Milton Theodore Okun (December 23, 1923 – November 15, 2016) was an American

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

, conductor, singer and founder of Cherry Lane Music Publishing Company, Inc. Okun transformed the careers of a dozen or more major U.S. artists who under Okun's tutelage became some of the most successful musical acts of the

1950s The 1950s (pronounced nineteen-fifties; commonly abbreviated as the "Fifties" or the " '50s") (among other variants) was a decade that began on January 1, 1950, and ended on December 31, 1959. Throughout the decade, the world continued its re ...

1960s File:1960s montage.png, Clockwise from top left: U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War; the Beatles led the British Invasion of the U.S. music market; a half-a-million people participate in the 1969 Woodstock Festival; Neil Armstrong and Buzz ...

, and

1970s File:1970s decade montage.jpg, Clockwise from top left: U.S. President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office following the Watergate scandal in 1974; The United States was still involved in the Vietnam War i ...

. A special on PBS alludes to Okun as one of the most influential music producers in history. His career lasted over 50 years, from the folk revival to the twenty-first century. He created arrangements or produced for many popular groups and artists such as Peter, Paul and Mary;Ramone, Phil; Granata, Charles L. (2007). ''Making records: the scenes behind the music.'' Hyperion, The Chad Mitchell Trio; The Brothers Four;

John Denver Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, activist, and humanitarian whose greatest commercial success was as a solo singe ...

; and Miriam Makeba.Bronson, Fred (2003). ''The Billboard book of number 1 hits,'' Billboard Books, In 1968 he interviewed many American folksingers and published the songs they chose in ''Something to Sing About!''Okun, Milt (1968). ''Something to sing about: the personal choices of America's folk singers.'' Macmillan Company, At the height of Okun's career, a critic wrote, "Of all producers, Milton Okun's range is the widest, from

Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French, ...

to the Muppets." Conductor for

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an interna ...

, arranger and producer of Peter, Paul and Mary, the man who brought John Denver to stardom and produced his most loved hits, Okun also founded Cherry Lane Music, the music publishing company for Elvis and

DreamWorks DreamWorks may refer to: * DreamWorks Pictures, an American film production company of Amblin ** DreamWorks Television, an American television production company and division of the film studio ** DreamWorks Records, an American record label and f ...

among many other household names. Okun died on November 15, 2016, at the age of 92.

Honors

In 2008, Okun won the Abe Olman Publisher Award at the Songwriters Hall of Fame ceremony. Milton T. Okun published his memoir, '' Along the Cherry Lane'', on June 13, 2011.

Discography

Okun was part of the folk quartet

The Skifflers ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...

and also recorded several albums of his own in the 1950s. *''Natural Acoustic band (1971) learning to live and Branching in RCA 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) *''Merry Ditties'' (Riverside RLP 12-603) *(with

Ellen Stekert Ellen Stekert (b. 1935) is an American academic, folklorist and musician. Stekert is a Professor Emerita of English at the University of Minnesota and a former president of the American Folklore Society. Early life and education Stekert was bo ...

) ''Traditional American Love Songs'' (Riverside RLP 12-634) *''Goin’ Down to Town'' (Epic) by The Skifflers; later edited and re-released as ''Hootenanny with the Skifflers'' (Columbia HL7307) and ''Folk Songs'' (Perfect Records) *''Everybody Sing! Volume 3 – Songs for Seniors'' (Riverside RLP 1420)

Books

*1968: ''Something to Sing About: the personal choices of America's folk singers''. New York: Macmillan Company *''New York Times Great Songs of the Sixties'' (as editor) *''New York Times Great Songs of ABBA'' (as editor) *''Great Songs of the Seventies'' (as editor) *''New York Times Great Songs of Lennon and McCartney'' (as editor; also wrote introduction) *''The Compleat Beatles'' (as editor) *''Twin Peaks'' (as editor) *'' Along the Cherry Lane: Tales from the life of the music industry legend, producer, arranger, and publisher Milton Okun'' (as told to Richard Sparks) – 2011 :
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References

External links

Milton Okun interview
via

Charlie Rose Charles Peete Rose Jr. (born January 5, 1942) is an American former television journalist and talk show host. From 1991 to 2017, he was the host and executive producer of the talk show '' Charlie Rose'' on PBS and Bloomberg LP. Rose also co-an ...

Milt Okun via Cherry Lane Music Publishing Co., Inc.Milt Okun interview
via Artistshouse Music
Milt Okun Interview
NAMM Oral History Program (2006) {{DEFAULTSORT:Okun, Milt 1923 births 2016 deaths American conductors (music) American male conductors (music) American music arrangers Record producers from New York (state) 21st-century American memoirists Jewish American musicians John Denver Musicians from Brooklyn New York University alumni Oberlin College alumni Singers from New York City