| 1966 | Stanyan Street and Other Sorrows. McKuen's best-selling poetry collection of earnest and sensitive verses helps make him one of the most popular poets of the decade. The equally popular Listen to the Warm would appear in 1967. |
Rod McKuen
| Works: Works by Rod McKuen |
(b. 1933)
| Artist: Rod McKuen |
Similar Artists:
Gilbert O'Sullivan,
Van Morrison,
Richard Harris,
Leonard Cohen,
Noel Harrison,
Anita Kerr,
Frank Sinatra
Performed Songs By:
Johnny Mercer,
Ira Gershwin,
Mort Garson,
Frank Loesser,
Georges Moustaki,
Gilbert Bécaud,
Harold Arlen,
Jacques Brel,
Henry Mancini,
George Gershwin
Worked With:
Formal Connection With:
- Born: April 29, 1933, Oakland, CA
- Active: '50s, '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s
- Genres: Spoken Word
- Instrument: Producer, Vocals, Arranger
- Representative Albums: "Greatest Hits, Vol. 1," "If You Go Away: The RCA Years 1965-1970," "New Ballads"
- Representative Songs: "Seasons in the Sun," "Jean," "Ally, Ally Oxen Free"
Biography
Rod McKuen was one of the best-selling poets in America during the late '60s, and also achieved considerable success as a songwriter, soundtrack composer, and singer. McKuen's recordings alternated between poetic pop songs and spoken word readings of his verse, and his more serious composition work earned him two Oscar nominations and one Pulitzer nomination. Additionally, his translations helped bring the work of legendary French songwriter Jacques Brel to prominence in English-speaking countries. His literary work often dealt with themes of love, nature, and spirituality, and critics didn't always accept it, some deriding it as simplistic and sentimental. However, even as his initial flower-child audience grew older, McKuen remained as popular as he was prolific, selling millions of copies of his books (having written upward of 30) and increasingly becoming the subject of academic study. Rodney Marvin McKuen was born on April 29, 1933, in Oakland, CA. He lived with his mother and stepfather, the latter a frequently violent alcoholic, and ran away from home at age 11. He drifted up and down the West Coast, working a succession of odd jobs -- ranch hand, surveyor, railroad worker, lumberjack, rodeo cowboy, stuntman, radio DJ, and more -- and sending some of the money home to his mother. Seeking to make up for his relative lack of formal education, he started keeping a journal, which grew into a regular writing habit and resulted in his first poetry and song lyrics. He found work as a newspaper columnist, and served in the Korean War as a propaganda script writer. Returning to the U.S. and settling in San Francisco, he read his poetry alongside Beat icons like Kerouac and Ginsberg, and began performing as a singer at the famed Purple Onion -- first folk songs, then original material. His regular appearances led to a recording contract and several late-'50s pop albums for Decca. He also attempted to start a career as an actor, appearing in the rock & roll-themed pictures Rock, Pretty Baby (1956) and Summer Love (1958), also performing some of their music, as well as the Western Wild Heritage (1958). He also sang with Lionel Hampton's band, and moved to New York in 1959 to compose and conduct music for the TV show The CBS Workshop. McKuen spent most of the earlier part of the '60s in France, where he met many of the country's top songwriters. He began a lengthy project to translate the work of legendary singer/songwriter Jacques Brel into English, and his efforts helped make "If You Go Away" into an all-time pop standard; elsewhere, British singer Scott Walker recorded many of McKuen's adaptations in the late '60s, and Terry Jacks turned the translated "Seasons in the Sun" into a chart-topping pop hit. McKuen also translated songs by numerous other French writers, including prominent names like Gilbert Bécaud, Pierre Delanoé, Michel Sardou, and many more. McKuen began to publish books of poetry during the latter half of the '60s, and earned a substantial following among the hippie generation with collections like Stanyan Street and Other Sorrows, Listen to the Warm, and Lonesome Cities. Additionally, his Lonesome Cities album of readings won a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Recording in 1968. McKuen recorded most of his spoken word albums for RCA, and reserved his musical efforts for Warner Brothers. Starting in 1967, he teamed with arranger Anita Kerr and the San Sebastian Strings for a series of mellow vocal pop albums, including The Sea (1967), The Earth (1967), The Sky (1968), Home to the Sea (1969), For Lovers (1969), and The Soft Sea (1970). McKuen found increasing acclaim for his songwriting in 1969: having recorded "If You Go Away," Frank Sinatra commissioned an entire album of poems and songs, which was released under the title A Man Alone: The Words and Music of Rod McKuen and featured "Love's Been Good to Me," which went on to become one of McKuen's best-known songs. Additionally, McKuen earned an Oscar nomination for Best Song, thanks to "Jean," his theme for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie; "Jean" had been recorded by Oliver for a number two pop smash. McKuen's work on the score of A Boy Named Charlie Brown earned him a second Oscar nomination in 1970, and his co-write "I Think of You" was a major adult contemporary hit for Perry Como in 1971. Other popular McKuen compositions of the era included "The World I Used to Know," "Rock Gently," "Doesn't Anybody Know My Name," "The Importance of the Rose," "Without a Worry in the World," and "Soldiers Who Want to Be Heroes," among others. McKuen later moved into larger-scale classical-style composition, writing a series of concertos, suites, symphonies, and chamber pieces for orchestra. His piece The City: A Suite for Narrator & Orchestra was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in Music. He cranked out a steady stream of poetry during the '70s, and his 1977 book Finding My Father, a chronicle of his search for information on his biological father, helped spark changes in the availability of such information to adopted children. He also continued to record on an intermittent basis, including albums like New Ballads (1970), Pastorale (1971), the country-rock outing McKuen Country (1976), and the disco pastiche Slide...Easy In, a campy outing with strong gay undertones that produced a European hit in "Amor, Amor." McKuen retired from live performance in 1981, and a year later he was diagnosed with clinical depression, which he battled for much of the next decade. He continued to write poetry, however, and made appearances as a voice-over actor in The Little Mermaid and the TV series The Critic. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide| Discography: Rod McKuen |
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| Wikipedia: Rod McKuen |
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This article's tone or style may not be appropriate for Wikipedia. Specific concerns may be found on the talk page. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions. (December 2007) |
| Rod McKuen | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Rodney Marvin McKuen |
| Born | April 29, 1933 |
| Origin | Oakland, California |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter, musician, poet |
| Instruments | Vocals, piano |
| Website | [1] |
Rod McKuen (born April 29, 1933) is a bestselling American poet, composer, and singer, instrumental in the revitalization of popular poetry that took place in the 1960s and early 1970s.
Contents |
Biography
Born Rodney Marvin McKuen in Oakland, California, McKuen ran away from home at the age of eleven to escape an alcoholic stepfather and to send what money he could to his mother. After a series of jobs, from logger, ranch hand, railroad worker to rodeo cowboy, throughout the west, McKuen began in the 1950s to excite audiences with his poetry readings, appearing with such well-known poets as Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg; during this time, he often used the pseudonym "Dor".
McKuen moved to New York City in 1959 to compose and conduct for the TV show The CBS Workshop. During the early 1960s he spent most of his time in France. This began his project to translate the work of Belgian singer/songwriter Jacques Brel, into English. After Brel died he said, "As friends and as musical collaborators we had traveled, toured and written - together and apart - the events of our lives as if they were songs, and I guess they were. When news of Jacques’ death came I stayed locked in my bedroom and drank for a week. That kind of self-pity was something he wouldn’t have approved of, but all I could do was replay our songs (our children) and ruminate over our unfinished life together."[1]
His books became popular on many college campuses for his ability to capture in verse the feelings of anxiety, love, confusion, and hope that were common during the Vietnam era. His public readings were frequently sold out.
McKuen's commercial success is unparalleled in the field of modern popular poetry. His poems have been translated into eleven languages and his books have sold over 65 million copies.[2] Throughout his career he has continued to enjoy sell-out concerts around the world and appears regularly at New York’s Carnegie Hall.
Edward Habib's liner notes for McKuen's Amsterdam Concert[citation needed]album make the often-repeated claim that Rod McKuen is the best-selling and most widely read poet of all time. However, McKuen's work has never been taken seriously by the literary academy. Michael Baers observes in Gale Research's St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture that "through the years his books have drawn uniformly unkind reviews. In fact, criticism of his poetry is uniformly vituperative..."[3] Other critics like poet Linda Sue Grimes find McKuen's songs appealing but refer to his efforts at poetry as those of a "poetaster," or inferior writer with pretensions to serious consideration.[4] Furthermore, the aggregate sales of works by major poets like Shakespeare and Dante in hosts of editions over centuries of publication in scores of languages easily surpass McKuen's impressive though more recent sales figures.
McKuen has proven to be a prolific songwriter, penning over 1500 songs, which have been sold on over 100 million records.[2] His material has been recorded by such artists as Frank Sinatra (who in 1969 recorded A Man Alone, an album of McKuen's songs), Johnny Cash who (just before his death) recorded McKuen's "Love's been good to me", Waylon Jennings, The London Philharmonic, Greta Keller, Perry Como, and Madonna. Perhaps his best-known song is "Jean", recorded by Oliver in 1969 for the soundtrack to the film The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. In 1959, McKuen released a novelty single on the Brunswick label called "The Mummy". Bob McFadden and Dor were listed as the artist. In 1961, he had a hit single titled "Oliver Twist". He has collaborated with a variety of internationally renowned composers, including Henry Mancini and John Williams, and a highly successful series of albums with Anita Kerr. His symphonies, concertos, and other classical works have been performed by orchestras around the globe. His work as a composer in the film industry has garnered him two Academy Award nominations.
Throughout his career, McKuen has paired his artistic endeavors with a spirit for social reform. Before a tour of South Africa in the 1970s, McKuen demanded “mixed seating” among white and black concert-goers, opening the doors for successful tours by a variety of African-American performers, including Sammy Davis, Jr. and Ella Fitzgerald. He has also spearheaded efforts to raise AIDS awareness and fund charities for children and senior citizens. His humanitarian efforts have twice won him the prestigious Freedoms Foundation Award.
Discography
Vocal Albums
- SR 6029 • CD STZ 105 • After Midnight / Rod McKuen
- BS 2817 • Alone / McKuen
- DL 8946 • Alone After Dark / Rod McKuen
- DL 3882 • Anywhere I Wander / Rod McKuen
- WS 1722 • Rod McKuen / The Beautiful Strangers
- 2SR 5087 • The Black Eagle, A Gothic Musical / Rod McKuen
- SR 5005 • Blessings in Shade of Green / Rod McKuen
- BDS 5138 • Cycles / Rod McKuen
- DJF 20537 • For Friends & Lovers / Rod McKuen
- SR 5102 • Global / Rod McKuen
- BS 2861 • Rod McKuen / Goodtime Music
- SR 5032 • Have a Nice Day / Rod McKuen
- KA 3226 • In a Lonely Place / Rod McKuen
- DID M20 • It Had To Be You / Rod McKuen
- PS 1380 • CD 113 • Jerome Kern Revisited Vol. IV / McKuen/Ballard/Short/Cook
- BR 0034 • Lonely Summer / Rod McKuen
- RCA 3508 • The Loner / Rod McKuen
- ST 2838 • The Love Movement /Rod McKuen
- SR 5009 • Love's Been Good To Me / Rod McKuen
- BS 2931 • McKuen Country
- ST 2079 • Rod McKuen Sings Rod McKuen
- SR 5092 • More Rod McKuen 77
- JU 5013 • Mr. Oliver Twist / Rod McKuen
- WS 1837 • New Ballads / Rod McKuen
- SR 5045 • New Rod McKuen Carols for Christmas
- VE 1612 • New sounds in folk Music / Rod McKuen
- BS 2638 • Odyssey / Rod McKuen
- RCA 3635 • Other Kinds of Songs / Rod McKuen
- 2WS 1894 • Pastorale / Rod McKuen
- SR 5047 • Pastures Green / Rod McKuen
- SR 5098 • Roads / Rod McKuen
- SR 5025 • Rod / Rod McKuen
- SR 5006 • The Rod McKuen Folk Album
- SR 6028 • WB 2785 • Rod McKuen Sings The McKuen/Brel Songbook
- WS 3015 • The Rod McKuen Show
- RCA 3424 • Rod McKuen Sings His Own
- SR 5093 • Rod 77 / Rod McKuen
- SR 5003 • Seasons In The Sun / Rod McKuen
- SR 5004 • Seasons In The Sun, 2 / Rod McKuen
- SR 5046 • Seasons In The Sun, 1&2 / Rod McKuen
- LSP 4010 • The Single Man / Rod McKuen
- BS 2889 • Sleep Warm / Rod McKuen
- 2SR 5081 • Sleep Warm / Rod McKuen
- DS 7017 • Slide . . .Easy In / Rod McKuen
- DIS 60 531 • Slide . . .On the Move / Rod McKuen
- HJS 180 • Soldiers Who Want To Be Heroes / Rod McKuen
- SR 6050 • Someone To Watch Over Me / Rod McKuen
- LRP 3011 • Songs For The Lazy / Rod McKuen
- BL 754056 • Songs Our Mummy Taught Us / Rod McKuen (as Dor) & Bob Mac Fadden
- KS 3538 • Stranger In Town / Rod McKuen
- WP 1632 • There's A Hoot Tonight / Rod McKuen
- LSP 3786 • Through European Windows / Rod McKuen
- SR 5100 • Turntable / Rod McKuen
- PH 6641 057 • Two Against The Morning / Rod McKuen & Liesbeth List
- DE 4603 • Very Warm / Rod McKuen
Spoken Word
- R 419 • Beatsville / Rod McKuen
- 3BS 2906 • The Essential Rod McKuen
- BN 613 • In Search Of Eros / Rod McKuen
- LSP 3863 • SR 5052 • Listen to The Warm / Rod McKuen
- SR 5048 • Listen To The Warm / Rod McKuen
- WS 1758 • Lonesome Cities / Rod McKuen
- SR 5110 • Pushing The Clouds Away / Rod McKuen
- SR 5078 • Time Of Desire / Rod McKuen
- DS 7000 • The Word / Rod McKuen
- LP 12036 • The Yellow Unicorn / Rod McKuen with Tak Shindo & Julie Merredith
Classical
- SR 9005 • Rod McKuen: Symphony No. 1 in 4 Movements
- SR 9006 • Rod McKuen: Concerto For Guitar & Orchestra: 5 Orchestral Pieces
- SR 9007 • Rod McKuen: Concerto For 4 Harpsichords: 4 Orchestral Pieces
- SR 9008 • Rod McKuen: Piano Variations: 6 Piano Sonatas
- SR 9010 • Rod McKuen: Conducts McKuen
- SR 9012 • Rod McKuen: Concerto No. 3 For Piano & Orchestra
- SR 9015 • Rod McKuen: The Plains Of My Country: Seascapes for Solo Piano
- SR 9021 • Rod McKuen: Concerto For Cello & Orchestra; Music For Strings
- SR 9023 • Rod McKuen: Concerto For Balloon & Orchestra: 3 Overtures
- WB 2WS 2731 • Rod McKuen: The Ballad Of Distances: Symphonic Suite, OP. 40
- SR 9060 • Rod McKuen: Piano Quartets: Piano Trios
- LS 732 • Rod McKuen: The City: I Hear America Singing, 2 Cantatas
- CRL 57339 • Rod McKuen: Written In the Stars (The Zodiac Suite)
- LST 7537 • Rod McKuen: Something Beyond: Suite For Orchestra
Soundtracks
- SRQ 4014 • The Borrowers / Rod McKuen Soundtrack
- SR 5010 • A Boy Named charlie Brown & Other Rod McKuen Film songs
- OS 3500 • A Boy Named Charlie Brown / Soundtrack
- SRQ 4025 • Emily / Rod McKuen Soundtrack
- SR 4202 • Joanna / Rod McKuen Soundtrack
- SR 10094 • Lisa Bright & Dark / Rod McKuen Soundtrack
- OS 3350 • Me Natalie / Henry Mancini/Rod McKuen Soundtrack
- TC 4207 • The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie / Rod McKuen Soundtrack
- WB 1853 • The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie / Rod McKuen Sings & Conducts His Score
- DL 8429 • Rock Pretty Baby / Rod McKuen/Henry Mancini Soundtrack
- SR 5004 • Scandalous John / Rod McKuen Soundtrack
- DL 8714 • Summer Love / Rod McKuen/Henry Mancini Soundtrack
- 2SR 9201 • McKuen/Gueviksman/Guidravitchus: The Unknown War Soundtrack
Live Recordings
- 2SR 5051 • The Amsterdam Concert / Rod McKuen
- 2WB 2732 • Back To Carnegie Hall / Rod McKuen
- SR 5040 • Evening In Vienna / Rod McKuen & Greta Keller
- 2BR 1947 • Grand Tour / Rod McKuen
- SR 5042 • Grand Tour, Vol. 3 / Rod McKuen
- SR 5001 • Rod McKuen In Concert
- SR 6031 • Rod McKuen Live Across Australia & Around The World
- SR 5075 • Rod McKuen Live At The Sydney Opera House
- L 70041/2 • Rod McKuen Live At The Sydney Opera House
- SYD 11000 • Rod McKuen Live In Africa
- 2SR 5016 • Rod McKuen Live In London
- WS 1794 • WBC 1100B • Rod McKuen Live / Sold Out Carnegie Hall
Greatest Hits & Compilations
- R2 70281 • The Beat Generation / McKuen/Kerouac/Ginsburg/ Bruce
- RCA 4127 • Best Of Rod McKuen, The
- DL 75078 • Bits & Pieces / Rod McKuen
- SYC 2901 • The Early Years / The Best Of Rod McKuen
- PW 6026 • Greatest Australian Hits / Rod McKuen
- WS 1772 • Rod McKuen / Greatest Hits, Vol. 1
- BS 2560 • Rod McKuen's / Greatest Hits, Vol. 2
- SR 5031 • Rod McKuen / Greatest Hits, Vol. 3
- BS 2688 • Rod McKuen / Greatest Hits, Vol. 4
- SLS 96083 • In The Beginning / Rod McKuen
- 2SR 5073 • Love Songs / Rod McKuen
- SR 5072 • A Portrait Of Rod McKuen
- SR 5104 • Rod On Record
- SR 5020 • Try Rod McKuen In The Privacy Of Your Own Home
- BR 408 • TIXD 420 • Without A Worry In The World / Rod McKuen
Works with Anita Kerr & San Sebastian Strings
Lyrics & Book & Musical Storyline by Rod McKuen. Music Composed, Arranged & Conducted by Anita Kerr
- WBL 1047 • WB 1670 • The Sea / The San Sebastian Strings
- WBL 1046 • WB 1705 • The Earth / The San Sebastian Strings
- WB 1720 • The Sky / The San Sebastian Strings
- WBC 1080 • WS 1764 • Home To The Sea / The San Sebastian Strings
- WS 1839 • The Soft Sea / The San Sebastian Strings
- SR 10043 • La Mer / The San Sebastian Strings
- WB 1795 • For Lovers / The San Sebastian Strings
- BS 2768 • Bouquet / The San Sebastian Strings
- Spring / The San Sebastian Strings
- BS4 2707 • Summer / The San Sebastian Strings
- Autumn / The San Sebastian Strings
- BS 2622 • Winter / The San Sebastian Strings
- BS 2837 • With Love/ The San Sebastian Strings
- 3WS 1730 • The Sea / The Earth / The Sky: The San Sebastian Strings [3]
- 3WS 1827 • The Complete Sea: The San Sebastian Strings (3)
- 4WS 2754 • The Seasons: The San Sebastian Strings [4]
Promotional Albums
- IM 1000 • 17 New Songs By Rod McKuen
- PRO 451 • Short Cuts From Pastorale
- SPS 33-554 • Some Of The Best Of Rod McKuen
- SML 102 • 20 New Rod McKuens Songs
Trivia
- A part of McKuen's Listen to the Warm is used to introduce the "News of the Warm" segment of Le Show.
- McKuen wrote and sang the title song for A Boy Named Charlie Brown, the first feature film starring Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts characters. Schulz returned the favor by mentioning McKuen in one Peanuts strip, in which Sally Brown expresses her frustration to Charlie Brown that she was sent to the principal's office for throwing a tantrum in art class about drawing cows' legs, saying, "I bet Picasso couldn't draw a cow's leg when he was in the first grade! I'll bet even Rod McKuen couldn't draw a cow's leg!" Charlie Brown responds, perplexed, "Rod McKuen?"
- British band Arctic Monkeys covered his track "The Lovers" in December 2007 on the Jonathan Ross show on BBC Radio 2.
McKuen was also mentioned by Garry Trudeau in a 1970's "Doonesbury" comic strip; while entertaining a visiting Russian poet in his coffee shop, Rev. Scot Sloan talks of McKuen as one of America's "Big Boys" of poetry..."hey, you've heard of HIM, haven't you?" (The Doonesbury Chronicles)
- McKuen also appeared on the dating game.[5]
- McKuen was also referenced by the band Luna (band) in the song "California All The Way" from the album Bewitched.
References
- ^ Rod McKuen - Flight Plan
- ^ a b Rod McKuen - Biography
- ^ Michael Baers, "Rod McKuen" from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g1epc/is_bio/ai_2419200821/?tag=content;col1
- ^ Linda Sue Grimes, "Rod McKuen: An American Success Story - But Not As A Poet" retrieved from http://poetryandpoetsinrags.blogspot.com/2007/04/great-regulars-but-somewhere-in-readers.html
- ^ YouTube - Rod McKuen - Dating Game (Pt 1)
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
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 | Works. The Chronology of American Literature, edited by Daniel S. Burt. Copyright © 2004 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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Mentioned in
- New Carols for Christmas (1995 Album by Rod McKuen)
- Early Harvest (1994 Album by Rod McKuen)
- Speaking of Love (1994 Album by Rod McKuen)
- 1940's Christmas [Laserlight] (1995 Album by Various Artists)
- Spirit of Today (2002 Album by Petula Clark)
- Steady Date with Tommy Sands (1957 Album by Tommy Sands)
- The Rod McKuen Collection 1956-1994 (1990 Album by Rod McKuen)
- Strange Country (1966 Album by Billy Strange)
- Rod McKuen Greatest Hits, Vol. 5: Lonesome Cities (1996 Album by Rod McKuen)
- Some of the Best (1996 Album by Peggy Lee)
- Time to Move On (1999 Album by Glenn Yarbrough)
- Rod McKuen Greatest Hits (2003 Album by Rod McKuen)
- New Orleans at Midnight (1961 Album by Pete Fountain)
- The Yellow Unicorn (Album by Tak Shindo)
