"His poetry was an extension of his life and his philosophy: Live life to the fullest, be real about your feelings, express yourself honestly, and do not compromise your art!"

Stuart Z. Perkoff: An Archetypal Beat Poet

Stuart Z. Perkoff (July 29, 1930 – June 24, 1974) was an American poet, painter, collage artist and a central figure of the Venice West early beat era. Stuart Perkoff was born in St. Louis, Missouri to a relatively liberal Jewish household and got his first glimpse of bohemia as a teenager roaming a crumbling industrial neighborhood along the riverfront (62, Maynard). He moved to New York City, New York in 1948 where he was jailed for having turned himself in as a draft dodger (63, Maynard). Upon his return to in 1949 Santa Barbara, California he met and married Suzan Blanchard. Stuart and Susan Perkoff lived for a time in New York City and San Francisco but eventually settled in Venice Beach, California. They had three children together; Sasha, Ben and Rachel. He also had a daughter, Eva, with Susan Berman. Stuart Z. Perkoff was the archetypal Beat poet, the central figure in the Venice West branch of this movement, where he lived within a maelstrom of jazz, sex, and drugs - all of it illuminated from time to time by flashes of visionary ecstasy.

(Photo: Stuart Z. Perkoff, July 29, 1930 – June 24, 1974)

In common with poets like Pound, Olson, Blackburn, and Creeley, Perkoff saw everything that he wrote as part of a continuous poem. From time to time, he published bits and pieces of this endless poem, in magazines and in a few small collections. But he was too busy living - and then too busy dying - to bring his work together into a substantial collection. As one of the poets of the Beat era, Perkoff's books included: Suicide Room (1956), Eat the Earth (1971), Kowboy Pomes (1973), and Alphabet (1973); was arrested on a drug charge in 1968 and released from prison in 1971; after trying to establish a bookstore in Northern California, he returned to Venice in 1973; died of cancer in 1974. Perkoff himself appeared on the TV show "You Bet Your Life," hosted by Groucho Marx. When he denied being a beatnik, Groucho asked him, "What is a beatnik?" Perkoff succinctly explains the philosophy of the Beats: "...their way of life implies getting along on a minimum of money, and a belief in their ability to work out their own problems without external coercion, so long as they don't harm anyone." In the mid 90’s, Stuart’s older brother Gerald approached Tony Scibella and others about collecting Stuart’s work into one volume. Later, Gerald contacted Allen Ginsberg about publication of this manuscript and Allen led him to Maine’s National Poetry Foundation, partially funded by Stephen King. In 1998, Voices Of The Lady: Collected Poems appeared with an honorable and insightful preface by Robert Creeley. It covers all of Stuart’s published work. A substantial tome by any standards and an outlaw masterpiece by a true rebel –Jewish mystic, ex-con, wordslinging junkie genius whose influence is still being felt.

In LOVE IS THE SILENCE: POEMS 1948-1974 (1975)

LETTER TO JACK HIRSCHMAN:

all men are unhappy/camus sd/& everyone dies.
a street/ all share.

ALL IS QUIET:

They return/to lives which they find/filled/ with hate.
They build...on the stained foam/
of life they've killed.

POEM...

hokusai called himself/'an old man/mad about drawing'
matisse died with a stick/strapped to his stiff/arm/
drawing ten feet away...

"He told me to persevere at my music and never stop learning. Also have fun at what you do." (Photo: Ben Perkoff)

The saxophonist Ben "King" Perkoff (son of Stuart Z Perkoff) was born in 1953 in Santa Monica, California -what he does with his exceptional feeling for tradition and music makes him THE "Honker and Shouter" of Berlin, Germany. Either with his own band or other bands: He plays artistically in a very personal manner with distinctive signs of emotion and melancholy, inspired by his strongest influences King Curtis, JR. Walker, Charlie Parker and John Coltrane. The "King" has played with Boz Scaggs, Paul Butterfield, Robert Cray, Big Mama Thorton, Big Joe Turner, Albert Collins, Maria Muldaur, Nick Gravenites, John Cipollina, Nicky Hopkins, Elvin Bishop, Mike Bloomfield, Luther Tucker, Little Johnny Taylor, and many others.

Susan D. Anderson, a library special collections curator who specializes in modern L.A. history says: "Allen Ginsberg and Stuart Z. Perkoff, stood at the center of their constellations. While Ginsberg had a national reputation, says Anderson, “Perkoff was the king of Venice … a wonderful poet whose Venice West Café was a community gathering place. We have his papers, including a lot of his journals, which are filled with musings, drafts of poems and collages.”

Interview by Michael Limnios                    Archive: Ben "King" Perkoff interview

How do you describe Stuart Perkoff’s poetry and life’s philosophy? Where does his creative drive come from?

His poetry was an extension of his life and his philosophy: Live life to the fullest, be real about your feelings, express yourself honestly, and do not compromise your art!

Why do you think that Stuart Perkoff poetry continues to generate such a devoted following?

The Beat Generation represents freedom of ideas and non-conformity. This is pertinent to today’s youth, and this attracts new readers.

Are there any specific memories with Stuart Z Perkoff that you would like to tell us about?!

I may have mentioned this in a previous interview but one of my musical highlights was watching my father at a concert I was playing reacting to my solo on saxophone, the love he expressed for me at that moment was an inspiration to continue my quest as a musician.

Also, he was a voracious reader, he owned a bookstore, “Wolf River Books” and read 1 book a day, almost every day. He was a walking dictionary, I think he may have memorized the English Dictionary, he had an incredible memory.

"Anytime you have free thinkers that do not agree with the establishment it’s a good thing. We need to be able to talk about things and not have “big brother” tell us how to think and live. This is what the Beats believed in. Many musicians of that time also agreed with that and created wonderful music." (Photo: Stuart Z Perkoff, one of the poets of the Beat era; and cover of his book "Kowboy Pomes", 1973)

If you could change one thing in the Beat movement and it would become a reality, what would that be?

I don’t think the hard drugs like heroin, methedrine and cocaine were a good part of the Beat Movement, so that is something I would have changed.

Make an account of the case of Beat movement / counter-culture literary movement and Music.

Anytime you have free thinkers that do not agree with the establishment it’s a good thing. We need to be able to talk about things and not have “big brother” tell us how to think and live. This is what the Beats believed in. Many musicians of that time also agreed with that and created wonderful music.

What are the lines that connect the legacy of Beat literary and Blues/Jazz/Rock music?

The connection is there in Jazz, because of the Poetry and Jazz concerts back then, of which my Dad, Stuart Z Perkoff was a part of. In Rock and Blues, you had Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs and even Simon and Garfunkel who are really just singing poets.

What is the impact of Beat movement, counter-culture literary movement in Music?

The Fugs with Ed Saunders and Tuli Kupferberg were beat/rock musicians and singers.

Joan Baez; Allen Ginsberg; Pete Seeger; Peter, Paul, and Mary; The Byrds; even Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis were all connected in some way. Also, Joni Mitchell played with Mike Brecker, Jaco Pastorius, Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays. She did a great version of Charlie Mingus’ “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat”.

"The Beat Generation represents freedom of ideas and non-conformity. This is pertinent to today’s youth, and this attracts new readers."

(Photo: Stuart Z. Perkoff, a central figure in the Beat movement)

Why wasn’t the Beat literary movement a part of the popular literary?

Beat poetry isn’t for everyone, it was never commercialized. Too hard to sell a guy with bongos and a beard.

"The connection is there in Jazz, because of the Poetry and Jazz concerts back then, of which my Dad, Stuart Z Perkoff was a part of. In Rock and Blues, you had Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs and even Simon and Garfunkel who are really just singing poets."

What was the best advice Stuart ever gave you? What were the most important things you learned?

He told me to persevere at my music and never stop learning. Also have fun at what you do.

If you had a question you would like to ask today Stuart Z Perkoff what would it be?

What do you think of the poetry, art, and music of today?