Solid Citizen Live in Hamburg

Charles Burowski (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 23, 2001)
• Original Release Date: 1978
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Phantom Sound & Vision
• ASIN: B00005NB87
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #862,144 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Free [Live]

2. Hot Dog [Live]

3. An Observer [Live]

4. You Can't Make a Lion Out of a Butterfly [Live]

5. Some People [Live]

6. The White Poets [Live]

7. The Black Poets [Live]

8. Looking for a Job [Live]

9. Another Academy [Live]

10. I Met a Genius [Live]

11. The Bones of My Uncle [Live]

12. The Fisherman [Live]

13. When Hugo Wolf Went Mad [Live]

14. Trading Insults [Live]

15. The Construction of the Masses [Live]

16. The Flower Lover [Live]

17. Love & Fame & Death [Live]

18. I've Always Had Problems With Money [Live]

19. The Place Didn't Look Bad [Live]

20. One for the Shoeshine Man [Live]

See all 23 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An odd mix, August 31, 2001

By 

A Customer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Solid Citizen Live in Hamburg (Audio CD)

Even for Bukowski, the merging of a 1978 live reading in Hamburg with a 1969 home recording is an odd, somewhat incongruent mix. The live reading portion shows a poet at home with his audience, comfortable in his reading. Although not the riotous exhibition of the "Hostage" CD, Bukowski and his listeners engage in humorous banter throughout. "Haven't you gone home to your mother yet?" the poet asks one audience member. "She has a little bottle of milk for you warmed up." When the audience members try to converse, Buk chastises them with, "I did not pay to come see you." For the most part the poetry is standard Buk, full of ironies and tragedies, examing the misery of the human condition as he sees it. There are "men without," jobs and the problem of having too much money. All is done to the complete delight of the audience, and Buk aknowledges that in closing with "Das ist alles. Danke schon." The 1969 reading, with monotonic intoxication in his delivery, consists of three poems and the absurdly dark "A Short Story." This ending piece about multiple murder and insanity is a hard contrast to the live portion of the CD which came off on a fairly high note. But it's all pure Charles Bukowski, and his evolving character can be compared over the decade-long span. Bukowski ends with "See you later." I hope so on another CD, Mr. B. Auf wiedersehen!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An odd mix, August 31, 2001

By 

A Customer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Solid Citizen Live in Hamburg (Audio CD)

Even for Bukowski, the merging of a 1978 live reading in Hamburg with a 1969 home recording is an odd, somewhat incongruent mix. The live portion shows a poet at home with his audience, more comfortable in his reading. Although not the riotous exhibition of the "Hostage" CD, Bukowski and his listeners engage in humorous banter throughout. "Haven't you gone home to your mother yet?" the poet asks one audience member. "She has a little bottle of milk for you warmed up." When the audience members try to converse, Buk chastises them with, "I did not pay to come see you." For the most part the poetry is standard Buk, full of ironies and tragedies, examing the misery of the human condition as he sees it. There are "men without," various jobs and the problem of having too much money. All is done to the complete delight of the audience, and Buk aknowledges that in closing with "Das ist alles. Danke schon." The 1969 readings, all with monotonic intoxication in his delivery, consist of three poems and the absurdly dark "A Short Story." This ending piece about multiple murder and insanity is a hard contrast to the live portion of the CD which came off on a fairly high note. But it's all pure Charles Bukowski, and his evolving character can be compared over the nearly decade-long span. Bukowski ends with "See you later." I hope so on another CD, Mr. B. Auf wiedersehen!

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Buk Reading To Hear, August 30, 2001

By 

"mostlybroken" (Vancouver, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Solid Citizen Live in Hamburg (Audio CD)

This is Buk reading on his famous trip back to Germany in 1978. Although the reading is not very long, Buk & the audience are attentive (save for the occasional heckler - yes, even in Germany). He reads the poems likes he really means them instead of collecting a paycheck. The remaining 4 tracks are outtakes from the 1969 home alone sessions which produced the "70 Minutes In Hell" CD.