Label
Fantasy
San Francisco independent label documenting Beat Generation poetry and jazz collaborations from the 1950s-1970s.
About
Fantasy Records is a San Francisco-based independent record label founded in the 1950s, known for documenting the intersection of poetry, jazz, and experimental music during a transformative period in American cultural history. The label established itself as a vital platform for the Beat Generation and avant-garde artistic movements, prioritizing the spoken word accompanied by live jazz performances. Fantasy's catalog reflects a commitment to preserving literary and musical collaborations that might otherwise have gone undocumented, with particular emphasis on West Coast poets and musicians. The label released notable recordings featuring Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Kenneth Rexroth, among others, capturing readings and performances from iconic venues such as the Blackhawk jazz club. Operating primarily on vinyl LP format, Fantasy Records played a significant role in legitimizing poetry as a recorded art form and demonstrated the creative potential of hybrid performance genres. The label's work remains influential within underground and experimental music communities, representing an important historical document of mid-20th-century American counterculture and the literary-musical dialogue that defined the era.
Catalog
16 totalHowlTentative Description Of A Dinner To Promote The Impeachment Of President Eisenhower And Other Poems By Lawrence FerlinghettiHowlChronicle IICreedence Clearwater RevivalClear
Enter
Poetry Readings In The Cellar
Ezra Pound's Opera: Le Testament De Villon
Ferlinghetti
My Name Is Albert Ayler
Brew Moore In Europe
Poetry And Jazz At The Blackhawk
Poetry And Jazz At The Blackhawk
Howl And Other Poems
Tentative Description Of A Dinner To Promote The Impeachment Of President Eisenhower And Other Poems By Lawrence Ferlinghetti