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Rod at
Dos Vidas. Photo by Thomas Kist from the 2006 Arjan Vlakveld film “Rod
McKuen: A Man Alone” for Netherlands Public Television. Photo ©2006,
2007 by Stanyan Audio Video Archives. All Rights Reserved.
A Thought for Today
Compassion is the ability to see other
people's needs in the same perspective as our own.
TO BEGIN WITH
Happy Mothers Day and this year Mom’s day coincides with the birth date
of Irving Berlin. Hard to imagine two more important people than
everyone’s mom and everyman’s songwriter.
.ASK
ROD
SAN FRANCISCO
Dear Rod, I was such a big fan of yours when I was in college in the
60’s. Your poems and albums are the memories of that time. I recently
visited San Francisco for the first and second time and it was amazing
how the sight of some of the streets brought back your poetry and songs.
I found myself repeating poems - much to the puzzlement of my travel
companions. When I moved, I lost quite a few boxes of books, and am in
the process of replacing some of your poetry books. It’s amazing how
re-reading them makes an old lady feel young! Thank you for your
wonderful work. I found this site when I was trying to remember the
whole poem about “If I had longer arms I’d push the clouds away.”
Sincerely, Jean Ennis (I wished you had written that song for me J)
Dear Jean, Ah, San Francisco, the city that Herb Caen called 'Bagdad by
the Bay' and Bellingham terms (and I’m paraphrasing here) 'heaven if you
have an expense account' is more a state of mind than a place. Not a
town or a metropolis it is more a netherland and being there on a visit
or as a resident you have to occasionally pinch yourself at the wonder
even turning a corner can bring.
People are often surprised when they learn I haven't lived in San
Francisco for many decades because I still draw great inspiration from
it. Somehow knowing it's there and attainable even in my imagination is
enough.
You describe yourself as 'an old lady' but I reject the term. As the
years advance I like to think of us as seasoned citizens so try using
that term. Speaking of ladies and our city, here's a couplet I used in a
song forty some odd years ago: "It's always hard to leave a lady, hard
to know what to say. When you love a lady like I love San Francisco,
words don't mean anything anyway."
As for "Jean," I wrote it for a complicated Scottish lass named 'Jean
Brodie' but it now belongs to all the Jean's of the world. Thanks for
the thoughtful letter. Warmly, Rod
LIVE IN LONDON
Hi Rod: I haven't got a question because the one I was about to ask at
the time of your 75th birthday has been answered - you are fit and well
and back writing in ASPTL. It goes without saying that we love the
extracts, quotations and advice but there is something about a direct
line from the oracle that's hard to match.
And talking about hard to match, we've just bought the Live in London CD
which takes us right back to those years of the Palladium, Royal Albert
Hall and your BBC TV series. Although we have a well-scratched vinyl
copy that I transferred over to CD, it's not a patch on the new version
and the previously unissued tracks. Some 38 years have come and gone -
but WOW. Next month, Stella and I celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary
and I reach 65. Doesn't time fly. Sleep warm and stay cool (and may the
UK and Australian producers soon be in touch). Ernie Hazlewood
Dear Ernie, Congratulations to you both on the up-coming major
anniversary and I wish you many, many more.
It was fun putting together “Live in London.” Like the Carnegie Hall
Concerts, Grand Tour, The Amsterdam, Sydney & Johannesburg sets all were
originally double LP’s. Still so much less room than a pair of CD’s so
it’s a dream come true to be able to re-master complete performances.
Another major problem with releasing complete concerts during the LP era
was duplication. I could hardly perform without including Jean, If You
Go Away, ‘Seasons’, etc. but if I had included ‘the hits’ on every
concert LP, even though every version really is different, there really
would be too much duplication. CD’s have released me from the worry of
time constraint and duplication. The Amsterdam Concert, released on CD a
couple of years ago and Live in London, which came out late last year
are neck in neck for second place in sales at
Stanyan House, right behind
the 7CD Boxed Bear Family set. Petula Clark’s “Solitude & Sunshine”
continues to hold the third spot.
As for being back on The Flight Plan, I like it and enjoy the feedback
I’m getting. Again my congrats and thanks for writing. Warmly, Rod
CARNEGIE HALL DVD
Rod : Will the concert on April 29, 1969 ever be
released on DVD? If it is I want a copy. Your biggest Fan, O’dell
Ashmore
Dear O'Dell, Alas, the 1969 Carnegie Hall Concert wasn't filmed so, no,
there won't be a DVD release. We did have a four camera set-up on a
concert I did a couple of years ago in Arizona and I have been slogging
through the various angles trying to put together the show for video. At
the moment though, there are a lot more pressing things -- new
recordings, mastering older albums for CD release and licensing
recordings by other artists on the Stanyan Label for compact disc -- the
Arizona DVD has to be listed as 'up-coming.' Thanks for asking & all the
best, Rod
TWO-WAY STREET
Dear Mr. McKuen, I wanted to tell you that you were my friend in a
somewhat dark and lonely time in my life. In 1971 I moved in my senior
year of high school, from Detroit Michigan to Atlanta Georgia. At that
time it was like moving from Earth to Mars, from one time zone to
another. I have always had a passion for poetry and at that time in my
life your poetry had all the answers for me. My daughter shares my
passion and just lately I've been thinking that she would love to read
some of your work, so I googled you and that brought me to your site.
I am happy to have this opportunity to tell you that you made a
difference in my life. If I ever have an impact on anyone as you did on
me, I would want them to tell me. So thank you Mr. McKuen. Be well, be
happy, Best wishes, Ann Marcinski
Dear Ann, Much appreciation for your nice words. We are all here to help
each other along. What my fans and friends sometimes forget is that it
works both ways. Without an audience I'd have no platform. So, my thanks
to you and especially for pointing out my 'stuff' to your daughter. With
affection to you both, Rod
BARRY McGUIRE
Rod, Back in November I asked Barry McGuire if I could interview him and
he said "Yes"!! I was confused, but the interview went well. So now my
little outfit, "Stain Free Media" is up and almost running. I'm working
with a local promoter here in Houston and it looks like we may be
getting Barry and Terry Talbot to come do "Trippin' the 60's" for us.
Anyway, I love your site and just thought I'd drop you a line. By the
way, here's the interview if you're interested:
http://stainfreemedia.blogspot.com
Peace to you and yours.-Rick Hall
Dear Rick, I enjoyed your interview with Barry. As a long time fan and
friend of this one of a kind gentle man I can tell you that he not only
talks the talk but walks the walk as far as his ethics and beliefs go.
To Barry family is everything and despite (or maybe because of) the
sometimes hard knocks life and living has visited on him he remains a
total optimist and still loves to write and perform. His honest faith
and family support sustains him and gives him a kind of glow.
His showmanship is terrific. A year or so ago I had the great pleasure
of doing a couple of benefit performances with Barry and his voice is
stronger and better than ever. The minutes we shared together on stage
were the most fun I'd had as a performer in a long time.
One of the songs we dueted on that night was "One By One," a song we did
together over 30 years ago. To our mutual chagrin neither of us could
remember the third verse and we had to look it up on the Internet before
going on stage. It was just part of a lovely and, for me, particularly
joyous reunion. Barry can sing anything and I hope one day we'll hear
him lend his talent to an album of spirituals and gospel songs. Wouldn't
that be something!
By the way I like your site. It's simple, well designed and to the
point. All the Best, Rod
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