Track Listing

1. Coney Island of the Mind, Pt. 1
2. Coney Island of the Mind, Pt. 2
3. Coney Island of the Mind, Pt. 3
4. Coney Island of the Mind, Pt. 4
5. Coney Island of the Mind, Pt. 5
6. Coney Island of the Mind, Pt. 6
7. Coney Island of the Mind, Pt. 7
8. Coney Island of the Mind, Pt. 8
9. Coney Island of the Mind, Pt. 9
10. Coney Island of the Mind, Pt. 10
11. Coney Island of the Mind, Pt. 11
12. Coney Island of the Mind, Pt. 12
13. Coney Island of the Mind, Pt. 13
14. Coney Island of the Mind, Pt. 14
15. Coney Island of the Mind, Pt. 15
16. Coney Island of the Mind, Pt. 16
17. Coney Island of the Mind, Pt. 17
18. Coney Island of the Mind, Pt. 18
19. Coney Island of the Mind, Pt. 19
20. Coney Island of the Mind, Pt. 20
21. Coney Island of the Mind, Pt. 21
22. Coney Island of the Mind, Pt. 22
23. Coney Island of the Mind, Pt. 23
24. Coney Island of the Mind, Pt. 24
25. Coney Island of the Mind, Pt. 25
26. Coney Island of the Mind, Pt. 26
27. Coney Island of the Mind, Pt. 27
28. Coney Island of the Mind, Pt. 28
29. Coney Island of the Mind, Pt. 29
30. I Am Waiting
31. Autobiography
32. Dog
33. Christ Climbed Down
34. #11 [From Pictures of the Gone World]

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #189408 in Music
• Released on: 1999-09-14
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

Customer Reviews

Magnificent Aural Delight
Ferlinghetti is an amazing poet. By and far my favorite. I have never been a fan of spoken word cd's. However, this cd is incredible. It puts a voice on the poems i have read and the musical accompaniment by Morphine's Colley is amazing. He gives life to his writings like only he could. His voice sounds exactly as I imagined it would, intriguing and playful. If you are a fan of Ferlinghetti then you must have this cd.

an essential addition to any hipster's collection
If you dig the spirit of the Beat generation, this is CD to buy. Extremely hip and soothing. Ferlinghetti delivers a very good reading of his landmark poetry collection by the same title. The background jazz noir is nothing remarkable but well done. I was hoping for some early Tom Waits-esque stuff but didn't find it here. There are more than 30 tracks on this CD and each one has a distinct feeling. It's almost like different rides on Coney Island. Really good stuff. Mind you, I believe this CD is the ONLY Lawrence Ferlinghetti material available. A little anecdote: I've been running around for half a day looking for this disc. None of the record stores I've been to have it in stock. Most store clerks I've encountered got the lyrics to every single Backstreet Boys songs memorized but have never heard of Ferlinghetti. When I mentioned the name they all had a puzzled look on their pimply faces. One guy with shits pierced all over his face recommended me the latest MTV pop dance collection instead. Man...

Not bad reading, terrible back-up
Although I'm an avid Amazon shopper, I don't write reviews. Mostly because I think a lot is covered in other reviews, or I'm pleased with the product. In this case, I think I have to intervene. I purchased this CD on the strength of the reviews, although I was skeptical when I heard who had composed the music. I should have gone with my first instinct.

F.'s reading isn't the best I've heard, but it's tolerable. Colley's accompaniment is horrible. A kind of fake-jazz, Kurt Cobain w/ W. Burroughs wanna-be noise that makes listening to the CD darned near impossible.

If you're interested in listening to the beats read their poetry, try to get something recorded when they were active. I have the Jack Kerouac box set from Verve and it's amazing, as are older recordings of Ginsberg. You might also want to check out Langston Hughs with the Mingus Band.

The music is supposed to complement the 'beat' of the poetry, either in the interstices or in the back ground. This music most certainly doesn't do that. Buyer beware.