Groundbreaking NY Poet and performer John Giorno -- creator of Dial-A-Poem (call now: +1-641-793-8122!) and Giorno Poetry Systems, landlord to Wm. S. Burroughs, star of Andy Warhol's Sleep – died today, aged 82.
I cannot tell you how many times I've listened to his performance of Eating the Sky. Literally, hundreds:
Update, August 4, 2020: Giorno's autobiography, Great Demon Kings: A Memoir of Poetry, Sex, Art, Death, and Enlightenment, was released. Of course, it's wonderful. What a life!
Guitarist and songwriter Karl Hendricks died yesterday after a three-year battle with oral cancer. He was at home in Pittsburgh with his wife and daughters (wearing a Funkadelic t-shirt). He was 46.
I realize this news won't mean anything to most of you, but Hendricks was a unique guitarist, singer, and songwriter known primarily as the frontman of The Karl Hendricks Trio ("Fervently confessional indie rock in the vein of Superchunk, Pavement, and Dinosaur Jr. that combines spindly, wailing guitars with lyrics of heartbreak, dissonance, and disgust. " – Allmusic).
He also owned Pittsburgh record shop, Sound Cat.
I listened to him a bunch in the 90s and still think fondly of a a number of his tracks, like The Worst Coffee I've Ever Had from "Declare Your Weapons" or Somewhere a Weekend of Sin from "For a While It Was Funny".
His music may not be to your taste, but in my 20s I loved it. No one really wrote, sang, or played like Karl.
The Worst Coffee I've Ever Had by The Karl Hendricks Trio
Somewhere A Weekend of Sin by The Karl Hendricks Trio
All his records are out of print, but you can purchase digital copies on the Merge Records' website.
