Introducing
WRITERS GONE WILD: THE SOUNDTRACK CD!
In the tradition of SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU?, and GLEE, PlanetPeschel.com brings to you the soundtrack to the blockbuster best-selling book*”Writers Gone Wild”!
We’ve compiled 12 great songs inspired by the lives and works of great writers by artists such as KENNY CHESNEY (Ernest Hemingway), RYAN ADAMS (Sylvia Plath), 10,000 MANIACS (Jack Kerouac), PETER GABRIEL (Anne Sexton) and GARAGECOW ENSEMBLE (Allen Ginsberg).†
Unfortunately, we can’t sell you the CD. Record companies, the RIAA and the artists have their little, eccentric rules about “piracy” and “stealing.” They’re funny that way. So click on the links to buy the tunes from your favorite online reseller, burn it to a CD, print the cover and track information provided and make your own soundtrack. It’s like work, only you’re not getting paid for it! ‡
To make it easy, the list below is set up so clicking on song’s title will take you to the song, the album to the album. As for the CD cover, clicking on the artwork below will open a new tab with the full-size cover. Save, print, trim, fold, insert, and you’re ready to sit back and enjoy the sonic version of “Writers Gone Wild”!
* Amazon #1 Nonfiction / Literature / Critical Essays / Left-Handed Authors / Names Begin With P / 2 November 2010 / 2:17 p.m.
† None of whom authorized the use of their name in connection with this promotion. Or even know we’re doing this. Not if we have anything to say about it.
‡ Buying the songs this way will also kick a few shekels into my Guinness fund as well. Remember Brendan Behan’s slogan: “Guinness Makes You Drunk.”
ABOUT PRINTING THE COVER: Right-click on the above CD cover and save to your desktop. The larger version will be oriented to fit an 8½-inch x 11-inch sheet. The cover is sized to print from within a program such as Microsoft Publisher or Adobe Fireworks. To print directly from the image, you might have to reduce it to 92%. According to my tests, the image wants to fill the whole length of a sheet of paper. YMMV.
ABOUT THE SONGS
Lou Reed from “The Raven”
“These are the stories about Edgar Allan Poe / Not your average boy next door,” Lou Reed sings on this unusual album that combines hard rockers, orchestral-driven music and contributions by Laurie Anderson, Ornette Coleman, David Bowie and the Blind Boys of Alabama. After listening to this, you can understand how Lou and Edgar would have gotten along in New York City. Visit Lou Reed’s web site.
2. Raymond Chandler Said (5:39)
Michael Anderson from “White Trash Shakespeare”
“Did somebody say something about a drink of bourbon?” That’s the last line to “The Blue Dahlia,” a movie scripted by Ray for Alan Ladd. Working under a tight deadline and offended by a studio exec’s offer of a bonus, Chandler convinced producer John Houseman to let him finish the drunk, with a studio doc on hand to shoot him up with vitamins and glucose. Michael Anderson probably didn’t have to do the same thing to write this song, but he captures the spirit of L.A. as seen through Chandler’s prose: romantic, desperate and a place where dreams go to die.
3. I Never Slept With Allen Ginsberg (3:43)
Garagecow Ensemble from “Saint Stephen’s Dream”
Inspired by meeting the poet at a bonfire outside writers conference, Doug Imbrogno created a wishful, bongo-driven, boppy reminiscence with Ginsberg as a benevolent, wise, gentle raconteur. The chimes of memory ring when Allen is asked about a favorite line, “The million unutterable thoughts of frogs,” and he replies, “Jack [Kerouac] gave me that.” Visit Garagecow Ensemble’s web site.
4. John Allyn Smith Sails (4:33)
Okkervil River from “The Stage Names”
John Berryman was part of a wave of confessional poets of the 1960s and ’70s who, like fellow scribe Anne Sexton, killed himself. He took a header off the Washington Avenue Bridge one snowy winter morning, and instead of hitting the Mississippi, hit the concrete sidewalk face first. In a capper of a macabre finale, Okkervil River links Berryman to the “Sloop John B”
Peter Gabriel from “So”
Peter Gabriel scored three hits from “So”: “Sledgehammer,” “Big Time” and “In Your Eyes.” This song about Anne Sexton comes in a close fourth. Singers love its dreamy music and imagery, and it has been covered by artists from Kate McGarry to John Tesh. Slow, sad and melancholy, so unlike the real Anne. Visit Peter Gabriel’s web site.
Ryan Adams from “Gold”
After two songs about suicidal poets, “Sylvia Plath” seems like an odd choice to lighten the mood. But its Ryan Adams who needs the rescuing, and Sylvia’s the one to do it, taking him to France, getting him drunk on gin and swimming naked in the ocean. Considering she swept Ted Hughes off his feet and bit him on the cheek hard enough to draw blood, she’s just the woman to do it. A sweet song that doesn’t make you want to stick your head in the oven. Visit Ryan Adams’s web site.
Modest Mouse from “Good News For People Who Love Bad News”
To honor the poet-drunk, Modest Mouse takes us to a dive, plucks a bouncy beat off a banjo, and amid the sots and winos questions Buk’s sanity and God’s decisions. “Who’d want to be / who’d want to be / such a control freak,” sounds like something Charlie would come up with. Listen for the producer’s opinion in the fadeout. Visit Modest Mouse’s web site.
The Pogues from “Hell’s Ditch”
Time to get grim again. During the Spanish Civil War, the great poet and playwright Federico Garcia Lorca got himself taken out and shot in a grove by Franco’s troops. Caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, Lorca would never know his work would survive, and he’d be raised in honors by his fellow Spaniards on a level with Cervantes. Small comfort compared with being shot up the ass for being queer. Visit The Pogues’ web site.
Kenny Chesney from “Hemingway’s Whiskey”
Time to rock it up again. Hem’s longtime affection for Spain makes him a natural companion to “Lorca’s Novena.” Country music is full of tribute songs, most of them pretty soppy and sentimental. “Hemingway’s Whiskey” is like that, but Papa’s tough enough to take it. Visit Kenny Chesney’s web site.
Frank Black from “The Cult Of Ray”
The Ray in question is Ray Bradbury, the great writer whose his life isn’t wild enough to make the book. His dystopian “Fahrenheit 451″ does, having been banned by numerous school districts and other pinheads. Jack Black rocks the hell out of this song. Visit Frank Black’s web site.
10,000 Maniacs from “In My Tribe”
Natalie Merchant’s meditation on Jack and his life. His mother cries “that her little boy lost in a little world that hated / and that dared to drag him down.” Jack draws inspiration from the “mouths of babes / got lost in the world” and “hip flask slingin’ madmen.” But in the end, the San Francisco beat boys “sit and rattle their bones / and think of their blood stoned day.” And then Jack goes away, without saying goodbye. What happened? Visit 10,000 Maniacs’ web site.
12. I Got Laid On James Joyce’s Grave (3:33)
Black 47 from “Trouble In The Land”
Joyce refused to let a lady fan kiss the hand that wrote “Ulysses,” saying “it did other things too.” He has a way of inspiring such devotion, such as the gentleman in the song, who was “hoping his genius would rub off on him”. His quest to find a suitable companion to join him draws the attention of the police. Will he achieve his goal? Will he find ecstasy if he does? Who cares, with a song that combines Irish jig music with the Larry Kirwan’s jizzy delight in his quest. Visit Black 47′s web site.