There is a certain thrill in seeing that reference to 'many readings' of
Olson. As far as I know very few did, and the longest of them all
(recorded on the West Coast, most of then Maximus) took him when he was
weary and determined to plunge on. It 'shows' his voice but not the
urgent manner of the man.
But (I'll leave the recordings issue to those who know such matters and
have better docketing instincts than I have) my point in responding now is
to point out how rarely Olson read, how sturdily and at times immovably
reluctant he was, for a variety (always changing) of reasons, to give
_public_ readings. He never felt any Mallarmean constraints about reading
in his kitchen or on someone's terrace, but in the years I knew him he
gave notoriously few readings (I'm speaking about 1962-1970) -- all the
more spectacular the celebrated Berkeley and Vancouver readings. You must
remember that in the sixties _everybody_ read all the time, everywhere,
and poetry readings at small colleges would bring out huge audiences. Not
just Ginsberg and Baraka would fill big halls, but Enslin, Dorn, Wieners.
(The audiences are much smaller now, and I think that a worldwide
phenomenon, or am I consoling myself?) SO that Olson's refusal to tread
the circuit was the more striking.
For example, though I had the blessing and grace of knowing the man for
half a dozen years fairly well, I never heard him read in public, and he
always contrived to avoid reading at any venue I might have proffered. I
recall once he came to visit me at my college (100 miles n. of NY) and
stayed some while, theoretically coming to offer a reading. But never
read.
So the recordings, private and public, that might exist are all the more
precious.
saluti!
Robert
On Thu, 26 Nov 1998, Alex Davis wrote:
> Just a query: of Olson's many readings which ones made it onto LP? Any
> details would be gratefully received.
> Ta,
> Alex Davis
>
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