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Milton Theodore Okun (December 23, 1923 – November 15, 2016) was an American arranger, record producer, 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 his tutelage became some of the most successful musical acts of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. His career lasted over 50 years from the folk revival of the 1950s to the 21st century.
Okun created arrangements or produced tracks for many popular groups and artists such as the Chad Mitchell Trio,Murphey, Mike, with Mike Kobluk and Chad Mitchell (2021). We Never Knew Just What it Was... The Story of the Chad Mitchell Trio. Irvine, Ca.: Acorn Publishing. Peter, Paul and Mary,Ramone, Phil; Granata, Charles L. (2007). Making records: the scenes behind the music. Hyperion, the Brothers Four, John Denver, and Miriam Makeba.Bronson, Fred (2003). The Billboard book of number 1 hits, Billboard Books, In 1968 he interviewed a number of American pop 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, critic Richard Sparks wrote, "Of all producers, Milton Okun's range is the widest, from Plácido Domingo to the Muppets." During a hiatus in his work as conductor for Harry Belafonte, Okun took on the Chad Mitchell Trio as his first folk trio, later signing Tom Paxton as a client for his new Cherry Lane Music publishing company when Paxton auditioned unsuccessfully for an opening in the trio. Okun began his long association with John Denver after Denver replaced Chad Mitchell in the renamed "Mitchell Trio"Murphey, Mike, with Mike Kobluk and Chad Mitchell (2021). We Never Knew Just What it Was... The Story of the Chad Mitchell Trio. Irvine, Ca.: Acorn Publishing. as well as bringing Denver to stardom and producing some of his most beloved hits. Okun was also an arranger and producer for Peter, Paul and Mary, and his Cherry Lane Music became the music publishing company for Elvis Presley and DreamWorks among other successful acts.
Okun died on November 15, 2016, at the age of 92.
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