ALLEN GINSBERG – “THE END”
A SPILL EXCLUSIVE VIDEO PREMIERE
Allen Ginsberg β internationally renowned, visionary American Beat Poet β was a figurehead of the global youth movement in the late 1960s, a devoted teacher and scholar, inspiring generations of young poets. He was a racial activist, pacifist, one of the most politically engaged poets for decades, using his voice and international platform as a campaigner for human rights, gay liberation, ecology, and free speech. Nearly all his books remain in print to this day.
In celebration of his legacy, Shimmy-Disc has announced a remixed and remastered reissue of Allen Ginsberg’s 1989 album of spoken-word pieces, entitled The Lion For Real, Re-born.
Following the LP announcement and the release of “To Aunt Rose” in September, Shimmy-Disc is sharing a new track from the EP today, titled, “The End”, complete with a new Ambient-Cinema video crafted by Kramer.
Ginsberg wrote this about the track in the record’s original liner notes: “A psychedelic condensation of the Tibetan Book of the Dead, scary & somewhat theistic in conception, in continuous rhythm as if there were a great being like Father Fisheye at the end or bottom of the 1960 Universe. Marc Ribotβs musicβs appropriately eerie. β
This forthcoming LP release, due November 3, finds Allen Ginsberg β the voice of a generation, fierce, gentle, profound and profane β paired with music created especially for his work, by some of the guiding lights of Jazz in the modern era: Mark Bingham, Bill Frisell, Arto Lindsay, Marc Ribot, and others. All masterfully coordinated and produced by the mad scientist of collaborations, Hal Willner.
First released as The Lion For Real in 1989, this time capsule surges forth into the now with 8 additional tracks never included on the original release. These are timeless works, a garden of eden on vinyl to wander through repeatedly, guided by the founding father of Beat Poetry. Graced by an irresistible coda co-written with Shimmy-Disc founder Kramer, his lyrical mantra of “Donβt Grow Old.”
Allen Ginsberg
The Lion For Real, Re-Born
(Shimmy Disc)
Release Date: November 3, 2023