4 ms·

William S Burroughs and the Cult of Rock’n’Roll

27 points by lermontov 6y ago

misnertap 6y ago
>He breezes swiftly through the matter of the writer having accidentally killed his wife, Joan Vollmer, as part of what they called their “William Tell routine”, in which Vollmer would place a shot glass on top of her head for Burroughs to shoot – only this time he missed and shot her in the forehead. In a 1954 letter to Allen Ginsberg, Burroughs wrote "The idea of shooting a glass off her head had never entered my mind consciously, until - out of the blue, as far as I can recall - (I was very drunk, of course), I said: "It's about time for our William Tell act. Put a glass on your head, Joan." So there is reason to think that there was no "routine". Burroughs came up with the idea there and then. It's also worth noting that Burroughs changed his story a number of times over the years. People might be interested in reading James Grauerholz' "The Death of Joan Vollmer Burroughs: What Really Happened?" (https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/6810449/the-death-of-joan-vollmer-burroughs-what-really-lawrencecom https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/6810449/the-death-of-...). Grauerholz was was friends with Burroughs and his text ends up trying to exonerate Burroughs - however, it is fairly evenhanded and also mentions a good deal of information that paints Burroughs in a negative light. Personally, I lean towards the theory that Burroughs did shoot Vollmer accidentally. However, I think that evidence pertaining to the incident is much more ambiguous than how it is usually presented in articles that deal mainly with Burroughs himself as their theme.
- trianglem 6y ago
  Burroughs is larger than life precisely because of things of this nature. He’s partially an evil protagonist.
  - croissants 6y ago
    The instinct to total up being extremely careless and selfish as "larger than life" is confusing to me.
    - tolbish 6y ago
      A few minutes on instagram should clear things up for you.
    - paganel 6y ago
      The same to me. I've never read anything by this person but visiting the wikipedia page of the woman he shot and killed (who also happened to be his wife) I also saw that he left their two kids in Mexico City. Presumably that also happened by "accident".
      - trianglem 6y ago
        Maybe his actions are not good for society as a large but from a deeply individualistic perspective he exudes enormous draw. Hence the “evil” protagonist.
- JKCalhoun 6y ago
  "Billy, what a saint they've made you, just like Mary down in Mexico on All Souls Day." I am unsure why Natalie Merchant changed her name from Joan to Mary.
- nondeveloper 6y ago
  Burroughs was not a model gun owner or user. In addition to drunkenly killing his wife he slept with several guns, a fact I gleaned from the excellent, Iggy Pop-narrated This American Life episode on Burroughs [0]. For what it’s worth I think killing Joan was an accident. By most accounts he loved her dearly. [0] https://www.thisamericanlife.org/546/burroughs-101 https://www.thisamericanlife.org/546/burroughs-101
dilap 6y ago
I always found it a little hard to get into his text proper, but hearing him read it w/ a bit of musical accompaniment is amazing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9NDxYf122I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9NDxYf122I It might not grab you at first, but if you spend some time with it, there's a whole weird world that opens up in there. And Burroughs is a masterly reader. He also contributed one vocal track and a bunch of lyrics to the excellent Tom Waits album "The Black Rider".
- Hickfang 6y ago
  A pretend bard contributed to a pretend bum!
- glangdale 6y ago
  Also a good deal of fun: https://vimeo.com/36013914 https://vimeo.com/36013914
weare138 6y ago
Burroughs also collaborated with the band Ministry. He has a cameo and is sampled in the video for 'Just One Fix' and recorded a song spoken word song with them called 'Quick Fix'. Ministry - Just One Fix https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYYGKCanqfA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYYGKCanqfA Ministry - Quick Fix https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYKiD03kVGw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYKiD03kVGw
- narrator 6y ago
  If you like the art of Burroughs, I'd recommend his reading of his poem "The Last Words of Hassan Sabbah"[1]. This one is good late at night full screen with all the lights off. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGJ7Z6AEzpY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGJ7Z6AEzpY
speakspokespok 6y ago
Here's an article[0] in Esquire by the son, William Burroughs JR., about his parents and specifically his time living with his Dad in Tangiers. The son died of alcoholism at 33. It's worth the time to read all of it. [0] - https://classic.esquire.com/article/1971/9/1/life-with-father https://classic.esquire.com/article/1971/9/1/life-with-fathe...

27 points by lermontov 6y ago

>He breezes swiftly through the matter of the writer having accidentally killed his wife, Joan Vollmer, as part of what they called their “William Tell routine”, in which Vollmer would place a shot glass on top of her head for Burroughs to shoot – only this time he missed and shot her in the forehead. In a 1954 letter to Allen Ginsberg, Burroughs wrote "The idea of shooting a glass off her head had never entered my mind consciously, until - out of the blue, as far as I can recall - (I was very drunk, of course), I said: "It's about time for our William Tell act. Put a glass on your head, Joan." So there is reason to think that there was no "routine". Burroughs came up with the idea there and then. It's also worth noting that Burroughs changed his story a number of times over the years. People might be interested in reading James Grauerholz' "The Death of Joan Vollmer Burroughs: What Really Happened?" (https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/6810449/the-death-of-joan-vollmer-burroughs-what-really-lawrencecom https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/6810449/the-death-of-...). Grauerholz was was friends with Burroughs and his text ends up trying to exonerate Burroughs - however, it is fairly evenhanded and also mentions a good deal of information that paints Burroughs in a negative light. Personally, I lean towards the theory that Burroughs did shoot Vollmer accidentally. However, I think that evidence pertaining to the incident is much more ambiguous than how it is usually presented in articles that deal mainly with Burroughs himself as their theme.

trianglem 6y ago
Burroughs is larger than life precisely because of things of this nature. He’s partially an evil protagonist.
- croissants 6y ago
  The instinct to total up being extremely careless and selfish as "larger than life" is confusing to me.
  - tolbish 6y ago
    A few minutes on instagram should clear things up for you.
  - paganel 6y ago
    The same to me. I've never read anything by this person but visiting the wikipedia page of the woman he shot and killed (who also happened to be his wife) I also saw that he left their two kids in Mexico City. Presumably that also happened by "accident".
    - trianglem 6y ago
      Maybe his actions are not good for society as a large but from a deeply individualistic perspective he exudes enormous draw. Hence the “evil” protagonist.
JKCalhoun 6y ago
"Billy, what a saint they've made you, just like Mary down in Mexico on All Souls Day." I am unsure why Natalie Merchant changed her name from Joan to Mary.
nondeveloper 6y ago
Burroughs was not a model gun owner or user. In addition to drunkenly killing his wife he slept with several guns, a fact I gleaned from the excellent, Iggy Pop-narrated This American Life episode on Burroughs [0]. For what it’s worth I think killing Joan was an accident. By most accounts he loved her dearly. [0] https://www.thisamericanlife.org/546/burroughs-101 https://www.thisamericanlife.org/546/burroughs-101

dilap 6y ago

I always found it a little hard to get into his text proper, but hearing him read it w/ a bit of musical accompaniment is amazing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9NDxYf122I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9NDxYf122I It might not grab you at first, but if you spend some time with it, there's a whole weird world that opens up in there. And Burroughs is a masterly reader. He also contributed one vocal track and a bunch of lyrics to the excellent Tom Waits album "The Black Rider".

Hickfang 6y ago
A pretend bard contributed to a pretend bum!
glangdale 6y ago
Also a good deal of fun: https://vimeo.com/36013914 https://vimeo.com/36013914

weare138 6y ago

Burroughs also collaborated with the band Ministry. He has a cameo and is sampled in the video for 'Just One Fix' and recorded a song spoken word song with them called 'Quick Fix'. Ministry - Just One Fix https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYYGKCanqfA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYYGKCanqfA Ministry - Quick Fix https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYKiD03kVGw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYKiD03kVGw

narrator 6y ago
If you like the art of Burroughs, I'd recommend his reading of his poem "The Last Words of Hassan Sabbah"[1]. This one is good late at night full screen with all the lights off. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGJ7Z6AEzpY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGJ7Z6AEzpY

speakspokespok 6y ago

Here's an article[0] in Esquire by the son, William Burroughs JR., about his parents and specifically his time living with his Dad in Tangiers. The son died of alcoholism at 33. It's worth the time to read all of it. [0] - https://classic.esquire.com/article/1971/9/1/life-with-father https://classic.esquire.com/article/1971/9/1/life-with-fathe...