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23.
ALLEN GINSBERG, LAWRENCE FERLINGHETTI, GREGORY CORSO, ANDREI VOZNESENSKY.
London: Lovebooks Ltd., 1965. LP record + Emidisc Test Pressing #1. A recording of the poets reading at the Architectural Association, Bedford Square, on June 15, 1965, an event organised by Jasper Vaughan (son of Trigram Press co-founder Pip Benveniste) and described by Allen Ginsberg as “a substantial presentation of joy.”
Lovebooks’ first publication, issued in an edition of 99 copies. Together with an acetate test LP that differs in several respects from the vinyl record.
i) LP record (LB0001). Sleeve design by Miles, featuring a collage of Hoppy’s photographs of the four poets. Square white record labels with track listings printed in blue pasted over circular plain white labels, as issued. Unplayed, with central spindle hole intact and still covered by the square labels. The record features Allen Ginsberg reading “Ignu” (from “Kaddish”), “Message II” and “Big Beat” (both written in March 1965, the latter in Prague on March 11). The final two tracks on side 1 are Lawrence Ferlinghetti reading a poem titled on the label as “Bus Trip to NY-Albany”, and “Underwear” (from “Starting in San Francisco”). Side 2 begins with Gregory Corso reading “Bomb”, then “Marriage”, followed by Andrei Voznesensky reading (in Russian) “I Am Goya”, and a poem titled on the label as “Moscow Bells” (in fact “The Big Fire at The Architectural College”). Mint in original polythene liner (curved at one end) and card outer sleeve (minimal ringwear only).
ii) A.A. Reading Test L.P. #1. Emidisc double-sided acetate. White labels, with Miles’s handwritten track listing. The disc differs from the record in the following ways: a) the number of tracks and their running order is different (the record has nine tracks, the test pressing has eleven); b) “Bus Trip to NY-Albany” by Ferlinghetti is omitted; c) two poems by Ferlinghetti not on the record are included (“And That’s The Way It Really Is” and “The Way The Wind Blows”), as well as “Message” by Ginsberg (from “Kaddish”). Minimal wear to disc, with original polythene curved liner, contained in a Transco Products Corp die-cut paper sleeve. According to George Dowden, three numbered test records were made and “Two of these have been stolen” (A Bibliography of works by Allen Ginsberg October, 1943 to July 1, 1967, City Lights Books, 1971, p. 107).
Price:
£1,250.00
