Selected Poems of Kenneth Patchen

American poet and novelist Kenneth Patchen (1911–1972) reads 19 poems in this Folkways recording. Throughout his career, Patchen experimented with poetic writing styles and forms including reading his poems set to jazz music. Some critics have compared his work to the poetry of Walt Whitman and William Blake. For this collection Patchen reads poems ranging in mood from gentle (“Pastoral”) to angry (“Nice Day for a Lynching”) and from subjects of childhood memories (“The Orange Bears”) to politics (“So Be It”).

Track Listing

101	And What with the Blunders Kenneth Patchen	02:37
102	The Origin of Baseball Kenneth Patchen	01:17
103	The Wolf of Winter Kenneth Patchen	00:48
104	The Fox Kenneth Patchen	00:49
105	Nice Day for a Lynching Kenneth Patchen	00:55
106	23rd Street Runs into Heaven Kenneth Patchen	01:19
107	The Lions of Fire Shall Have Their Hunting Kenneth Patchen	01:11
108	Red Wine and Yellow Hair Kenneth Patchen	06:03
201	The Orange Bears Kenneth Patchen	01:21
202	So Be It Kenneth Patchen	00:50
203	The Everlasting Contenders Kenneth Patchen	00:56
204	In Order To Kenneth Patchen	01:42
205	The Man with the Golden Adam's Apple Kenneth Patchen	01:45
206	The Reason for Skylarks Kenneth Patchen	02:01
207	Pastoral Kenneth Patchen	00:55
208	The State of the Nation Kenneth Patchen	01:17
209	Be Music, Night Kenneth Patchen	00:31
210	Show Time (Soon It Will Be) Kenneth Patchen	00:51
211	Where Shall We Walk Kenneth Patchen	00:51