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21.
An open reel tape of William Burroughs singing titles and lyrics from the Great American Songbook, English music hall songs and Scottish folk song, combined with Jajouka music, radio cut-ins and Burroughs reading his own cut-up texts.
Probably recorded in either Tangier, Paris or London, c. 1961/62 (the precise locations and dates are difficult to determine since Burroughs moved frequently during this period and always took his machines and tapes with him).
Quarter inch tape on a 5-inch BASF plastic spool. Duration 31.30; 3.75 ips. Housed in a plain white card tape box with number ‘2’ written on the lid, together with the original circular plastic cover and printed BASF insert card, inscribed in pencil by Brion Gysin: “Marrakesh music WSB singing medleys”.
The tape begins with percussive Jajouka music (approx. 6.24), excerpts from which were used for the “Towers Open Fire” soundtrack. This is followed by Burroughs singing (or reciting) titles and lyrics from popular songs. As it continues, fragments from Burroughs’ own writings are cut-in, including sections from “The Ticket That Exploded” (a text with numerous musical allusions), along with radio sounds and more Jajouka.
The recurrence of the line “Do You Love Me?”, improvised and repeated by Burroughs in varied, plaintive tones, suggests that he was working from the group of manuscripts that were to become “The Ticket That Exploded” (the “Do You Love Me?” section begins on page 30 in the Olympia Press edition, published in December 1962).
Although he professed little interest in music, Burroughs enjoyed references to drugs in early twentieth century popular song. More than once he reads the lyric “Willy had a dope habit and he had it bad” (“Willie the Weeper”, 1904), stretching out the vowel sound in the last word with relish, as well as “Sweet opium won’t let me fly away” (“Hong Kong Blues”, 1939).
Most of the lyrics, however, are sampled from standards dating from an era Burroughs felt nostalgic for, among them “Yippee Ki Yay”, “As Time Goes By”, “Thanks for the Memory”, “Night and Day”, “You Were Meant For Me”, “The Japanese Sandman”, and “If You Were the Only Girl (In the World)”, as well as the English vaudeville favourite “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary”, Scottish folk song “Auld Lang Syne”, and the Country & Western classic “(Ghost) Riders in the Sky”.
The tape, never before documented and a rare recording of Burroughs singing, ends after half an hour with an explosive sound of highly distorted radio music that seems to obliterate everything that precedes it.
Tape digitised and transferred to CD.
