In 1920 Heinrich Karl Bukowski, better known as Charles Bukowski, was born in Andernach, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. After a move to Los Angeles and a stint at the U.S. Postal Service that smothered his soul, the barfly became something of a poet.
My own copy of Ham on Rye is threadbare and when the whisky flows, I suddenly become very capable in my recitation of Bluebird.
And as a tribute to Chuck, here is Tom Waits with The Laughing Heart and Nirvana: