Listening to Richard Brautigan

Richard Brautigan | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 12, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Collector's Choice
• ASIN: B00078GHTI
• Also Available in: Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #185,897 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Telephone Door to Richard Brautigan

2. Trout Fishing in America

3. Love Poem

4. A Confederate General from Big Sur

5. Here Are the Sounds of My Life in San Francisco

6. The Pill Versus the Springhill Mine Disaster

7. Revenge of the Lawn

8. The Telephone Door That Leads Eventually to Some Love Poems

9. In Watermelon Sugar

10. Here Are Some More Sounds of My Life

11. Short Stories About California

12. Boo, Forever

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating document, November 15, 2005

By 

Robert - See all my reviews

This review is from: Listening to Richard Brautigan (Audio CD)

I found it fascinating to hear Richard Brautigan reading his own works, and for that matter, to actually to hear his voice at all. It added a whole new dimension to my attempts to understand him and his work. And it was mostly entertaining to boot. We're very lucky to have this in print. Recommended for Brautigan fans.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's haunting..., January 10, 2006

By 

T. R. Martin "VanSerpico" (Greensboro, NC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Listening to Richard Brautigan (Audio CD)

...to hear his voice after years of reading and re-reading his works. Priceless.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Telephone Door to Richard Brautigan, March 8, 2008

By 

Robert Carlberg (Seattle) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Listening to Richard Brautigan (Audio CD)

This album was recorded in early 1969, near the peak of Richard's popularity, as the first of a projected series of spoken word albums on The Beatles experimental record label Zapple. Others in the series would have included Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Michael McClure, Charles Olson, Charles Bukowski and Allen Ginsberg. Unfortunately, Zapple crashed and burned after only two releases, "Life With The Lions" and "Electronic Sound," leaving Zapple #3 without a label.

It eventually saw limited U.S.-only release, without much publicity, on EMI Harvest in late 1970 and quickly became a high-priced collector's album. I've seen it trade hands for hundreds of dollars.

What makes this album interesting, besides being the only known recording of Richard reading his own poetry, are the stories and unrehearsed conversations also captured. It was one of the first "audio verité" recordings, setting up microphones in Richard's kitchen and simply capturing the sounds of his life. This unscripted glimpse into 1969 in San Francisco gives not only unusual insights into the writer's life (after a rocket-propelled climb to fame) but also into one of the hotbeds of American culture in a unique time & place.

All in all it's a fascinating document and it's nice to see it mass-marketed finally.