Now Playing: great Sonaura track on psyradio.org
Topic: Addition
An interesting college project thing with a major surprise hidden inside that I ran across a few months back:
THE ORGANIC EXPERIENCE (Portland, ME)
The Organic Experience 1970 (Omni)
This previously undocumented college project LP from University of Maine, Portland (a college branch no longer extant) is not only earlier than most college yearbook albums, but of substantial interest on a couple of counts. There's some rock and folkrock music which seems to be live-recorded, but no artists are credited; tracks include "Born To Be Wild" and "Green Rocky Road" among others, in good, ballsy versions. Even more remarkable is a track credited only as "Ginsburg's Thing", which turns out to be nothing less than a previously unknown recording of Allen Ginsberg reciting poetry, presumably at a campus gathering. The date references and the contents of the recording confirm that this is a circa 1969 recording of Ginsberg live before an audience. Not included in the standard Ginsberg bibliography by Morgan, this is a substantial find. The reading is lengthy, at least 10 minutes, and includes the poem "Northwest Passage", which Ginsberg elsewhere has assigned a composition date of April 1969, which is in line with the overall chronology. Presumably the students had no authorization to release this record, which is why Ginsberg's presence is so buried. The remainder of the record is a typical period collage that captures the 'now' of being a hippie student in 1970, with radio broadcast speeches mixed with 'found' music and effects, etc. The front cover looks to be blank at first, until you discover the small mushroom drawn in the lower left corner. The back cover has an elaborate abstract drawing and some minor credits. That no one has discovered the nature of this album in 40 years is puzzling, and Ginsberg collectors will undoubtedly be interested. [PL]
