Wednesday 27th October, 2004

 

 

 

 

 

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A Thought for Today

All you need to know about love is that it’s happening.

 

This One Does It For Me!

Hi,

It's a great website.

One of Rod's lesser known songs is "Some Trust In Chariots." I'm hoping, among all the requests you get, that you'll put the lyrics up on the website. I have an old LP that's pretty scratchy and it sometimes skips.

Phonsie

Great choice, Phonsie, and a long time favorite of mine. It's also one of those songs that tend to get overlooked as time goes by so I'm delighted you reminded us of it.

It appears on the Greatest Hits Vol. II CD and here's Rod to tell us more about that particular album.

Liner Notes - Greatest Hits of Rod McKuen Vol. II

I’ve never made any cylinders or 78 RPM singles, but my first albums were recorded in glorious mono. I saw the salad days of 2, 4, 6, 8, 16 and 32 track tape and my work has been issued on reel to reel stereo, 4 track cartridges for cars - and even several different kinds of quadraphonic disc. This is a long way of saying that I’ve been recording for quite a while now, forty years - give or take a decade - and in that time had my fair share of hits, semi hits, also-rans and downright flops.

In the main, this second album of purported hits is from a happy and busy period at Warner Brothers Records. In addition to the chart busters it has a couple of sides that made the charts but didn’t make a buck and one or two that drove the people in places like Tonga and Timaru bananas while remaining estranged from the American hit parade.

For this digital edition I’ve included 2 tracks from my Decca days, Two Brothers and The Beat Generation ( if you made a record with Bob McFadden and Bill Haley & his Comets, wouldn’t you include it?) There’s a one shot for A&M with Herb Alpert, Hi Lonesome and Bring Her a Rose, my first RCA single.

The other two, new to this package, are The Time It Takes to Love You ( 1969 ) and Guess I’d Rather Be in Colorado ( 1972 ) both released on Warner Brothers.

I love making records, even more than I like writing books or having sex. With not much of the latter two in evidence these days I’m in the studio a lot; cleaning up the old tracks and laying down some new ones. Ah, sublimation and making music - what lovely bed fellows.

R.M., April, 1996

A reminder - if you happen to find yourself in Austin, Texas this Saturday don't forget to catch Rod at the Texas Book Festival where he'll be having a reading as well as a book signing session.

And special birthday wishes today for a long time friend of this web site, Larry Baillie.

Want the words to a favorite McKuen song or poem? Got a Rod McKuen story to relate or a question to ask? Wednesday is the day we deal with things like this so please drop me a line at kenb@mckuen.com and I'll do my best to provide an answer just as soon as I can.

 - Ken, Johannesburg, South Africa, October 27

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ROD McKUEN CONCERTS

ROD McKUEN APPEARANCES

notable birthdays Larry Baillie o Jack Carson o John Cleese o Fred DeCordova o Kathy Cornelius o Floyd Cramer o Ruby Dee o Nanette Fabray o Peter Firth o Wayne Fontana o Lee Greenwood o H.R. Haldeman o Jayne Kennedy o Cleo Laine o Simon LeBon o Fran Lebowitz o Roy Lichtenstein o Marla Maples o Margaret Naylor o Kelly Osbourne o Sylvia Plath o Emily Post o Theodore Roosevelt o Lyle Rote o Carrie Snodgress o Dylan Thomas o Ted Wass o Scott Weiland o Robert White o Teresa Wright
Rod's random thoughts Lack of love and loving spoils the purest heart.

Never pass a rope off as a ribbon.

We only see time’s changes when it is late and growing later.

SOME TRUST IN CHARIOTS

There were those
who must have thought us mad
spending all that time and money
that we never had.

Well... some trust in chariots
and some in marble banks
some of us just love each other
and never ask for thanks.

There were those
who must have thought us daft
from the way we cried together
and the way we laughed.

Well... some trust in chariots
and some in big machines
some of you save diamonds baby
some of us save dreams.

Some trust in chariots
with great big yellow wheels
well, I had a ride in a chariot
and oh... how lonesome it feels.

I say... there were those
who must have thought us fools
loving like a house on fire
and breakin’ all the rules.

Well... some trust in chariots
in chariots they ride
we ride the wings of love
together... side by side.

Some trust in chariots
with great big yellow wheels
well, I had a ride in a chariot
and oh, how lonesome it feels.

Some trust in chariots
in chariots they ride
some trust in chariots.
in chariots they ride...

 - from the CD "Greatest Hits of Rod McKuen Vol. II"

 
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Webmaster: Ken Blackie o Birthday research by Wade Alexander, coordinated by Melinda Smith
Poetry from the collection of Jay Hagan o Sound & Fury: Dr. Eric Yeager o Editor at Large: Bruce Bellingham
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