Ezra Pound.
Not a musician as such..
But, a poet.
And an (ex) fascist
And an (ex) anti-semite
And a certified US Gvt-approved lunatic
Oh dear.
This can't be good...
I realise (almost) no-one is interested in this - ... but nevertheless....
The LP was recorded in 1967 and released in the very early 70's
The reader - Pound himself - is ancient, beautifully mannered in delivery, and somewhat repetitive in his cadence.
Side 1
1. Canto III
2. Canto XVI
3. Canto XLIX
4. Canto LXXXI - First Reading
Side 2
1. Canto LXXXI - second reading - one hour later
2. Canto XCII
3. Canto CVI
4. Canto CXV
Posts
21 comments:
Ezra Pound Reads His Cantos
http://rapidshare.com/files/215953362/PoundCantosMP3.rar
Did you know that Dept of Homeland Security was considering using the old St. Elizabeth's as the location for their new office?
A mental institution housing a US government department Newk? Surely not...
St Elizabeth's actually looks as it would be a fascinating place to have a ramble through. My understanding could be incorrect, but it seems to have been abandoned bit by bit and over time...
Pound was there [compulsorily of course] from 1946 to 1958.
Yeah, Pound was a bad bad man, but the poetry is there. I didn't know about these recordings but I'm very grateful to have the chance to hear them. The Cantos in particular really have to be seen -- not just the ideographs, but the layout of the words on the page. But hearing this reminds me of voice, about which I sometimes forget when reading Pound.
You'll have some appreciative folks here with poetry posts. If ya got any Wallace Stevens let's hear about it, huh?
thanks for this - I've never heard this recording
there's a brilliant little essay, "Pounding Fascism," by Charles Bernstein (collected up in, I think, A Poetics, where he argues that Pound's collage methods & radical poetics in the Cantos ultimately undermine the authoritarian language & assertions
lots more Pound recordings available @:
http://writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/Pound.html
I do have a decent collection of poetry on record/CD, but I have no means of ripping them (not to mention that I'm trying to kick this habit of accumulating more and more music, let alone encouraging it in others!). I'll admit that reading Pound, as frustrating and obnoxious as he was, opened up quite a bit. The first 33 or so Cantos, the so-called Rock Drill, and the Pisan Cantos are fantastic, but then there are sections like the founding fathers section that seemingly go on forever and lose the poetic sense completely for me. Anyway, I'm going to possibly take a little field trip to the St Elizabeth's building. Perhaps I will report back!
Thanks 1009, Arcturus, Newk for commenting.
I'm surprised that "this large amount of people" [and I'm not being sarcastic] would care a damn about an old fossil like E.P.
A 'unpleasant lunatic' - well perhaps, but - at his best, a great great artist.
1009, I have no W Stevens, but will have a look for something else that might prove interesting - though, unlike Newk, I have very little poetry on record.
Arcturus, I'll try and read the essay (sounds worthwhile) and thanks also for the link.
Newk - Yes DO report back on St Eliz. if you get there - what could be more intriguing than an abandoned mental hospital?
Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot
Fighting in the captain's towers
While calypso singers laugh at them
And fishermen hold flowers ...
between the windows of the sea
where lovely mermaids flow
And nobody has to think too much
....about stuff n' general, n' that kinda thing really (well, much anyway)...
Thanks from another poet/jazzhound in blogland!
I thought Pound was banged up for trying to alert the public that the Federal Reserve Bank & Bank of England were privately owned and controlled institutions. He commissioned Eustace Mullins to write a book about it:
http://www.apfn.org/apfn/reserve.htm
My apologies if this is old news to you fellas.
hey thanks for posting this!
Thanks for posting this, I downloaded it sometime ago & forgot to bookmark you & more importantly, to say thanks
Well, welcome back , and thanks for troubling to drop in a comment - appreciated .
thanks for posting this!
great upload, lot of thanks!
i've composed a CUE sheet for convenient burning (e.g. by ImgBurn)
use it if you want, but check your MP3 filenames or edit the CUE (i've trimmed the filenames to Side1.mp3 and Side2.mp3)
http://rapidshare.com/files/455460907/LayoutMP3.cue
Thank you VERY much!
Thanks. I've been looking for this!
Jerry
Gents, has anybody seen the recordings of Ezra Pound reading his verse while being incarcerated in St Elizabeth? Those sessions of 1958 done in some takes about my birth date. The poet is younger, his voice is stronger, and his reading of the famous 'Usura' shocks every listener.
But till now I haven't seen the rips in good resolution, only 128 or 160 kbps, alas...
аффтор - no, don't have. But want to hear. Intriguing. 'Shocks every listener' eh? Heh heh ...
Wait - do you mean the Caedmon recordings from 1958 ? If so - yes, have heard but you're right in taking issue with the audio fidelity . I assumed low-fi as inherent in the original recordings (if the same as you mean)
Acturus's link above provides MP3 samples. . . http://writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/Pound.html
dear friend
thank you very much for these readings by "il miglior fabbro"! you've made my xmas.
yours sincerely
alfred venison
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