Fugging Around
At 86, blind and housebound, Fugs frontman Tuli Kupferberg is still dispensing crass words of wisdom
The Fugs in 1967, from left: Ed Sanders, Tuli Kupferberg, and Ken Weaver.
CREDIT: Courtesy of Ed Sanders
In 1965, two beat poets on New York’s Lower East Side, Tuli Kupferberg and Ed Sanders, put together a band called the Fugs. (The name is a euphemism that means what it sounds like and was borrowed from Norman Mailer’s novel The Naked and the Dead.) The Fugs have been recording and performing irreverent rants about sex, drugs, and war since then, often with Kupferberg delivering deadpan lyrics in what the New York Times recently described as his “rabbinical monotone.” The group’s latest album, Be Free, comes out this week, though Kupferberg has been confined to his home since the fall, after two strokes left him virtually blind. He continues to make himself heard by way of daily dispatches, which he calls “perverbs,” posted on YouTube. He doesn’t consider himself religious, but his songs, poems, and missives are steeped in the Yiddish culture he grew up in. Reporter Jon Kalish profiled the performer—who, be warned, uses some explicit language.
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He can’t be 86! I had such a crush on him in the ’60s. “Mrs. Tuli Kupferberg…” I’m very glad to hear he’s still carrying on.
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jon ..just wonderfull as usual..best steve ben
And the opening line of the Fugs’ song, “Advice From the Fugs” is, “Never forget that Sholom Aleichem lost all his inherited money in the stock market.” Jewish references came naturally to Tuli and the Fugs and they did not edit out those references to be a little cooler.
Watch Tuli Kupferberg in the 80s on Paper Tiger TV
http://www.realeyz.tv/en/search.php?search=kupferberg
Even die-hard atheists might agree that God blessed, blesses and bless Tuli.
Hey Jon–wonderful piece!
Great piece, thanks!
Jon–Fan-fuggin’-tastic! Thanks.
You can see an illustrated montage I made of this podcast with rare Tuli photos, cartoons, and pictures of the people Jon mentions, which I am told is very helpful to people who speak languages other than English. For the rest, it should enhance the experience of hearing Jon’s piece. Too bad that Tuli can’t appreciate it, but those of us who still have the gift of sight should check out the video:
http://vimeo.com/9716151
(also on YouTube and DailyMotion)
Brilliant!
Once a fug, forever a fug – how great is that? Kalish, your work cuts to the heart.
A heart of Judaism that should be better known – the desire for peace for all!
Man what a farrrrout piece of reportage with a Jewish touch— dig it!!! thanx for it!
I was introduced to the Fugs in 1966 by my roommate from NYC. We wore out the grooves (remember them?) on our record. Hard to believe Kupferberg is 86, but no harder to believe than that I am 61!
Kupferberg had a listed phone number and was exceedingly polite to a sixteen-year-old moron who called him up one afternoon in 1967, and said moron is sad to hear of his passing…