William Burroughs: Spare Ass Annie & Other Tales [Explicit Lyrics]

Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy, William S. Burroughs | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 28, 1993)
• Original Release Date: September 28, 1993
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics
• Label: Island
• Run Time: 47 minutes
• ASIN: B000005HTW
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #82,863 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #48 in Music > Miscellaneous > Poetry, Spoken Word & Interviews > Poetry

Editorial Reviews

1993 CD on Island.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Disposable Heroes enhance the Burroughs' words December 6, 2001

By P. Nicholas Keppler

Format:Audio CD

I had become a fan of the sardonic humor, baroque visions and gross-out charm of William S. Burroughs by way of such stunning books as Interzone, Junky and Naked Lunch. When I bought Spare Ass Annie and Other Tales, I knew nothing of his collaborators on this spoken word album, the Disposable Heroes of Hiphopricy but one of my favorites authors on tape was enough for my money. I was pleased to discover that the Heroes, Michael Franti and Rono Tse, have the perfect sense of texture and cartoony whimsy to back up the legendary beatnik. The bouncy drum and bass of “Dr. Benway Operates,” “One God Universe” and the tense “Did I Ever Tell You About the Man That Taught His (...) to Talk?” spotlessly and cohesively convey Burroughs’ raspy words while parodies such as the swanky downtown jazz of “Mildred Pierce Reporting” (about police apathy during a gang rape), 50s television-commercial glitz of “Warning to Young Couples” (about jealous family dogs snatching newborns) and the choirs, festive sounds and use of traditional carols on “the Junky’s Christmas” show the Disposable Heroes’ keen understanding of the irony of the author’s crass magic realism. Fanti and Tse show sure talent, yet they never try to override Burroughs, always working behind the writer’s commanding, often hilarious words. The author searched through seven of his best books of strange expressions and offbeat satire for the readings and the Disposable Heroes of Hiphopricy bring those legendary writings into a new dimension on Spare Ass Annie. I am sure other Burroughs fans will certainly be pleased by the fine ways in which these extraordinary young talents enhance the innovative writer’s uncanny work.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious January 23, 2002

By Jack Baur

Format:Audio CD

Sometimes when I am just reading Burroughs, I manage to forget how damn funny the guy is. I get put off by his vividly grotesque descriptions of lobotomies and flying fecal matter and neglect to notice the scathing humor behind it all.
This album really highlights Burroughs the satirist. Hearing Burroughs speaking with his loooong drrryyy draaawwwwwllll really reminds you how he's trying to push your buttons. Burroughs is one of my all time favorite authors to hear read his own stuff, and this CD is no exception in that department.
Plus, as an added bonus, the reading is set to some great music, nice acid jazz and, in the case of the 10+ minute "Junkie's Christmas," traditional x-mas carols, creating one of the most increcdible juxtapoitions in a story of all time and an hilarious piece. All in all, this collection is one of my favorites of Burroughs' readings.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars listen to my last words anywhere March 6, 2003

By S. R Robertson

Format:Audio CD

serendipity. very cool mixture of Hiphopricy's jazz/funk/hiphop grooves and Burrough's always ahead-of-his-time future rants, stream-o-conciousness, and political concerns. whoever thought of this idea was an absolute genius. the production is top notch, and often collides with what Burroughs is talking about in a hilarious or bizarre manner. interesting guest stars too. Ras I Zulu. shooty yeah. out before Dr.Octagon's futuristic blend of wacked-ot lyrics and spaced beats would evolve hiphop two years later. a crucial ingredient. burroughs, disposable hereoes of hiphopricy. burroughs, kurt cobain. these collaborations are priceless.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The funniest man in the world November 11, 2001

By Oldant

Format:Audio CD

WSB's humor is terribly underrated. He was deadpan,
with a cynical but wildly hilarious take on the world. He always told it the way he saw it, regardless of the consequences.
A nice back up by the Heroes, I liked the combination.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Sick and marvelous experience. August 7, 2012

By M. P. Carruthers

Format:Audio CD

Burroughs' voice becomes an instrument of its own on these tracks. This album is without a definite genre in my opinion. You cycle between a hallucinogenic mixture of psychedelic sounds, funk, big band samples, and short reggae breaks from Franti; it bridges the gap between Burroughs' own time and ours. I wish there had been more like it. A side note, if you ever find yourself in a state of mind like W. S. B., this album does incredible things that no other album would. The Dr. Benway track is especially intense, you feel like the patient in a dirty operating room with melting walls and monstrous, incompetent surgeons looming over you. Five stars all the way.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The most accessible of Burroughs' recordings February 7, 2001

By Brian Robinson

Format:Audio CD

I had heard and like the Disposable Heroes and had a notion of Burroughs as "some writer" when I bought this album. Boy, was I in for an education! This recording is different from all the other Burroughs recordings I have encountered. It makes an effort to really enhance and in some cases alter the effect of Burroughs' reading. In other recordings like Call Me Burroughs and Dead City Radio, either he has no accompanyment or the music in the background doesn't really alter the words. But this album really uses music in a creative way, making it a true collaboration/

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite Burroughs CD June 26, 1998

By A Customer

Format:Audio CD

Fabulous. Though it's very close, I think I prefer this one to the excellent Dead City Radio. The background music, provided by the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, makes this one a bit more cohesive. The track "A Junkie's Christmas" is a FAR superior version of the only track from the Burroughs/Cobain disc "The Priest They Called Him."

4.0 out of 5 stars Long live Dr. Benway June 27, 2008

By Bobby K. Daugherty

Format:Audio CD

When I first seen the cover of this cd I thought it was going to be some Timothy Leary type of project. Upon listening to I was releived to see that Burroughs hasn't changed his style he just added a background score.
Personally I thought the music for the most part enhanced the readings and that in a way it reminded me how far removed he is from this type of music and yet he still managed to make it work. Words of advice for young people alone is worth the price of admission.
It seems odd to me that he even managed to live this long with such a lifestyle. I think if he had been given more exposure as a spoken word artist he could have greatly expanded his audience and more people would see the humor in his books.
Overall I recommend this cd there were two slow spots but they only last a few minutes overall it is very entertaining.