Editing Beat Generation (section)

==Topics==
[[File:beat generation stockholm.jpg|upright|thumb|right|A section devoted to the beat generation at a bookstore in [[Stockholm]], [[Sweden]]]] While many authors claim to be directly influenced by the Beats, the Beat Generation phenomenon itself has had an influence on American culture leading more broadly to the hippie movements of the 1960s.{{Citation needed|date=November 2010}}<ref>Hill, R. A. (2022). Counterculture of the 1960s. ''Salem Press Encyclopedia''. </ref>
In 1982, Ginsberg published a summary of "the essential effects" of the Beat Generation:<ref>Ginsberg, Allen ''A Definition of the Beat Generation,'' from ''Friction, 1'' (Winter 1982), revised for ''Beat Culture and the New America: 1950–1965''.</ref>

<blockquote style="font-size:100%">
* Spiritual liberation, sexual "revolution" or "liberation," i.e., gay liberation, somewhat catalyzing women's liberation, black liberation, and [[Gray Panthers]] activism.
* Liberation of the world from censorship.
* Demystification and/or decriminalization of [[cannabis (drug)|cannabis]] and other drugs.
* The evolution of rhythm and blues into rock and roll as a high art form, as evidenced by [[the Beatles]], [[Bob Dylan]], [[Janis Joplin]], and other popular musicians influenced in the later fifties and sixties by Beat generation poets and writers' works.
* The spread of ecological consciousness, emphasized early by [[Gary Snyder]], Jack Loeffler, and [[Michael McClure]], the notion of a "Fresh Planet."
* Opposition to the military-industrial machine civilization, as emphasized in the writings of Burroughs, Huncke, Ginsberg, and Kerouac.
* Attention to what Kerouac called (after [[Oswald Spengler|Spengler]]) a "second religiousness" developing within an advanced civilization.
* Return to an appreciation of idiosyncrasy vs. state regimentation.
* Respect for land and indigenous peoples and creatures, as proclaimed by Kerouac in his slogan from ''On the Road'': "The Earth is an Indian thing."
</blockquote>

==="Beatniks"===
{{Main|Beatnik}}
The term "[[beatnik]]" was coined by [[Herb Caen]] of the ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]'' on April 2, 1958, blending the name of the recent Russian satellite [[Sputnik]] and Beat Generation. This suggested that beatniks were (1) "far out of the mainstream of society" and (2) "possibly pro-Communist."<ref>{{Cite web| title=Pocketful of Notes | author=Herb Caen | work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] | url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/1997/02/06/MN18715.DTL | publisher=sfgate.com | date=February 6, 1997 | access-date=2010-01-30}}

"...''[[Look (American magazine)|Look]]'' magazine, preparing a picture spread on S.F.'s Beat Generation (oh, no, not AGAIN!), hosted a party in a No. Beach house for 50 Beatniks, and by the time word got around the sour grapevine, over 250 bearded cats and kits were on hand, slopping up Mike Cowles' free booze. They're only Beat, know, when it comes to work&nbsp;..."</ref> Caen's term stuck and became the popular label associated with a new stereotype—the man with a [[goatee]] and [[beret]] reciting nonsensical poetry and playing [[bongo drum]]s while [[wikt:free spirit|free-spirited]] women wearing black [[leotard]]s dance.{{Citation needed|date= February 2018}}

An early example of the "beatnik stereotype" occurred in [[Vesuvio Cafe|Vesuvio's]] (a bar in [[North Beach, San Francisco|North Beach]], San Francisco) which employed the artist [[Wally Hedrick]] to sit in the window dressed in full beard, turtleneck, and sandals, creating improvisational drawings and paintings. By 1958 tourists who came to San Francisco could take bus tours to view the North Beach Beat scene, prophetically anticipating similar tours of the [[Haight-Ashbury]] district ten years later.<ref>William T. Lawlor (ed.), ''Beat Culture: Lifestyles, Icons and Impact,'' p. 309.</ref>

A variety of other small businesses also sprang up exploiting (and/or satirizing) the new craze. In 1959, Fred McDarrah started a "Rent-a-Beatnik" service in New York, taking out ads in ''[[The Village Voice]]'' and sending [[Ted Joans]] and friends out on calls to read poetry.<ref>Arthur and Kit Knight (ed.), ''The Beat Vision,'' New York: Paragon House, 1987, p. 281.</ref>

"Beatniks" appeared in many cartoons, movies, and TV shows of the time, perhaps the most famous being the character [[Maynard G. Krebs]] in ''[[The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis]]'' (1959–1963).

While some of the original Beats embraced the beatniks, or at least found the parodies humorous (Ginsberg, for example, appreciated the parody in the comic strip ''[[Pogo (comic strip)|Pogo]]''<ref>Ginsberg, ''Howl: Original Draft Facsimile''.</ref>) others criticized the beatniks as inauthentic [[poseur]]s. [[Jack Kerouac]] feared that the spiritual aspect of his message had been lost and that many were using the Beat Generation as an excuse to be senselessly wild.<ref>"Tracing his definition of the term ''Beat'' to the fulfillments offered by ''beatitude'', Kerouac scorned sensationalistic phrases like 'Beat mutiny' and 'Beat insurrection,' which were being repeated ''ad nauseam'' in media accounts. 'Being a Catholic,' he told conservative journalist William F. Buckley, Jr. in a late-sixties television appearance, 'I believe in order, tenderness, and piety,'" David Sterritt, ''Screening the Beats: media culture and the Beat sensibility'', 2004, p. 25, {{ISBN|0-8093-2563-2}}, {{ISBN|978-0-8093-2563-4}}.</ref>

==="Hippies"===
{{Main|Hippie}}
During the 1960s, aspects of the Beat movement metamorphosed into the [[counterculture of the 1960s]], accompanied by a shift in terminology from "[[beatnik]]" to "[[hippie]]".<ref>[[Ed Sanders]] said in an interview in the film ''The Source'' (1999) (at the 1hr 17secs point) that he observed the change immediately after the 1967 [[Human Be-In]] event: "And right after the Be-In all of a sudden you were no longer a beatnik, you were a hippie." Similar remarks by Sanders: an interview with Jessa Piaia in ''SQUAWK Magazine'', Issue #55, commented: "I've begun Tales of Beatnik Glory, Volume 3. Set in the Hippie era, it defines that delicate time when reporters no longer called us 'Beatnik,' but started to call us 'Hippie.'", https://www.angelfire.com/music/squawk/eds2.html; "There was a big article January of 1966, on page one of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, under the heading 'Beatnik Leader Wants Marijuana.' It was just before "hippie" replaced 'Beatnik.'" Ed Sanders, Larry Smith, Ingrid Swanberg, ''D.A. Levy & the mimeograph revolution'' (2007).</ref> Many of the original Beats remained active participants, notably Allen Ginsberg, who became a fixture of the anti-war movement. Notably, however, Jack Kerouac broke with Ginsberg and criticized the 1960s politically radical protest movements as an excuse to be "spiteful".<ref>Gore Vidal quotes Ginsberg speaking of Kerouac: "'You know around 1968, when we were all protesting the Vietnam War, Jack wrote me that the war was just an excuse for 'you Jews to be spiteful again.'" Gore Vidal, ''Palimpsest: A Memoir'', 1995, {{ISBN|0-679-44038-0}}.</ref>

There were stylistic differences between beatniks and hippies—somber colors, dark sunglasses, and goatees gave way to colorful psychedelic clothing and long hair. The Beats were known for "playing it cool" (keeping a low profile).<ref>For example, see the meaning of "cool" as explained in the Del Close, John Brant spoken word album [[How to Speak Hip]] from 1959.</ref>

Beyond style, there were changes in substance. The Beats tended to be essentially apolitical, but the hippies became actively engaged with the civil rights movement and the anti-war movement.<ref>Allen Ginsberg comments on this in the film "The Source" (1999); Gary Snyder discusses the issue in a 1974 interview, collected in ''The Beat Vision'' (1987), Paragon House. {{ISBN|0-913729-40-X}}; {{ISBN|0-913729-41-8}} (pbk), edited by Arthur Winfield Knight: "... the next key point was Castro taking over Cuba. The apolitical quality of Beat's thought changed with that. It sparked quite a discussion and quite a dialogue; many people had been basic pacifists with considerable disillusion with Marxian revolutionary rhetoric. At the time of Castro's victory, it had to be rethought again. Here was a revolution that had used violence and that was a good thing. Many people abandoned the pacifist position at that time or at least began to give more thought to it. In any case, many people began to look to politics again as having possibilities. From that follows, at least on some levels, the beginning of civil rights activism, which leads through our one whole chain of events: the Movement.<br /><br />We had little confidence in our power to make any long-range or significant changes. That ''was'' the 50s, you see. It seemed that bleak. So our choices seemed entirely personal existential lifetime choices that there was no guarantee that we would have any audience, or anybody would listen to us; but it was a moral decision, a moral poetic decision. Then Castro changed things, then Martin Luther King changed things ..."</ref>

===Literary legacy===
Among the emerging novelists of the 1960s and 1970s, a few were closely connected with Beat writers, most notably [[Ken Kesey]] (''[[One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (novel)|One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest]]''). Though they had no direct connection, other writers considered the Beats to be a major influence, including [[Thomas Pynchon]] (''[[Gravity's Rainbow]]'')<ref>Pynchon, Thomas. ''Slow Learner.'' Vintage Classics, 2007. {{ISBN|0-09-953251-4}}.</ref> and [[Tom Robbins]] (''[[Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (novel)|Even Cowgirls Get the Blues]]'').

[[William S. Burroughs]] is considered a forefather of [[postmodern literature]]; he also inspired the [[cyberpunk]] genre.<ref>"Sterling also identifies [in ''Mirroshades'' (1986)] postmodernist authors Thomas Pynchon and William S. Burroughs as forerunners of cyberpunk." Keith Booker, Anne-Marie Thomas, ''The Science Fiction Handbook'', 2009, p. 111, {{ISBN|1-4051-6205-8}}, {{ISBN|978-1-4051-6205-0}}.</ref><ref>"... it should hardly be surprising that to discover that the work of William S Burroughs had a profound impact on both punk music and cyberpunk science fiction." Larry McCaffery, ''Storming the reality studio: a casebook of cyberpunk and postmodern science fiction'', 1991, p. 305.</ref><ref>"Cyberpunk writers acknowledge their literary debt to Burroughs and Pynchon, as well as to New Wave writers from the 1960s and 1970s such as J. G. Ballard and Samuel Delany.", Jenny Wolmark, ''Aliens and others: science fiction, feminism, and postmodernism'', 1994, {{ISBN|0-87745-447-7}}, {{ISBN|978-0-87745-447-2}}.</ref>

One-time Beat writer [[Amiri Baraka|LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka]] helped initiate the [[Black Arts Movement]].<ref>"(LeRoi Jones) ... is best known as a major cultural leader, one of the African American writers who galvanized a second Black Renaissance, the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s ..." – page xi, "Preface", Komozi Woodard, ''A nation within a nation: Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones) and Black power politics'' (1999, UNC Press), {{ISBN|0-8078-4761-5}}, {{ISBN|978-0-8078-4761-9}}.</ref>

As there was a focus on live performance among the Beats, many [[poetry slam|slam]] poets have claimed to be influenced by the Beats. [[Saul Williams]], for example, cites Allen Ginsberg, Amiri Baraka, and [[Bob Kaufman]] as major influences.<ref>Williams, Saul. ''Said the Shotgun to the Head.'' MTV, 2003, p.184, {{ISBN|0-7434-7079-6}}.</ref>

The Postbeat Poets are direct descendants of the Beat Generation. Their association with or tutelage under Ginsberg at The Naropa University's [[Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics]]<ref>"During the eighties, Ginsberg used his position as director of the writing department at Naropa, introduced his classes to the wide range of literature of the Beat Generation. Many of his students became poets and educators and are grouped under an entirely new category that has been labeled Postbeat Poets." Bill Morgan, William Morgan, ''The Typewriter Is Holy: The Complete, Uncensored History of the Beat Generation'', 2010, p. 245, {{ISBN|1-4165-9242-3}}, {{ISBN|978-1-4165-9242-6}}.</ref> and later at [[Brooklyn College]] stressed the social-activist legacy of the Beats and created its own body of literature. Known authors are [[Anne Waldman]], [[Antler (poet)|Antler]], Andy Clausen, David Cope, [[Eileen Myles]], Eliot Katz, [[Paul Beatty]], [[Sapphire (author)|Sapphire]], [[Lesléa Newman]], [[Jim Cohn]], Thomas R. Peters Jr. (poet and owner of beat book shop), [[Sharon Mesmer]], Randy Roark, Josh Smith, and David Evans.{{Citation needed|date=November 2010}}

===Rock and pop music===
The Beats had a pervasive influence on [[rock and roll]] and popular music, including [[the Beatles]], [[Bob Dylan]] and [[Jim Morrison]]. The Beatles spelled their name with an "a" partly as a Beat Generation reference,<ref>"... the name Beatles comes from 'Beat' ..." Regina Weinreich, [https://www.nytimes.com/1996/01/11/style/11iht-bookthu.t.html?pagewanted=1 "Books: The Birth of the Beat Generation"], ''The Sunday New York Times Book Review'', January 11, 1996; a review of Steven Watson's ''THE BIRTH OF THE BEAT GENERATION: Visionaries, Rebels, and Hipsters 1944–1960''.</ref> and [[John Lennon]] was a fan of Jack Kerouac.<ref>Ellis Amburn describes a telephone conversation with Jack Kerouac: "John Lennon subsequently contacted Kerouac, revealing that the band's name was derived from 'Beat.' 'He was sorry he hadn't come to see me when they played Queens,' Kerouac said, referring to the Beatles Shea Stadium concert in 1965." Amburn, Ellis, [https://books.google.com/books?id=bN0PJn6VCNIC&q=Lennon ''Subterranean Kerouac: The Hidden Life of Jack Kerouac''], p. 342, {{ISBN|0-312-20677-1}}.</ref> The Beatles even put Beat writer William S. Burroughs on the cover of their album ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]].''<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Beat Generation FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Angelheaded Hipsters|last=Weidman|first=Rich|publisher=Backbeat Books|year=2015}}</ref>

Ginsberg was a close friend of Bob Dylan<ref>Wills, D. "Father & Son: Allen Ginsberg and Bob Dylan," in Wills, D. (ed.), ''Beatdom Vol. 1'' (Mauling Press: Dundee, 2007), pp. 90–93</ref> and toured with him on the [[Rolling Thunder Revue]] in 1975. Dylan cites Ginsberg and other Beats as major influences.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wills |first=David S. |date=2007-07-28 |title=Allen Ginsberg and Bob Dylan |url=https://www.beatdom.com/allen-ginsberg-and-bob-dylan/ |access-date=2024-06-10 |website=Beatdom |language=en-US}}</ref>

[[Jim Morrison]] cites Kerouac as one of his biggest influences, and fellow [[The Doors|Doors]] member [[Ray Manzarek]] has said "We wanted to ''be'' beatniks."<ref>" As Ray Manzarek recalls when Morrison was studying at UCLA: 'He certainly had a substantial investment in books. They filled an entire wall of his apartment. His reading was very eclectic. It was typical of the early- to mid-sixties hipster student. [...] And lots of Beatniks. We wanted to _be_ beatniks. But we were too young. We came a little too late, but we were worshippers of the Beat Generation. All the Beat writers filled Morrison's shelves [...]' (Manzarek 1999, 77)" Sheila Whiteley, ''Too much too young: popular music, age and gender'' (2005, Routledge)</ref> In his book ''Light My Fire: My Life with The Doors'', Manzarek also writes "I suppose if Jack Kerouac had never written ''On the Road'', The Doors would never have existed." [[Michael McClure]] was also a friend of members of The Doors, at one point touring with Manzarek.

Ginsberg was a friend of [[Ken Kesey]]'s [[Merry Pranksters]], a group of which [[Neal Cassady]] was a member, which also included members of the [[Grateful Dead]]. In the 1970s, Burroughs was a friend of [[Mick Jagger]], [[Lou Reed]], [[David Bowie]], and [[Patti Smith]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2017}}

The musical group [[Steely Dan]] is named after a steam-powered dildo in Burroughs' ''[[Naked Lunch]]''. British [[progressive rock]] band [[Soft Machine]] is named after Burroughs' novel ''[[The Soft Machine]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bennett |first=Graham |title=Soft Machine: Out-Bloody-Rageous |date=2014 |publisher=Syzygy |isbn=9-7-8-90-822792-0-7 |pages=70}}</ref>

Singer-songwriter [[Tom Waits]], a Beat fan, wrote "Jack and Neal" about Kerouac and Cassady, and recorded "On the Road" (a song written by Kerouac after finishing the novel) with [[Primus (band)|Primus]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk/MagSitePages/Article/3091/Tom-Waits-The-Pursuit-of-the-Beats|title=Tom Waits – The Pursuit of the Beats|work=www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk|access-date=2017-09-12}}</ref> He later collaborated with Burroughs on the theatrical work ''[[The Black Rider]]''.

Jazz musician/film composer [[Robert Kraft (composer)|Robert Kraft]] wrote and released a contemporary homage to Beat Generation aesthetics entitled "Beat Generation" on the 1988 album ''Quake City''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Holden |first=Stephen |date=19 May 1980 |title=Sounds Around Town |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/427202678 |work=[[New York Times]]|id={{ProQuest|427202678}} }}</ref>

Musician [[Mark Sandman]], who was the bass guitarist, lead vocalist, and a former member of the alternative jazz rock band [[Morphine (band)|Morphine]], was interested in the Beat Generation and wrote a song called "Kerouac" as a tribute to [[Jack Kerouac]] and his philosophy and way of life.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.bohemian.com/northbay/mark-sandman/Content?oid=2179959 |title=Mark Sandman |author=Greg Cahill |date=November 24–30, 2004 |journal=North Bay Bohemian}}</ref>

The band [[Aztec Two-Step]] recorded "The Persecution & Restoration of Dean Moriarty (On the Road)" in 1972.<ref>{{Cite web|title= Aztec Two-Step|year=1972 |url=http://www.discogs.com/Aztec-Two-Step-Aztec-Two-Step/release/2343866|publisher=[[Discogs]]|access-date=May 30, 2015}}</ref>

There was a resurgence of interest in the beats among bands in the 1980s. Ginsberg worked with [[the Clash]] and Burroughs worked with [[Sonic Youth]], [[R.E.M.]], [[Kurt Cobain]], and [[Ministry (band)|Ministry]], among others.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}} [[Bono]] of [[U2]] cites Burroughs as a major influence,<ref>Bono comments approvingly on the Burroughs cut up method: "That's what the Burroughs cut up method is all about. You cut up the past to find the future." As quoted by John Geiger in ''Nothing is true – everything is permitted: the life of Brion Gysin'', p. 273, attributed to John Waters, ''Race of the Angels: The Genesis of U2'' (London, Fourth Estate, 1994), {{ISBN|1-85702-210-6}} {{ISBN|978-1857022100}}.</ref><ref>"... author WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS, 84, whose nihilistic novels have influenced U2 front man BONO ... ", Martha Pickerill, [https://web.archive.org/web/20101027125303/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,986451,00.html ''Time''], June 2, 1997.</ref> and Burroughs appeared briefly in a U2 video in 1997.<ref>"The next video, ''Last Night on Earth'' was shot in Kansas City, with beat author William S. Burroughs making a cameo." p. 96 David Kootnikoff, ''U2: A Musical Biography'' (2010) {{ISBN|0-313-36523-7}}, {{ISBN|978-0-313-36523-2}}.</ref> Post-punk band [[Joy Division]] named a song "Interzone" after a collection of stories by Burroughs. [[Laurie Anderson]] featured Burroughs on her 1984 album ''[[Mister Heartbreak]]'' and in her 1986 concert film, ''[[Home of the Brave (1986 film)|Home of the Brave]].''{{Citation needed|date=September 2017}} The band [[King Crimson]] produced the album ''[[Beat (King Crimson album)|Beat]]'' inspired by the Beat Generation.<ref>{{cite news |first=Boo |last=Browning |date=29 July 1982 |title=Homage to the Gurus of Beat |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1982/07/29/homage-to-the-gurus-of-beat/e11eccef-a822-4ebf-94a3-397d7439e6c8/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=22 February 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Robert |last=Palmer |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/14/arts/the-pop-life-013588.html |title=The Pop Life |work=The New York Times |date=14 July 1982 |access-date=22 February 2021}}</ref>

More recently, American artist [[Lana Del Rey]] references the Beat movement and Beat poetry in her 2014 song "[[Brooklyn Baby]]".{{Citation needed|date= February 2018}}

In 2021, rapper [[Milo (musician)|R.A.P. Ferreria]] released the album ''Bob's Son: R.A.P. Ferreira in the Garden Level Cafe of the Scallops Hotel'', named for Bob Kaufman and containing many references to the work of Kaufman, Jack Kerouac, Amiri Baraka, and other beat poets. {{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}