Uncle Bill, in keeping with tradition, please lead us in A Thanksgiving Prayer.
William S. Burroughs: "A Thanksgiving Prayer" (1986)
A Thanksgiving Prayer from William S. Burroughs
Thirty years after William S. Burroughs wrote his "Thanksgiving Prayer" and sadly it's never been more relevant.
Hear William S. Burroughs read the most depraved bits of Naked Lunch atop beautiful music
Let Me Hang You is a collection of unreleased recordings of William S. Burroughs reading Naked Lunch accompanied by lovely and trippy music from psych-garage-soul player King Khan, experimental guitarist Bill Frisell, pianist Wayne Horvitz, violinist Eyvind Kang, and other guests. Listen below! The album will be released on Friday (7/15) from Khannibalism/Ernest Jenning Record Co. From the album announcement:
Read the rest
Twenty years ago, William S. Burroughs was asked to record an audio version of his favorite parts of Naked Lunch. Longtime associates and producers Hal Willner and James Grauerholz produced several sessions, and they recruited a team of world class musicians to help. Famed for their Naked City involvement, Bill Frisell and Wayne Horvitz contributed their genius, as well as Eyvind Kang, just to name a few. The recordings were then abandoned and collecting dust on a musty shelf, as forgotten as a piece of rancid ectoplasm on a peepshow floor.
In 2015, Hal Willner decided to reopen this unfinished masterpiece and asked help from King Khan (a musician that he and Lou Reed admired and became fast friends with). Hal sent Khan all of the recordings and asked him to add his gris gris to this extremely perverted gumbo... and history was made and the scum began to rise!
King Khan recruited M Lamar, the creator of the "Negrogothic" movement and the identical twin brother of transgender actress Laverne Cox (Orange is the New Black), and The Frowning Clouds, a band of young Australian boys who have mastered the sixties garage punk sound...
William S. Burroughs: "A Thanksgiving Prayer" (1986)
Listen to William S. Burroughs read Edgar Allen Poe for a PC game
In 1995, William S. Burroughs was recorded reading of Edgar Allen Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death" and "Annabel Lee" for a PC game called The Dark Eye. (He also was the voice of a character in the game.) Hear those recordings below and read this post at Open Culture for more details.
William S. Burroughs: Happy 100th birthday!
photo: Charles Gatewood
Today is William S. Burroughs's 100th birthday. Happy birthday, Uncle Bill!
Celebrate at the The William Burroughs Centenary, where you can find information about WSB events happening this year.
And below, the lovely song "Seven Souls" by Burroughs and Material, in which Bill reads from his novel The Western Lands. Read the rest
The Chelsea Hotel: Warhol, Burroughs, and Nico
Here's a curious clip of Andy Warhol and William S. Burroughs having a chat at the iconic Chelsea Hotel in NYC. The topic is chicken fried steak. It's followed by the lovely Nico singing "Chelsea Girls." The video is from a 1981 BBC documentary about The Chelsea that you can watch in full right here. (via Dangerous Minds) Read the rest
Burroughs and Cobain, 1993
William S. Burroughs and Kurt Cobain's "The 'Priest' They Called Him" (1993). After meeting Cobain, Burroughs commented to his assistant:
Read the rest"There’s something wrong with that boy; he frowns for no good reason.”
A Thanksgiving Prayer by William S. Burroughs
We now bow our heads as Uncle Bill leads us in A Thanksgiving Prayer.
