Kell Robertson collection
Collection
Identifier: MSS-924-BC
Scope and Content
This collection of Kell Robertson consists of personal correspondence, journals, musings, audio, and video recordings, photographs, and publicity. The audio recordings 1989-2011 consist of conversations, poetry, and songs recorded at home and live at performing venues. There are original songs as well as covers performed by Kell Robertson on his guitar. Most of the conversations are between Robertson and Kendall McCook. The recordings point out Robertson’s musical and literary influences, including his Beat generation poetry friends. Conversations range in subjects from historical events to reminiscing about their youth. The video recordings 1996-2011 consist of poetry readings, live performances, and informal interviews. The correspondence 1992-2011 consists of personal letters that reference Robertson’s daily life as an artist sometimes struggling with a lack of finances. Friends of Robertson often offer emotional and monetary support with their correspondence. The journals 1982-2011 consist of comments on daily activities, news, weather, and Robertson’s feelings. There is a small amount of publicity materials and newspaper clippings as well as photographs of Robertson and friends 1998-2010. The collection is comprised of materials from Robertson’s home on Saltbush Road in Santa Fe, NM , as well as materials collected by his friends Kendall McCook and Jerry Kamstra.
Dates
- 1967-2021
- Majority of material found within 1990-2011
Creator
- Robertson, Kell (Person)
Access Restrictions
The collection is open for research.
Copy Restrictions
Limited duplication of CSWR material is allowed for research purposes. User is responsible for compliance with all copyright, privacy, and libel laws. Permission is required for publication or distribution.
Biography / History
Kell Robertson was born in Codell, Kansas in 1930. He enjoyed learning and books; he started getting into poetry in eighth-grade. He was never able to finish high school because his step-father kicked him out of the house at age 13. He then started working as a movie theater usher in New Orleans. He went on to work as a fruit picker, dishwasher, and a ranch laborer while he traveled around the US for three years before joining the military. After serving in the Korean War he spent time in Arizona and Mexico. After returning to the U.S., he went to San Francisco where he became part of the Beat scene and became friends with Jerry Kamstra. North Beach became his home off and on, until he moved to Fort Worth, TX in 1988, and then “settled" in New Mexico in 1991.
Robertson was well known in poetry circles in the North Beach scene and published a poetry magazine in the 1960s called Desperado. Robertson became interested in music when his mother took him to a Hank Williams concert. He started playing the guitar as an adolescent and continued his entire life. Robertson died in Santa Fe, NM in 2011. Although he claimed to never make a living off of his poetry and music, he managed to create a name for himself as a poet and musician in the Southwest and has a base of fans who still promote his work.
Longtime friend, Kendall McCook, gives the following biographical insight into Kell Robertson:
“I first met Kell in 1988, when he came to a poetry reading I put together in an old Baptist tabernacle for a storytelling-poetry night. He came with Paul Foreman, a publisher for whom Kell and his wife Betsy worked at the time. Though I had heard of Kell, we had never met. I taught Kell's work in my freshman English class at the University of New Mexico-- it was in a text called Focus Media, published in San Francisco. This was 1971."
“Seventeen years later, we were reading poetry at our "Save the Paluxy " fundraiser. We were part of a successful effort to save the Paluxy from being dammed. It remains the last undammed river in Texas, just a few miles from our farm-- 1988. One month later, I drove down to Kell's place out on Lake Austin , packed his gear into my truck and moved him to my office in a rebuilt trailer and office, where he took up residence for a couple of months. At the time, May 1988, I was a part of an arts and music scene in downtown Fort Worth, where millionaire oil man, Ed Bass was rebuilding a deserted inner city, including the Caravan of Dreams complex, which included a magical jazz club on the bottom floor, as well as a theater on the second, where we held forth from time to time, usually at benefits for a group I was involved with, formed to stop Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant from opening just 3 miles from our farm."
“It was built for a group of actors who held forth in the solid oak and brass theater. Calling themselves the Theater of All Possibilities, they were a wonderous band. I drove in from my farm 'most every week for their performances. I performed on stage for the first time in Dec 1984 at the Caravan theater. I introduced Kell to that world and those actors in 1988. For three years, from 1988 to 1991,Kell lived with his wife, Betsy in a duplex south of downtown. Then, the Caravan of Dreams ended its ride, and we moved back to New Mexico. I bought Kell and Betsy a good-running 1972 Dodge pickup truck, and they moved from Fort Worth to Raton, New Mexico, where Kell and I had enjoyed a very successful night at the Shuler Theater September 14, !991. My friend and fellow poet, Ralph Solano, welcomed Kell and Betsy who stayed at his place until they found good accommodations and jobs. Kell worked part-time at the library. Betsy was a bookkeeper. From 1991 until 1995, Kell lived with Betsy in Raton. We read poetry in Taos, Santa Fe, in Raton, and all around."
“Then in 1995, he found himself at St. Elizabeth Homeless shelter, where he was living 2 days before Christmas. A gift from his publisher, Rod Scott, a box of fine books- copies of A Horse Called Desperation, Dec 1995. Finally,he became a respected poet despite his proclivity for self -destruction. Argos MacCallum built Kell a place in the summer of 1997. He never lived anywhere else."
Robertson was well known in poetry circles in the North Beach scene and published a poetry magazine in the 1960s called Desperado. Robertson became interested in music when his mother took him to a Hank Williams concert. He started playing the guitar as an adolescent and continued his entire life. Robertson died in Santa Fe, NM in 2011. Although he claimed to never make a living off of his poetry and music, he managed to create a name for himself as a poet and musician in the Southwest and has a base of fans who still promote his work.
Longtime friend, Kendall McCook, gives the following biographical insight into Kell Robertson:
“I first met Kell in 1988, when he came to a poetry reading I put together in an old Baptist tabernacle for a storytelling-poetry night. He came with Paul Foreman, a publisher for whom Kell and his wife Betsy worked at the time. Though I had heard of Kell, we had never met. I taught Kell's work in my freshman English class at the University of New Mexico-- it was in a text called Focus Media, published in San Francisco. This was 1971."
“Seventeen years later, we were reading poetry at our "Save the Paluxy " fundraiser. We were part of a successful effort to save the Paluxy from being dammed. It remains the last undammed river in Texas, just a few miles from our farm-- 1988. One month later, I drove down to Kell's place out on Lake Austin , packed his gear into my truck and moved him to my office in a rebuilt trailer and office, where he took up residence for a couple of months. At the time, May 1988, I was a part of an arts and music scene in downtown Fort Worth, where millionaire oil man, Ed Bass was rebuilding a deserted inner city, including the Caravan of Dreams complex, which included a magical jazz club on the bottom floor, as well as a theater on the second, where we held forth from time to time, usually at benefits for a group I was involved with, formed to stop Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant from opening just 3 miles from our farm."
“It was built for a group of actors who held forth in the solid oak and brass theater. Calling themselves the Theater of All Possibilities, they were a wonderous band. I drove in from my farm 'most every week for their performances. I performed on stage for the first time in Dec 1984 at the Caravan theater. I introduced Kell to that world and those actors in 1988. For three years, from 1988 to 1991,Kell lived with his wife, Betsy in a duplex south of downtown. Then, the Caravan of Dreams ended its ride, and we moved back to New Mexico. I bought Kell and Betsy a good-running 1972 Dodge pickup truck, and they moved from Fort Worth to Raton, New Mexico, where Kell and I had enjoyed a very successful night at the Shuler Theater September 14, !991. My friend and fellow poet, Ralph Solano, welcomed Kell and Betsy who stayed at his place until they found good accommodations and jobs. Kell worked part-time at the library. Betsy was a bookkeeper. From 1991 until 1995, Kell lived with Betsy in Raton. We read poetry in Taos, Santa Fe, in Raton, and all around."
“Then in 1995, he found himself at St. Elizabeth Homeless shelter, where he was living 2 days before Christmas. A gift from his publisher, Rod Scott, a box of fine books- copies of A Horse Called Desperation, Dec 1995. Finally,he became a respected poet despite his proclivity for self -destruction. Argos MacCallum built Kell a place in the summer of 1997. He never lived anywhere else."
Extent
7 boxes (6.2 cu. ft.)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
This collection contains papers and recordings of poet, singer, and song writer, Kell Robertson.
Separated Material
Published books and CDs transferred to UNMUL general collections for cataloging. Search "Kell Robertson collection" in the online catalogue.
Archival cds/dvds stored in B3 and master .wav files for some of the audio/video are on the library file server.
Contents of Kell Robertson's Library:
Archival cds/dvds stored in B3 and master .wav files for some of the audio/video are on the library file server.
Contents of Kell Robertson's Library:
- Alexander, Simon, Simon Song, 1990
- Blue, Janice, Footprints in the Empty, 2006
- Brooks. Pauline, Speaking of , 1999
- Brower, Gary, Book of Knots, 2007
- Brower, Gary, For the Wild Horses of Placitas…, 2009
- Brower, Gary, Planting Trees in Terra Incognita, 2006
- Buffaloe-Yoder, Julie, Price Reduced Again, 2009
- Buyerm Laurie Wagner, Blue Heron, 1994
- Cirillo, Todd, Roxy, 2003
- Crocker, Daniel, Long Live the 2 of Spades, 1999
- Dofflemyer, John F., Black Mercedes,
- Dorsey, John , From the Mouth of an Outlaw, 2005
- Dorsey, John , Harvey Keitel, Harvey Keitel, Harvey Keitel, 2005
- Dorsey, John , John Dorsey 2, 2005
- Dorsey, John , Teaching the Dead to Sing the Outlaw's Prayer, 2006
- Dorsey, John , Virginerotica, 2006
- Elliot, Neil, Terror of Towns, 1995
- Foreman, Paul, Feather River, 2003
- Foreman, Paul, Redwing Blackbird, 1973
- Foreman, Paul, Unknown Law, 1982
- Galing, Ed, Burlesque, 2005
- Galing, Ed, Buying a Suit on Essex Street, 2006
- Galing, Ed, Confessions of a White Hat, 2008
- Galing, Ed, Senior Center, 2001
- Garcia, Jesse F., Rock 'N' Roll Dreams, 1998
- Gilb, Dagoberto, Woodcuts of Women, 2002
- Gill, Lisa, Red as a Lotus, 2002
- Gill, Lisa, Small Girl, Big Landscape, 1999
- Goodell, Larry, Firecracker Soup, 1990
- Gordon, Roxy, Breeds, 1984
- Gordon, Roxy, Revolution in the Air, 1994
- Gordon, Roxy, Smaller Circles, 1990
- Gordon, Roxy, Townes Asked Did Hank Williams Ever Write Anything as Good as Nothing, 2001
- Gordon, Roxy, Unfinished Business, 1985
- Greenley, Ken, Temporary Guaranteed Shelter, 2004
- Greenley, Ken, Uncle Sam's Portrait, 2006
- Greyhawk, Gregory, Shadow of the Hawk, 1989
- Hiatt, Ben L., Rooting for the Rooster, 2005
- Jechem, James and Menebroker, Ann, Slices, 1988
- Kerschbaum, Joseph, Dead Stars Have No Graves, 2006
- Kryss, Tom, Sketch Book, 2009
- MacCallum, Ian, She Loved Gravity…, 1987
- Masarik, Al, Late October Cheyenne River Country, 1995
- Masarik, Al, Mission Wind, 1990
- Masarik, Al, Sometimes a Blue Song, 1989
- McCook, Kendall, En Placitas, 1996
- McCook, Kendall, White Settlement, 1996
- Menebroker, Ann, Biting through the Spine, 1985
- Menebroker, Ann, Blue Fish, 1985
- Menebroker, Ann, Routines that will Kill You, 1990
- Menebroker, Ann, Small Crimes, 2008
- Menebroker, Ann, Tiny Teeth, 2004
- Menebroker, Ann, Trying for the Ten Rind, 2000
- Menebroker, Ann, Walking the Dog, 2003
- Menebroker, Ann, Watching from the Sky, 1988
- Mier, M. V., Death of Mr. Love, 2009
- Moffeit, Tony, Boogie Alley, 1989
- Moffeit, Tony, Ghost Moon Over Pueblo, 1991
- Moffeit, Tony, Hank Williams Blues, 1985
- Moffeit, Tony, Luminous Animal, 1989
- Moffeit, Tony, Spider Who Walked Underground,
- Moore, Todd, Armed & Dangerous, 1993
- Moore, Todd, Dillinger's Thompson, 2002
- Moore, Todd, Machine Gun, 1994
- Moore, Todd, Weather in Hell, 2004
- Moore, Todd, Working on My Duende, 1999
- Preston, Scott, Letters from Elko, 1994
- Renee Gregorio, Storm that Tames Us, 1999
- Romo, Socorro, Tiliches, 1996
- Roskos, David, Fall & All, 1999
- Savitt, Lynne, Deployment of Love in Pineapple Twilight, 2005
- Savitt, Lynne, Digging Dinosaur Dignity in Ardortown, 2008
- Savitt, Lynne, Greatest Hits, 2004
- Savitt, Lynne, Transport of Grandma's Yearning Vibrator, 2002
- Spicer, Jack, Holy Grail, 1970
- Strand, Thomas, Questions to Brecht, 1975
- Ward, Ed, Citysight, 1981
- Weber, Mark, Dr. Simon I Presume, 1991
- Weber, Mark, Drunk City, 1992
- Wilson, Keith, Sketches for a New Mexico Hill Town, 1966
- Wilson, Keith, Way of the Dove, 1994
- Bathtub Gin, 2003-2006
- Big Hammer, 2005, 2007
- Blue Light Review, Winter/Spring 1991
- Brevities, 2008
- Dry Crik Review, 1991- 1993
- Fish Drum, 1989
- From the Mouths of Angels, 2003
- Mas Tequila Review, 2010
- New Letters, 1981
- Oboe, 1978
- Okie Faces and Irish Eyes, 1979
- Santa Fe Literary Review, 2006
- September Caprice, 1989
- Sequoia, 1988
- Swamp Root, 1990
- Thieves' Press, 1990
- White Clouds Review, 1988
- Wormwood Review, 1993
Processing Information
Kell Robertson-Kendall McCook correspondence added to collection, 07/2021.
Creator
- Robertson, Kell (Person)
- Title
- Finding aid of the Kell Robertson collection, 1967-2012
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Kristen Ferris
- Date
- ©2014, ©2018
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid is in English
Repository Details
Part of the UNM Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections Repository
Contact:
University of New Mexico Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections
University Libraries, MSC05 3020
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque NM 87131
505-277-6451
University of New Mexico Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections
University Libraries, MSC05 3020
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque NM 87131
505-277-6451