-- Michael Bertin
Various Artists
Kerouac -- kicks joy darkness
Rykodisc
Say what you will about our celebrity-obsessed, messed up nation, but any culture that counts poets and authors (in addition to ball players and talk show hosts, of course) among its top-shelf icons can't be all bad. When on the nightly news, between stories of Clinton's knees and Mideast peace, the late Allen Ginsberg was eulogized as a socio-political force, we were reminded that some poets still serve a clear public function.
Similarly, though almost 30 years gone, Ginsberg's Beat brother Jack Kerouac continues to enlighten young Americans' ideas of freedom. Like no book short of Catcher in the Rye, Kerouac's On the Road informed the way several generations have come of age. It's little surprise, then, that artists from octogenarian William Burroughs to twentysomething Jeff Buckley would find common reason to celebrate Kerouac's words and, even more, his person.
The 25 performances on Kerouac -- kicks joy darkness include those from his comrades (Ginsberg, Ferlinghetti) and heirs (Hunter Thompson, Robert Hunter), plus actors (Johnny Depp, Matt Dillon) and musicians of all stripes: folkie Eric Andersen, noisy Sonic Youth, big shots Stipe and Vedder and little guys Helium and Come. The result is a mixture of spoken word (mostly Kerouac's lesser known "pomes") and bits of musical accompaniment, with some surprises: Who knew comedian Richard Lewis could be so effective playing it straight? Who knew Juliana Hatfield could be so extroverted? Who knew Aerosmith's Steven Tyler would fit in?
But while it's fair for performers to set text in any context they see fit, some of the acts -- Inger Lorre, Lydia Lunch, Maggie Estep -- try to remake Kerouac in their own dark, angry, post-punk image, and it seems somehow inappropriate. While these artists may share with Kerouac membership in a counterculture, he was hardly interested in gloom and negation, but rather in a Whitmanesque, Buddha-blessed reverie. Kicks, yes; joy, certainly. But darkness? That was just another place to find grace. Those who capture hipster whimsy, or jazz fluidity, or Western expanse -- Hunter, Lewis, Ginsberg, Warren Zevon -- are most successful here.
Of course, anyone who's heard Rhino's Beat Generation box set knows that it's Kerouac's own voice that best relays the energy of his words. One of Kerouac's readings, enhanced with a techno beat by Joe Strummer, graces kicks joy darkness. The rest, interesting as it may be, is in comparison just filler. (***)
-- Roni Sarig
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