Academy Award nominations and one Pulitzer nomination for his music compositions. McKuen's translations and adaptations of the songs of Jacques Brel
Jacques Brel were instrumental in bringing the Belgian songwriter to prominence in the English-speaking world. His poetry deals with themes of love, the natural world and spirituality. McKuen's songs sold over 100 million recordings worldwide, and 60 million books of his poetry were sold as well, according to the Associated Press.[1]
Contents
1 Early years
2 Discovering Jacques Brel
3 Poetry
4 Songwriting
5 Later years
6
LGBT
LGBT activism
7 Criticism
8 Bibliography
8.1 Poetry 8.2 Lyrics 8.3 Prose 8.4 Original paperbacks
9 Discography
9.1 Vocal albums
9.2 Spoken word
9.3 Classical
9.4 Soundtracks
9.5 Live recordings
9.6 Greatest hits and compilations
9.7 With
Anita Kerr
.jpg/440px-Anita_Kerr_(1974).jpg)
Anita Kerr and the San Sebastian Strings
9.8 Promotional albums
10 References 11 External links
Early years[edit]
McKuen was born on April 29, 1933, in a Salvation Army hostel in
Oakland, California.[2] He never knew his biological father who had
left his mother.[3] Sexually and physically abused by relatives,[4]
raised by his mother and stepfather, who was a violent alcoholic,
McKuen ran away from home at the age of 11. He drifted along the West
Coast, supporting himself as a ranch hand, surveyor, railroad worker,
lumberjack, rodeo cowboy, stuntman, and radio disc jockey, always
sending money home to his mother.[5]
To compensate for his lack of formal education, McKuen began keeping a
journal, which resulted in his first poetry and song lyrics. After
dropping out of
Oakland Technical High School
Oakland Technical High School prior to graduating in
1951,[6] McKuen worked as a newspaper columnist and propaganda script
writer during the Korean War. He settled in San Francisco, where he
read his poetry in clubs alongside Beat poets like
Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac and
Allen Ginsberg.[3] He began performing as a folk singer at the famed
Purple Onion. Over time, he began incorporating his own songs into his
act. He was signed to
Decca Records
Decca Records and released several pop albums in
the late 1950s. McKuen also appeared as an actor in Rock, Pretty Baby
(1956), Summer Love (1958), and the western
Wild Heritage (1958). He
also sang with Lionel Hampton's band. In 1959, McKuen moved to New
York City to compose and conduct music for the TV show The CBS
Workshop.[5] McKuen appeared on
To Tell The Truth
To Tell The Truth on June 18, 1962 as
a decoy contestant, and described himself as "a published poet and a
twist singer."[7]
Discovering Jacques Brel[edit]
In the early 1960s, McKuen moved to France, where he first met the
Belgian singer-songwriter and chanson singer Jacques Brel. McKuen
began to translate the work of this composer into English, which led
to the song "If You Go Away" – an international pop-standard –
based on Brel's "Ne me quitte pas". In the early 1970s, singer Terry
Jacks turned McKuen's "Seasons in the Sun", based on Brel's "Le
Moribond", into a best-selling pop hit, and also charted with a cover
of "If You Go Away." McKuen also translated songs by other French
songwriters, including Gilbert Bécaud, Pierre Delanoé, Michel
Sardou, and others.[5]
In 1978, after hearing of Brel's death, McKuen was quoted as saying,
"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."[8]
Poetry[edit]
In the late 1960s, McKuen began to publish books of poetry, earning a
substantial following among young people with collections like Stanyan
Street & Other Sorrows (1966), Listen to the Warm (1967), and
Lonesome Cities (1968). His Lonesome Cities album of readings won a
Grammy for Best Spoken Word Recording in 1968.[5] McKuen's poems were
translated into eleven languages and his books sold over 1 million
copies in 1968 alone.[9] McKuen said that his most romantic poetry was
influenced by American poet Walter Benton's two books of poems.[8]
McKuen sold over 60 million books worldwide, according to the
Associated Press.[1]
Songwriting[edit]
McKuen wrote over 1,500 songs, which have accounted for the sale of
over 100 million records worldwide according to the Associated
Press.[1] His songs have been performed by such diverse artists as
Robert Goulet, Glenn Yarbrough, Barbra Streisand, Perry Como, Petula
Clark, Waylon Jennings, The Boston Pops, Chet Baker, Jimmie Rodgers,
Johnny Cash, Pete Fountain, Andy Williams, the Kingston Trio, Percy
Faith, the London Philharmonic, Nana Mouskouri, Dusty Springfield,
Johnny Mathis, Al Hirt, Greta Keller, Aaron Freeman, and Frank
Sinatra.[3][10][11]
In 1959, McKuen released a novelty single with Bob McFadden, under the
pseudonym Dor on the Brunswick label, called "The Mummy". The
McKuen-written song reached No. 39 on the Billboard pop chart.[12] In
1961, he had a hit single titled "Oliver Twist". He co-wrote it along
with
Gladys Shelley and the Spiral label-issued single reached No. 76
on the Billboard pop chart.[13] His hoarse and throaty singing voice
on these and other recordings was a result of McKuen straining his
vocal chords in 1961, due to too many promotional appearances.[2]
He collaborated with numerous composers, including Henry Mancini, John
Williams, and Anita Kerr. His symphonies, concertos, and other
orchestral works have been performed by orchestras around the globe.
His work as a composer in the film industry garnered him two Academy
Award nominations for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) and A Boy
Named Charlie Brown (1969),[11] and his other film scores have
included Joanna (1968),
Me, Natalie
.jpg)
Me, Natalie (1969),
Scandalous John
Scandalous John (1971),
The Borrowers (1973) and Emily (1976). McKuen's contribution to A Boy
Named Charlie Brown, the first feature-length animation based on
Charles M. Schulz's popular comic strip, Peanuts, also included
singing the title song. McKuen also earned a mention in the Peanuts
strip dated October 3, 1969, in which
Sally Brown expresses her
frustration that she was sent to the principal's office for an
outburst in art class, opining that
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso and Rod McKuen
surely must have had trouble drawing cows' legs when they were young.
In 1967, McKuen began collaborating with arranger
Anita Kerr
Anita Kerr and the
San Sebastian Strings for a series of albums featuring McKuen's poetry
recited over Kerr's mood music, including The Sea (1967), The Earth
(1967), The Sky (1968), Home to the Sea (1969), For Lovers (1969), and
The Soft Sea (1970). Jesse Pearson was the narrator of The Sea and its
followups Home to the Sea and The Soft Sea, while most other albums in
the series had McKuen narrating. In 1969,
Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra commissioned
an entire album of poems and songs by McKuen; arranged by Don Costa,
it was released under the title A Man Alone: The Words and Music of
Rod McKuen. The album featured the song "Love's Been Good to Me",
which became one of McKuen's best-known songs.[5]
McKuen performed solo in a half-hour special broadcast by
NBC
NBC on May
10, 1969. The program, billed as McKuen's "first television special",
featured the songs "The Loner", "The World I Used to Know", "The
Complete Madame Butterfly", "I've Been to Town", "Kaleidoscope",
"Stanyan Street", "Lonesome Cities", "Listen to the Warm", "Trashy",
and "Merci Beaucoup". It was produced by Lee Mendelson, producer of
the
Peanuts
Peanuts specials, and directed by Marty Pasetta. James Trittipo
designed a set that was "evocative of waterfront pilings" and Arthur
Greenslade conducted the orchestra.[14] In 1971, he hosted a series,
The
Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen Show, on BBC television in the UK.[15]
McKuen's Academy Award-nominated composition "Jean", sung by Oliver,
reached No.1 in 1969 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and
stayed there for four weeks.[16] In 1971, his song "I Think of You"
was a major hit for Perry Como. Other popular McKuen compositions
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".[5]
In 1971, McKuen became highly popular in the Netherlands, where
"Soldiers Who Want to Be Heroes" and "Without a Worry in the World"
became major hits, both reaching number one in the Dutch charts; the
album Greatest Hits Vol. 3 became a number one record as well. All
three discs earned him gold records and he was voted Holland's most
popular entertainer.[17]
During the 1970s, McKuen began composing larger-scale orchestral
compositions, 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
Pulitzer Prize in Music. He
continued publishing a steady stream of poetry books throughout the
decade. In 1977, he published Finding My Father, a chronicle of his
search for information on his biological father. The book and its
publicity helped make such information more readily available to
adopted children.[citation needed] He also continued to record,
releasing albums such as New Ballads (1970), Pastorale (1971), and the
country-rock outing McKuen Country (1976).[5]
McKuen continued to perform concerts around the world and appeared
regularly at New York's
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall throughout the 1970s, making
sporadic appearances as recently as the early 2000s.
Later years[edit]
In 1973, at forty, McKuen radically changed his outward
appearance ; He no longer bleached his hair and he grew a beard.
McKuen retired from live performances in 1981. The following year, 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.[5]
2001 saw the publication of McKuen's A Safe Place to Land, which
contains 160 pages of new poetry. For 10 years he gave an annual
birthday concert at
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall or the Lincoln Center. He released
the double CD The Platinum Collection and was remastering all of his
RCA
RCA and
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. recordings for release as CD boxed sets. In
addition to his artistic pursuits he was the Executive President of
the
American Guild of Variety Artists (AGVA), a post he held longer
than any other man or woman elected to the position.
McKuen lived in Southern
California
California with his brother Edward, whom he
called his "partner", and four cats in a large rambling Spanish house
built in 1928, which housed one of the world's largest private record
collections.[18] He died of respiratory arrest, a result of pneumonia,
at a hospital in Beverly Hills, California, on January 29, 2015.[3]
LGBT
LGBT activism[edit]
McKuen refused to identify as gay, straight, or bisexual, but once
explained his sexuality saying, "I can't imagine choosing one sex over
the other, that's just too limiting. I can't even honestly say I have
a preference."[19] He was active in the
LGBT
LGBT rights movement, and as
early as the 1950s, was a key member of the San Francisco chapter of
the Mattachine Society, one of the nation's earliest
LGBT
LGBT advocacy
organizations.[20] The cover of McKuen's 1977 album Slide... Easy In
featured a photo of a man's arm gripping a handful of vegetable
shortening; the can was a pastiche of
Crisco
Crisco – then widely used by
gay men as a sexual lubricant – with the label instead reading
"Disco". That same year, McKuen spoke out against singer Anita Bryant
and her "Save Our Children" campaign to repeal an anti-discrimination
ordinance in Miami, tagging Bryant with the nickname "Ginny
Orangeseed", and also including a song on Slide... Easy In titled
"Don't Drink the Orange Juice", referencing Bryant's fame as
commercial pitchwoman for the Florida Citrus Commission. He often gave
benefit performances to aid
LGBT
LGBT rights organizations and to fund AIDS
research.[21]
Criticism[edit]
Despite his popular appeal, McKuen's work was never taken seriously by
critics or academics. Michael Baers observed 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 ..."[22]
Frank W. Hoffmann, in Arts and Entertainment Fads, described McKuen's
poetry as "tailor-made for the 1960s ... poetry with a verse that
drawled in country cadences from one shapeless line to the next,
carrying the rusticated innocence of a
Carl Sandburg
Carl Sandburg thickened by the
treacle of a man who preferred to prettify the world before he
described it".[9]
Philosopher and social critic
Robert C. Solomon described McKuen's
poetry as "sweet kitsch,"[23] and, at the height of his popularity in
1969,
Newsweek
Newsweek magazine called him "the King of Kitsch."[24]
Writer and literary critic
Nora Ephron
Nora Ephron said, "[F]or the most part,
McKuen's poems are superficial and platitudinous and frequently
silly." Pulitzer Prize-winning US Poet Laureate
Karl Shapiro
Karl Shapiro said, "It
is irrelevant to speak of McKuen as a poet."[25]
In a
Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune interview with McKuen in 2001 as he was "testing
the waters" for a comeback tour, Pulitzer Prize-winning culture critic
Julia Keller claimed that "Millions more have loathed him [...]
finding his work so schmaltzy and smarmy that it makes the
pronouncements of
Kathie Lee Gifford
Kathie Lee Gifford sound like Susan Sontag," and
that his work "drives many people crazy. They find it silly and
mawkish, the kind of gooey schmaltz that wouldn't pass muster in a
freshman creative-writing class" while stating that "The masses ate
him up with a spoon, while highbrow literary critics roasted him on a
spit." She noted that the third concert on his tour had already been
canceled because of sluggish ticket sales.[26]
Bibliography[edit]
Poetry[edit]
And Autumn Came (Pageant Press, 1954) Stanyan Street & Other Sorrows (Stanyan Music, 1966) Listen to the Warm (Random House, 1967) Lonesome Cities (Random House, 1968) And Autumn Came (Revised Edition) (Cheval Books, 1969) In Someone's Shadow (Cheval Books/Random House, 1969) Twelve Years of Christmas (Cheval Books/Random House, 1969) Caught in the Quiet (Stanyan Books, 1970) Fields of Wonder (Cheval Books/Random House, 1971) The Carols of Christmas (Cheval Books/Random House, 1971) And to Each Season (Simon & Schuster, 1972) Moment to Moment (Cheval Books, 1972) Come to Me in Silence (Simon & Schuster, 1973) Moment to Moment (Revised Edition) (Simon & Schuster, 1974) Beyond the Boardwalk (Cheval Books, 1975) Celebrations of the Heart (Simon & Schuster, 1975) The Sea Around Me... (Simon & Schuster, 1975) Coming Close to the Earth (Simon & Schuster, 1978) We Touch the Sky (Simon & Schuster, 1979) The Power Bright and Shining (Simon & Schuster, 1980) A Book of Days (Harper & Row, 1980) The Beautiful Strangers (Simon & Schuster, 1981) Book of Days and a Month of Sundays (Harper & Row, 1981) The Sound of Solitude (Harper & Row, 1983) Suspension Bridge (Harper & Row, 1984) Intervals (Harper & Row/Cheval Books, 1986) Valentines (Harper & Row/Cheval Books, 1986) A Safe Place to Land (Cheval Books, 2001) Rusting in the Rain (Cheval Books, 2004)[18]
Lyrics[edit]
The Songs of
Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen (Cheval Books, 1969)
With Love (Stanyan Books, 1970)
New Ballads (Stanyan Books, 1970)
Pastorale (Stanyan Books, 1971)
The Carols Christmas (Cheval/Random House, 1971)
Grand Tour (Stanyan Books, 1972)[18]
Prose[edit]
Finding My Father (Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, 1976) An Outstretched Hand (Cheval Books/Harper & Row, 1980)[18]
Original paperbacks[edit]
Seasons in the Sun
Seasons in the Sun (Pocket Books, 1974)
Alone (Pocket Books, 1975)
Hand in Hand (Pocket Books, 1977)
Finding My Father (Cheval Books/Berkeley Books, 1977)
Love's Been Good to Me (Pocket Books, 1979)
Looking for a Friend (Pocket Books, 1980)
Too Many Midnights (Pocket Books, 1981)
Watch for the Wind (Pocket Books, 1983)[18]
Discography[edit] Vocal albums[edit]
About Me (SPC 3189)
After Midnight (SR 6029 • CD STZ 105)
Alone (BS 2817)
Alone After Dark (DL 8946)
Anywhere I Wander (DL 3882)
The Beautiful Strangers (WS 1722)
The Black Eagle, A Gothic Musical (2SR 5087)
Blessings in Shade of Green (SR 5005)
Cycles (BDS 5138)
For Friends & Lovers (DJF 20537)
Global (SR 5102)
Goodtime Music (BS 2861)
Have a Nice Day (SR 5032)
In a Lonely Place (KA 3226)
In the Beginning (SUS 5273)
It Had To Be You (DID M20)
Jerome Kern Revisited Vol. IV, with Ballard, Short, and Cook (PS 1380
CD 113)
Lonely Summer (BR 0034)
The Loner (
RCA
RCA 3508)
The Love Movement (ST 2838)
Through European Windows (LSP 3786)
The Sounds of Day, the Sounds of Night (SPC 3225)
Love's Been Good to Me (SR 5009)
McKuen Country (BS 2931)
Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen Sings (ST 2079)
More
Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen 77 (SR 5092)
Mr. Oliver Twist (JU 5013)
New Ballads (WS 1837)
New Carols for Christmas – The
Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen Christmas Album (SR 5045)
New Sounds in Folk Music (VE 1612)
Odyssey (BS 2638)
Other Kinds of Songs (
RCA
RCA 3635)
Pastorale (2WS 1894)
Pastures Green (SR 5047)
Roads (SR 5098)
Rod (SR 5025)
The
Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen Folk Album (SR 5006)
Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen Sings the McKuen/Brel Songbook (SR 6028; WB 2785)
The
Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen Show (WS 3015)
Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen Sings His Own (
RCA
RCA 3424)
Rod 77 (SR 5093)
Seasons in the Sun
Seasons in the Sun (SR 5003)
Seasons in the Sun, 2 (SR 5004)
Seasons in the Sun, 1&2 (SR 5046)
The Single Man (LSP 4010)
Sleep Warm (BS 2889)
Sleep Warm (2SR 5081)
Slide ... Easy In (DS 7017)
Slide ... On the Move (DIS 60 531)
Soldiers Who Want to Be Heroes (HJS 180)
Someone to Watch Over Me (SR 6050)
Songs for the Lazy (LRP 3011)
Songs Our Mummy Taught Us, with
Bob McFadden
Bob McFadden (BL 754056)
Stranger in Town (KS 3538)
There's a Hoot Tonight (WP 1632)
Through European Windows (LSP 3786)
Turntable (SR 5100)
Two Against the Morning, with Liesbeth List (PH 6641 057)
Very Warm (DE 4603)
Spoken word[edit]
Beatsville (R 419)
The Essential
Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen (3BS 2906)
In Search of Eros (BN 613)
Listen to The Warm (LSP 3863; SR 5052)
Listen to the Warm (SR 5048)
Lonesome Cities (WS 1758)
Pushing the Clouds Away (SR 5110)
Time of Desire (SR 5078)
The Word (DS 7000)
The Yellow Unicorn, with
Tak Shindo
Tak Shindo & Julie Meredith (LP 12036)
Classical[edit]
Symphony No. 1 in 4 Movements (SR 9005) Concerto For Guitar & Orchestra: 5 Orchestral Pieces (SR 9006) Concerto For 4 Harpsichords: 4 Orchestral Pieces (SR 9007) Piano Variations: 6 Piano Sonatas (SR 9008) Conducts McKuen (SR 9010) Concerto No. 3 for Piano & Orchestra (SR 9012) The Plains of My Country: Seascapes for Solo Piano (SR 9015) Concerto for Cello & Orchestra; Music for Strings (SR 9021) Concerto For Balloon & Orchestra: 3 Overtures (SR 9023) The Ballad of Distances: Symphonic Suite, Op. 40 (WB 2WS 2731) Piano Quartets: Piano Trios (SR 9060) The City: I Hear America Singing, 2 Cantatas (LS 732) Written in the Stars (The Zodiac Suite) (CRL 57339) Something Beyond: Suite for Orchestra (LST 7537)
Soundtracks[edit]
The Borrowers, soundtrack (SRQ 4014)
A Boy Named Charlie Brown
A Boy Named Charlie Brown & Other
Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen Film Songs (SR 5010)
A Boy Named Charlie Brown, soundtrack (OS 3500)
Emily, soundtrack (SRQ 4025)
Joanna, soundtrack (SR 4202)
Lisa Bright & Dark, soundtrack (SR 10094)
Me, Natalie, with Henry Mancini, soundtrack (OS 3350)
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, soundtrack (TC 4207)
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,
Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen singing and conducting his
score (WB 1853)
Rock, Pretty Baby, with Henry Mancini, soundtrack (DL 8429)
Scandalous John, soundtrack (SR 5004)
Summer Love, with Henry Mancini, soundtrack (DL 8714)
The Unknown War, soundtrack (2SR 9201)
Live recordings[edit]
The Amsterdam Concert (2SR 5051)
Back to
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall (2WB 2732)
Evening in Vienna, with
Greta Keller
Greta Keller (SR 5040)
Grand Tour (2BR 1947)
Grand Tour, Vol. 3 (SR 5042)
Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen in Concert (SR 5001)
Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen Live Across Australia & Around the World (SR 6031)
Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen Live at the Sydney Opera House (SR 5075)
Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen Live at the Sydney Opera House (L 70041/2)
Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen Live in Africa (SYD 11000)
Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen Live in London (2SR 5016)
Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen Live / Sold Out
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall (WS 1794, WBC 1100B)
Greatest hits and compilations[edit]
The Beat Generation (R2 70281)
The Best of
Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen (
RCA
RCA 4127)
Bits & Pieces (DL 75078)
The Early Years: The Best of
Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen (SYC 2901)
Greatest Australian Hits (PW 6026)
Rod McKuen: Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 (WS 1772)
Rod McKuen: Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 (BS 2560)
Rod McKuen: Greatest Hits, Vol. 3 (SR 5031)
Rod McKuen: Greatest Hits, Vol. 4 (BS 2688)
If You Go Away: The
RCA
RCA Years 1965–1970 (BCD 16122 GL)
In the Beginning (SLS 96083)
Love Songs (2SR 5073)
A Portrait of
Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen (SR 5072)
Rod on Record (SR 5104)
Try
Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen in the Privacy of Your Own Home (SR 5020)
Without a Worry in the World (BR 408, TIXD 420)
With
Anita Kerr
Anita Kerr and the San Sebastian Strings[edit]
Lyrics, book, and musical storylines by Rod McKuen; music composed,
arranged, and conducted by Anita Kerr.
The Sea (WBL 1047, WB 1670) The Earth (WBL 1046, WB 1705) The Sky (WB 1720) Home to the Sea (WBC 1080, WS 1764) For Lovers (WB 1795) The Soft Sea (WS 1839) La Mer (SR 10043) Winter (BS 2622) Summer (BS4 2707) Spring (only released as part of The Seasons) Autumn (only released as part of The Seasons) Bouquet (BS 2768) (a greatest hits compilation) With Love (BS 2837) The Sea / The Earth / The Sky (3WS 1730) (box set of the first three albums) The Complete Sea (3WS 1827) (box set of The Sea, Home to the Sea and The Soft Sea) The Seasons (4WS 2754) (box set of Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn)
Promotional albums[edit]
17 New Songs by
Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen (IM 1000)
Short Cuts from Pastorale (PRO 451)
Some of the Best of
Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen (SPS 33–554)
20 New
Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen Songs (SML 102)
References[edit]
^ a b c Italie, Hillel (30 January 2015). "Rod McKuen, Top-Selling
Poet and Performer, Dies at 81". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Associated
Press.
^ a b "Rod McKuen: Poet, songwriter and distinctively voiced singer
who was nominated for an Oscar and worked with
Jacques Brel
Jacques Brel and Frank
Sinatra". Los Angeles Times. January 30, 2015.
^ a b c d Fox, Margalit (January 29, 2015). "Rod McKuen, Poet and
Lyricist With Vast Following, Dies at 81". The New York Times.
Retrieved January 31, 2015.
^ Michael Carlson (February 1, 2015). "
Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen obituary". The
Guardian. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
^ a b c d e f g h Huey, Steve. "
Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen Biography". AllMusic.
Retrieved January 31, 2015.
^ "Rod McKuen, Class of 1951". School Historical Archive. Retrieved 25
February 2016.
^ "Rod McKuen". imdb.com. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
^ a b McKuen, Rod (August 2002). "Flight Plan". Rod McKuen. Archived
from the original on 2003-11-22. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
^ a b Hoffmann, Frank; Ramirez, Beaulah B. (1990). Arts and
Entertainment Fads. Routledge. p. 168.
ISBN 978-0866568814.
^ Greenman, Ben (May 1, 2012). "Listening Booth: Gene Ween's Solo
Debut". The New Yorker. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
^ a b Caulfield, Keith (January 29, 2015). "Rod McKuen's Surprising
Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
^ Whitburn, Joel (2013). Top Pop Singles 1955-2012 (14th ed.).
Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 556.
ISBN 0-89820-205-1.
^ Whitburn, Joel (2013). Top Pop Singles 1955-2012 (14th ed.).
Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 560.
ISBN 0-89820-205-1.
^ "Rod McKuen". TV Guide. Carolina-Tennessee Edition: A–10. May
10–16, 1969.
^ Herald Scotland obituary, 3 February 2015. Accessed 11 August 2015
^ Whitburn, Joel (2007). Top Adult Songs 1961-2006. Record Research,
Inc. ISBN 0-89820-169-1.
^
Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen in Concert Brochure, 1972, Cheval/Stanyan Company,
Hollywood
^ a b c d e McKuen, Rod. "Biography". Rod McKuen. Retrieved January
31, 2015.
^ "
Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen - Flight Plan". www.rodmckuen.org. Retrieved
2016-10-13.
^ "Timeline: Milestones in the American Gay Rights Movement".
PBP:American Experience. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
^ Straight After Death: Misremembering the Queer Life and Times of Rod
McKuen, Notches. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
^ Baers, Michael, "Rod McKuen", Find articles .
^ Solomon, Robert C. (2004). In Defense of Sentimentality. Oxford
University Press, USA. p. 236. ISBN 0-19-514550-X.
^ "King of Kitsch", Newsweek, pp. 111, 114, November 4,
1968 .
^ Ephron, Nora (2007). Wallflower at the Orgy. Bantam. p. 181.
ISBN 0-553-38505-4.
^ Keller, Julia (March 6, 2001). "Where Had You Gone, Rod Mckuen?".
Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on December 17, 2011.
Retrieved 2011-12-17.
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rod McKuen.
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Rod McKuen
Official website
Works by or about
Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen in libraries (
WorldCat
WorldCat catalog)
1986 audio interview with McKuen by Don Swaim of CBS Radio, RealAudio
at WiredForBooks.org
Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen on IMDb
Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen at Find a Grave
v t e
Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song
1960s
"Town Without Pity" Lyrics by Ned Washington, Music by Dimitri Tiomkin
(1961)
"Circus World" Lyrics by Ned Washington, Music by Dimitri Tiomkin
(1964)
"Forget Domani" Lyrics by Norman Newell, Music by
Riz Ortolani
Riz Ortolani (1965)
"Strangers in the Night" Lyrics by Charles Singleton, Eddie Snyder,
Music by
Bert Kaempfert
Bert Kaempfert (1966)
"If Ever I Would Leave You" Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, Music by
Frederick Loewe (1967)
"The Windmills of Your Mind" Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Music
by
Michel Legrand (1968)
"Jean" Music & Lyrics by
Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen (1969)
1970s
"Whistling Away the Dark" Lyrics by Johnny Mercer, Music by Henry
Mancini (1970)
"Life Is What You Make It" Lyrics by Johnny Mercer, Music by Marvin
Hamlisch (1971)
"Ben" Lyrics by Don Black, Music by
Walter Scharf (1972)
"The Way We Were" Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Music by Marvin
Hamlisch (1973)
"I Feel Love" Lyrics by Betty Box, Music by
Euel Box (1974)
"I'm Easy" Music & Lyrics by
Keith Carradine
Keith Carradine (1975)
"Evergreen" Lyrics by Paul Williams, Music by
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand (1976)
"You Light Up My Life" Music & Lyrics by Joseph Brooks (1977)
"Last Dance" Music & Lyrics by
Paul Jabara
Paul Jabara (1978)
"The Rose" Music & Lyrics by
Amanda McBroom
Amanda McBroom (1979)
1980s
"Fame" Lyrics by Dean Pitchford, Music by
Michael Gore (1980)
"Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" Music & Lyrics by Peter
Allen, Burt Bacharach, Christopher Cross, & Carole Bayer Sager
(1981)
"Up Where We Belong" Lyrics by Wilbur Jennings, Music by Jack Nitzsche
&
Buffy Sainte-Marie
.JPG/440px-Buffy_Ste._Marie_-_Truth_and_Reconciliation_Commission_Concert_-_Ottawa_-_2015_(cropped).JPG)
Buffy Sainte-Marie (1982)
"Flashdance... What a Feeling" Lyrics by Irene Cara, Keith Forsey,
Music by
Giorgio Moroder
Giorgio Moroder (1983)
"I Just Called to Say I Love You" Music & Lyrics by Stevie Wonder
(1984)
"Say You, Say Me" Music & Lyrics by
Lionel Richie
Lionel Richie (1985)
"Take My Breath Away" Lyrics by Tom Whitlock, Music by Giorgio Moroder
(1986)
"(I've Had) The Time of My Life" Lyrics by Franke Previte, Music by
John DeNicola & Donald Markowitz (1987)
"Let the River Run" Music & Lyrics by Carly Simon/"Two Hearts"
Lyrics by Phil Collins, Music by
Lamont Dozier
Lamont Dozier (1988)
"Under the Sea" Lyrics by Howard Ashman, Music by
Alan Menken
.jpg/440px-Alan_Menken_2013_(cropped).jpg)
Alan Menken (1989)
1990s
"Blaze of Glory" Music & Lyrics by
Jon Bon Jovi
Jon Bon Jovi (1990)
"Beauty and the Beast" Lyrics by Howard Ashman, Music by Alan Menken
(1991)
"A Whole New World" Lyrics by Tim Rice, Music by
Alan Menken
Alan Menken (1992)
"Streets of Philadelphia" Music & Lyrics by Bruce Springsteen
(1993)
"Can You Feel the Love Tonight" Lyrics by Tim Rice, Music by Elton
John (1994)
"Colors of the Wind" Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, Music by Alan Menken
(1995)
"You Must Love Me" Lyrics by Tim Rice, Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
(1996)
"My Heart Will Go On" Lyrics by Wilbur Jennings, Music by James Horner
(1997)
"The Prayer" Music & Lyrics by David Foster, Tony Renis, Carole
Bayer Sager, Alberto Testa (1998)
"You'll Be in My Heart" Music & Lyrics by
Phil Collins
Phil Collins (1999)
2000s
"Things Have Changed" Music and lyrics by
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (2000)
"Until..." Music and lyrics by Sting (2001)
"The Hands That Built America" Music and lyrics by Bono, Adam Clayton,
The Edge
The Edge &
Larry Mullen Jr.
Larry Mullen Jr. (2002)
"Into the West" Music and lyrics by Annie Lennox,
Howard Shore
Howard Shore &
Frances Walsh (2003)
"Old Habits Die Hard" Music and lyrics by
Mick Jagger
Mick Jagger & David A.
Stewart (2004)
"A Love That Will Never Grow Old" Lyrics by Bernie Taupin, Music by
Gustavo Santaolalla
Gustavo Santaolalla (2005)
"The Song of the Heart" Music and lyrics by Prince Rogers Nelson
(2006)
"Guaranteed" Music and lyrics by
Eddie Vedder
Eddie Vedder (2007)
"The Wrestler" Music and lyrics by
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen (2008)
"The Weary Kind" Music and lyrics by
Ryan Bingham
Ryan Bingham & T Bone Burnett
(2009)
2010s
"You Haven't Seen the Last of Me" Music & Lyrics by Diane Warren
(2010)
"Masterpiece" Music & Lyrics by Madonna,
Julie Frost and Jimmy
Harry (2011)
"Skyfall" by
Adele
Adele Adkins and
Paul Epworth (2012)
"Ordinary Love" by U2 and Danger Mouse (2013)
"Glory" by Common and
John Legend
John Legend (2014)
"Writing's on the Wall" by Sam Smith and
Jimmy Napes (2015)
"City of Stars" by Justin Hurwitz, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (2016)
"This Is Me" by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (2017)
Complete List (1960s) (1970s) (1980s) (1990s) (2000s) (2010s)
v t e
Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album
1959−1980
Stan Freberg
Stan Freberg – The Best of the
Stan Freberg
Stan Freberg Shows (1959)
Carl Sandburg
Carl Sandburg –
Lincoln Portrait (1960)
Robert Bialek (producer) – FDR Speaks (1961)
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein – Humor in Music (1962)
Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton – The Story-Teller: A Session With Charles Laughton
(1963)
Edward Albee
Edward Albee (playwright) –
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1964)
That Was the Week That Was
That Was the Week That Was – BBC Tribute to John F. Kennedy (1965)
Goddard Lieberson
Goddard Lieberson (producer) – John F. Kennedy - As We Remember Him
(1966)
Edward R. Murrow
Edward R. Murrow –
Edward R. Murrow
Edward R. Murrow - A Reporter Remembers, Vol. I
The War Years (1967)
Everett Dirksen
Everett Dirksen – Gallant Men (1968)
Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen – Lonesome Cities (1969)
Art Linkletter
Art Linkletter &
Diane Linkletter – We Love You Call Collect
(1970)
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. – Why I Oppose the War in Vietnam (1971)
Les Crane
Les Crane – Desiderata (1972)
Bruce Botnick (producer) – Lenny performed by the original Broadway
cast (1973)
Richard Harris
Richard Harris –
Jonathan Livingston Seagull (1974)
Peter Cook
Peter Cook and
Dudley Moore
Dudley Moore – Good Evening (1975)
James Whitmore
James Whitmore –
Give 'em Hell, Harry!
Give 'em Hell, Harry! (1976)
Henry Fonda, Helen Hayes,
James Earl Jones
.jpg/440px-James_Earl_Jones_(8516667383).jpg)
James Earl Jones and
Orson Welles
Orson Welles - Great
American Documents (1977)
Julie Harris –
The Belle of Amherst
The Belle of Amherst (1978)
Orson Welles
Orson Welles –
Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
(1979)
John Gielgud
John Gielgud – Ages of Man - Readings From
Shakespeare
Shakespeare (1980)
1981−2000
Pat Carroll – Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein,
Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein (1981)
Orson Welles
Orson Welles –
Donovan's Brain
Donovan's Brain (1982)
Tom Voegeli (producer) –
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raiders of the Lost Ark - The Movie on
Record performed by Various Artists (1983)
William Warfield
William Warfield –
Lincoln Portrait (1984)
Ben Kingsley
Ben Kingsley – The Words of Gandhi (1985)
Mike Berniker (producer) & the original Broadway cast – Ma
Rainey's Black Bottom (1986)
Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chips Moman, Ricky Nelson, Roy Orbison,
Carl Perkins
Carl Perkins and
Sam Phillips
Sam Phillips – Interviews From the Class of '55
Recording Sessions (1987)
Garrison Keillor
Garrison Keillor –
Lake Wobegon Days (1988)
Jesse Jackson
Jesse Jackson – Speech by Rev.
Jesse Jackson
Jesse Jackson (1989)
Gilda Radner
Gilda Radner – It's Always Something (1990)
George Burns
George Burns – Gracie: A Love Story (1991)
Ken Burns
Ken Burns – The Civil War (1992)
Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Robert O'Keefe – What You Can Do to Avoid
AIDS
AIDS (1993)
Maya Angelou
.jpg/440px-Angelou_at_Clinton_inauguration_(cropped_2).jpg)
Maya Angelou –
On the Pulse of Morning
On the Pulse of Morning (1994)
Henry Rollins
Henry Rollins – Get in the Van (1995)
Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou – Phenomenal Woman (1996)
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton –
It Takes a Village (1997)
Charles Kuralt
Charles Kuralt – Charles Kuralt's Spring (1998)
Christopher Reeve
Christopher Reeve –
Still Me
Still Me (1999)
LeVar Burton
LeVar Burton – The Autobiography of
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (2000)
2001−present
Sidney Poitier, Rick Harris & John Runnette (producers) – The
Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography (2001)
Quincy Jones, Jeffrey S. Thomas, Steven Strassman (engineers) and
Elisa Shokoff (producer) – Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones
(2002)
Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou and Charles B. Potter (producer) – A Song Flung Up to
Heaven / Robin Williams, Nathaniel Kunkel (engineer/mixer) and Peter
Asher (producer) – Live 2002 (2003)
Al Franken
Al Franken and Paul Ruben (producer) – Lies and the Lying Liars Who
Tell Them (2004)
Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton – My Life (2005)
Barack Obama
Barack Obama –
Dreams from My Father
Dreams from My Father (2006)
Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter – Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis / Ossie
Davis and
Ruby Dee
Ruby Dee - With Ossie and Ruby (2007)
Barack Obama
Barack Obama and Jacob Bronstein (producer) – The Audacity of Hope
(2008)
Beau Bridges,
Cynthia Nixon
.jpg/440px-Cynthia_Nixon_2014_(cropped).jpg)
Cynthia Nixon and
Blair Underwood
.jpg/440px-Blair_Underwood_3rd_Annual_ICON_MANN_POWER_50_event_-_Feb_2015_(cropped).jpg){kind=icon}
Blair Underwood – An Inconvenient
Truth by
Al Gore
Al Gore (2009)
Michael J. Fox
_(2).jpg/440px-Michael_J._Fox_2012_(cropped)_(2).jpg)
Michael J. Fox – Always Looking Up (2010)
Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart – The Daily Show with
Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart Presents Earth (The
Audiobook) (2011)
Betty White
Betty White – If You Ask Me (And Of Course You Won't) (2012)
Janis Ian
Janis Ian – Society's Child (2013)
Stephen Colbert
Stephen Colbert – America Again: Re-becoming The Greatness We Never
Weren't (2014)
Joan Rivers
Joan Rivers – Diary of a Mad Diva (2015)
Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter – A Full Life: Reflections at 90 (2016)
Carol Burnett
Carol Burnett – In Such Good Company: Eleven Years of Laughter,
Mayhem, and Fun in the Sandbox (2017)
Carrie Fisher
Carrie Fisher –
The Princess Diarist
The Princess Diarist (2018)
Authority control
WorldCat
WorldCat Identities
VIAF: 59351397
LCCN: n80126020
ISNI: 0000 0001 1492 2717
GND: 124684726
SUDOC: 087289849
BNF: cb14838232t (data)
MusicBrainz: a12980dd-8cf1-4802-84e3-32c08560cf49
NDL: 00449530
BNE: XX1545014
SN