Friday, January 30, 2015

Rod McKuen [1933-2015]

Artist: Rod McKuen
LP: In Search of Eros: Loneliness and Love In the Age of Eroticism
Song: "Stations and Trains" 
[ listen ]

This morning I awoke to the sad news that singer/songwriter/composer/poet Rod McKuen had died. McKuen is one of those artists where you just keep finding more of their records in the used bins than it seems humanly possible for one person to have made in a single lifetime. I've accumulated 15 Rod McKuen albums so far (not even counting his Christmas record) and, after glancing at his discography, I see that I've barely even scratched the surface! But when you find a Rod McKuen album, you buy it. There's just no question. And speaking of always buying albums, I just learned that "Rod McKuen lived in Southern California with his brother and four cats in a large rambling Spanish house build in 1928, which housed one of the world's largest private record collections." So I guess it's safe to assume that Rod actually acquired a copy of every single album in his own discography. You can read more about Rod McKuen on Wikipedia here, go here to find his obituary in the New York Times and here you'll find the website for Mr. McKuen, whose work literary critic Nora Ephron called "superficial" and "frequently silly." And this from the person who made MIXED NUTS.

 Rod McKuen
[ April 29, 1933 — January 29, 2015 ]
We will miss you, Rod.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

What a great blog! Your taste in music is great! The post with the cranberry cakes makes my eyes very watery. All kids should meet you and hear that. Thanks for giving me many many many great tips on records I shouldn`t have missed (going back to the thrift store) Check out "MWAD`s" on the album Ambiance Africaine, The Tropicals, a great song!

from Norway with respect

Pål Wold

Alex said...

Thanks, Pål! And please give my regards to Norway, land of my grandmother!

Alex