finetune artist: Rod McKuen

b. Rodney Marvin McKuen, 29 April 1933, Oakland, California, USA. One of the revered poets of the late 60s love generation, Rod McKuen is also a highly acclaimed singer, songwriter and soundtrack composer. He took a slow route to the top, performing various manual jobs as a young man and also serving two years as an infantryman in Korea. In the mid-50s McKuen embarked on both a pop career ("Happy Is A Boy Named Me" was released in the UK in 1957) and an attempted acting career, combining both by appearing as a musician in the rock 'n' roll exploitation movie Rock, Pretty Baby in 1956. He also spent a spell as a vocalist for Lionel Hampton and a nightclub performer, before heading to Paris in the 60s. It was here, in the company of Jacques Brel and Charles Aznavour, that he began writing poetry in a free verse form very typical of the times. Described by Newsweek as "the king of kitsch", McKuen became one of the few poets able to sell his work in large volumes, and he became a wealthy man. His 60s books included Stanyan Street & Other Sorrows, Listen To The Warm, and Lonesome Cities.

Listen to Rod McKuen at Finetune.

Eros

gr8fulgilmore on 2007-07-16 00:20:14.110:
This is where someone speaks my feelings.