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In 1957, Jack Kerouac was on top of the world as his thinly-veiled autobiographical novel 'On The Road' had finally found a publisher after six years of trying. Chronicling the adventures of Sal Paradise and his sidekick Dean Moriarty as they travel across America, the book was generously lauded, although a few hostile reviews due to its highly controversial nature, helped accelerate its notoriety. Kerouac's new found celebrity resulted in him being invited to make a record in 1959 for the Dot label. It's probably true to say that if he hadn't achieved such success by that point in his career, the opportunity wouldn't have presented itself. But as it was, the notoriety he had received afforded him the chance to do something different and two further records appeared under his name in late 59 and 1960 respectively, This compilation brings together all three spoken word albums that Kerouac recorded, with musical backing coming from talk show host and jazz pianist Steve Allen, and Jazz saxophonists Al Cohn and Zoot Simms. In addition to these albums being featured in their entirety, this anthology contains a live reading from 'On The Road' by Kerouac as performed on The Steve Allen Show in 1959, with Allen again accompanying Jack on piano. The set is completed with three interviews with Jack Kerouac recorded during the 1960s. While his many novels and other works preserve the uniqueness of his aesthetic vision and continue to confirm his status as one of the twentieth century's most original and influential writers, the three albums and interviews that comprise this collection add another, most valuable, dimension to our perception of the man - in hearing Kerouac's voice speaking in mellifluous cadences and breathing life into his written words, we are able to get a rare and insightful glimpse of the actual man himself and feel the depth of his passion while experiencing the visionary power of his extraordinary genius.

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