ALS signed “Allen,” two pages, 8.5 x 11, August 23, 1971. Letter to Sol Zaentz, Ralph J. Gleason, and Al Bendich of Fantasy Records of Berkeley, California, regarding an album of William Blake poems set to music and a second album of mantras albums he planned to release, but were for some reason never issued. In full: "Here are 3 reels: Side 1 & 2 of Blake album, Side 1 of a Manta album. These are the Masters, I have no copies, can you make a protection copy at 15 I.P.S. and 3 copies at 7 1/2 IPS (one for me, one for Miles & one for Peter Edweston)? If 2 or 3 cassettes can be made simultaneously I could use those for musicians. I'll be back in a week from Snyder & Sierras, & be in town very briefly before going to India for a week. If contracts are agreed & ready on return from Sierras and/or India, O.K.—I would like to re do Spring, Nurses' Song, and A Dream, all the choruses, make them longer & bouncier in Chorus. For that I'll need couple sessions & couple sessions mix down time (6 +6) in Studio around September 18-23 (???)—." Ginsberg signs again with his first name at the end of a postscript: "16 albums of poetry were completed this eve, safety copy made. Will deliver those on call. Allen." Included are three Xeroxed pages related to the two projects, with Ginsberg adding a few notations in black felt tip. In very good to fine condition, with scattered light creasing, paperclip impressions, and several horizontal folds to the letter. Accompanied by a letter of authenticity from Jeff Gold of Recordmecca. Ginsberg believed Blake’s poems were originally intended to be sung and that through study of the rhyme and meter of the works, a Blakean performance could be approximately replicated. In 1969, he conceived, arranged, directed, sang on, and played piano and harmonium for an album of songs entitled 'Songs of Innocence and Experience,' tuned by Allen Ginsberg; this was to be his second Blake album.
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