Kaddish

Allen Ginsberg | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 9, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Water
• ASIN: B000ERU2AM
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #257,245 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Allen Ginsberg Reads Kaddish (63:50) - Ginsberg, Allen

Editorial Reviews

Subtitled "Allen Ginsberg Reads Kaddish A 20th Century American Ecstatic American Narrative Poem," this 1966 release was recorded in front of a live audience at Brandeis University in Boston in 1964. Based on the traditional Hebrew mourning prayer ("kaddish"), this poem is dedicated to Ginsberg's mother Naomi, who died in 1956 in a mental hospital. Written in 1958 in one non-stop 40 hour marathon session fueled by dexedrine, a tiny hit of LSD 25, and many cups of coffee, Kaddish stands as an epic testament to Ginsberg's literary talent. Original artwork featuring the cover photo by Richard Avedon. Original liner notes by Ginsberg and new in-depth notes by noted Beat-era scholar and writer Harvey Kubernik. First time on CD!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars New, but not first, CD release of a rare Ginsberg reading, July 22, 2006

By 

Uncle Willie (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Kaddish (Audio CD)

"Kaddish," which many people consider Ginsberg's greatest poem, was famously written in one sitting in 1960. Although Ginsberg had begun some notes for this poem about his mother in 1958, he didn't read the long poem in public until 1964. This is a rare recording of a reading at Brandeis University on November 24, 1964, which was issued on vinyl in 1966. Ginsberg re-issued it on the second CD of his boxed set, "Holy Soul Jelly Roll" in 1994--which is out of print but still available (through Amazon) used.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars entering into one's psyche, November 24, 2010

By 

Ken Walker (Saskatchewan) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Kaddish (Audio CD)

I first listened to Kaddish when it was released as an Lp and I'm certain I was in an altered state. I really can't remember how it affected me then but it did so that I wanted to listen to it again.
The poem is an opening into Ginsberg's own psyche - what made him the way he is is - but it is also an opening into my own . As you listen to his journey, you can't help but reflect on your own.
Listening to Kaddish is not easy but then neither was his life. There is a reward in listening to it but I can't describe what it is - maybe you just have to listen for yourself.
However, what I heard the second time around (now in my 60s) was different than when I first heard it: I understood it far more looking back.