & Other Jazz Classics

  Crash Harmony

  ‘(Mexico) Jack Kerouac is Dead’

  1988

  Jack

  Wesleyan University radio tape

  Roger Manning

  ‘Pearly Blues’

  1989

  Jack

  Roger Manning

  Billy Joel

  ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’

  1989

  Jack

  Storm Front

  Eric Andersen

  ‘Ghosts upon the Road’

  1989

  Jack and Neal

  Ghosts upon the Road

  The Washington Squares

  ‘(Did You Hear) Neal Cassady Died?’

  1989

  Jack and Neal

  Fair and Square

  Mark Murphy

  ‘San Francisco’ (including Big Sur extract)

  1989

  Jack and Neal

  Kerouac Then and Now

  Mark Murphy

  ‘November in the Snow’ (including On the Road extract)

  1989

  Jack and Neal

  Kerouac Then and Now

  Ramblin’ Jack Elliott

  ‘912 Greens’

  1989

  Jack

  Legends of Folk

 

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