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A Thought for Today
No idea is formed without an element of
truth.
This
One Does It For Me!
Ken,
One of my all time best McKuen albums is Pastures Green which I
literally wore out back in the days when I had a turntable.
Is it available on CD? Or still on vinyl? Anything will do.
Perhaps you'd like to share something from it in your column one day.
Graham.
I haven't heard this album,
Graham, but I certainly like the sound of it from the track list which
Jay so thoughtfully provided.
Sadly it hasn't made it's
way to the CD format as yet and I suggest you check out
Stanyan House for stocks of
the vinyl version before you hit the eBay auctions.
Here are the liner notes
together with a piece that caught my attention.
Pastures Green - Liner Notes
There are people who have faces which tell stories, even if they do not
speak. It is pleasant to listen to their features, the movement of their
hands and body.
They carry a secret with
them, a secret that they probably do not know themselves; a deeper
humanity which appears in their eyes when they glance. A little line of
their mouth, a simple movement of their hand create a world for which
one needs a 1000 words.
Such a human being is Rod McKuen - a man with a power in his voice who
puts life into every word, each syllable. Not just the persons in his
chanson are alive - but also the trees, the hills, the grass, the
animals. I have never better tasted the smell of grass than in his
chansons.
He is a kind of an apostle of our present times.
I love listening to him - one not only hears his chansons - but one also
sees them.
I believe that songs no longer have to rhyme. Only listen to the
creations of Rod McKuen; the music is getting much more interesting. Rod
McKuen is a great example. What he does is class, he is perfect; he is a
top man with a unique volume in his voice, in combination with tension
in the articulation. Sometimes it annoys me how badly and wrongly one is
coached. Take for example Rod McKuen: his records are practically
without fault. To start with; he sings material which he controls and
can sing. Each pronunciation is fantastic; each sentence has its
intensity and tension; each syllable has the finishing touch and each
respiration is done in the right way.
How he performs.
Liner notes by Toon
Hermans
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 20
PS.
Don't forget to join Rod tomorrow and again on Saturday when he'll be
publishing a weekend edition of Ask Rod.
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