Gorey By Grimes

Edward Gorey/Tammy Grimes Gorey by Grimes LP
(Caedmon, 1980)

Welcome to Gibble Gabble! Gibble Gabble is a result of me realizing that I need to listen to some of the hundreds of spoken word records I've accumulated over the years. Instead of breaking into the music that I post on Crud Crud, I decided to dedicate a blog to these things.

Spoken word records are undervalued things. While they can be obtained for little, used record bins are often stuffed with them - and not JFK memorial albums but good recordings of e.e. cummings, Malcolm X, and Flannery O'Connor. Unlike "books on tape," spoken word records tend to be audio documents, made to preserve sound and to educate (as well as entertain) rather than to give a person something to listen to while driving to work. Because these recordings are on vinyl and few have been reproduced on CD, they linger unlistened to.

Here, perhaps once a week, I will post bits of some of my favorite spoken word records. Some entries will be literature, others political speeches. Educational and instructional records will be featured, as well as the odd comedy album. I will also get to a few Folkways field recording albums and maybe even a sound effects record or two.

Gibble Gabble starts off with an Edward Gorey record. Here the actress Tammy Grimes reads Gorey's work, tales perfectly suited for spoken word. I start off with The Gashlycrum Tinies because it is THE Gorey piece, one that first snared many a Gorey fan. This record was put out on Caedmon, a name that you will see often, as Caedmon was pretty much the name in presenting great literature on spoken word form.

Of course, the Edward Gorey experience is as much a visual thing as it is literary. Your life is not complete if you have never seen the illustrations he makes for his stories. No one captures the humor of a child dying of ennui quite like Gorey. Both Amphigorey and Amphigorey Too are in print and should be in your library.