ASK ROD |
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Tuesday afternoon here in Southern
California and I’m just starting to work out The Flight Plan you’ll be reading
today. I like to be a little further ahead than this, but the prospects look dim. Ah, if I
can just tap-dance till Christmas. Then what? Oh. The last week of December and all of
1999’s FP’s lie ahead. Something has got to give. There I go again, talking to
myself. On to the mail.
ANITA, ROD, THE SAN SEBASTIAN STRINGS & OTHER SORROWSRod, Spent the winter of '68 listening to and thinking of the
trilogy of The Earth , Sea, and The Sky. They filled the nights and my thoughts that
winter solstice in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Have thought of you and your
writings during those rare quiet moments as I watched my children pass from childhood to
their young adulthood. Attempted to locate you / your works unsuccessfully. Never would
have guessed that I would have to travel into the galactic cosmos to get back to the
beginning. Absolutely love your Web Page, info. etc. Welcome back, my friend, its good to
have you here again. BoB
Many years ago I was lucky enough to receive a copy of this collection. I played it
and copied on tape for many of my clients while assisting them in getting their lives back
together. After several years the records became almost extinct from overuse. Ever since I
have inquired at what seems a thousand stores and catalogue places without success. Where
might I purchase this compilation, if I indeed still can? A truly avid admirer, BD091342
Dear Rod, The early 70s brought me a man I loved
passionately and that man brought me an album entitled, "The Sea." Or maybe it
was entitled "The Earth, Sea, and Sky." At any rate, I loved the man and the
album. 17 years later the man left and took the album and I have searched for the album
ever since. The words live in my heart. Is there a recording available? Carolyn
Hi Mr. McKuen: Please, please, please......where can I get a copy of "For Lovers
Only" that was made many years ago and I have been trying (obviously in vain) to get
a copy of it. I will purchase a used one if that is all that is available. I love that
album. I believe you made it with Anita Kerr. Thank you so much. Karen Long
Dear BoB, BD091342, Carolyn & Karen, First the bad
news. Warner Bros. Records has no plans at the moment to release "The Sea, The Earth
& The Sky," The Complete Sea", "For Lovers" or any of the other
dozen or so San Sebastian Strings albums on compact disc. Am I frustrated? You bet. Am I
working on it? I am. Now the good news, as I mentioned yesterday, Stanyan Mail Order has a
limited supply of LP, CD and cassette versions of "The Sea."
THE BEACH BOYS
Rod, Is it true The Beach Boys were the first artists,
other than you, to record "Seasons In The Sun?" Aldo, Berlin
Dear Aldo, I’ve read that too, and very often the source seems to be Terry Jacks. If
fact, Terry told me that himself in our one and only meeting. The Beach Boys have several
compilations of unreleased material, but so far a recording of "Seasons"
hasn’t surfaced. I’d love to believe it was true and if so hope to hear it one
day. I’ve written a couple of songs with Bruce Johnston, but that’s as close as
I’ve come to working with the BB’s. You might try writing Capitol Records,
Sunset & Vine, Hollywood. CA 90028. Let me know the results. Thanks, Rod.
SINATRA & LOVES BEEN GOOD TO ME
Dear Rod, One of my prized possessions is the LP
"A Man Alone" by Frank Sinatra, especially since it’s not available anymore
on CD or LP. I know you wrote all the songs in the album especially for Mr. Sinatra, but
wasn’t "Love’s Been Good To Me" written some years before the album
was recorded? Arthur Kent
Dear Arthur, Yes it was. For awhile it was known around the house as "the song
I’d like to get to Sinatra." It’s inclusion in the album came about because
Frank thought that another song I’d written for "A Man Alone" was too close
to home. The song, "People On Their Birthdays.", opens with the following
couplet: People On Their birthdays will take a drink or two / and tell you how they won
the war in nineteen forty-two, / some other Sunday before the swing came down / and papa
smashed the car up on his way in from the town. Frank’s pop was by no means a boozer,
but toward the end of his life he was beginning to have memory problems. Unfortunately,
his memory failed him a couple of times while he was behind the wheel. While no one was
ever hurt, [it was usually a fender bender] the Jersey State Police called Frank more than
once to advise him of the problem. "What can I do?." he once asked me.
"Easy," I replied, "Get his license revoked." "I can’t do
that." he replied. "Sure you can, you’re Frank Sinatra." He seemed to
forget that on some of the most important occasions.. The totally ego driven Sinatra,
written about by so many, remained unknown to me during our long years of friendship.
In another swap, Frank went through one of my songbooks and picked "I’ve Been To
Town" to replace what we both felt was a song too jarring for the album, "Gee
It’s Nice To Be Alone." I wrote words for a reprise of "A Man Alone"
on the session date, because I decided to withdraw another song, "The End of
Autumn", over strong objections by FS. He absolutely loved it, but I felt it was too
down even for an album titled "A Man Alone." To this day it remains unpublished
and unrecorded.
The lyrics to "People On Their Birthdays" are printed in my 1969 book "In
Someone’s Shadow." According to Jay Hagan’s discography I recorded it only
once, on my first Carnegie Hall album. I remember an earlier, obviously unissued,
recording of it in a London studio session. I remember liking it at the time, will have to
look it up. While we have no copies of the CD available, a small stock of Sinatra’s
"A Man Alone" LP are available from Stanyan. It includes the original gatefold
cover with appreciations by jazz critic Leonard Feather & yours truly.
December 12th will be the first Sinatra birthday without Frank. I hope to write a few
Sinatra memories for the Flight Plan that day. Take care.
- RM
12/3/98 |
