This is arguably the best-known recording to feature any beat-era poet originally issued in 1959. Although “Howl” is the centerpiece, the peripheral works, especially the mantra-like “Footnote to Howl”, are given empowering presentations that magnify the greatness that’s inextricably inherent in both art and artist. Indeed, the genesis of Allen Ginsberg’s brilliance as both poet and performer has rarely been equalled. The modern listener remains entranced by his vaudevillian sense of provocation as it couples with an unspoken, yet palpable obsession of a postmodern amphetamine-fuelled Shakespeare.