Gregory Corso listening to 'BOMB'
1970, San Juan, PR
Litkicks is proud to present, for the first time ever, an original 1970 recording of Gregory Corso performing his classic poem 'BOMB', courtesy of Graham Seidman.
Graham Seidman is an artist who presents culture and history as beauty through his photography and mosaic presentations. As a Beat Hotel "alum", he has generously shared his memories and stories of Corso, Allen Ginsberg and others with the LitKicks community. Here Graham tells the story of how Gregory Corso visited Puerto Rico and recorded the reading of BOMB available on this page.
Play or download mp3 of 'BOMB' by Gregory Corso
"One day I asked if he would record a tape for me of the BOMB. He had given me the original manuscript in Paris in exchange for a painting I made.
"Ok" he said. He first made a fake phone call to a friend in order to set the time and place, then he disappeared into the guest room alone, there was a piano in that room and he employed it into the taping. Unfortunately, the cassette tape ran out just at the end, otherwise it's perfect.
I'm happy to share this tape with the world." --Graham Seidman
More Corso Resources:
Photos, audio and eyewitness accounts courtesy of Graham Seidman. We are very grateful for his generosity and for allowing us to present these artifacts. View more of Graham's art and photography here.
Audio conversion and processing courtesy of B. Horrell and Associates.
About the Audio:
We've chosen to present this audio in its entirety without editing out incidental noises and other commentary by Gregory and Graham. We feel this best represents the unique feel of this recording. For this reason, you may notice background noise and sounds of the tape recorder used to capture this piece of history.
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