Beret? Check.
Beard? Check.
Bongos? Check and check.
OK cats, time to explore the life beatific. Get ready to move your bodhi, shake your (dharma) bum, untether your inner Maynard G Krebs and hit the road to Hipsville, capital of the state of Nirvana, calling at North Beach, Venice Beach, Newquay beach, Greenwich Village, Soho and the Latin Quarter of gay Paree.
And to guide you on your trip, we’ve pulled together a collection of some of the coolest kooks ever to slick down a lick and deliver a stanza bonanza.
Now, over to your Uncle Jack who’s just itchin’ to set the scene….
1 Jack Kerouac-Fantasy:The Early History Of Bop
2 Dizzy Gillespie-Salt Peanuts
3 Lord Buckley-The Train
4 Eden Ahbez-The Wanderer
5 Ken Nordine-Spectrum
6 Eddy Arnold-Hep Cat Boogie
7 The Champs-Beatnik
8 Harry Partch-The Letter
9 Ken Colyer’s Skiffle Group-downbound Train
10 The Vipers Skiffle Group-don’t You Rock Me Dadddy-o
11 Humphrey Lyttelton & His Band-Bad Penny Blues
12 Adam Faith-The Beat Girl Song
13 Brian Fahey-Street Of A Thousand Bongo’s
14 Rikky Baron-Angry Young Man
15 Christopher Logue / Tony Kinsey-Lithe Girl, Brown Girl
16 Cleo Laine-Let’s Slip Away
17 Eric The Beatnik-Beatnik philosophy
18 Davy Graham & Alexis Korner-3/4 A.D
19 Wizz Jones-Hard Times In Newquay
20 The Pines-Espresso
21 The Enchanters-Cafe Bohemian
22 Virginia Vee-Le Temps De La Boheme
23 Serge Gainsbourg-Requim Pour Un Twisteur
24 King Timothy-Gerrard Street
25 Lyn Cornell-African Waltz
26 Kenny Graham-Soho At Dawn
27 Local Counsellor-Beatniks In Newquay
28 Louis Armstrong-Beat Generation