Message-ID: <alpine.NEB.2.00.1007140127010.11922@panix1.panix.com>
From: Alan Sondheim <sondheim@panix.com>
To: Cyb <cybermind@listserv.aol.com>, Cyberculture <cyberculture@zacha.org>
Subject: tuli (fwd w/permission - sorry for the carets <<)
Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2010 01:28:10 -0400 (EDT)
---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:48:18 From: steve dalachinsky <skyplums@juno.com> To: sondheim@PANIX.COM Subject: Fw: Re: tuli > steve dalachinsky wrote: >> "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" >> >> Tuli Kupferberg, Poet, Songwriter, Anarchist, Jew - Dies at 86 >> >> Born Norman or in Hebrew, Naphtali on Sept 28, 1923 (one day and > 22 >> years before me), poet, singer-songwriter, revolutionary, > publisher, >> street vendor, historian, mentor, sage, wise man and wise guy, >> forward-thinking artist, activist, intellectual,pacifist, teacher, >> dreamer with a desire to contribute his ideas for the construction > of a >> better world, boho and dear friend Tuli Kupferberg,who, though > never >> really considering himself Beat was anthologized as early as 1959 > in >> Fred Mcdarrah's The Beat Scene, died on Monday at N.Y. Downtown > Hospital >> in Manhattan at the age of 86 after a prolonged battle with Life > and all >> its joys and griefs and after suffering two dibilitating strokes. > In the >> 1964 at age 40 he went on to become, in own his words, ?the > world?s >> oldest rock star? after co-founding the Fugs with poet Ed > Sanders, and >> then-member Ken Weaver. They were in my opinion the first >> poetry/folk-rock band and a definite precursor of punk, bawdy and >> politically outspoken. Their first lp was produced by the equally >> legendary Harry Smith on Broadside and later re-issued on ESP > along with >> their other lps. His first solo record, No Deposit, No Return was > also >> issued by ESP. At the height of their career during the > psychedelic era >> the group was signed by the then co-owned Frank Sinatra label > Reprise who >> also signed Hendrix among others. When very he young worked as a > medical >> librarian. >> >> >> Tuli lived 2 blocks from my apt. We first officially met while > both of >> us were hawking our wares on the street though I had known him > through >> the music having first seen the Fugs play way back in the '60s in > various >> venues such as a loft space on Great Jones street, the Provincetown >> Theatre, The Astor Place Theater, and once even at a free concert > in >> Thompkins Square Park, where, standing behind me to my amazement > was none >> other than Charles Mingus. When Tuli and I first conversed some > time in >> the mid-70's he was hawking these pamphlets which were I think, > like >> $1.29 for one and 99 cents for two, the catch being the more you > bought >> the cheaper the became. Though I could be wrong , memory being > what it is >> >>> Hey Tuli help me out here. He was fluent in yiddish. Had a > passion for >>> >> Yiddish theater which he shared with fellow poet and street vendor > Harry >> Nudel and though he loved being a Yid was an avid supporter of > Palestine. >> Tuli always told me he hated poetry and the scene in general. He > was >> never hierarchical and didn't choose his friends on their status > in the >> art world but on his ability to share with them his knowledge, > sharp wit >> and love. There were the many times we sat together in the park > sharing a >> pint of Haagen Daz or a Good Humor bar. He loved ice cream. > Particularly >> chocolate. >> >> >> Tuli's great songs included Morning, Morning, Kill For Peace and > Nothing. >> On their last cd he wrote the poignantly beautiful " Where is My >> Wandering Jew Tonight" never forgetting his roots. Another song in > that >> vein and of mocking protest was "Backward Jewish Soldiers" a > para-song >> based on "Onward Christrian Soldiers." Tuli became something of >> celebrity when he was mentioned in Allen Ginsberg?s ?Howl? as > being the >> one who ?jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge" then walking away > "unknown and >> forgotten.? It was actually the Manhattan Bidge but the Brooklyn > Bridge >> seemed more romantic. Actually he didn't walk away but was to > Gouveneur >> Hospital with a minor spinal fracture. >> >> He was published in and published such zines as Birth and Yeah and > was >> the first to publish the African - American Beat poet Ted Joans as > well >> as over 50 of his own books. >> He loved to take standard tunes which were called para-songs and > write >> his own lyrics to them doing this more and more in his later years > and >> while bedridden wrote a series of short pieces he called > "perverbs" >> punning on well-known aphorisms and posting them on YouTube. He > had a >> long running cable show called Revolting News which in its latter > stages >> was filmed and edited by his long time partner Thelma Blitz. >> >> Tuli has spent the past 20 or so years selling his cartoons on the > street >> ( me spending many of them with him or directly across the street > selling >> lps and books) and inspiring many of us to not give up despite the >> adversities of government, war and $$$$. He embraced his Beatnik >> lifestyle as a friend once told me I should. He never shrank from > his >> commitment to protest injustice. Never gave into the "MAN". Never > took >> the straight and narrow path. Always fought corporate interests > and a >> greedy, demonic capitalistic value system. >> >> >> >> Long time drummer for the Fugs Coby Batty told me this story on > the phone >> the day Tuli passed that one day while walking in Brooklyn Tuli > turned >> and said that he wanted his epitaph to read "What the hell was > that?" - >> and as he mentioned in one of his perverbs - "Life is funny, you > can >> die." How Jewish can ya get?? >> >> His is survived by his wife, Sylvia Topp, three children, grand > kids. >> >> On Tue, 13 Jul 2010 12:54:16 +0000 Joel Lewis <penwaves@GMAIL.COM> >> writes: >> >>> I knew Pekar before he gained fame as a comic book writer. I > worked >>> in a >>> jazz collectors shop in North Bergen, NJ & he was a legend among > a >>> group of >>> Cleveland jazzbeaus. He would call us up on saturday (our only > real >>> sales >>> day0 & want to speak to my boss, soul jazz producer Bob Porter, >>> about Gene >>> Ammons. >>> >>> Harvey did a fantastic strip called "Local Poet" which is sadly > not >>> in >>> the "best of" volume that came out when the movie was released. > It >>> >>> perfectly captured a local scene (with even a nod to da levy!) & > to >>> the >>> reality of being a working poet. This was characteristic of the > best >>> of his >>> work -- being able to get inside the nuances of everyday lived > life >>> -- >>> another example was "Standing Behind Old Jewish Ladies in the >>> Supermarket >>> Line". he was also an acute observer of racial and ethnic > differnces >>> in a >>> working class community. The best of this stuff is found in the >>> early >>> issues, before Harvey starts appearing on the old Letterman Late, > >>> late show >>> & becomes a bit of a cult object. >>> >>> Hopefully, someone will collect pekar's jazz writings, mostly >>> reviews and, >>> in later years, liner notes. They were honest and informed. > Unlike a >>> lot of >>> older fans, he keep up with jazz currents. I interviewed him for > an >>> article >>> at the time of his "Our Cancer Year". He was telling me about his > >>> interest >>> in John Zorn & the then-rising "downtown scene" & added "I'm > always >>> >>> interested in what's going on NOW." >>> >>> Joel Lewis >>> >>> ================================== >>> The Poetics List is moderated & does not accept all posts. Check >>> guidelines & sub/unsub info: >>> http://epc.buffalo.edu/poetics/welcome.html >>>