Rod McKuen

Rodney Marvin McKuen (April 29, 1933 - January 29, 2015) was an American poet, singer-songwriter, and actor. He was a best-selling poet in the United States during the late 1960s.

Rod McKuen in 1972. Photo owned by Nationaal Archief of the Netherlands. Licensed under Creative Commons, courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Rod McKuen
Birth name	Rodney Marvin McKuen
Origin	Oakland, California
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, musician, poet
Instruments	Vocals, piano

Life

Overview

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. 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. }}

Youth and education

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.

Sexually and physically 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 disc jockey, always sending money home to his mother.

McKuen dropped out of Oakland Technical High School prior to graduating in 1951. To compensate for his lack of formal education, McKuen began keeping a journal, which resulted in his earliest poetry and song lyrics.

Early career

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. During this time, he often used the pseudonym "Dor."

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.

McKuen appeared on To Tell The Truth on June 18, 1962 as a decoy contestant, and described himself as "a published poet and a twist singer."

Discovering Brel

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.

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."

Poetry

In the late 1960s, McKuen began to publish books of poetry, earning a substantial following among young people with collections like Stanyan Street, and 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 11 languages and his books sold over 1 million copies in 1968 alone. McKuen sold over 60 million books worldwide, according to the Associated Press.

Songwriting

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, 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.

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. 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. 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.

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 2 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.

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 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.

McKuen performed solo in a half-hour special broadcast by 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 specials, and directed by Marty Pasetta. James Trittipo designed a set that was "evocative of waterfront pilings" and Arthur Greenslade conducted the orchestra. In 1971, he hosted a series, The Rod McKuen Show, on BBC television in the UK.

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 4 weeks. 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".

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 No. 1 in the Dutch charts; the album Greatest Hits Vol. 3 became a number 1 record as well. All 3 discs earned him gold records, and he was voted Holland's most popular entertainer.

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

McKuen continued to perform concerts around the world and appeared regularly at New York's Carnegie Hall throughout the 1970s, making sporadic appearances as recently as the early 2000s.

Later years

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.

2001 saw the publication of McKuen's A Safe Place to Land, with 160 pages of new poetry. For 10 years he gave an annual birthday concert at Carnegie Hall or the Lincoln Center. He released the double CD The Platinum Collection and was remastering all of his RCA and 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 Beverly Hills, California with his partner Edward, whom he called his "brother", 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.

LGBT activism

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." He was active in the 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 advocacy organizations. 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 – 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 rights organizations and to fund AIDS research.

Activism

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.

Writing

McKuen's poetry deals with themes of love, the natural world and spirituality.

McKuen said that his most romantic poetry was influenced by American poet Walter Benton's 2 books of poems.

Critical reputation

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..."

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 ..."

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 thickened by the treacle of a man who preferred to prettify the world before he described it".

Philosopher and social critic Robert C. Solomon described McKuen's poetry as "sweet kitsch," and, at the height of his popularity in 1969, Newsweek magazine called him "the King of Kitsch."

Writer and literary critic Nora Ephron said, "[F]or the most part, McKuen's poems are superficial and platitudinous and frequently silly." Pulitzer Prize-winning U.S. Poet Laureate Karl Shapiro said, "It is irrelevant to speak of McKuen as a poet."

In a 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 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 3rd concert on his tour had already been canceled because of sluggish ticket sales.

Recognition

McKuen enjoyed commercial success unusual in the field of modern poetry. His poems have been translated into 11 languages and his books have sold over 65 million copies. Throughout his career he continued to enjoy sell-out concerts around the world, and appeared regularly at New York’s Carnegie Hall.

McKuen received the Brandeis University Literary Trust Prize and the Carl Sandburg Award.

His 1968 album, Lonesome Cities, earned a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Recording.

His work as a composer in the film industry garnered him 2 Academy Award nominations.

His poetry collection The Power Bright and Shining (1980) won the First Amendment and Freedoms Foundation Award.

In popular culture

McKuen also earned a mention in the popular comic strip Peanuts, 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.

Publications

Poetry

• Stanyan Street, and other sorrows. New York: Random House, 1966.
• Listen to the Warm. New York: Random House, 1967.
• Lonesome Cities. New York: Random House, 1968.
• In Someone's Shadow. New York: Cheval Books, 1969.
• Twelve Years of Christmas. New York: Cheval Books, 1969.
• Caught in the Quiet. Los Angeles: Stanyan Books, 1970.
• With Love. New York: Stanyon Books, 1970.
• Fields of Wonder. New York: Cheval Books, 1971.
• And to Each Season. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1972.
• Come to Me in Silence. New York: Simon & Shuster, 1973.
• Moment to Moment. Los Angeles: Cheval Books, 1974.
• Celebrations of the Heart. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1975.
• The Rod McKuen Omnibus: Three complete books, and fourteen new poems. London: W.H. Allen, 1975.
• Beyond the Boardwalk. Los Angeles: Cheval Books, 1975.
• Alone... New York: Pocket Books, 1975.
• The Sea Around Me, the Hills Above. London: Elm Tree, 1976.
• The Sea Around Me. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1977.
• Coming Close to the Earth. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1977.
• Hand in Hand. New York: Pocket Books, 1977.
• We Touch the Sky. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1979.
• Love's Been Good to Me. New York: Pocket Books, 1979.
• The Power Bright and Shining: Images of my country. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1980.
• An Outstretched Hand: Poems, prayers, and meditations. Los Angeles: Cheval Books / New York: Harper & Row, 1980.
• The Beautiful Strangers. New York: Cheval Books / Simon & Schuster, 1981.
• The Sound of Solitude. New York: Harper & Row, 1983.
• Suspension Bridge. Los Angeles: Cheval Books / New York: Harper & Row, 1984.
• Intervals. New York: Harper & Row / Los Angeles: Cheval Books, 1986.
• Valentines. New York: Harper & Row / Los Angeles: Cheval Books, 1986.

Songs

• Songs of Rod McKuen. New York: Chappell, 1975; Hollywood, CA: Cheval Books, 1979.
• The World of Rod McKuen. New York: Random House, 1968.
• The Carols of Christmas: Poems and lyrics. New York: Cheval Books, 1971.
• Grand Tour: Collected lyrics. Los Angeles: Stanyan Books, 1972.

Non-fiction

• Finding My Father: One man's search for identity. Los Angeles: Cheval Books, 1976.

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.

Audio / video

Vocal Albums

ROD MCKUEN ~ If You Go Away ~

• 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
• LSP 3786 . Through European Windows / Rod McKuen
• SPC 3225 . The sounds of day, the sounds of night / 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. Burbank, CA: Warner Brothers Records, 1971.
• 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. Los Angeles: Stanyan Records, 1977.
• 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
• SPC 3189 . About Me / Rod McKuen
• SUS 5273 . In The Beginning / Rod McKuen

Spoken Word

Rod McKuen - A Cat Named Sloopy (The Mike Douglas Show dec 30, 1969)

• 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. New York: RCA Victor, 1967.
• 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. Hollywood, CA: Discus.
• LP 12036 • The Yellow Unicorn / Rod McKuen with Tak Shindo & Julie Meredith

Classical

Rod McKuen Symphony No 1, "All Men Love Something"

• 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

Rod McKuen - Jean

• 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

Rod McKuen - (The Port Of) Amsterdam (Carre 2009 live)

• 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

with Anita Kerr

Lyrics & Book & Musical Storyline by Rod McKuen. Music Composed, Arranged & Conducted by Anita Kerr, performed by the San Sebastian Strings

San Sebastian Strings - Pushing The Clouds Away-0

• WBL 1047 • WB 1670 • The Sea
• WBL 1046 • WB 1705 • The Earth
• WB 1720 • The Sky
• WBC 1080 • WS 1764 • Home To The Sea
• WS 1839 • The Soft Sea
• SR 10043 • La Mer
• WB 1795 • For Lovers
• BS 2768 • Bouquet
• Spring
• BS4 2707 • Summer
• Autumn
• BS 2622 • Winter
• BS 2837 • With Love
• 3WS 1730 • The Sea
• 3WS 1827 • The Complete Sea (3 discs)
• 4WS 2754 • The Seasons (4 discs]

Compilations

Rod McKuen - Listen To The Warm

Rod McKuen Lonesome cities

• 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

Rod McKuen - Sometimes - Poetry --0

Promotional Albums

Rod McKuen - 9 Poems from Fields Of Wonder

• 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

See also

• List of U.S. poets
• List of English-language songwriters

External links

Poems

• Favorite Rod McKuen poems
• Unpublished poetry

Audio / video

• Rod McKuen poems at YouTube
• Rod McKuen songs at YouTube
• 1986 audio interview with Rod McKuen by Don Swaim of CBS Radio, RealAudio at Wired for Books.org

Books

• Rod McKuen at Amazon.com
• Works by or about Rod McKuen in libraries (WorldCat catalog)

About

• Rod McKuen b. 1933 at the Poetry Foundation
• A Safe Place to Land - Rod McKuen Official website.
• A Tribute to Rod McKuen