Stories, videos and photos from the annual Kerouac hometown festival over the last several years I’ve been going. Edie Parker-Kerouac called and told me about the the initial commemorative dedication in July 1988 — which birthed LCK — saying that she, Henri Cru and “Big Tim” Moran were driving up for it, and that […]
Lowell Celebrates Kerouac (LCK) – Videos, Stories & Photos – 2015–2022
October 30th, 2022 · 7 Comments · Kerouac and The Beats, Real-life Adventure Tales
Tags: Andy Clausen·Beat Angel·David Amram·Edie Kerouac·Frankie Edie Kerouac Parker·George Walker·Henri Cru·How The Beats Begat The Pranksters·Jack Kerouac·John Allen Cassady·Kerouac Centennial·Lowell Celebrates Kerouac!·Merry Pranksters·Michael McClure·St. Mark's Church·The Hitchhiker's Guide to Jack Kerouac·Vincent Balstri·Wireless Mike Flynn
“Jack on Film” sample
September 29th, 2022 · 5 Comments · Kerouac and The Beats, Movies
Here’s a little taste . . . My “script” notes for the first dramatic portrayal of Jack . . . . Pull My Daisy (released Nov. 1959) One of the Big Five to focus on MY THESIS HOW THIS IS THE GREATEST BEAT GEN CREATION. Filmed in their prime . . . . Kerouac’s best […]
Tags: Alfred Leslie·Allen Ginsberg·Barney Rosset·Carolyn Cassady·D.A. Pennebaker·David Amram·Gregory Corso·Jack Kerouac·Jonas Mekas·Larry Rivers·Maysles brothers·Peter Bogdanovich·Pull My Daisy·Robert Frank·The Beat Generation
The Making of “Jack on Film”
August 28th, 2022 · 13 Comments · Kerouac and The Beats, Movies
The Making of “Jack on Film” . . Believe it or not this whole thing started when I got a call on January 12th, 2021 — six days after the Capitol insurrection (!) and still deep in the pandemic lockdown daze. A musician friend I’ve known since 1976, Will Hodgson, was home with his kids […]
Tags: Big Sur·Frank Tabbita·Jack Kerouac·Jerry Cimino·Kill Your Darlings·Lowell·Lowell Celebrates Kerouac!·On The Road·Pull My Daisy·Route 66·S.A. Griffin·The Beat Museum·The Last Time I Committed Suicide·The Subterraneans·The Worthen in Lowell·Vincent Balestri
First Live Shows After the Pandemic Lockdown
July 31st, 2022 · 1 Comment · Brian on YouTube etc., Kerouac and The Beats, Poetry
The Magic Genie’s Happy Place — Saturday July 9th, 2022 . The matinee show (4PM) stemmed from a massive reorganization of all my performance pieces — many dating back to New York in the 1980s and ’90s. A bunch of them still held up — and since nobody’s heard me do them in 20 or […]
Tags: Bernie Sanders·Frankie Edie Kerouac Parker·Jack Kerouac·Jerry Garcia·Lowell Celebrates Kerouac!·Merry Pranksters·On The Road scroll·Rolling Stone Book of The Beats·Wayne Gretzky
Kerouac in Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start The Fire” Podcast
May 31st, 2022 · 1 Comment · Interviews, Kerouac and The Beats
Billy Joel Interview Story . I was contacted by this Since The World’s Been Turning podcast production out of New Zealand to talk about Kerouac. Ever since Peter Jackson’s masterful recreation of The Beatles: Get Back, and watching a thousand interviews with him with his New Zealand accent and sensibilities, I developed a real […]
Tags: Billy Joel·Jack Kerouac·New Zealand·Peter Jackson·Temp Survival Guide·The Beatles Get Back
Kerouac’s 100th birthday celebration in Lowell
March 20th, 2022 · 25 Comments · Kerouac and The Beats, Real-life Adventure Tales
. Everybody’s known for ages that Jack Kerouac’s 100th birthday was coming up on March 12th, 2022, but it was still the dark Covid times, and I hadn’t been On The Road in over two years — not since the New Hampshire Democratic primaries in February 2020 — plus I was really in no mood […]
Tags: Al Aronowitz·Anne Waldman·Ben Woitena·Brett Sigurdson·Dave Olson·David Stanford·Dennis McNally·Erin Weber·George Walker·Gilbert Millstein·historiography·Holly George-Warren·Jack Kerouac·Jerry Bisantz·Jerry Garcia·Jim Sampas·John Kruth·Kurt Hemmer·Lowell·Lowell Celebrates Kerouac!·Matt Williamson·Mike Flynn·Old Angel Midnight·Oliver Trager·Paul Marion·Ren Grevatt·Roger Brunelle·Rolling Thunder·Scarlett Sabet·Schae Koteles·Sylvia Cunha·Todd Tietchen·Willie "Loco" Alexander
Beatles post Get Back Lessons and Reflections
January 30th, 2022 · 3 Comments · Movies, Music
Some reflections on The Beatles post Peter Jackson’s masterpiece, and some fun facts picked up along the way . . . It was so much the blending of the four compatible yet different personalities that was key to their creativity and longevity. And that there were four different individuals for people to identify with and […]
Tags: Albert Maysles·Alice Cooper·Billy Preston·Brian Epstein·Derek Taylor·Elvis Costello·George Harrison·George Martin·Jack Kerouac·Jerry Garcia·John Lennon·Malcolm Gladwell·Maysles brothers·Paul McCartney·Peter Jackson·Ringo Starr·Robert Frank·The Beatles Get Back·The Grateful Dead·Tommy Hilfiger·Will Hodgson
Holly George-Warren Jack Kerouac biography
June 9th, 2021 · 14 Comments · Interviews, Kerouac and The Beats
In some of the best news in Beatlandia in many a year — it’s just been announced that (A) the Kerouac estate has signed the inimitable Holly George-Warren to be the official biographer of Jack — a role originally filled by Doug Brinkley back in the ’90s until he got lured away by some other […]
Tags: Gordon Ball·Holly George-Warren·Jack Kerouac·Janis Joplin·Rolling Stone Book of The Beats·Viking Press
Beat Versus Beatnik
March 3rd, 2021 · 29 Comments · Kerouac and The Beats
21st Century Beatniks versus Hieroglyphic Caricatures . There’s long been a debate about the word “beatnik” — originally coined by a sensationalist San Francisco gossip columnist in 1958, playing on the Yiddish suffix “nik” and the first Russian satellite launched in September ’57, colloquially known as “Sputnik.” Jack and Allen & company hated the word […]
Tags: Abbie Hoffman·Al Hinkle·Albert Grossman·Allen Ginsberg·Anne Waldman·Barack Obama·beatniks·Bob Denver·Bob Dylan·Brad Pitt·City Lights Books·Daniel Yaryan·David Meltzer·Diane Di Prima·Dobie Gillis·Donovan·Ed Sanders·Elvis Mitchell·Gordon Ball·Helen Weaver·hippies·Howl·Jack Hirschman·Jack Kerouac·Jack Micheline·Janis Joplin·Jeopardy·Jerry Garcia·Jerry Kamstra·John Phillips·Jonah Raskin·Ken Kesey·Lawrence Ferlinghetti·Linda Breen·Maynard G. Krebs·Merry Pranksters·Naropa·Neal Cassady·Quentin Tarantino·Robert Shelton·Route 66·ruth weiss·S.A. Griffin·The Beat Generation·The Beat Museum·Vesuvio's·William Burroughs
Brian Hassett – Adventures in Print
January 26th, 2020 · 21 Comments · Blissfully Ravaged in Democracy, Kerouac and The Beats, Politics, Real-life Adventure Tales, Weird Things About Me
40 YEARS IN PRINT . A CHRONOLOGY OF THE PUBLISHED REAL-LIFE ADVENTURE TALES . . 1977 – May — writing a song with Guess Who founder Chad Allen – not in print as of yet, but it is on my website here. 1980 – April — John Anderson in San Diego – Blissfully Ravaged in […]
Tags: Barack Obama·Beat Shindig·Bernie Sanders·Big Sur·Bill Clinton·Blissfully Ravaged in Democracy·Carolyn Cassady·Gary Hart·George Walker·Grateful Dead·How The Beats Begat The Pranksters·Howard Dean and Al Franken·Jack Kerouac·Ken Kesey·On The Road·Paul Tsongas·Phil Lesh·The Hitchhiker's Guide to Jack Kerouac·Walter Salles·Woodstock