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Rod in “The Best is Yet to Come” 11/6/04
Photo by Shira Greenburg ©2004 by Broadway.com. Used by Permission
A Thought for Today
Don’t take life too seriously. You can
bet it is not overly obsessed with you.
Dear Diary.
File this in today’s ‘we can’t make these kinds of things up’ folder:
Despite the fact that is has “brought her luck” for the last decade a
woman has put a ten year old grilled cheese sandwich with a facsimile of
The Virgin Mary on it up for sale on E-bay.
.ASK
ROD
THE BEST IS YET TO COME
Hi, How are you? I loved the songs you sang at The
Actors Fund The Best is Yet to Come event. What songs did Ken Howard and
Michelle Lee sing ? E. Ferrucci.
Dear E. Ferrucci, In 1973 Michele Lee & Ken Howard starred on Broadway
as part of the original cast of Cy Coleman & Dorothy Fields "Seasaw" and
last Saturday both sang songs from the show that they introduced. Ken
performed "We've Got It" and Michele sang "The Seasaw Finale." It was
great to hear them together again and who knew that Ken danced? Best
Regards, Rod
AND SPEAKING OF THE SHOW
As always, it would be hard for me choose my favorite moment of the
annual fall Actors Fund show that was held a week ago Saturday Night.
One of them took place backstage when Keith Carradine picked up his
guitar and sang and played “The World I Used to Know” from memory. Talk
about a smiling songwriter.
So many talented performers and so many great Cy Coleman songs. Six
sirens, including Chita Rivera and Gretchen Wyler, who over the years
had the role of Charity in Sweet Charity, teamed for “Hey Big Spender”.
Sally Struthers stopped the show with “I’m a Brass Band” and a slim and
beautiful Lucie Arnaz closed the first act with a rousing rendition of
“The Best is Yet to Come”. The trio of Clifton Hall, Christopher
Showerman and Mark Smith gleefully stripped to “I’ve Got Your Number”.
Cy Coleman himself led all of us from the piano in the grand finale,
"Here’s to Us."
I couldn’t possibly list all of the acts that performed in director
David Galligan and producer David Michaels’ latest extravaganza but it
was a pip. To get a real feel for the show and photos of every act by
Shira Greenberg here’s a link:
http://www.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=1533
I got to sing "I Walk a Little Faster," a song I introduced way back in
1958 followed by "Why Try to Change Me Now," which Sinatra recorded in
1952.
Here are a couple of Photographs that Gil Kaan took at the party after
the show.
Lucie Arnaz with Rod
Christopher Showerman and Rod
©2004 by Gil Kaan. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.
March 11, 12 & 13 are the dates for “Two on the Aisle” the next STAGE
benefit. This time we’ll be performing the songs of Harry Warren and
Marvin Hamlisch. Warren wrote Lullaby of Broadway, An Affair to
Remember, On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe, I Only Have Eyes for
You, That’s Amore, Jeepers, Creepers, 42nd Street, You’ll Never Know and
dozens of other hit songs. Hamlisch’s growing canon includes The Way We
Were, What I Did for Love, One, They’re Playing Our Song, Nobody Does it
Better and more.
The cast for Two on the Aisle will be announced around the 1st of the
year.
WHEN ARE YOU COMING TO . . .
AUSTRALIA . . . Pauline Webster
FLORIDA. . . Marion Gauthier
GREAT BRITAN . . . Kim Hobson
LAS VEGAS . . Nina
MINNEAPOLIS . . . Thomas Mishou
NEW YORK . . . Phil Mortin
SOUTH CAROLINA . . .Rochelle
ANYWHERE . . . Patty Duane
Dear Pauline, Marion, Kim, Nina, Thomas, Phil, Rochelle and Patty:
Whenever a concert, appearance or book signing comes up it’s posted here
on the website. But I doubt that I’ll be traveling outside of California
for the next year or so.
With a house and a barn to build my traveling days are over for the
foreseeable future. This project has been in my head and now on the
drawing board for quite a while and the time has finally come to fish or
cut bait.
It’s nice to still be wanted and I hope to be out and around before too
many ions pass, meanwhile thanks for caring enough to ask. I will still
be here on The Net as always and starting soon I’ll provide more details
on how ‘the barn project’ is coming along. All my best and thanks again
for writing. Rod
DAILY POEMS
Dear Rod: Your choices for today (11/6) were so
perfect for me personally. Of course nothing happens by mistake.
Wishing you al the best: Rochelle Mason Myrtle
Beach, SC
Dear Rochelle, Thanks for the affirmation. A lot of thought goes into
which poems I choose for each day. Watch out, I may have been looking
over your shoulder. Cheers, Rod
ONLY A GOOGLE AWAY
I am now 47 years old and still can repeat a poem of yours that I did
for a state speech competition in my senior year.
"Pushing the Clouds Away” was included with 3
other poems I did. I came in 3rd place in state. One of the judges wrote
on my critic, "Rod McKuen would be proud of the way your expression of
the words was done."
Is there a site out there that gives the words to some of your work? I
love it...thanks. Connie Morgan, Golden Colorado
Dear Connie, Wow! I wish my memory of my own poetry were as good as
yours seems to be.
There are hundred's of my poems on line and you need look no further
than this page. A Safe Place to Land is in its seventh year and every
one of my 'Daily Flight Plans' has been archived by our Webmaster Ken
Blackie. Click on "Search This Site" at the bottom of the page and one
of The Web's fastest Google engines will pull up a poem in seconds.
For instance I just typed in "Pushing the Clouds Away" and it gave me
four pages of references (ten on the first page alone.) This no doubt
means enough already with the clouds.
Elsewhere you can click on the site map and download an entire book,
"Caught in the Quiet." There is even a Juke Box where you can find vocal
and spoken word tracks for downloading. And if that's not enough by
clicking another button you can Google the entire Net. Maybe that's why
more and more folks are making A Safe Place to Land their opening page,
Welcome aboard Connie & happy hunting. Cheers, Rod.
PS: Colorado and Golden in particular . . . now that’s God's country.
THE FOLK YEARS
Hi Rod can you help I once had a tape, which I
played till it fell apart it was called GOT TO ROAM, and I loved it.
I think it was 1967 I would love to have it again but I cannot find it
Can you help. thank you, Alex
Dear Alex, Wow, you really take me back. I had forgotten all about this
song so it took me a while to track it down. It's from an early LP, New
Sounds in Folk Music. The LP might still available from Stanyan House,
www.stanyanhouse.com
I wrote the song back in 1960 and it pre-dates my 'folk/ramblin' canon
which includes Loves Been Good to Me, Movin' Down the Line and The World
I used to Know.
Here are the lyrics:
Got to Roam
Chorus: I have got to roam
I have got to wander
Up or down the hills
Here or over yonder.
Don't ask me why I'm leavin'
Don't wonder where I go
I was born a ramblin' man
That's the life I know.
(repeat chorus)
Somebody once told me
The lonely are the free
Off to find new horizons
Sea to silver shining sea.
(repeat chorus)
Don't give your heart to someone
With travelin' on his mind
Might as well kiss the wind
As love the ramblin' kind.
Chorus: I have got to roam
I have got to wander
Up or down the hills
Here or over yonder.
Words & Music by Rod McKuen, ©1960, 1962 by Rod McKuen & Stanyan
Music Group. All Rights Reserved. Used by
permission.
Written forty-five years ago, Got to Roam is probably one of my lessor
efforts. It lacks the poetry of The Single Man or the lilt of Solitude's
My Home and I think of it now as kind of a camp-fire song because of
it's jaunty chorus. This is not to denigrate one of my own 'kids' but I
think the song is better sung than read.
I tracked down the words to Got to Roam in the song folio “Rod McKuen:
Popular Folk Hits” published in 1964 by Hanson Music and now out of
print. It contains a mixture of my popular songs of the period and some
very obscure tunes I wrote that have never appeared anywhere else.
Here are a couple I'll bet you've never heard.
This one was considered a bit much at the time even for acts like Peter,
Paul & Mary and The Kingston Trio. They were probably right.
Swing to the Right
(A Real Square Dance)
Come you sons and come you daughters
There is gold in them there waters
Swing to the Right or you'll be left.
Grab your partner, hold her tight
There's gonna be a book burnin' tonight
Swing to the Right or you'll be left.
Lets go back to the good old days
The good old Yankee dollar
Lets go back to the good old days
When people lived in squalor.
Go to the polls and cast your vote
If they're elected that's all she wrote
Swing to the Right or you'll be left.
There's lots of old Tom Foolery
Swingin' from a John Birch Tree.
Swing to the Right, Swing to the Right
Swing to the Right or you'll be left
Holding the bag.
Words & Music by Rod McKuen, © 1961, 1964 by Rod McKuen & Stanyan Music
Group. Copyright Renewed.
All Rights Reserved. Used by permission.
And here's a spiritual I wrote for The Staple Singers. Both The Staples
and Johnny Cash sang it but it has never been recorded.
Wings of Wisdom
Let’s, walk in the sunshine, let’s walk in the light
Let's fly to Jordan in the morning light
On Wings of Wisdom and on wings of song
We'll wash our sins in the river
And He'll deliver our souls to Mt. Zion.
It's a long, long journey, it's a long, long way
Till our bodies crumble and our bones decay
On Wings of Wisdom and on wings of song
We'll drop our toils and labors
And meet our neighbors up on Mt. Zion
Well you better be ready to meet your King
Up there in heaven where the angels sing
On Wings of Wisdom and on wings of song
We'll all go a-wingin' and join that singin'
Way up on Mt. Zion.
Words & Music by Rod McKuen © 1960, 1963
by Rod McKuen & Stanyan Music Group. Copyright Renewed.
All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission
And finally, here's a song from 1963 with some advice for young fathers.
My Little Boy's Eyes
I am a giant in My Little Boy's Eyes
Everything I do my little boy tries
And so I try to stand a little bit taller.
I am a hero in My Little Boy's Eyes
Everything I do my little boy tries
And so I try to be a little bit braver.
Never tried to be a giant,
never tried to be a hero
All I want is for my little boy
to see me bat One, Zero, Zero, Zero.
I am a daddy in My Little Boy's Eyes
Everything I do my little boy tries.
And so I try to be what a daddy ought to be
Though it's hard to know the direction
Hard to know the why's
It's easier when I see my reflection
In My Little Boys Eyes.
Words & Music by Rod McKuen © 1963, 1964
by Rod McKuen & Stanyan Music Group. Copyright Renewed.
All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.
Let's close the songwriter's trunk for now. Thanks for the request Alex.
Best Regards, Rod
GETTING PUBLISHED
I'm looking for a place to get my art and poetry
accepted. Most of it has been cooped up with me and that just seems like
a waste. How can I share it with others? Rog
Dear Rog, Beats me. I wish I could offer you and so many others who
write me with the same question some words of encouragement but you
might as well be asking the chicken & egg question. Publishing poetry is
still looked upon by most publishers as a no win proposition, because of
what they call 'small market share' for such books.
They want you to be famous before they put your work in print; but then
how do you gain fame without being published? A vicious circle.
Have you thought of establishing your own website to feature your work?
All my best to you and keep writing. I know it sounds a bit Pollyanna
but if you want to be published you’ll find a way to be published. My
Best, Rod
ASKED & ANSWERED
What did you do on those days where you just
didn’t want to be alive? Nancy
I stayed in bed Nancy because I always knew tomorrow would be a better
day. And it always was/is. Rod
JOANNA AT CARNEGIE HALL
Hi -- I have the double album, Live at Carnegie
Hall -- was wondering if it is available on CD or cassette tape? Many
thanks, Joyce Preest
(p.s. We named our daughter Joanna in part because
of Mr. McKuen's song of the same name . . Joyce Preest
Dear Joyce, Live at Carnegie Hall was available on CD for a while but is
now out of print. Copies of it still turn up on The Net. Try eBay. The
song “Joanna” is also available on the CD McKuen at the Movies. Thanks
for the honor and give my love to your Joanna. Cheers, Rod
AND FINALLY
Had several letters asking if I would be in Arkansas this week for the
opening of the Bill Clinton Library. Nope, when I said no more traveling
for awhile I meant it. For the next several days I’ll be helping Mark
Hill re-stake Dos Vidas.
Today we celebrate the 96th Anniversary of the great Johnny Mercer’s
birth and salute Larry King who hits 71 head on. Join me this weekend
for some poetry from “Beyond the Boardwalk.” Meanwhile, sleep warm.
RM 11/17/04 12:21AM PST
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