Saturday, June 27, 2009

Beatniks...What do you know?

I am looking for this book. Maybe it will give me more insight on beatniks! What do you know or think about beatniks? I can't find as much info on them as Hippies, and such. I think of poetry, art, a frame of mind in the 1950's? Where did the name come from? Was it a drop out name put on them. Maybe teens of a certain era where clean kids didn't hang out? These are my guesses. Maybe the first pot smokers? I couldn't really find too many pictures of beatniks so I made my own choices. See if you agree?
Patty Boyd, married to George Harrison and Eric Clapton. Beatnik? Most definitely!

First beatnik? Possibly!



Total Beatnik, but one of a kind also.


Dali, I'd say yes! He may have agreed or not. Love the cat Sal!




Finally, my kind of beatnik. Johnny Depp plays beatnik lead in "The Beat". Wouldn't that be a great movie? So let's hear what you think and if you can enlighten me-I want to know more?
Did they have some real music? Any body out there know?





26 comments:

GYPSYWOMAN said...

very interesting subject - you know, the kind that you think you know about until you have to define it with traits, etc - so now i'm gonna have to tie up some of those loose ends just for curiosity - and i love the image of your first beatnik! love it! have a great day! jenean

MYCLOSETGARDEN said...

Love beatniks - you are right, not much info on them.

Thanks for checking out my blog :)

lorhen82 said...

I have that pic of Johnny too...I love it! ~Lori

The Stylish House said...

Your intriguing avatar lead me here and on arrival I am not disappointed. I am smiling to see beatniks! As a young child I vividly remember images of coffee shop beatniks, wearing beanies, playing guitars and reciting poetry. They were the precursor to hippies and cool beyond cool for the time. Growing up middle child in bland, middle class suburbia who danced to her own beat, I longed for a more spirited avant-garde lifestyle, which they represented.
Cathy

Anonymous said...

yeah, interesting. i don't really know the beginnings of the beatnik, but i love that pix of johnny

House of Hullabaloo said...

Sandy, I used to get emails from the beat museum. I was doing a little research on the internet and signed up for their email. My sister and I were beatniks for Halloween one year many, many moons ago!

Caio Fern said...

good that you Sandy like beat culture . many years ago they were a great part of my life , reading jack kerouak , willian borrougs ( there is a kurt coulbain session with him ) , ginsberg ..... and all the musisians they listened or had influence of them . i like to read bukowisk too . he is a big piece of beat culture....
well , see you . ciau bella !!!!!!

Sandy said...

Thank you so much! I am off to the book store. Beat culture here I come, thanks Caio!

debra@dustjacket said...

I'll have Johnny Depp thank you very much!!!

Lynnae said...

There's an interesting Beatnik poem from an old movie on this YouTube link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVOXxDV5BdI

I love the quote from the beatnik 'boyfriend' in Peggy Sue Got Married, who's going to check out of this "bourgeois motel, push my chair back from the table, and say "No more Jello for me, Mom!"
With it's tough, anti grown up establishment attitude, maybe we could say beatnik poetry was a forrunner of rap music, which also come with it's own lifestyle and clothing styles.

CeCe said...

Don't have a clue about beatniks but know I really like the picture of Johnny Deppl Had almost forgtten the term, really. Thanks for the nudge of remembrance!

CeCe said...

Don't have a clue about beatniks but know I really like the picture of Johnny Deppl Had almost forgtten the term, really. Thanks for the nudge of remembrance!

House of Hullabaloo said...

Sandy,

I'll ask my Mama about the beatnik pictures. I don't remember seeing any. The reason I remember is that I didn't know what a beatnik was! Lucy is four years older than me and very cool and I think it was an easy costume for my mom to put together!

Buddy is camping in the Mountains! I need to get your email!

Annisa NF said...

Oh, I love Johnny! <3

Yvette said...

Kerouak, Henri Miller .....a little bit before the hippies?

interesting question

drollgirl said...

ack!!! you have exposed my ignorance! i really don't know much about beatniks. at all! i think that book "on the road" qualifies as a beatnik thing. maybe? ugh. i need to study up on this!

Rachel said...

When I think "beatnik" I think Andy Warhol? Maybe that will lead you down a rabbit trail that you didn't want to run!

eclectic archivist said...

Jack Kerouak's "On the Road" is a good read. There is also a fictionalized movie about him with Nick Nolte..."Heart Beat" made in 1980. Have fun!

Like Lisa, I too dressed up as a beatnik for Halloween...black turtle neck and black tights...a big deal back in the 60's.

Drawn to The Sea said...

"Beatnik" conjures up one thing for me... Maynard G. Krebbs :-)

Arcadia Living said...

Well that is just too weird as Lauren and I were at the Beat Museum on Saturday. Yes, Jack Kerouc and Allen Ginsberg were the leaders of the beat generation. Lauren also happened to be reading "On the Road" on the trip. She didn't even know that Kerouc hung out in San Fran! Another weird coincidence. We took a picture of the Jack Kerouc road sign and had a drink at Vesuvio - a bar that they all hung out at. I will post some pics on my blog soon! Love ya- Patty

Arcadia Living said...

Oh - and yes, I do think Johnny Depp is the new generation beatnik!

Cindy said...

I think of beatniks as the 1960's coffee shop freespirit poetry readers. For some reason, I put them together with jazz music...like Miles Davis jazz.

Mrs. M. said...

they actually cover the beatniks and give a lot of insight into the development of the culture in Sex: The Revolution. you should check it out!

Lynn said...

I think of two movies.
Paris Blues
and
An American in Paris

Anonymous said...

i love it when someone points out a word that we think we understand, or i think i am so very familiar with....but then come to find out...maybe I'm not...because then the adventure begins! thank you. and thank you for checking out my blog...i've been in and out lately, but wanted to say hello...i'll defiantly be back...i love mixed media art with a passion. i'm addicted to it. :)

Julie B. said...

Beatniks...jazz, drugs, poetry, and zen. They morphed into hippies in San Francisco...Stephen Gaskin was a follower of Suzuki Roshi of SF Zen Center, and led a caravan across middle America to found the FARM commune in Tennessee. His wife, Ina May Gaskin wrote SPIRITUAL MIDWIFERY and helped to inspire the home birth movement in the 60s and 70s. I went to the FARM when I was pregnant with my first child. They still meditated as a community every Sunday morning. Also, Ken Kesey and his band of Merry Pranksters were accompanied by Neal Cassady, who inspired the Dean Moriarty character in ON THE ROAD. And don't forget the connection between the Grateful Dead and Ken Kesey. You're speaking my language now, can you tell?:)