David Meltzer

about

David Meltzer (February 17, 1937 – December 31, 2016) was an American poet and musician of the Beat Generation and San Francisco Renaissance. Lawrence Ferlinghetti described him as "one of the greats of post-World-War-Two San Francisco poets and musicians." Meltzer came to prominence with inclusion of his work in the anthology, The New American Poetry 1945-1960. Meltzer was born in Rochester, New York, the son of a cellist and a harpist. In 1940, the family moved to Brooklyn. At the age of 11, he wrote his first poem, on the topic of the New York City subway system. He performed on radio and TV in The Horn and Hardart Children's Hour. The family moved once again to Rockville Centre. His parents separated, and he accompanied his father to Los Angeles in 1954. In 1957, he moved to San Francisco and became part of a circle of writers based around Jack Spicer and Robert Duncan. In 1958, he recorded an album of his poems with a jazz combo for Jim Dickson on Dickson's Vaja label. The album was not released but finally saw the light of day in 2006 on Sierra Records titled "David Meltzer: Poet with Jazz 1958." Jim Dickson had earlier recorded Lord Buckley, Lenny Bruce and the Page Cavanaugh Trio. Later Jim would be A&R producer for World Pacific and Elektra Records as well as discovering and producing the rock group, The Byrds. In 1968, Meltzer signed the “Writers and Editors War Tax Protest” pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War. One of the key

top songs

albums

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Poets Read Their Contemporary Poetry: Before Columbus Foundation

Sounds of the City, Manhattan Fables - Beatnik Poetry and Prose

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Wild Poppies

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Howls, Raps & Roars

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Poet with Jazz

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Beat Generation Mixtape

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Howls, Raps & Roars [Disc 4]

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Howls, Raps & Roars (Disc 4)

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Howls, Raps & Roars: Recordings From the San Francisco Poetry Renaissance [Disc 4]

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Howls, Raps & Roars: Recordings from the San Francisco Poetry Renaissance

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Howls, Raps And Roars (Disc 4)

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Howls Raps And Roars

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