No, We Will Not Spare You The Rod
:: One of those ZIP thingies ::
I would never buy a Rod McKuen record. Never wanted to. Except for the fact this was still sealed and only 3 bucks, I wouldn't have. And it was only after having a long argument with myself that I took it to the cashier, giving it a home after nearly 40 years in vinyl purgatory.
When I first put it on, I wondered how much I could take. The first track was a bit of a hoot, but when the 2nd track began with the same monotonous intonation over cocktail hour string-laden lobotomy music, well, I wondered how much I could take. But the more I listened, the more I felt myself seeping into Rod McKuen's world, and the more I wished I could stay.
But how much of this could I inflict on the Robot world? Y'all had to hear of Rod's sexual exploits on "Church Windows (San Francisco)". But without "Morning (San Francisco)" as a lead-in, you wouldn't get the whole picture. The songs that close out each side of the record ("To Watch The Trains" & "Lonesome Cities") feature Rod's attempts at vocal melodies, and are must haves, especially in contrast to the spoken word selections. But without all the other tracks, their impact is lessened.
Many of you will elect to skip this one, and who can blame you? But, if you're ever alone late at night, dicking around the house and enjoying some mellow libations, it might work for you. Personally, I wish I could have taken a house in Manhattan Beach circa 196?, and had felt such ambivalence toward virtually everything for one summer, only to move on to Paris or Gstaad with some unbelievably hot and detached babe, ultimately wishing I were but a small toe-headed boy waving at trains passing my insignificant mid-western hamlet. Fuck yeah.
Mike
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, April 11, 2007 at 5:28 AM.
You can skip to the end and leave a response.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007 7:55:00 AMi understand your ambivalence toward mr. mckuen, but some of it is really great! there's a protest song called "soldiers who want to be heroes" whose chorus goes like so:
soldiers who want to be heroes
number practically zero
but there are millions
who want to be civilians
my girlfriend inherited a goodly amount of mckuen records from her mom. good stuff.
Thursday, April 12, 2007 10:16:00 AM
I actually think Rod McKuen did some really cool records. If this is one of them I can't say, but I'm looking forward to listening to it. Much obliged :)
Saturday, April 14, 2007 2:47:00 AM
Thanks for posting, even though I cannot listen to it. I signed up with YSI because it was the only way to get the file, and then they said: "The person who sent you this file has exceeded their download limit".
But thanks, anyway!
John
Saturday, April 14, 2007 3:31:00 AM
Would you be so kind to make a repost?
I'm dying to hear this.
Thanks very much!
John
Sunday, April 22, 2007 6:11:00 AM
I love this type of record. Btw, 'toe-headed' is really 'tow-headed', tow being a short fiber used for making yarn, etc.
Sunday, May 06, 2007 3:15:00 AM
Oowe. Thanks.
Mike(High School graduate)
Thursday, May 31, 2007 1:07:00 PM
I made fun with the Reuben Kinkaid comment, but after listening to the whole album, I really think it
quite profound. No kidding. What
amazed me is how he had the world
weariness of an old wizened man in his 40's. He must have had one hell of a mixed-up life to reach such sentiments so early in life.
These words are spoken almost as if someone were on his deathbed, knowing he would be gone soon, reflecting on the path(s) not taken and all.
And the website(I made fun about the rubbing up against stuff, but he evidentally was speaking of his dog(or at least I hope so). The website has some great newer poetry. Too bad he didn't get a chance to work with the Moody Blues
in the late 60's...That "be still,
great orb" stuff at the end of white satin sounds totally Mckuen .
Saturday, March 19, 2011 12:56:00 AM
Can you please repost? The zip link is not working.
» Post a Comment