Includes the albums FM & AM, Class Clown, Occupation Foole, Toledo Window Box, An Evening With Wally Lando, On The Road & a bonus disc. CD

The one-and-only entry in the Verbatum series from Atlantic Records – a proposed spoken word offshoot of the label – but one that only ever issued this fantastic 60s reading by Allen Ginsberg! As you might guess from the cover's beautiful photograph by Richard Avedon, Ginsberg is at the height of his hippie years here – and the poem Kaddish is a freewheeling, spiritually-infused work that is quite different than some of the earlier beat material. Ginsberg draws both on his Jewish roots and his increasing conflict with society for the piece – which is presented here in a lively recording done at Brandeis in 1964. LP, Vinyl record album

(Soundtracks, Comedy/Spoken) LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Hip work from Flip Wilson – an early album on Atlantic Records, issued before his bit TV fame – and a set that's got exactly the kind of edgey vibe you might expect from the title! The set was captured live in a small club, and Wilson's got a very wide appeal in his presentation – that kind of warmth and charisma that made him a very important force in breaking the boundaries between audiences at the time – able to keep things interesting enough with maybe a wider societal range of topics than the personal humor of Bill Cosby, on routines that include "Staying On Too Long", "Midget", "Riot Suit", "Confidential Survey", "Cheap Hotel", and "Kids". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

One of the lesser-known 70s albums by Nikki Giovanni – a wonderful selection of material from her book Cotton Candy On A Rainy Day – read in a spare setting, without any musical accompaniment! In some ways, this album's even better than the more famous Giovanni albums on Atlantic – as Nikki's vocals really come across beautifully without any music – strong and expressive, but without any overdone moments – and clearly no attempt to commercialize her words by turning them into songs. Titles include "Gus", "Habits", "Boxes", "Crutches", "The New Yorkers", and "Winter". (Soul, Comedy/Spoken) CD

A beautiful post-Atlantic album from Nikki Giovanni – much more intimate and personal than her better known work, with only Nikki's voice throughout the album – heard on a number of shorter poems! At some level, Giovanni seems to have left behind the more righteous themes of before, and is going for a mode here that's a bit more everyday – but still touched with the deeper reflections that make her so great. The titles of the poems tell enough about the subject matter – and they include "Parent's Never Understand", "Mommie's Daddies", "Ego Tripping", "James Shell's Snowball Stand", "Knoxville Tennessee", "Winter Poem", "The Drum", and "Kidnap Poem". (Soul, Comedy/Spoken) CD