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04 Jun 11 - 10:46 AM (#3165180) Subject: Milt Okun Book Signing From: John on the Sunset Coast Milt Okun, the music publisher, arranger, and guiding hand behind PP&M, Chad Mitchell trio John Denver and many other folkies of the '60s has written his autobiography with Richard Sparks, "Along The Cherry Lane." Okun will be signing the book on Saturday, June 11, at 6pm, at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica, CA. If you are in the area, you might care to go. I know I won't be there. Living in the NoEast area of LA, I try never to go to the Westside...too much traffic. |
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05 Jun 11 - 03:07 AM (#3165369) Subject: RE: Milt Okun Book Signing 11 June Santa Monica CA From: Desert Dancer Wikipedia entry - containing an impressive list of producer credits. PR page about the book, here. ~ Becky in Long Beach (in Tucson next weekend, of course) |
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19 Nov 16 - 09:40 PM (#3821656) Subject: RE: Obit: Milt Okun (1923-2016) From: Joe Offer Milt Okun, best known as a "folk scare" record producer, died at age 89 on Nobember 15. Here's his obituary from billboard.com
Once a child prodigy pianist, Okun suffered nephritis in his early teens. At a time before antibiotics, he was bedridden for two years and on recovery found that his gift of virtuosic playing was gone. After studying music and conducting at Oberlin, he became a music teacher in the New York public school system at the advice of conductor Dean Dixon until his love of folk music brought him to back to the music business as a singer, arranger and conductor with Harry Belafonte and the Harry Belafonte Singers. "I have a producer who looks like an accountant and an accountant who looks like a producer," Denver described Okun. In the early 1960s, Okun began his career as a music producer, working with folk acts such as Denver, Peter Paul and Mary, The Brothers Four, The Chad Mitchell Trio, Odetta, Laura Nyro and Tom Paxton, blending classical arrangements with folk and pop stylings. Over the span of his career, Okun earned more than 75 gold and platinum records and 16 Grammy nominations for his work. Okun also had a successful career as a music publisher, founding Cherry Lane with his wife Rosemary in 1960 and building it into one of the world's largest independent publishing companies. In 2011, he released his memoir Along the Cherry Lane. Okun is survived by Rosemary, his wife of 58 years, and their children, daughter Jennifer Okun Sparks with husband Richard Sparks and their daughter Elizabeth, and son Andrew Okun with wife Julia Blanchard and their children, William and Emily Okun. |
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20 Nov 16 - 05:43 AM (#3821697) Subject: RE: Obit: Milt Okun (1923-2016) From: Felipa Tom Paxton, interviewed in 2015: "My idol was Pete Seeger, even before I moved to the Village. He still is. My mentor was Milt Okun, who became my music publisher for fifty years. He was the musical director for the Chad Mitchell Trio, Peter, Paul & Mary, John Denver, and too many more to name. As an arranger and producer, he was a very important fellow and one of the sweetest, nicest people you could meet. Most importantly, he was a sucker for my jokes. He's still with us, in his 90s, living in Beverly Hills." http://artsfuse.org/129098/fuse-music-interview-inside-veteran-folk-singer-tom-paxton/ I recognised the name Milt Okun, probably saw it several times on LP album cover credits. |
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20 Nov 16 - 07:42 AM (#3821709) Subject: RE: Obit: Milt Okun (1923-2016) From: Waddon Pete A great guy who will be sorely missed. He was a music lover in the real sense, seeing no difference between the many disciplines. My condolences to all those who know and love him. I have added his name to the "In Memoriam" thread. RIP Peter |
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20 Nov 16 - 09:42 AM (#3821715) Subject: RE: Obit: Milt Okun (1923-2016) From: Jason Xion Wang He was a folksinger too... I have an old LP which included this song: Milt Okun - Hush Little Baby. It was a compilation album produced by Milt. R.I.P. |
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20 Nov 16 - 04:04 PM (#3821761) Subject: RE: Obit: Milt Okun (1923-2016) From: Thomas Stern as a folksinger, he was on the following albums: Every Inch A Sailor (Stinson SLP65) I Sing Of Canada (Stinson SLP71) Adirondack Folk Songs And Ballads (Stinson SLP82) America's Best Loved Folk Songs (Baton BL 1203/Warwick 2011) 1961 BILLY FAIER & MILT OKUN Elektra folk song kit LP BOX EKL-KIT 1959 ELEKTRA EKL-5001 HOW TO PLAY FOLK GUITAR Merry Ditties (Riverside RLP 12-603) 1955 Traditional American Love Songs (Riverside RLP 12-634) Okun/Ellen Stekert 1956 Hootenanny with the Skifflers THE SKIFFLERS (LEE CHARLES aka Leon Bibb, LIBBY KNIGHT, MILT OKUN, HALLY WOOD) EPIC(Columbia) LN/LC 3391 GOIN' DOWN TO TOWN (1957) HARMONY(Columbia) HL 7307 HOOTENANNY PERFECT(Epic) PL 12015 FOLK SONGS anyone know of any others ???? Thanks. Thomas. |
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20 Nov 16 - 06:01 PM (#3821772) Subject: RE: Obit: Milt Okun (1923-2016) From: GUEST,Gerry There is also an album, Milt Okun and the Seafarer's Chorus, Salty Seafaring Shanties, Elektra 7182, re-released some years later on Legacy. Okun's name is given as Okum on the album cover, but we came to agree that it was really Okun in a series of posts from 25-26 September 2016 in the thread, http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=72779 Lyr Add: Hanging Johnny (from Great Lakes sailors) |
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20 Nov 16 - 07:20 PM (#3821781) Subject: RE: Obit: Milt Okun (1923-2016) From: Thomas Stern The Seafarer's Chorus album credits "THE SEAFARERS CHORUS Conducted by MILT OKUN featuring EUGENE BRICE " Is there any indication of who is in the chorus ? Did Okun sing, or just "conduct" ?? Thanks! Thomas. |
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20 Nov 16 - 09:22 PM (#3821786) Subject: RE: Obit: Milt Okun (1923-2016) From: GUEST,Larry the Radio Guy A very significant name from my past, being a great fan of The Chad Mitchell Trio. Also grew to love The Skifflers album....where Milt Okun did a lot of the vocals. Always liked his arrangements. R.I.P. |
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20 Nov 16 - 09:52 PM (#3821789) Subject: RE: Obit: Milt Okun (1923-2016) From: GUEST,Ken Brock There are songs from Milt Okum on the 3 lp compilation box "Something to Sing About", which also has some recordings by Tom Paxton and John Denver that are not avaiable elsewhere. |
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20 Nov 16 - 10:14 PM (#3821790) Subject: RE: Obit: Milt Okun (1923-2016) From: Rapparee RIP to a great man! |
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21 Nov 16 - 01:30 AM (#3821802) Subject: RE: Obit: Milt Okun (1923-2016) From: GUEST,Gerry At https://www.discogs.com/Seafarers-Chorus-The-Conducted-By-Milt-Okun-Featuring-Eugene-Brice-We-Sing-Of-The-Sea/release/3954828 it says, "The Seafarers include: Elijah Hodges, Roy Thompson, Joseph Crawford, Ned Wright, Sherman Steed and Joli Gonsalves." Okun is credited there as conductor and arranger. There is more information at http://www.harbel.one/seafarers/eks7182.htm where the soloist is listed for each track on the album, and there are legible reproductions of the front and back covers of the album. It would appear that Okun didn't sing on this album. |
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21 Nov 16 - 05:50 PM (#3821943) Subject: RE: Obit: Milt Okun (1923-2016) From: Stevebury Also – Washington Post obituary at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/milt-okun-music-impresario-who-spanned-pop-folk-and-opera-dies-at-92/2016/11/16/b7ee6e7e-ac05-11e6-8b45-f8e493f06fcd_story.html New York Times obituary at: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/21/arts/music/milt-okun-dead-cherry-lane-publishing.html |
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22 Nov 16 - 08:29 AM (#3822046) Subject: RE: Obit: Milt Okun (1923-2016) From: GUEST RIP, Milt. |
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15 Dec 16 - 11:25 AM (#3826683) Subject: Recordings of Milt Okun singing? From: babypix Gentle Colleagues, I am wondering if there are any extant copies of Milt Okun performing traditional songs-- he made 6 albums, possibly on Riverside or Monitor. Does anyone have them, or ever heard of them? Apparently, my go-to source, GEMM, is no more, and Google search only turns up recordings which Okun arranged for other people (and there were MANY!) Ideas? Kindest thanks in advance. Deb |
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15 Dec 16 - 03:53 PM (#3826741) Subject: RE: Obit: Milt Okun (1923-2016) From: Joe Offer Hi, Deb - so far, we've found only one. Up above, Jason posted a link to Milt Okun - Hush Little Baby Did Okun sing in the Seafarers' Chorus (click)? Nobody knows. Here's a Milt Okun-Roger Miller duet: I found four tracks Milt Okun did with Ellen Stekert on a CD titled Riverside Folklore Series, Vol. 3: Singing the New Traditions:
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16 Dec 16 - 01:18 PM (#3826920) Subject: RE: Obit: Milt Okun (1923-2016) From: keberoxu Peter, Paul and Mary's first album introduced me to Pete Seeger's If I Had a Hammer. Of course, it was in truth Milt Okun's arrangement of Pete Seeger's If I Had a Hammer. The melody was altered, with an octave jump on "a - a - all over" completely ironed out, much simpler to sing, althought the rhythm was much the same as before. It was so startling, years later, to hear the Weavers reunion when they sang Pete Seeger's original melody -- "that's NOT how it goes..." |