[Gbrooks-promo] In loving memory of Michael McClure, October 20, 1932 – May 4, 2020

[George Brooks]

On Monday May 4th I lost a dear friend and mentor and the world lost the
iconic artist, poet, playwright, Michael McClure.


For reasons that I will probably never know, in the weeks prior to
Michael's death, and with no reason to anticipate his death, I found myself
drawn to two of Michael's poems. The first was "Hymn to Kwannon" for which
I had written music over a decade ago to accompany Michael's reading of the
poem. This was during the period when Michael, Ray Manzarek, Rob Wasserman
or Kai Eckhardt, Jay Lane and I would often perform in a group we called "BIG
MIX" <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekIykrz6ZDQ>.


The second poem was "Big Lips Song" which Michael wrote for the
extraordinary visual artist Jay DeFeo. It struck me immediately as a blues.


Being on "lockdown" during this time, collaborations were not possible and
I  created home recorded versions of these poems using Logic X, iMovie and
my old iPhone. Although these are hardly polished products and I sing
(something I usually keep private) -- I would like to share them with you
as they are honest representations of where my heart has been while
"sheltering in place" and perhaps might offer some solace to those of you
who knew and loved Michael as an artist or friend.


For those of you unfamiliar with Michael, his obituaries in the Washington
Post
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/michael-mcclure-poet-who-helped-define-beat-generation-dies-at-87/2020/05/07/30bd8328-906c-11ea-9e23-6914ee410a5f_story.html>
and San Francisco Chronicle
<https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/books/michael-mcclure-famed-beat-poet-who-helped-launch-the-sf-renaissance-dead-at-87>
can provide some background.


For more on the artist Jay DeFeo please visit her website here
<https://www.jaydefeofoundation.org>.


Love to you all -


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMzCj_8L3mg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjNYEMLB2LM



-- 
George Brooks
www.georgebrooks.com
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