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Bob Kaufman

page edited by Raymond Foye

PoemTalk #158, Discussing Bob Kaufman's "Suicide," feat. Christopher Stackhouse, Maria Damon, and Devorah Major

Listen to the complete recording and read program notes for the episode at Jacket2.


"Suicide" filmed by Will Combs

used with the permission of Will Combs

Recording (0:45): MP3

Audio provided by A.L. Nielsen, date/location unknown

Complete recording (21:34): MP3

  1. "Jail Poems" (6:40): MP3
  2. "Would You Wear My Eyes" (1:27): MP3
  3. "Hollywood" (4:03): MP3
  4. "Second April" (8:42): MP3

Bob Kaufman, poet: the life and times of an African-American man (1992)

Written and produced by David Henderson; courtesy of Naropa University Audio Archive, David Henderson, and Neeli Cherkovski

  1. Part 1 (57:12): MP3
    • 0:00 jazz intro and comments by George Kaufman, Raymond Foye, Gary Gach, Jerry Kamstra, Jerry Stoll
    • 1:27 Allen Ginsberg speaks about Bob Kaufman
    • 4:25 recording of Bob Kaufman reading from "2nd April" (2:20): MP3
    • 7:02 Nathanial Mackey
    • 10:34 Maria Damon
    • 10:45 narrator gives biographical info about Bob Kaufman
    • 12:05 family life discussed by George Kaufman
    • 15:31 For My Son Parker, Asleep in the Next Room - read by Roscoe Lee Brown
    • 18:53 Eileen Kaufman
    • 20:08 Charles Nilon
    • 21:48 Jerry Kamstra
    • 22:49 Jerry Stoll
    • 23:50 Amiri Baraka
    • 24:54 Abomunist Manifesto - read by Tony Seymour
    • 28:36 side one ends
    • 28:49 side two starts with jazz
    • 29:40 Eileen Kaufman
    • 30:26 Bob Kaufman, Ruby Dee, and Ossie Davis read Jail Poems from Solitude Crowded with Loneliness
    • 33:11 Jim Johnson
    • 33:58 Jerry Stoll
    • 34:38 Raymond Foye
    • 35:58 excerpt of Kaufman reading more from Jail Poems (2:30): MP3
    • 39:11 Bagel Shop Jazz - read by Susan Cockerall
    • 41:00 Charles Nilon
    • 42:46 Raymond Foye
    • 43:26 Neeli Cherkovski
    • 44:04 Allen Ginsberg
    • 45:45 Walking Parker Home - read by Roscoe Lee Brown
    • 48:27 Charles Nilon comparing Kaufman's poetry to the jazz of Charlie Parker
    • 50:34 excerpt from a poem about Charlie Parker read by Roscoe Lee Brown
    • 51:54 testimonials about Bob Kaufman by unnamed sources (friends)
    • 54:21 Diluted - a recording of Bob Kaufman reading (1:10): MP3

  2. Part 2 (57:04): MP3
    • 0:00 introduction by David Henderson
    • 1:17 opening collage with Simon Alexander, Charles Nilan, and Maria Damon
    • 2:35 Raymond Foye
    • 3:17 Allen Ginsberg
    • 3:41 Eileen Kaufman
    • 4:47 Ted Joans
    • 5:46 Joe Overstreet
    • 7:49 Allen Ginsberg re: Bob Kaufman, Jack Kerouac and Timothy Leary
    • 10:20 Ginsberg, For Allen - read by Roscoe Lee Brown
    • 13:27 Rocky Road - Peter, Paul and Mary
    • 14:53 Eileen Kaufman
    • 16:00 Ancient Rain - recording of Bob Kaufman (0:43): MP3
    • 16:47 Ancient Rain - read by Roscoe Lee Brown
    • 19:28 Raymond Foye
    • 21:10 Tattoo Bob Murphy
    • 23:03 All Hallows Jack-o-Lantern Weather, North of Time - read by Ruby Dee
    • 26:24 Our bending night is ending (1st line) - recording of Bob Kaufman (1:23): MP3
    • 28:10 side ends
    • 29:00 Allen Ginsberg
    • 29:40 Jack Hirschman
    • 29:56 Amiri Baraka
    • 30:31 Lawrence Ferlinghetti
    • 30:39 Eileen Kaufman
    • 32:58 All Those Ships That Never Sailed - read by Roscoe Lee Brown
    • 34:58 Parker Kaufman
    • 36:06 Alix Geluardi
    • 36:36 Parker Kaufman
    • 37:22 Jean Carlisle
    • 38:53 Raymond Foye
    • 40:56 Ancient Rain - read by Roscoe Lee Brown
    • 42:01 Nathaniel Mackey re: Lorca and Bob Kaufman
    • 43:30 Dark man, dark man (1st line) - Roscoe Lee Brown reading Lorca
    • 44:14 Nathaniel Mackey
    • 45:30 Ancient Rain - read by Roscoe Lee Brown
    • 46:32 Lynn Wildey
    • 48:48 QR Hand
    • 49:26 Would You Wear My Eyes - recording of Bob Kaufman (1:20): MP3
    • 50:47 Lawrence Ferlinghetti
    • 52:16 So I wrote this poem from the core of bone (1st line) - by Lynn Wildey
    • 52:47 Lawrence Ferlinghetti
    • 53:20 Jack Micheline
    • 53:46 Narrator closes
PennSound Kaufman page additions, staff use only.

These recordings are available for noncommercial and educational use only. All rights to this recorded material belong to the estate of Bob Kaufman estate. Recordings used with the permission. Distributed by PennSound.