Mr. Viced Honest was a spoken words / psychedelic rock show based on poet Steve Richmond:
Mike Daily (speaking)
Adam Levi Hungate (guitar)
Chutz Ponderosa (bass)
Luke Strahota (drums)
Whitney Woolf (live electronics)
Mr. Viced Honest practice session at The Enginehouse in North Portland on May 24, 2009.
MR VICED HONEST is an anagram made from the name STEVE RICHMOND. MR MOJO RISIN is an anagram that Jim Morrison made from his own name. They knew each other.
Mike Daily published 33 poems by Steve Richmond in the STOVEPiPER anthology in 1994. The title The Poets Are All Lairs was taken from an unintentional "typo" in one of Richmond's poems. The section was printed full-bleed black with white text.
"Stovepiper is one of the most successful mags I've seen in years."--Marvin Malone, Editor, The Wormwood Review (letter, 1995)
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MAGGIE'S DRAWERS
by Dan Waldron, a review of Gagaku Meat: The Steve Richmond Story
It is always a wonder to realize that immortality is not conferred by deeds, but by words. Whether carved in stone, pressed into clay, or cast in bronze, words are what make someone remembered. Even Attila the Hun would be forgotten, had not some enterprising soul recorded his exploits. Today, for the most part, this means little hieroglyphs of ink printed on paper. What the future may hold with Cyberspace remains to be seen, and is another story.
Percy Bysshe Shelley, a poet the Bukowski school would consider a tea party type--but who, in his day, was thought by some to be a maverick--nailed the idea big time in Ozymandias. His traveler in an antique land came upon a broken statue and a plinth with the words: 'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings, / Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!' Then comes the zinger: Nothing beside remains. Round the decay / Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare / The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Thanks to Mike Daily and Gagaku Meat, the lone and level sands have been turned into peaks and valleys in "The Steve Richmond Story." The account is riveting, if dismaying. Richmond's career as a poet is laid out with a comprehensiveness rare in periodicals. So, unflinchingly, is his life.
Aided in part by a rich array of quotations from David Garcia, Ben Pleasants, Linda King, and others, we witness Richmond's early poetic struggles, and follow through with his development, achievements, and, lamentably, his decline. As any poet knows, getting acceptance from a wide audience is difficult in the extreme. Self-publishing is often the way, and Richmond self-published many of his poems. It is to the everlasting credit of people like Mike Daily with STOVEPiPER, Al Berlinski with his Sun Dog Press, and other perceptive publishers, that Richmond was lifted from the depths into the recognition possible when commercial exposure and distribution happen.
One of the great surprise gifts in Gagaku Meat is the presence of so many shots of Richmond's book covers. The word "book" may be misleading, for many of the early poems went out in slender pamphlet form. They would qualify as simple Ephemera today unless Daily had not rounded them up and reproduced them in such generous numbers here. Another gift, though better known, is Richmond's closeness to his friend and mentor, Charles Bukowski. "Hank."
It is impossible to read the Bukowski of German descent without thinking of German Expressionism in the dawn of motion pictures. Both are rife with strong interpretations of life. In films like Nosferatu and The Golum, there are powerful images of reality, but their "reality" is the reality of a poet's perception, not the literalism of journalistic reporting. It is expressed through bold artifice in settings, costumes, mood lighting, and imaginative camera work--the equivalent of a poet's manipulation of words. The similarity between German Expressionism and Bukowski's writings can be taken only so far, but it is there. Steve Richmond, as Bukowski's disciple, may be said to carry on the tradition, even though once removed.
Sadly, Richmond's later years seem to have taken away his spurs. His endless drug addiction, leaving his body broken, his considerable fortune wasted on dope and gambling, leaving him penniless, his once comfortable "cave" lost to creditors, leaving him homeless, and worst of all, his artistic ammunition seeming to have run out, leaving him, all in all, a "colossal wreck"--all this suggests that the future, if there is one, looks bleak indeed. One is reminded of those long-ago days of practice shooting at an army firing range. If you hit the target, your score was shown. If you missed it entirely, a red flag was waved. With typical soldierly irreverence, the flag became known as "Maggie's Drawers." In his day-to-day life, Steve Richmond seems to have ended up with Maggie's Drawers. His standing in posterity, however, will depend on his writing, not his life. Gagaku Meat does its part by contributing its brilliant gift of words to help perpetuate Steve Richmond's name.
1966 Long Dongs
(with Douglas Blazek and Joe Nickell, published by d.a. levy)
Hitler Painted Roses
(Foreword by Charles Bukowski)
the Earth Rose / a meat poetry tabloid
Earth 2
1968 Poetry: Charles Bukowski/Steven Richmond
LP
1969 Gagaku Poems
Poetry Towards A Creative Non-Violent Anarchy
1971 Life Goes On Wormwood Review, No. 43
1974 Earth Rose
(Foreword by Charles Bukowski)
1975 6 For Baudelaire
1976 Red Work, Black Widow
1977 Wild Seed
Lifshin & Richmond
1978 Venice Jones
Demons Dance Wormwood Review, No. 70
1983 Charlene Rubinski
Prospects
1985 Gagaku
For Jim Callahan Wormwood Review, No. 97
1987 Santa Monica Poems
1988 Demon Notebook
Gagaku Ave
1989 Riches, Judgment & Gagaku
A Simple Cretin's Therapy
1990 GUTS 5
Aphrodite Rising
Some Gagaku And One Not Gagaku Wormwood Review, No. 120
Sisyphus Lives
1991 Appointment in Santa Monica
5.0 L Poems
1992 Sisyphus Leaves
1993 My Wife
Gagaku For Two
Demon Country
The Living Poets Series: Steve Richmond Atom Mind, Vol. 3 No. 12
Desenex Every Night Wormwood Review, No. 132
1994 Gagaku Broadside
The Poets Are All Lairs STOVEPIPER: Book One
Riot of the Rats
1996 Spinning Off Bukowski
Steve Richmond, 1993 Photo by Mike Daily
Mike Daily recites "Mr. Viced Honest" at Portland Aggressive: An Evening of Tough Love at Ella Street Social Club in Portland, Oregon, on May 28, 2009.
Gagaku Meat is now available as a new 32-page, 8-1/2" x 11" format small press zine.
I recently wrote Gagaku Meat: TheSteve RichmondStory, a 32-page journalism piece about meat poet Steve Richmond.
Gagaku Meat includes rare photos, book covers, letter excerpts and ephemera (special thanks to poet and Impetus Editor Cheryl A Townsend). I interviewed Santa Monica abstract artist and close friend of Richmond, David Garcia, and 20 poets, writers and publishers: Gerald Locklin, FrancEyE (Frances Smith, mother of Bukowski's daughter, Marina), Al Berlinski, John Martin, A.D. Winans, Kurt Nimmo, Linda King, Nila NorthSun, Richard Peabody, Mat Gleason, Ron Androla, S.A. Griffin, Alan Kaufman, Jeffrey Weinberg, Don Wentworth, Ed Smith, Peter Magliocco, Jeff Weddle, Alan Catlin, Billy Childish, Pat deTurk, Ben Pleasants. Three poets contributed exclusive sidebar poems about Richmond: Jim Chandler, Todd Moore and Neeli Cherkovski (Cherkovski's is titled, "You Were Angry").
Order Gagaku Meat direct from me or get a copy at Powell's Books (Burnside and Hawthorne stores) or Reading Frenzy in Portland, Oregon.
--M D
ON GAGAKU MEAT: THE STEVE RICHMOND STORY
I think it is important. It seems Richmond was both set upon and blessed by the gods. It's a mixed bag for him. Hell, it's a mixed bag for all of us.
Kurt Nimmo
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I just finished reading Gagaku Meat--straight through, I might add. Well done: well-written, good reactions and insights and a fine overall portrait, warts and all, of Steve and his under-appreciated work.
Alan Catlin
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You've done a beautiful job. The glossy over-sized magazine format is great; it will last repeated readings, which is what I suspect will happen with many a copy you get out there. Congrats on the publication and many thanks for the fine job you've done, the dedication you've had to one of our great neglected underground poets.
Don Wentworth
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I was happy to have my comments included in such a well done piece about such a significant contemporary.
I opened the magazine and read all the Steve Richmond material. It's excellent. Good for Steve! You did a great job.
John Martin
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Gagaku Meat is the necessary prose on Steve Richmond. he translated Lorca's sense of duende straight into the manic gagaku dream.
Todd Moore
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Mike Daily's GAGAKU MEAT is the kind of well-researched essay that lifts a minor poet out of obscurity in the way that no academic thesis can - thru lucid prose, first-hand accounts and the creation of a space that allows anecdotes and the artist's voice to reach a new audience.
Mat Gleason, Coagula Art Journal
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thanks for the copy of gagaku meat! my wife read it cover to cover before i did, & she loves it too.
Ron Androla
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Glad you have done this for Richmond; he is a major figure, I think, and sadly ignored. Not forever, I'm betting. You are blazing a trail here, many will follow, and rightly so. Excellent work. Solid research, tight craftsmanship.
David Barker
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I received & read Gagaku Meat. It's a fine piece of writing & a must-read for the quintessential Steve Richmond fan. Kudos to you and good luck with it (though I wonder why there's no contact info in your bootleg version?). Hope it does Mr. Gagakus some good.
Peter Magliocco
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hello mike
i hope your well
i got the copy thru, thanks very much, id forgotten about all that.
im glade mister richmond is happy with the magazine. we all live very
strange jouneys. i heard that morrision was placed in the bath and had
infact died elswhere, though i forget the details.
i think a couple of doors records are good, and he was carasmatic and good
looking, but i find it odd that humans need the 'poet' or 'artist' title
status to feel special about themselfs. i think mister morrison should of
been happy enough being rich and a pop star. - though it seams most of us
never feel compleat.
im still unformiler with steve richmonds werk - but then im unformiler with
most beat ritting (and ritting and music in gerneral) so that says nothing.
i hope the magazine benifits all concerned
Billy Childish
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Yes. I received my copy. Much appreciated/
You did an honorable and scholarly job!!!
what a trip down memory lane, all those old names. had to shake cobwebs out trying to remember particulars, but it's been a few years and a lot of miles in between. i'm sure steve is at times thrilled (his ego needs it) and pissed (when he doesn't like somebody's negative take on his activities). all in all, a pretty damn good homage. he's lucky to have you in his life. nice mishmashy layout with poems and book covers.
Nila NorthSun
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You have a marvelous piece of work in the publication.
Dan Waldron, Editor, Spinning Off Bukowski
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I finished the Richmond thing last week. You should be really proud of that. I hope it gets into the right hands. There's a ton of people who would love to read it, I'm sure. I know I enjoyed the shit out of it.
Johnny Wockenfuss
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I laughed out loud a dozen times reading Gagaku Meat. It definitely captures the Steve Richmond I know, and I learned quite a bit that I didn't already know. He may be trying to capture the demons, but the Steve Richmond that I know has had a good time all along.
Pat deTurk
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tell you the truth Mike I never read Steve Richmond -- I knew Bukowski well
I even published some of his poems in the early 60s in the magazine I
was editing then out of Santa Barbara called Mica
but I really enjoyed reading Gagaku Meat even though I really don't know
what Gagaku is
great piece of work and a nice tribute to Richmond
thanks for sending it
Raymond Federman
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Design by Greg Higgins
I'm out of wack - off balance - uneven - which beats thinking I'm on th'dime. Honest arrogance is ok only as long as it's honest.
--Steve Richmond
August 22, 1993
10 A M
gagaku
out
in my
world there is
a small fly who is still
on top of a rock that rests in
a slow moving stream of water, near
the shore i stand watching the small fly
that does not move, and i begin to hear him
talking to the stream in a language i cannot under-
stand
Steve Richmond
Drawing of black widow by Steve Richmond on back of envelope sent to William Wantling in the '60s (photo courtesy of Michael Curran)
Mr. Viced Honest "Music, Words & Glitch" 7/9/09
Mr. Viced Honest plays "Charmian Kittredge" and "Listen" at "Music, Words & Glitch" at The Tonic Lounge in Portland, OR, on July 9, 2009. Mr. Viced Honest is Adam Hungate, Luke Strahota, Chutz Ponderosa, Whitney Woolf and Mike Daily. Filmed by Gabe Barber from ReadingLocal.com
Hey, where'd ya find that word stuff? I don't remember sending it out or posting it. My head sucks for memory and my lazy nature is getting in the way of actions. I'll get back to you, if my computer maintains it's connection? Damn it! I gotta go to work.
Mr. Viced Honest, I've been a sluggabug. My writing has come to dead halt. I should tell you another story and it probably won't involve ladies of the night, as I've been resisting those night urges.
Mr. Viced. That is a great chalkboard quote. I love your article on Steve Richmond. Finally, some justice, some long over due recognition for an American original, a true poetic genius. Thanks.
In my humble opinion, Mr. Poe would much prefer a secular comparative value of damnation than one such as the aforementioned "god" which connotes that an omniscient being concieved entirely by unthinking and righteous men may determine our destination for eternitity. So yes I meant Good Damn Poe.
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