Charles Bukowski - Hostage (1980)

Originally released in 1985, this title was recorded live at the Sweetwater in Redondo Beach, California, in April 1980. Features Bukowski's inimitable voice riffing on life and the city he knew so well! Charles Bukowski, arguably the most influential poet of the 20th century, recorded live at California's Sweetwater, in April 1980. At age 35, after a decade of too many parties and too many pills, Bukowski found himself in a Los Angeles Hospital with severe internal hemorrhaging. Shortly after, he began to write. German-born Bukowski turned the sleaze and filth of L.A.'s urban ditch into free-verse poetry and clean prose. In the interim, he developed a huge underground following, largely from his column called "Notes of a Dirty Old Man" and his infamous disorderly poetry readings on U.S. college campuses. This live recording captures Bukowski at his best - with microphone, audience, and perhaps even a beer, in hand.