Long Play Poetry: The Life of a Poetry Series

By David Macpherson

David Macpherson has organized many poetry events over the years. He has created hundreds of poetry readings and series in and around Worcester, Massachusetts. In 2019, he came up with a new series, Long Play Poetry. The idea was simple. He was going to play old poetry and spoken word albums at a performance space and people were going to come and listen.

While running this monthly series, David kept a journal. This book is the history of Long Play Poetry, from the planning stages to the last time it was held. Throughout, we learn what it takes to run a poetry series. We also find out what it takes to make things successful or what happens when things don't work out as planned.

This is a funny, sad, contemplative recounting of a poetry series. It is what happens when a different type of poetry event is presented. From the beginning to the end, there was always good poetry spinning on the record player. Settle in and have a listen.

• Language: English
• Publisher: David Macpherson
• Release date: Mar 5, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393545217

Book preview

March, 2019

It is one month to the week that the Long Play Poetry will be starting and I am on one of my writing weekends in Brattleboro, Vermont. It is supposed to be for writing only, but there is a terrific record store, In the Moment Records, and I have to go in. I must.

This time it is not just buying jazz and weird albums, this time I am on a mission. I got to the Poetry/ Spoken Word bin and flip through it. I pick up Lennox Robinson presents William Butler Yeats Poems and Memories. That seems perfect for the poetry event.

Then I come across the LP set of Lorrainne Hansbury’s To Be Young, Gifted and Black. It is a recording of the play culled from the letters and journals of the young playwright. The recording features James Earl Jones!

I haven’t heard this recording. I don’t know how good it is. I don’t know anything about this rather expensive purchase (twenty bucks for a spoken word LP is a little more than I usually like to pay) but I do know that I will be changing the schedule to include this in Long Play Poetry, my new monthly poetry event. I haven’t heard a peep of the album, but I am sure other people will want to spend a Saturday afternoon listening to it.

I go up to purchase the albums and the owner lingers on the Lorraine Hansbury set. I didn’t know I had this. I bought the store last year, and I’m still discovering things that are, well they are pretty wild.

Yeah, I say, I saw this here last year, and I was hoping it was still going to be in the bin. I am so excited to hear it.

Before you leave, get my email and let me know how it sounds. How good it is. I would love to know. I have never heard a store owner say such a thing to me, it must be the vinyl collector in him talking. It doesn’t matter who owns the album, as long as it's good and well loved.

I will, I say, I am buying these things, because I’m a member of a poetry association, the Worcester County Poetry Association, and I’m starting a monthly listening party in their office, which has space enough for readings and listening parties. Does anyone do listening parties anymore?

I guess so, I mean you’re doing one.

Yeah, I guess I am. The reason I am doing it is because I keep on buying all these poetry and spoken word LPs and I have to justify it to my wife. I started a poetry event so I can keep on buying these albums.

The new record store owner laughs and stretches out his arms in an expansive fashion, I bought a record store for the same reason. He stops, puts himself in a reflective pose and laughs once more. I bought an entire record store.

He tells me he will keep an eye out for the kind of records that might be good for the poetry event. When he took over the shop, the previous owner had not been restocking, knowing he was selling. All that was left was in the store bins.

The new owner had the fun and exhausting task of replenishing the inventory. He told me he learned the three levels of the records you find out in the wild: the ones you must buy because they will sell like hotcakes, the ones that are good to have for stock and then all the useless records no one wants. How many copies of John Denver Greatest Hits can any place of business possess?

He tells me that there is a fourth category, the records so out there that someone would want it.  I mention seeing a multi-record album that was a drug program; that’s right, stereophonic sobriety.

He says, Before the internet, hell, before there was VHS and DVD all the self-help programs are on album. Everything we needed to learn or recover from was on vinyl.

We agree to stay in touch. He will find weird and wonderful spoken word and poetic albums and I will come up and buy them. That’s our odd little compact.

I left the shop and am taken with a fact I neglected, this was the first time I told a stranger about this new poetry event, so now I guess it really will happen. I better get my crap in order.

2

Though it is quaint to say, I’m doing Long Play Poetry because I need to explain to my wife why I keep buying vinyl. But there is more to the act of starting a poetry event, or any kind of art event. 

In the poetry scene of any size city or community you will discover a few types of people showing up. There are the Poets who want to share their poems. It is important, it is addicting. You have a place to read your poems out and people will listen. People are listening to the words you glued together. This is habit forming and people come back for that rush of reading out.

Then there are the people who come just to listen. They might just like listening to people. Or they love the poetry. They appreciate the sense of community, but don’t feel compelled to read themselves. Maybe they will read once or twice, but they like coming and hearing everything. Or sometimes they want to go up and read, but it’s too scary for them. If they come long enough to the poetry readings, then maybe they will discover the bravery in themselves to go up to the microphone and show us how it is all done. I don’t mean that to be dismissive. I want to hear these people. I want to hear what they have to say. They have absorbed all of this art, all of these words. They will,