Dreamtime reader/listener Corey sent us an interesting email, noting...
"After reading the Matsuo Bashō poem in your post I realized that [Allen] Ginsberg referenced it in his folk music/poetry performance called "Old Pond". Instead of the line, "the sound of water", Ginsberg replaces it with "Kerplunk". This performance can be found over at Ubu web. Being that Dylan and Ginsberg were occasional collaborators, I thought that you might be interested. I love this piece!"
Which sent me on on a hunt for more information. I found that not only as Corey noted, that Ginsberg did do a version of the Bashō haiku, but also that hundreds of poets have tried their hand at variations of the "Frog Poem" too. In fact, there's a book - One Hundred Frogs - which I just ordered from Amazon, which looks at versions from serious haiku to limericks...
"There once was a curious frog / who sat by a pond on a log / And to see what resulted, / In the pond catapulted / With a water-noise heard around the bog."
Corey also pointed me to a great resource that I hadn't known existed, Ubuweb, which I commend to your attention if you're interested in poetry, music, or just general aural weirdness. Ginsberg's performance of Old Pond that Corey mentioned, recorded at the Nova Convention of 19 and 78, can be found here, as the first selection, and can be played online or downloaded. Thanks, Corey!
A couple of recent emails from Dreamtime listeners...
"Who is the 'Bishop' referred to on this week's [Heat] show [when the caller reads his 'favorite poem']?"
I had to listen to that segment several times and eventually Googled the haiku's (as Our Host correctly points out) opening lines as I couldn't make out the poet's name myself. It does sound a lot like Bishop. We need better enunciation, please, Theme Time callers!
The haiku is:
heat waves shimmering/ one or two inches/ above the dead grass
and the poet is Matsuo Bashō (松尾 芭蕉) the most famous poet of the Edo period in Japan, according to his Wikipedia entry. During his lifetime, Bashō was renowned for his works in the collaborative haikai no renga form; today, he is recognized as a master of brief and clear haiku. His most famous poem is generally considered to be...
old pond / a frog jumps / the sound of water
Another longtime listener goes all the way back to November 15, 2006 and the Food episode of TTRH to ask if I have any clue as to what is playing during the opening sequence, which features a couple laughing and reciting these lines as a small group plays in the background...
Ooh we're gonna have fun
Yes
It's a cozy table, isn't it?
And champagne my dear, heh-heh
Mmmmmm delicious, ha-ha
It's an an excerpt from a novelty number released by Jim Backus (he of Mr. Magoo, Gilligan's Isle, and Rebel Without a Cause among other things) "& Friend" in 19 and 58 on the Jubilee label titled "Delicious!" The song, believe it or not, actually broke into the U.S. Top 40 that year (1958 must have been a very slow year for music). The backing is provided by "Appleknocker & His Group," probably a pickup name for a studio group, as "Delicious!" and the B-side "I Need a Vacation," seem to be the only two pieces they ever recorded under that name.
The identity of the "& Friend" is unknown, although various claims have been made for Phyllis Diller (which it probably isn't, since the laugh is totally different from Diller's trademark bray) and Hermione Gingold(!). Here's the text from the original press release that accompanied the 45...
Jim Backus, the voice of Magoo is aided by a fem friend on this zany novelty. It involves a couple getting inebriated over champagne and working into a laughing jag. It's a very amusing item that should pull plenty of jockey play. There's already action on the side in several areas. Flip, "I need a vacation", is also a novelty type.
