Rod McKuen

Sorry for today's delay! Firstly, I've had one hell of headache, which only got worse after prolonged sleep. Secondly, today's artist had a long and distinguished career and a very interesting life. He was also very prolific. Preparing this story reall took time. Let's begin then!

Rodney Marvin "Rod" McKuen (April 29, 1933 – January 29, 2015) was an American singer-songwriter, musician and poet. He was one of the best-selling poets in the United States during the late 1960s. Throughout his career, McKuen produced a wide range of recordings, which included popular music, spoken word poetry, film soundtracks and classical music. He earned two Academy Award nominations and one Pulitzer nomination for his music compositions. McKuen's translations and adaptations of the songs of 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.

McKuen was born on April 29, 1933, in a Salvation Army hostel in Oakland, California. He never knew his biological father who had left his mother. Abused by relatives, 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 disk jockey, always sending money home to his mother.

Although poetry and songwriting gave McKuen a partial outlet for the pain of his childhood, there was an aspect of his youth that he could not speak of until many years later - sexual molestation by an uncle and aunt.

“The fact that my stepfather had beaten me up when I was a kid wasn’t hard for me to talk or write about,” McKuen told People magazine in 1982. “I had both arms broken and my ribs caved in several times, but physical injuries on the outside heal. Before now, though, I have never been able to come forward and talk about having been sexually abused when I was a child. Those scars have never healed, and I expect they never will.”

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 prior to graduating in 1951, 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 and Allen Ginsberg. 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 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.

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 #39 on the Billboard Pop chart.

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 #76 on the Billboard Pop chart. 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.

His songs were becoming sought after by major artists: Two-Ten Six-Eighteen (Doesn’t Anybody Know My Name) was written in 1962 and recorded by the Kingston Trio in 1963. Rod himself recorded it a year or two later:

In 1969, 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. It was originally recorded, however, by the Kingston Trio in 1964 and soon after by Rod himself:

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.

Seasons In The Sun appeared on an album of the same name which was released in 1964-65.

On the same album, we find his first song with gay overtones, Stanyan Street.

Also on this album was The World I Used To Know.

If You Go Away was recorded by McKuen in 1965:

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." At the time, there was talk that he and Brel were lovers, but since I've found no written affirmation of the fact, I present it as just a rumor.

McKuen was a longtime supporter of gay rights. In the 1950s, he held a leadership role in the San Francisco chapter of the Mattachine Society. McKuen also publicly opposed Anita Bryant and dubbed her: ‘Ginny Orangeseed’—and gave benefit performances in Miami and at gay discos in New York and LA to raise money for gay rights groups to fight her. He also engaged in AIDS activism for well over a decade, participating in numerous fundraisers in support of AIDS related charities.

The cover for his 1977 album  Slide… Easy In depicts the arm of 1970s gay porn star Bruno, his fist filled with Crisco, hovering above a can with the label “disco” on it. That same year, McKuen spoke out against singer Anita Bryant and her "Save Our Children" campaign to repeal an anti-discrimination ordinance in Miami, and also included a song on the Slide... Easy In album (also known as the “Crisco/Disco” album) titled Don't Drink the Orange Juice, referencing Bryant's fame as commercial pitchwoman for the Florida Citrus Commission. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a video of Don’t Drink the Orange Juice online so that I could present it to you.

Later that same year the Associated Press asked McKuen if he was gay. He responded: “I’ve been attracted to men and I’ve been attracted to women. I have a 16-year-old son. You put a label on.” By the end of the year, the Baltimore Sun casually described McKuen as a homosexual. On the other hand, the gay newspaper, The Advocate, in 1976, had given McKuen the dubious “Something You do in the Dark” closet case award for refusing to identify as gay.

In 2004, a reporter asked McKuen once again if he was gay. As with his AP interview two decades earlier, McKuen refused to label his sexual activities:

“Am I gay? Let me put it this way, Collectively I spend more hours brushing my teeth than having sex so I refuse to define my life in sexual terms. I’ve been to bed with women and men and in most cases enjoyed the experience with either sex immensely. Does that make me bi-sexual? Nope. Heterosexual? Not exclusively. Homosexual? Certainly not by my definition.

I am sexual by nature and I continue to fall in love with people and with any luck human beings of both sexes will now and again be drawn to me. 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. I’m attracted to different people for different reasons.

I do identify with the Gay Rights struggle, to me that battle is about nothing more or less than human rights. I marched in the 50’s and 60’s to protest the treatment of Blacks in this country and I’m proud of the fact that I broke the color barrier in South Africa by being the first artist to successfully demand integrated seating at my concerts. I am a die-hard feminist and will continue to speak out for women’s rights as long as they are threatened. These, of course, are all social issues and have nothing to do with my sex life (although admittedly I’ve met some pretty hot people of both sexes on the picket line.)"

McKuen also framed his relationship with his brother Edward in unconventional terms, publicly describing Edward as his “partner.” In 2005, a presumably gay male fan wrote a note of appreciation about McKuen’s poem “I Always Knew.” He explained, “I plan on presenting it to my partner on his 54th. This will be our 8th year together. Thank you.” McKuen responded by reflecting upon his partnership with Edward and implicitly comparing this relationship to his fan’s gay partnership. “Relationships take hard work so you both must be doing something right for each other. In case you missed it here’s a poem I wrote a few years ago... that you might find interesting.” The poem was titled “PARTNER / for Edward.” McKuen elsewhere clarified his relationship with Edward in this way: “As for Edward, he is my brother, father, mother, best friend and partner in almost every way. He’s a cute kid all right, but not my lover or my type. Besides, wouldn’t that be incest?”

Back to the mid 60s, in 1965 in particular, McKuen wrote an anti-war song called Soldiers Who Want To Be Heroes:

In 1971, McKuen became highly popular in the Netherlands, where re-released Soldiers Who Want to Be Heroes and newly recorded Without a Worry in the World (an adaptation of a Georges Moustaki song) 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. Here's Without a Worry in the World:

Back to 1965, when the album Prolific Composer Rod McKuen Sings His Own was released. It contained a number of remarkable songs that channeled the gay experience in one way or another.

Here's Channing Way part I:

Here's Channing Way part II:

Here's The Lovers:

Here's The Hunters:

Here's So Many Others:

During that year he also recorded The Money Boys of Cannes, which was not released until decades later. A satire of homophobia, in turns good-natured and biting, it was too explicit by 60s standards.

In 1967, McKuen began collaborating with arranger 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 1967, he also released one of his most popular albums, Listen To The Warm. It included A Cat Named Sloopy, which was also released as a single:

Also To Share the Summer Sun:

As well as I'll Never Be Alone:

... And finally, I Live Alone:

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. McKuen's poems were translated into eleven languages and his books sold over 1 million copies in 1968 alone. McKuen said that his most romantic poetry was influenced by American poet Walter Benton's two books of poems. McKuen sold over 60 million books worldwide, according to the Associated Press.

In 1968 he released the album In Search of Eros. Here’s the complete album:

McKuen wrote over 1,500 songs, which have accounted for the sale of over 100 million records worldwide according to the Associated Press. 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, Johnny Cash, Pete Fountain, Andy Williams, the Kingston Trio, Percy Faith, the London Philharmonic, Dusty Springfield, Johnny Mathis, Al Hirt, Greta Keller, Aaron Freeman, and Frank Sinatra.

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), and his other film scores have included Joanna (1968), Me, Natalie (1969), 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 and Rod McKuen surely must have had trouble drawing cows' legs when they were young.

Here's the Oscar nominated song Jean:

Here's the title song from his Oscar nominated song score from the movie A Boy Named Charlie Brown:

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. In 1971, his song I Think of You was a major hit for Perry Como. Other popular McKuen songs included The Importance of the Rose (1968) and Rock Gently (1970).

Here’s The Importance Of The Rose (C'est La Rose):

... And here's Rock Gently:

Since we've mentioned all those famous covers, let's give them a listen. Here are the Kingston Trio with Two-Ten Six-Eighteen (Doesn’t Anybody Know My Name):

Here's Shirley Bassey with If You Go Away:

Here's Frank Sinatra with Love's Been Good to Me:

Here's Oliver with Jean:

Here's Perry Como with I Think of You:

And finally, here's Terry Jacks with Seasons In The Sun:

A fitting epilogue to our song presentation are three songs from this rare 1970 album called The Body Electric: Volume 2, The Erotic Words Of Walt Whitman. Jesse Pearson is McKuen collaborator. From this album, here's 28 Young Men:

Here's Electric Fires Within Me:

... And finally, here's To A Passing Stranger:

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 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. He also continued to record, releasing albums such as New Ballads (1970), Pastorale (1971), and the country-rock outing McKuen Country (1976).

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.

McKuen lived in Southern California with his half-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. He died of respiratory arrest, a result of pneumonia, at a hospital in Beverly Hills, California, on January 29, 2015.