''Desiderata'' is a 1971 album by Les Crane with music by Broadway composer Fred Werner and concept and various lyrics by David C. Wilson. It is a spoken word album with sung refrains and instrumental accompaniment. The title, and title track, come from the widely circulated poem "

Desiderata "Desiderata" (Latin: "things desired") is an early 1920s prose poem by the American writer Max Ehrmann. Although he copyrighted it in 1927, he distributed copies of it without a required copyright notice during 1933 and , thereby forfeiting his ...

", which at the time was in circulation as ancient wisdom and not known to be a 1927 poem by Indiana lawyer Max Ehrmann. Crane's supporting musicians included singer Evangeline Carmichael, whose daughter, Carol Carmichael, sang the "child of the universe" refrain on the title track, with musicians keyboardist

Michel Rubini Michel Rubini (born December 3, 1942) is an American musician, conductor, arranger, producer, songwriter and composer. A professional classical pianist since early childhood, he was a prolific session musician of the 1960s and '70s, part of a grou ...

, guitarist

Louie Shelton William Louis Shelton (born April 6, 1941) is an American guitarist and music producer. Biography During the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s Shelton was a session musician working in recording studios around Hollywood. Among his more notable session wo ...

, flautist Jim Horn, and two percussionists,

Joe Porcaro Joseph Thomas Porcaro (April 29, 1930 – July 6, 2020) was an American jazz drummer. Biography Personal life The Porcaro family is, on the paternal side, originally from San Luca, an Aspromonte village in the province of Reggio Calabria. Joe ...

and Emil Richards. The album won the

Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album The Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album has been awarded since 1959. The award has had several minor name changes: * In 1959 the award was known as Best Performance, Documentary or Spoken Word * From 1960 to 1961 it was awarded as Best Perform ...

Music

The album included both well-known poetry,

Henry David Thoreau Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817May 6, 1862) was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. A leading Transcendentalism, transcendentalist, he is best known for his book ''Walden'', a reflection upon simple living in natural su ...

's "Different Drummer," (retitled "Independence" on the track list) and "Wilderness" (retitled "Nature") as well as original compositions such as "Friends." The title track poem "

" had already been recorded by ex-Nice drummer Brian Davison's project band Every Which Way on the album ''Brian Davison's Every Which Way'' in 1970 as "Go Placidly", to a tune by keyboardist and singer Graham Bell. "Go Placidly" was released as a single. The musical setting on Les Crane's album was by Broadway composer Fred Werner; it was Werner's music publisher Robert Bell of Crescendo Publishing who identified the original source of the poem on the poster as being Max Ehrmann. Werner's setting for Les Crane featured repeated singing of the refrain "You are a child of the universe, No less than the trees and the stars: You have a right to be here." Lindsay Planer, in her review of the album for AllMusic, says, "Crane's dulcet-toned reading became an anthem for those wishing to perpetuate the message of peace and love that had seemingly been abandoned in the wake of the '60s," and calls the album itself "an inspired timepiece with an ageless message, rather than the one-hit wonder novelty that history will undoubtedly remember it as."

Chart history (title track)

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Track listing

#"Prologue" – 0:18 #"Desiderata" (Max Ehrmann, Fred Werner) – 4:18 #"Vision" (Traditional, Werner) – 3:19 #"Friends" (Wilson, Crane, Werner) – 4:42 #"Beauty (Shining from the Inside Out)" (Wilson, Werner) – 3:03 #"Happiness (I Got No Cares)" (Wilson, Werner) – 2:19 #"Esperanza (Hope)" (Werner) – 2:33 #"Nature (Wilderness)" (Rachel Thoreau, Werner) – 2:52 #"Courage (Eyes That See)" (Wilson, Werner) – 4:26 #"Independence (A Different Drummer)" (Thoreau, Ehrmann, Werner) – 2:29 #"Love (Children Learn What They Live)" (Werner) – 3:43 #"Epilogue" – 0:33

References

{{Authority control 1971 albums Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album Spoken word albums by American artists 1970s spoken word albums