AtRare original copy: a the time of its release in early 1975, unpitched speech was not taken for granted as musical material by composers, nor was there a widespread movement of sound poetry in the U.S.  This now-legendary anthology, therefore, was a novelty and for some an inspiring revelation. Long prized by collectors (it has been out-of-print since 1984), this album of sound art made of spoken words inspired a burst of related activity during the decade of its circulation. A younger generation of American composers and poets began to adopt speech music, pre-dating rap, poetry slams, or even the storied emergence of performance artist Laurie Anderson

A1      Charles Amirkhanian       Just (4:21)
A2     Charles Amirkhanian     Heavy Aspirations (5:57)
A3     Clark Coolidge     Preface (Excerpt) (5:32)
A4     John Cage     62 Mesostics Re Merce Cunningham (6:18)
A5     John Giorno     Give It To Me, Baby (5:26) 
A6     Anthony Gnazzo     The Population Explosion
B1     Charles Dodge     Speech Songs: No. 1 When I Am With You (Excerpt) (1:37)
B2     Charles Dodge     Speech Songs: No. 2 He Destroyed Her Image (Excerpt) (2:00)
B3     Robert Ashley     In Sara, Mencken, Christ And Beethoven There Were Men And Women (Excerpt) (3:46)
B4     Beth Anderson (2)     Torero Piece (3:46)
B5     Brion Gysin     Come To Free The Words (3:21)
B6     Liam O’Gallagher     Border Dissolve In Audiospace (12:43)