Doug Draime is a poet for the ages, whose words of yesteryore are not filled with if-only's and shoulda-woulda-coulda's, but instead are blistered, bleeding, and broken through the skin with pure punk-fucking-rock. This book defines a generation raised on Elvis and Robert Johnson, air guitar and hard nightlife, James Dean and Marlon Brando, with a chug of whiskey, a dirty syringe, a couple of lonesome sighs, and a swift kick to any throat that's lost for words and fumbling for drink.
In Rock 'n Roll Jizz, Draime nails the nostalgia without clinging to the sentimental, makes those moments when rock 'n' roll was young seem accessible to anyone, as if it were the firsthand experience of the whole world, without sounding like an already-overdone spinning record of remember-when. You'll end up wanting to dust off those musty blues 45's, drop one needle on the record and one in your arm, sport that patched-up leather jacket, and walk yourself to Basin Street via Positively 4th Street, not forgetting to hit up Peggy Sue at Heartbreak Hotel and swing by Blueberry Hill on the way.
When rock 'n' roll was young, there was a romantic magic in the wild hearts of the generation's youth that will never be found again. It was a time period on the verge of bridging one of the greatest generation gaps in modern history; and if you weren't there, you weren't there. Until now. Draime's in-depth look at the generation, music, influences, atmosphere, and pop culture that shaped him will take you there. With a side of rocks. And a few stitches.
Copies can now be purchased online; or through the mail for $6 (plus $2 US shipping; $3 out-of-US shipping) via cash, check, or money order made out to Angstman Arts, and mailed to Alternating Current, PO Box 183, Palo Alto CA 94302 USA; or via PayPal with the email address alt.current@gmail.com. All authors on our press receive royalties for each copy sold.
In Rock 'n Roll Jizz, Draime nails the nostalgia without clinging to the sentimental, makes those moments when rock 'n' roll was young seem accessible to anyone, as if it were the firsthand experience of the whole world, without sounding like an already-overdone spinning record of remember-when. You'll end up wanting to dust off those musty blues 45's, drop one needle on the record and one in your arm, sport that patched-up leather jacket, and walk yourself to Basin Street via Positively 4th Street, not forgetting to hit up Peggy Sue at Heartbreak Hotel and swing by Blueberry Hill on the way.
When rock 'n' roll was young, there was a romantic magic in the wild hearts of the generation's youth that will never be found again. It was a time period on the verge of bridging one of the greatest generation gaps in modern history; and if you weren't there, you weren't there. Until now. Draime's in-depth look at the generation, music, influences, atmosphere, and pop culture that shaped him will take you there. With a side of rocks. And a few stitches.
Copies can now be purchased online; or through the mail for $6 (plus $2 US shipping; $3 out-of-US shipping) via cash, check, or money order made out to Angstman Arts, and mailed to Alternating Current, PO Box 183, Palo Alto CA 94302 USA; or via PayPal with the email address alt.current@gmail.com. All authors on our press receive royalties for each copy sold.
This book includes:
Cover and inside photos by Beth Weinstein.
Poems by Doug Draime:
- Molly's Place
- When Rock 'n Roll Was A Teenager
- After Buddy & Richie Died Flaming Down From The Sky, Yeah, The Big Bopper Too
- 1959
- Down In The Swallow
- Blues 1
- Blues 2
- Long Gone, Motherfucker In A '55 Olds 45 Years Ago
- Warped American Dream
- for Bo Diddley
- 6 Sketches of L.A.
- Gracie Slick At 23 And Me On LSD
- Walking On The Sky Over East L.A.
- Dream
- "Jim Dandy To The Rescue"
- Cigarette & Booze Ad
- Robert Johnson & The One Available Woman Of Horny Blues
- Waiting For Further Developments
- On The Edge Of Reefer Madness
- Former English Lit Teacher Now A Talking Bartender
- On Elvis Presley's Birthday
- Shamrock Bar
- Dean
- Dream From Motel 6
- Drinking Down The Street From The Radio City Rockettes
- We Are The Sons And Daughters And Brothers And Sisters (to all those who came home from Viet Nam)
- When I Had Elvis Sideburns
Read the Pushcart Prize-nominated poem, On Elvis Presley's Birthday.
Read a review of the book by Aleathia Drehmer (Durable Goods/In Between Altered States).
Read what John Bennett (Vagabond Press/Hcolom Press) and Misti Rainwater-Lites (eBuLLieNCe Press) said about the book.
Sample poem:
When Rock 'n Roll Was A Teenager
When rock ‘n roll was a teenager,
Great Balls Of Fire
was throwing punches
at a man twice its age
on a gravel parking lot in
Westport, Illinois,
laughing and drinking Jim Beam
straight from
the bottle,
between ducks and jabs.
When rock ‘n roll was a teenager,
Heartbreak Hotel
had its finger up the local car hop
after she closed down A&W for the night,
her hand around its hard dick,
pumping it slowly,
in the back seat at the drive-in movie,
Marlon Brando
in The Wild One
on the screen.
When rock ‘n roll was a teenager,
Only The Lonely
was in the county jail locked up for
drunk and disorderly, reading
Tropic of Cancer and writing poems
of sex, rage, and revolution,
trying to conceive a way
to escape from jail by taking its own life,
but, oh, we all know, rock ‘n roll
can never, will never die!
