Paper airplanes, Seminole patchwork quilts, string figures, Ukrainian easter eggs.
Folklorists, alchemists and devotees of the arcane everywhere.
Anthology of American Folk Music (1952) originally released as six 33-1/3 rpm 12" long-playing records in three gatefold-jacketed double-album sets: Ballads (FP 251), Social Music (FP 252), and Songs (FP 253) by Folkways Records & Service Corp., N. Y. Edited by Harry Smith, from 78 rpm commercial recordings in his collection originally recorded between 1926 and 1934; included illustrated 24-page 8 1/2" x 10 7/8" booklet of detailed notes written and designed by Smith. Reissued on six compact discs in 1997 by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, Washington, D. C., with additional 68-page 12" x 12" booklet and enhanced multimedia content (SFW 40090).
Rabbi Naftali Zvi Margolies Abulafia, 'Talmudic Legends and Liturgical Songs' (1954) privately released as 15-LP set. Recorded by Harry Smith. 1,000 sets pressed; all but a handful of copies believed lost.
The Kiowa Peyote Meeting (recorded 1964) 3-LP set with [XXX]-page booklet by Smith, released in 1973 as Ethnic Folkways Library FE 4601.
The Fugs, 'The Village Fugs - Ballads and Songs of Contemporary Protest, Points of View and General Dissatisfaction' (1965) Broadside Records BR- 304 (released through Folkways Records). Reissued on ESP-DISK in 1966 as The Fugs First Album, and in CD format with bonus tracks under the same title in 1994 (Fantasy FCD-9668-2).
Allen Ginsberg, 'First Blues: Rags, Ballads and Harmonium Songs' (recorded ca. 1970-72; released 1981) Folkways Records (37560).
1 A Strange Dream (ca. 1946-48) color; hand-painted 35mm stock photographed in 16mm; soundtrack: "Manteca" by the Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra; 2:20 min.
2 Message from the Sun (ca. 1946-48) color; hand-painted 35mm stock photographed in 16mm; soundtrack unknown; 2:15 min.
3 Interwoven (ca. 1947-49) color; hand-painted 35mm photographed in 16mm; soundtrack: "Guarachi Guaro" by the Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra; 3:20 min. (reportedly edited down from ca. 30:00 min.).
4 Fast Track (ca. 1949) color (shot of painting depicting the recording "Manteca" by the Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra) and black & white (superimposition experiment); 16mm; silent; 2:16 min.
5 Circular Tensions (Homage to Oskar Fischinger) (ca. 1950) color; 16mm; silent; 2:30 min.
6 [Untitled 3-D Abstraction] (ca. 1950) red/green anaglyphic 3-D; 16mm; silent; 1:30 min.
7 Color Study (ca. 1950-51) color; 16mm; silent; 5:25 min.
8 [Untitled Black & White Collage] (ca. 1957) black & white; 16mm; soundtrack unknown; ca. 5:00 min. [untraced].
9 [Untitled Color Collage] (ca. 1957) color; 16mm; soundtrack unknown; ca. 10:00 min. [untraced].
10 Mirror Animations (ca. 1957) color; 16mm; soundtrack unknown; 3:35 min.
11 Mirror Animations (ca. 1957) color; 16mm; soundtrack "Misterioso" by Thelonious Monk; 3:35 minutes (see also Film Number 17).
12 [Untitled; Named "Heaven and Earth Magic Feature" by Jonas Mekas ca. 1964] (ca. 1957-62) black and white; 16mm; sound; 66:00 min.
13 Oz (ca. 1962) color; 35mm widescreen; stereophonic sound; unrealized, except for one sequence: "The Approach to Emerald City" (soundtrack: Ballet Music from Gounod's Faust; ca. 5:00 min.) and an unknown quantity of camera tests (reportedly 3-6 hr.), of which only ca. 15 min., in the form of non-color-corrected rushes, is known to survive (see also Films Number 16, 19, and 20).
Early Abstractions (assembled ca. 1964): contains Films Number 1-5, 7, and 10. Original print silent; an accompanying soundtrack by The Fugs on reel-to-reel tape was used until ca. 1965; subsequently an optical soundtrack taken from the LP Meet the Beatles (Capitol Records) was added.
14 Late Superimpositions (1964) color; 16mm; soundtrack: beginning of Aufsteig und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill (1956 recording; Columbia Records); 31:00 min. Filmed in New York, New York, and Anadarko, Oklahoma.
15 [Untitled Animation of Seminole Patchwork] (ca. 1965-66) color; 16mm; silent; ca. 10 min.
16 Oz: The Tin Woodman's Dream (ca. 1967) color; 35mm widescreen; silent; 14:30 min. (Consists of "The Approach to Emerald City" [see Film Number 13] plus kaleidoscopic footage shot ca. 1966.)
17 Mirror Animations (Extended Version) (1979) color; 16mm; soundtrack: "Misterioso" by Thelonious Monk; 11:00 min. (Consists of Film Number 11 printed forward-backward-forward.)
18 Mahagonny (ca. 1970-80) color; 16mm four-screen process; soundtrack: Aufsteig und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill (1957 recording; Columbia Records); 141:00 min.
19 [Untitled Excerpts from Film Number 13] (ca. 1980) color; 35mm widescreen; silent; running time unknown [untraced].
20 Fragments of a Faith Forgotten (1981) color; 35mm widescreen; silent; 27:00 min. (Consists of Films Number 16 and 19)
Crowley, Aleister - The Equinox Vol. The Holy Books of Thelema (Weiser Books, 1986)
Ginsberg, Allen - Collected Poems, 1947-1980 (New York: Harper and Row, 1984).
Ginsberg, Allen - White Shroud, Poems 1980-1985 (New York: Harper and Row, 1986).
Ginsberg, Allen - The Annotated Howl (New York: Harper and Row, 1986).