Charles Bukowski

Hostage
Wordbeat
(Random-play friendly version)



One of my most treasured possessions in my collection is my cd of the late, great Charles Bukowski's Hostage.
Recorded at the height of his fame, both as a published poet and as a performer, this is a wonderful document of what a reading might of sounded like.
Here he spars with rowdy, drunken hecklers almost as often as he reads actual poetry.
Both are equally engaging and hilarious.
Here's a snippet from the original liner notes:

In Los Angeles especially, his poetry readings became parties themselves, with "poet and audience both drunk." As you'll hear on this album, fans and poet come to these readings prepared to compete. "Is there anybody tough enough here to try me?" Bukowski taunts the crowd. "try some shit, do some anger."

However, the CD - as originally issued by Wordbeat - had the entire performance as one long track, making random access or selection difficult. Perhaps they intended to reproduce the integrity of it's original vinyl release (in 1980), but it made it hard to isolate a favorite track to - say - include on a mix for friends.
Here's a version of that CD presented as segmented album, with each poem or tirade as a separate track. Where applicable, the tracks are named after the poem, or said tirade.

Try some shit, do some anger.