After posting about the Three Penny Press books, I was contacted by someone who told me that one of the books--Split from Twinkling Hell--contained a poem by a "Vincent Beldon," and that this poet was really Frank Zappa , age 18 (writing in 1959). It turns out there were two different books with the title Split from Twinkling Hell, and one of them had writing by four different poets, while another contained poems by just one poet. It's this multi-poet version of the book that contains the poem by "Vincent Beldon," and there are only two libraries in the world that have copies of this edition. (The other Split from Twinkling Hell contains poems by Maurice Lacy--)

I was able to view a copy of the Vincent Beldon poem. It's titled "L.A. Night Piece". The poem is in five parts. It's a "list" poem: a series of lines and words describing Los Angeles at night. It's a series of quick impressions and references. I'm convinced it was composed by a young Frank Zappa. There are several clues here: at one point there's a line that reads: "King Konk jars"--an obscure image, but it obviously connects with "King Kong" which is the title of one of Zappa's most important compositions featured on his Uncle Meat Album. He also used "King Kong" for the title of an album of his music performed by Jean Luc Ponty. Now by itself that wouldn't be enough of a reference, but part Five of the poem is titled "El Monte Legion Stadium"--a place Zappa refers to in the lyrics of a song called "Dog Breath," which is featured on the Uncle Meat Album. In fact the lyrics of most of the songs on that album seem a lot like L.A. Night piece. But the real evidence for me is this: the Beldon Poem has the same bizarre mix of Neo-Dada sophistication and adolescent goofiness that pervades Zappa's Music, Lyrics, and his approach to the visual art of his album covers. The album covers were done by Cal Schenkel, who seems to have been influenced by L.A. assemblage artists of the late 50's--I'm thinking here of Wallace Berman, George Herms, and Ed Kienholz--artists associated with the beat underground and with Venice, CA.

The early Zappa/Mothers albums--from Freak Out to Hot Rats--had, and continue to have, a kind of talismanic quality for me. They were very important when I was 17, and I still have the albums I purchased back in the early seventies. The cover art on these albums has had a big influence on my visual art. Some of the Zappa album art looks a lot like the drawings and collage in the Three Penny Press books. And that returns us to the importance of the "Beldon" poem. It makes a connection between the beatnik underground of 1959 and the pop counter-culture of the later sixties in California.

Over the course of the last year, I've been able to read several small books of poetry published in 1959 by Three Penny Press and the Unicorn Bookshop in Los Angeles.

These books were edited by Grover Haynes, and some of the poems were hand lettered by Rosie Haynes.

Each volume also features artwork by various people. Does anyone know anything about Three Penny Press and Grover and Rosie Haynes?

Here are some of the titles:
  Split from Twinkling Hell by Maurice Lacy

  Lawerence Lies Crucified by John Fles

  A Passing Dragon by Lenore Kandel

And two collections:

Beat and Beatific (3 volumes)

Beards and Brown Bags (2 volumes)

One editorial preface makes the following statement:

  Our main sources of poetry are the poetry readings
  that are conducted at coffee houses in Los Angeles,
  Venice West, and San Francisco...


Another preface reads:

  ...the curiosity of the nation was aroused a few years
  ago by a newspaper account of a new type of human
  arising on the San Francisco scene, the "Beatnick."
  ... The Three Penny Press has discovered writings
  and artifacts from the kingdom of beatdom...

etc.

I enjoy some of the poetry and art in these books, but they also provide a window on Southern California beat subculture in the late 1950's.

Copies of The Oasis of Ladders are now available

Copies of the first edition of The Oasis of Ladders are still available. If you have any questions about the book or the poems, please send them.

And if you're a poet and would like to discuss poetics and related ideas,

this is a place to talk.